We know that in September, we will wander through the warm winds of summer’s wreckage. We will welcome summer’s ghost. — Henry Rollins
Summer’s ghost was alive a well last week… again it was (very) dry with temps climbing into the 80’s. But I see signs of change … signs that things are leaning into a new season. Birds are flocking… most notably, the Blue Jays that arrive in my yard each morning patiently awaiting the “Nut Lady” to bring out the peanuts! Blue Jays that can tell time make me smile! Some have progressed further through the late summer molt than others as there are one or two who look quite haggard. But they all are expert “nut weighers”… I like watching them pick through the peanut shells to find the heaviest one which they quickly whisk away!
I have hopes for rain this week… we need it so desperately but maybe not tomorrow night, which will be the 4th and final full moon of summer… A Super Harvester Moon with a partial lunar eclipse! And I caught the ISS soaring overhead last night… it was my first time seeing it and it was exciting! I freed my inner little girl and waved in the dark as it sailed overhead. Or perhaps it was a bit of leftover exuberance from the Makers for Kamala call! We have such an amazing community… I am proud to be part of it.
This week, my making plans include making a bit of a “book” (and I am using that term VERY loosely!) to participate a bit in Karen Abend’s Sketchbook Revival. I have some sheets of cold press watercolor paper that I am going to break down to make them more useable and make them into a bit of a sketchbook.
The other important thing I did for myself yesterday was to make a batch of steel cut oats for breakfasts this week (which is super easy to do in the crockpot!) The tiniest bit of work on a Sunday morning makes for a week of healthy, ready-to-go breakfasts for myself! (And I have no excuse to skip brekkie this way!)
Happy Monday everyone, see you all back here on Wednesday!
September days have the warmth of summer in their briefer hours, but in their lengthening evenings a prophetic breath of autumn. — Rowland E. Robinson
Happy almost mid-September! This quote… so very true. I love the warmth of the September sun that gives way to a hint of the coming autumn at night! Yes to another blanket on the bed… at least on my side! Ha!
Ruminating —
I have been doing a good bit of thinking about my making life… how I really want to spend my time next year.
My Rumination List:
I think I would like to do another temperature project… perhaps a bit of a riff on this genius little book that Jo Avery is doing this year. I think square within a square would work… and would be a touch simpler than stitching circles.
I am pretty sure that I will be letting Ali Edwards go… no, I am NOT giving up a word! (My new word has me so excited!!) What I don’t think I need any longer is a video of direction and ideas. And while I am not a scrap booker, I the past two years I have worked a bit in a Word Journal… one which I print out a photo of me sort of for posterity (and really to get more comfortable with taking *and appreciating* photos of myself). But next year I am trying a new calendar/journal… I ordered a Hobonici Weeks MEGA (thanks, Carole for the inspiration) and I am going to do *all-in-one* next year… calendar, thoughts, images, word, etc.
I am not letting go of Ann Wood’s Stitch Club… the group of people there is most inspiring! And I am looking forward to another 100 Day Book!
I am waiting to see what Karen Turner does for 2025 daily stitching before I make a decision there.
And… I am thinking about paring back on knitting. I know. I know… but I am just thinking about it at this point.
Indulging (my) Inner (painter) —
One thing I have really loved this year was my impromptu sketch/painting time. I am spending about 15-20 minutes every weekday just doing. I generally use a photo I have taken for inspiration and I am learning so much! Do I see room for improvement? Absolutely! Do I expect perfection? Oh hell no! It is all about the process and I am liking painting so much more now than I did trying to recreate someone else’s painting. Now, don’t get me wrong… I learned volumes in all those classes I invested in… but I needed to find “my style” and I think I am figuring that out!
I am making my way through lists each week this month… I have somehow been fortunate to get Michigan voters. I am enjoying jotting a note about the JOY of voting. I hope my letters inspire everyone to go vote! I am especially loving sitting outside on these glorious sunny afternoons and writing a letter or ten!
(RE) FILL —
The loss of Sherman has not easy but this month we began to contemplate being ready for a new furry family member. I did some research, made some phone calls and, wonder of wonders, we have a plan that will find October welcoming a new little furball into our lives! Yes… after we get back from Erie we will be taking a trip to pick up a new pug! I don’t know which I am more excited for… a vacation with just the two of us or that vacation being over so we can go get the new puppy! I have not had a puppy in EONS… Sherman came to us when he was six months old! I am nervous and excited all at the same time!
This little boy will be coming to my house soon!
That’s it for me this week! See you all back here on Monday! Have a great weekend everyone!
Greetings Gentle Unravelers on this most somber of Wednesday’s
I am sure, like me, you all remember exactly where you were at 8:14AM EDT in 2001. Today, especially, I think of the 2,977 souls that were lost. A good day to sit in quiet meditation and catch up my stitching… I am a couple days behind this month.
In an effort to not stitch olives… I am hoping these will look more flower-like as the month moves along!
There has been the tiniest bit of knitting this week… some rows added to my Color Marled shawl and I have joined a new color to the mix!
Leaving the land of deep magenta for a fun orange!
I also have knit some rounds on what I think might be a hat for a gnome… Yowza… it appears it’s going to be a mighty big hat! This is some slow knitting… there is a row guide leading me on and, as you can see, I have LOTS of boxes to tick off yet!
A long way to go yet…
And that is the sum total of all my knitting this week.
Most of the time I fiddled with Gnatty! On his most recent walk, a grey-winged blue gnatty catcher stopped to say hello! And he discovered an oak tree that produces knitted acorns but he is keeping the location a secret! No pattern for the bird, just a few tiny scraps and some stuffing to fill him out… and those finishing touches of some wings, a tail, and a stitched beak!
A wee gnatty catcher!
This week has found me immersed in the world of Adam Bede. Oof… it has had its hard moments, but Eliot’s writing is just magnificent. Really… does anyone do conversations better than her? I think not. I finished it yesterday but I have not given it any rating yet. Everything is still swirling about my head… but I know this, I loved it…perhaps not quite as much as The Mill on the Floss, but close!
Up next, Rosamunde Pilcher’s September… and I am excited to settle in with it!
Ant that is all I have for today. I hope you are feeling more productive than I have felt recently!
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
Over the weekend I planned for the future… planning as in ordering bulbs to plant. This is the kind of future planning I think I like best, a colorful promise of delight after a long, brown winter!
And that got me thinking about what else is a promise of delight.
A big one on my list used to be sweater knitting… cast on, invest some a good bit of time knitting, and before you know it a new sweater appears! (or apparently not, in my case…)
Perhaps you all can see where this is going… if you think back to my last sweater project… and add in the new sweater project. And you end up in a place that I found myself in over the weekend… how much more time will I invest in this sweater that I am not sure will work in the end?
One sweater is still waiting to be taken apart and “unraveled”… do I really want to add another sweater to that pile?
Sigh… so the new sweater is going to take a bit of a time out. Time out for me to contemplate a bit longer… before I will probably just unravel it all.
Sometimes the promise of delight is in knowing when to quit!
Success does not lie in sticking to things. It lies in picking the right thing to stick to and quitting the rest. — Annie Duke
I hope your Monday is full of actual delightful things…like a fall tinged morning, the sound of the school bus rambling through the neighborhood, and a steaming warm cup of coffee!
It has been a good week… I got my “fall jabs” at Rite Aid on Wednesday and yesterday I was feeling it. I reminded myself that my feeling “icky” meant that my body was working hard on building new fighter t-cells and this morning I was feeling back to normal (outside my “jabbed” arm but that too shall pass soon!)
This week I have just a couple things to share (sorry, I really haven’t been paying much attention to the internet much these days.)
Steve was all excited about sharing something on Netflix with me yesterday. This is a real rarity… he does not like to watch television much at all. But as I watched the trailer yesterday with him, I felt a bit of hope flickering inside me. Perhaps Will Farrell and Harper Steele are just the people we need…
And, while I have mentioned Makers for Kamala before, I want to share it again. I follow many of the makers involved on social media and I know they are hoping to hit the 10k mark… I don’t know how far they are from it. But if ever there was a moment to get involved in an election… this is it. You will find the link here to sign up… you have nothing to lose and we have everything to gain! (And where you find a gathering of makers… you know we are not going back!!)
That is it from me this week! See you all back here on Monday!
