by Kat | Jun 2, 2025 | General, Welcome
What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade. — Gertrude Jekyll
This is such a perfect explanation of June… fresh, green, and yes… young. The green of June is not the green of July or August … and it is a good invitation to immerse yourself into it!
When I look back to May (there was no welcome post) and think about how May began… re-entry to a deep refrigerator/freezer clean out thanks to a days long power outage. Being thankful that we just lost so little when so many others lost so much more. And all the May rain (we got nearly six inches of rain in May in the south hills of Pittsburgh!) And cold! Friends, I have not put away my winter coat yet and yes, I am wearing it more than I’d likel! All those cold rainy days made the end of May seem endless but here we are welcoming June… finally! (and dare I even hope for a bit of warmth? I do… but I am sure that will come back to bite me… I need to remind myself of this wish for warmer days when it is 90°F and the AC is running non-stop! Ha!)
But all aside… I am focusing on June and this month, I want to spend as much time as I can immersed in the “fresh young beauty” of June!
I need to find a good rhythm with Pilates… honestly, it is not the first thing on my mind most days and suddenly it is late afternoon and I have yet to even look at my mat! My hope is that this practice will become as special as my daily stitching is…
Happily, hand stitching is certain to remain a focus… I traced June onto my whole cloth and have begun. I also have a delightful plan for my stitched scroll and I am so excited about how this will all play out! And I took the Natalie Chanin class that MDK offered last week… it included a good sized pieces of fabric (stenciled and plain) and her new stitch book. Oh. My. Gosh!
Let me say it again… OH. MY. GOSH!!!!
It was a class with all sorts of lightbulbs going off left and right! The book included with the class, The Geometry of Hand-Sewing, has disbursed the cloud of mystery around some of the more mystifying stitches. Because maths… well, geometry really… and these insanely genius grids and it suddenly all clicked for me. I have rewatched the class recording a number of times and I have been working away on my sample swatch… and when I am not working on it, I am thinking about the next stitches I will try! This might be the best Rabbit Hole of the summer!
And I added one more thing to my list late last week when Krista Tippet shared that she is beginning a summer reflection on Hope, Imagination, and Remaking the World through a series of podcasts with accompanying journal prompts. If you’d like to join me, I would welcome the company!
What about you? What do you hope June holds?
Header photo by Efrem Efre
by Kat | Apr 1, 2025 | General, Welcome
Spring unlocks the flowers to paint the laughing soil.
– Bishop Reginald Heber
Hello dear April and welcome!
What a glorious month April is… one that ushers in the return of many things and new beginnings of others! Yes, it is a month where the outdoors beckons with days of milder weather as we transition from the “not much is growing” phase to “everything, everywhere all at once”! And I love it!
This month my “to do” list is entirely empty… as I “vaguely” talked about yesterday… I am having some health issues…specifically stomach issues and I got the phone call from the next doctor’s scheduler (yes, this is the third doctor I am seeing for this!) Yay for getting that call, but I cannot have the test until mid-August. But at least that means that we can go to Erie later this month… I figured that we would have to take a pass on that trip so maybe that is a bit of a silver lining in all this. Of course, my swallowing issue has not improved… sigh.
What I really need to focus on is catching my stitching up at a time when my brain is very unfocused. But, I sat quietly through Suzan Colón’s MedKNITation class on Friday… and while I did not learn anything new, I was reminded of many things as I sat listening to her guide us through some meditation. Her voice is the most calming, soothing voice ever… and for that hour and a half I was able to allow my mind to just focus on her voice. I am going to open the Calm app and listen to some meditations as I catch up my stitching. And once March is done, I will get April traced onto my cloth and get going on it!
The other thing that needs a tiny bit of focus is some errant weeding in my garden beds… which if I do soon, will be over and done with in short order! Then I can schedule a mulch delivery!!
So, dear April, I am hoping you do not race by like March did and that you take your time before giving way to May!
I will be back again tomorrow with some Unraveling!
Header photo by Christina & Peter
by Kat | Mar 3, 2025 | General, Welcome
How terrible a time is the beginning of March. In a month there will be daffodils and the sudden blossoming of orchards, but you wouldn’t know it now. You have to take spring on blind faith. — Beatriz Williams
March certainly roared in like a lion here in the south hills of Pittsburgh… for a time on Saturday it looked like a snow globe outside with the flurry of flakes that filled the skies and quickly covered the ground! Couple those flakes with 30+ MPH winds and bitterly cold temperatures and I was reminded that it is still winter despite the signs of spring that are “popping up” everywhere!
I spent some time Saturday afternoon, while the winds raged outdoors reclaiming some yarn from a sweater that never worked (and no, it was not the big cabled sweater… I thought I’d start “smaller” and see how the unraveling process worked.) It went surprisingly fast… sigh. All that reclaimed yarn – an incredible CVM 2-ply – is having a bit of a bath this morning. I have two stacks of things from my latest “closet clean out” that I plucked the sweater from (the “repurpose” pile”) The other is a “repair” pile that I’d like to get to this month… things like hem repairs, button reattachments, and seam reinforcements.
From a sweater to “fusilli” and now having a good long soak to work out the kinks!
Outside of unraveling sweaters, I really want to spend the month thinking about my living “spaces.” This means cleaning out a drawer or two, but also contemplating new furniture arrangements! And maybe a new rug for the living room!
Oh… and that refrigerator clean out from last month? Yeah that did not happen… so maybe I will get to it this month!
What about you? What do you hope March holds?
Header photo by Bich Tran
by Kat | Feb 3, 2025 | General, Welcome
February is the border between winter and spring. — Terri Guillemets
And that border became very visible in my backyard over the weekend! Why you ask? Well, those daffodil bulbs I planted 2 years ago… colossally huge daffs… are poking leaves through the dirt and well-decayed mulch! Likewise, the allium’s that the rabbits love have also poked some green shoots up… only to be nibbled by said rabbits. Sigh.
Yes, Welcome February!!
However, my much wiser and less eager snowdrops have yet to poke their wee little leaves through the myrtle that holds them safe.
I have a short-ish list this month… apt for a short-ish month (that I am hoping does not feel as long as January felt!!)
- Clean out the refrigerator… sigh.
- I will cross off “Visit my doctor” today! However, I think this appointment will trigger a couple of additional appointments. Sigh. But, ignoring problems does not make them go away… so yes, I am putting my “big girl panties on” this morning and doing a bit of adulting.
- And, if things one and two were not enough… I would like to get our taxes done this month. (perhaps while there is still a somewhat functional IRS)
I figure that with this line up I won’t have much spare time to stress over what chaos the Orange Ogre unleashes this month…. and perhaps that is a good thing.
I sincerely hope that your February does not include any problematic things… and it is a month of sunshine, roses, and chocolates for you all!
Happy Monday, see you all back here on Wednesday!!
Header Photo by Kaboompics.com
by Kat | Jan 6, 2025 | General, Welcome
JANUARY,
The first month of the year,
A perfect time to start all over again,
Changing energies and deserting old moods,
New beginnings, new attitudes
― Charmaine J Forde
And perhaps even knowing what actual day it is! Yes, hello, January!
Yes, I have spent the last two weeks in a “haze of days” where every day felt like a weekend. There were odd amounts of Monday’s as well, with each week having more than one… or so it felt!
But yesterday when I sat down to turn the page in my calendar to “peek into” this week… it felt very Sundayish and I am now ready to welcome a new month!
One that is not creeping in slowly, despite my “what day is it” confusion!
Already, I have accomplished BIG things… My new stitching is set up and I have even stitched every day!
Last year’s stitch pages have been washed and are now dry… ready for me to put them together.
And I have found a new rhythm with my Marled Scarf… I have just 3 color changes to go to completion!
So with all that already under my belt… what possibly else can this month hold?
Here are the other things I’d like to find space for this month:
- The Great Closet Clean Out! Yes, cold weather has finally set in so I need to put away the lingering “warmer weather” clothes and do a good sorting.
- The Great Pantry Clean Out! My pantry is the very bane of my existence, but I am determined to “start fresh” this month and bring some semblance of order to its shelves!
- The Great Desk Clean OFF! Ugh, really… just a huge ugh to this one. I want to find some “organizing accessories” to help me keep my space uncluttered, inviting, a space where I can write, read some poetry, and begin my day in a more orderly fashion… versus the absolute chaos it is right now!
And it is not just the “doing” of these things… it is the combination of doing them and keeping Frankie amused! Wish me luck!
Six days in… with a list that looks short but is really overly full! What about you? What do you hope to accomplish this month?
I will see you all back here on Wednesday with some unraveling!
Header photo by AS Photography
by Kat | Dec 2, 2024 | General, Welcome
It is December, and nobody asked if I was ready. — Sarah Kay
Hello December,
How are you here already?! I mean, I swear it was just July! I know that I might have silently wished for a cool December breeze on one of the many hot July afternoons… but really, it was just a passing thought!
And I for sure was not ready for you to come roaring in like a much colder and incredibly windier version of a March Lion!
I asked all my kids for “lists” … or ideas… early in November. I am still list-less on all fronts so I think a bit of Nagging Mother needs to be released into the Text-World.
Also… of course I did not get all my bulbs in during the mild November days. I still have 50 varied hyacinths to plant. I am hoping for a bit of a warm up this week, but I think nature has other plans for me because our forecast is full of bitterly cold, well below freezing days. Sigh.
Franklin gets his final puppy shots this morning… and I am hoping to get his “snip” surgery scheduled for January. I have also reached the point of really hoping for him to be done having to go out in the middle of the night. Things I did not consider before beginning this Puppy Adventure: Steve’s unwillingness to get up *even on the weekends* with Franklin. I am feeling very depleted…
This December will be the first in my life that I have not put up the Christmas tree. But I really did not want another task to tackle by myself and I think that in this rambunctious stage of puppy life, putting a tree up is inviting disaster. However, we purchased two small birch trees for the mantle that I hope to get “spread out” and incorporated with the fairy lights before this week is over.
AND… the first day without a single digit windchill, I will take Frankie out with me to get the outside lights up!
The ONLY other things on my December list are to savor the joy of Gnome Knitting as Gnana’s story unfolds. And, perhaps more pressing, I do have a bit of “homework” to accomplish before Felix’s BuJo class on the 6th… I need to ask myself the following question: “What DID I do in January?!” The answer is what I need to “get myself started”… I am hoping for a bit of time this week to look back and think about it!
And that is about all the brain bandwidth I have for things I want to accomplish this month. What about you? What do you hope this month holds?
I will be back on Wednesday and I hope you will too!
Header photo by Luna Lovegood
