by Kat | Sep 11, 2023 | General, In This Moment
I pondered posting today because I don’t really have anything significant to contribute. In my pondering I wondered if a pandemic that has killed so many has somehow diluted the impact of what happened 22 years ago. Perhaps today’s significance is more personal – not that I lost someone 22 years ago – but rather because I can remember exactly where I was when I heard the news down to the very minute.
However, life moves on but it does not mean we forget…not that horrible day 22 years ago or the long slow march of COVID. Rather it means we are living and hopefully fully living each and every day.
So sometimes Monday is for remembering… and living. And perhaps cleaning out my painting space with a sigh of relief that one small brown dog seems to be doing a bit better.
See you all back here on Wednesday!
by Kat | Sep 8, 2023 | General, In This Moment
I had other plans for today post but life got in the way yesterday… bigly.
A small-ish issue with Sherman required some extra attention yesterday morning and a rather lengthy vet visit yesterday afternoon. But we have some new meds to try and I am hoping he is feeling better soon!
My plans for reacquainting myself with my painting spot did not happen … and it might not happen this morning either. I will have to see how Sherman is doing today… but it is absolutely on my radar!
I am falling back on the simplicity of a bit of a Friday RIFF… so let’s get started!
Re-adjusting —
Kym shared some links this week that I had been contemplating one of them until I saw this fun little knit from Leila Raven and I realized that this is exactly what I need.. fun, stripe-y, and I have the yarn in my stash! This is the motivation I need to finish my Pressed Flower wrap because I want to knit this next!
Investigating —
This week I saw a *new-to-me* butterfly in my back yard, Google told me it was a Great Spangled Fritillary… a member of the Nymphalidae family of butterflies. It was so fun watching it hang around for all of Wednesday afternoon. A lovely addition to the plethora of Monarch’s that are in love with my butterfly bush this year!
Hello, Lovely!
Fresh (air) Poetry —
You Are Here… Yes, yes Ada Limón, The Library of Congress, and National Parks are getting their Poetry ON! I discovered it on that site formerly known as Twitter this week and yes… I am super excited for the anthology of poems! (Especially since poetry has been in the spotlight this week… and if you are a member of the Armed Services who writes, reads, or recites poetry… well done you!) I will be reading some poetry this weekend… it is the best sanity-saving thing I do!
Finally —
Today I am going to hope that Sherman has a good day and I can spend some time refreshing my painting spot. But… I am not beating myself up if I don’t because outside of that my week has been very productive. My *computer desk* has been decluttered and I have used it! My calendar got some “face time” with me… and that felt so good! We even had a bit of rain yesterday… not enough, but some is better than none.
That is it for me this week! I will see you all back here next week. Have a great weekend everyone!
by Kat | Sep 6, 2023 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings dear Unravelers!
My knitting mojo is on the thin side this week. Soaring temperatures have put the kibosh on a lapful of wooly knitting… so there has been little progress on my Pressed Flowers wrap.
Instead I cast on a sock… which is barely begun so you can see it has not had much attention.
Another pair of Pressed Flower Socks!
Instead I have been stitching… appliqué pieces to their little squares and circles.
I have nearly 25 squares done now and I really don’t want to stop. The simple joy of needle, thread, and my thoughts are the perfect thing. One thing I loved about August was the intentional quiet and I have found myself eager for those quiet moments! It is amazing where your thoughts can go when there is intentional quiet!
My temperature circles are well past the halfway point… there is a whole lot of yellow and red. And one significant thing… in my neighborhood we have only had a handful of 90+ degree days (until this week that is! LOL) And we have not reached 100° F once! I am almost at the August mid-point… so I have some catch up to do!
The reading this week though… oh my! So good. I finished Michael Cunningham’s soon-to-be-published book, Day was so incredibly good! I did not rush through it… I savored every word. I also finished Brotherless Night… which was fantastic! I wanted to go slow, but I could not put it down! I cried a lot but it was so incredibly good! (and it was the perfect thing to read before discussing the Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. (and while I really liked Seven Moons, I loved Brotherless Night so much more!)
In my ears this week, I am back in Saint-Denis and loving it! And at night I am reading a book that Netgalley recommended to me… My Friends by Hisham Matar and it is so good.
And that is my making this week… what about you? What are you making or reading this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Sep 5, 2023 | General, Welcome
September is the other January. — Gretchen Rubin
This quote resonated with me as I turned the calendar to a new month. I am very much loving the idea of beginning again… with so many things. I spent the summer pared back, minimal, letting go of so many things… and now I stand on the precipice of a new month and I have the urge to add some things back in. Really badly.
But…
There is a part of me that is loving the more minimalistic me, so while the urge to add back is overwhelming, I am going to be very selective as to what gets added back in! I am going to control the urge to just add it all back by using my September list to keep my focus.
- Get back to my calendar… yes, I have ignored any form of calendar since June. I know. What was I thinking? But all good things must come to an end… and the days of calendar free living are over. I began yesterday by noting some things to complete this week. Not many, but enough to make me pay attention to my calendar and how I am doing this week!
- Re-order my “desk” space … and.start.using.it!! The summer of no calendar, no desk, and some days… no laptop need to end. I will help this by making my early morning space welcoming. I have a new poetry book to entice me to sit in the early morning darkness. I also have a new journal that is waiting to be written in!
- Sewing. Yes, I have some sewing to do for fall. I am hoping that the weather helps entice me to do this by providing some rainy days… or some cooler weather! Which is not this week… we are full on Summer in temperature and humidity this week! Steve thinks that once this week is over that the warm days will be less frequent but I am not so sure of that because…
- …on warmer days, I am still committed to doing a fair bit of afternoon porch stitching. My gosh… that is the one hold-over from summer that I am going to cling to until it is too cold!
- Painting…. I have done almost none all summer. (mainly because I have not wanted to be indoors) But I miss it… so much. I have some things to practice on and I am going to ease myself back in to that habit.
- And finally…blogging… yes, I am feeling the urge to blog a bit more, perhaps on my pre-break schedule of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday… stay tuned!
And that, my friends, is a very full list of things to fill my September days! What about you? What are you hoping to fill your days with?
See you all back here tomorrow with some unraveling!
Photo by Marta Wave
by Kat | Aug 30, 2023 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers!
We have arrived at the last Wednesday in August! No lies here… I am more than a little excited for September and my week of knitting reflects that.
I finished my Pressed Flower Socks and I love them! Kym asked last week about sock thickness… and yes, these are a bit thicker than normal hand knit socks. But they will work perfectly for me… I like to wear clogs in the winter and they work well in my Haflinger clogs!
I have not cast on another pair, but I will be – it was a great pattern to knit! Clear instructions and the best part is that you get the “look of color work” without the tension problems one might have with color work… they are mosaic knitting so you only are ever knitting with one color.
Instead of casting on another sock, I pulled out my Pressed Flowers wrap and have made some good progress (until I started adding in random flowers to transition into the “border pattern” that is…That has caused a bit of unraveling…sigh.) But I think I have it on track now and once I have the rhythm, it goes quickly!
I have also been fascinated by Emily Greene’s latest design – Archetype. I love how it looks and I am intrigued with the construction…it is knit flat, in pieces! I have not knit one of Emily’s patterns since Calmus and I think that this fall might be the time to try again. I might even have some yarn in a cart while I think about it. Stay tuned!
The reading this week was so good! I finished Jesmyn Ward’s Let Us Descend… and wow. It was so incredibly good! (not easy, but so good!) I loved it and believe that when too many people are trying to ban books… this book is a necessary read! Let Us Descend comes out October 3rd if you want to get on the list for it! I leaned into the challenging reads this week with Matthew Desmond’s Poverty, by America. A life changing book… and a very eye-opening read.
I also enjoyed my romp in Saint-Denis with Bruno… and I highly recommend the series!
My current reads include the start of the next Bruno book (thank you so much Hoopla!) and a soon-to-be published novel by Michael Cunningham, Day: A Novel. Both very good!
So tell me… what are you trying to wrap up in these last days of August?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
by Kat | Aug 28, 2023 | General, Words
Progress requires unlearning. Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your beliefs, and to upgrade and expand your identity. — Jame Clear
August has always been my least favorite month of the year. The heat. The humidity. The end of summer break (at least when my kids were little!) The wishing for the next season. I wanted to break those habits this year… habits of dislike. Of wallowing in the misery of August (most of which was self-made misery!)
So this month I took a step back and looked back on all I have discovered about authenticity this year and set about unlearning of what August always has been… and to find a new outlook.
I started with a list of all that I have learned… a Road Map to Authenticity of sorts. And I embraced the silence versus trying to fill my day with noise. (Thanks Kym for this brilliant inspiration!) I leaned into the quietude this month… and it was amazing! In the silence I found so much to love about August!
And pairing a list with the silence… well, that has been the winning combination! My gift to myself this month will be taking my list and putting it on a bookmark to use in my calendar/journal… a reminder every day of where I am heading… what I want to be… and that, my friends, might be the best gift I will ever give myself – a gentle nudge to keep myself on the path.
And I am departing August with a new-found love for all things late summer…okay maybe not the humidity! But I have appreciated how my tomatoes have loved all that heat and humidity… and those tomatoes have provided August with the best thing ever about late summer… an abundance I can share!
As always, I would like to thank Carolyn for providing us the space to share our journeys! I will see you all back here on Wednesday!
