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| Sheesh...it's been since March that I last updated. Craziness! I guess I've had a pretty full spring and early summer--lots of going out of town and such. My time online has been mainly on one site that is an old favorite. ;) It has been good to reconnect with the folks over there. In one sense, there is not much to say. But of course, there is always more I could say. We did have a tragedy in our family recently. My cousin, Michael (age 24) died in a car accident. It really shook me up a lot and has made me ask a lot of hard questions about life & death, and about God & faith stuff. Smiley is getting to be so big now. And he is talking like crazy. He can really speak his mind, which at points is a bit unnerving, but overall is a really exciting thing. I am enjoying every stage with him, watching him learn and grow. Things at the new church are going really well. I am really happy to be here. We watched the local fireworks last night and I was just overcome with emotion just thinking about how much I like this town, this church, etc. | | |
| I have really been going crazy with my crochet hobby recently. Lately I have indulged in making some things for myself: a hat, a belt and some slippers to name a few. I have also been experimenting with new techniques: the other day I tried a little tapestry crochet. And I've been experimenting with different fibers: the belt I made for myself was with a faux suede yarn and it is just lovely. I have a lot of projects in mind and not enough time in the day to make them all.
It is so great to see how far I've come in my skill. I remember my first project which was an afghan. I didn't use a pattern at all. I just did long rows of single crochet. My tension was all over the place and my stitch count kept getting off track. The edges were crazy crooked. I was ready to be done with crochet. In fact, I put it down for a few years. Then I found a magazine article in Martha Stewart Kids magazine that taught basic crochet and had some simple patterns. I did a couple of the small projects in there and all of a suddenly I was back at it! Then I found a beginner crochet book for teens/pre-teens and it had some other fun, yet simple projects and great step-by-step instructions. I tried some of those projects and then my skill really began to improve. Since then I've made more projects than I can count and my skill has really improved a lot. My tension is much more steady and I am much, much better at keeping track of my stitch count. I even check my gauge like the patterns always tell you.
I am getting ready to attempt my first sweater. It is going to be a cute sleeveless number made with a lovely ribbon yarn: Zen by Berroco. I am making it for myself for spring. My mom bought me the ribbon yarn as a birthday present. I did some test swatches to check for gauge/hook size and I am so excited about how the swatch looks. This is going to be really fabulous.
I am just absolutely addicted to crochet. It has really become a favorite hobby of mine.
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| I am making some changes in my life right now and it is not an easy
process. Old doors are closing while new ones are opening. Life in a
new town, closer to some that I love while much too far from others.
One in particular is on my mind tonight and you know who you are.
Hoping all the changes will not drive us apart. Longing to just be in
your presence and hating all the miles between us. Wishing there was
some way to show you what you mean to me. Missing the times we got to
just hang out and be totally real with each other.
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| Okay, well, it has been forever since I updated here. But I thought I would at least come on and share some more about the apples...I made the most scrumptuous homemade applesauce with the apples that Smiley and I got at the orchard. And this time around, I actually made it totally without adding any extra sugar. It turned out great and with a slightly pinkish color from the apple skins.
In other news, I have been crocheting up a storm lately. I am in the process of making a little something for a gift exchange. I can't say what it is in case Poet reads this. But it is her favorite colour. Other than that, I actually made something for myself recently. I got one of those fun verigated yarns and made myself a sash/scarf with a beaded trim. Super cut and great colors--pinks and reds--and it goes with lots of things in my wardrobe.
And speaking of my wardrobe, I actually went on a shopping spree for myself the other day. I was actually getting depressed over how few things fit me anymore. And most of the stuff that did still fit was either seasonally inappropriate or hideously frumpy. I am so over looking frumpy. I'm really going more for the "hot mama" styles. Okay, maybe not so much as a certain sales director I know. But more "hot mama" than frump girl. I used to be all into frump but no more frump for me.
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| Smiley and I drove up to the local orchard this morning. Instead of driving straight to the orchard store, I slowly worked my way down the road so we could look at the apple trees and the apples on them. It is apple season big time right now and the trees were bursting with fruit! It was wondeful to behold and so fun to show Smiley all the apples as we drove through the orchard. It felt very important to me to help Smiley make the connection between this fruit he loves and where it comes from. We made our way to the orchard store and then to the apple room where we carefully packed a half bushel bag of assorted apples. Our half bushel bag barely made a dent in the crates of apples they had in the apple store. And those crates of apples in the store were a drop in the bucket compared to the total number of apples patiently waiting on their branches. I actually saw a huge pile-up of empty apple crates --several rows, stacked four or more stories high--that were wating to be filled. The huge scope of this local orchard was awe-inspiring. More apples on a single tree than I could count, and rows and rows of those trees. But the thought that has stuck with me all day is: Who is going to pick all those apples? If those are all to be hand-picked then I salute the deligent pickers. It is the kind of work that I, admittedly, tire of quite quickly. Yet, how grateful I am to whoever picked the half bushel of assorted apples I chose for my family.
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