right now...

This week I am...

• harvesting green beans every other day...ones that were supposed to be ready to harvest in July, finally growing. blanching them and freezing them, hoping to save enough for thanksgiving!
• making one more batch of pesto before the basil flowers and is done
• reading Patrick Taylor's Irish Country Doctor series in every free moment...and wishing for a quieter pace of life.
• wishing that cooler weather would get here (tomorrow, they think!)
• thankful for how pretty ragweed is...since it has no redeeming value otherwise 
• thankful for antihistamines and good eye drops (see ragweed, above!)
• getting out the autumn decorations...but not the halloween ones, yet!
• feeling somewhat lacking in crafty inspiration....which is why you haven't seen more of me here on the blog
• working on three separate knitting projects, all half-heartedly
• promising myself not to start a new sewing project until I hem all 5 pairs of the girlies pants (2 done today, 3 to go) and work through my mending pile! 
• looking forward to a girls morning tomorrow while the boy is at preschool (girlie has off for Rosh Hashanna)...haircuts, clothes shopping, and a library trip all planned by her!
• planning an apple pie for tomorrow evening with friends
• enjoying my new Bible study group from church, and looking forward to building new friendships
• thankful for this list reminding me that there IS more to my days than disciplining a certain 3 1/2 year old boy...it only feels like thats all I've been doing!

the long awaited green beans!

Perhaps there will be some apple pie on this blog soon....stay posted! 

create:: the hurricane vest

A few weeks ago, as Hurricane Irene was barreling up the east coast toward us, I was making those frantic last minute errands. For most that is to the grocery: TP, milk, bread, chocolate.  For me, the two critical errands were the Library and to get more Yarn!  I have several projects on the needles right now, but they all are pretty detailed with cables, or lace-work, and I really wanted something simple and repetetive.  Why?  So I could knit while glued to the Weather Channel (yes, I am a junkie when storms are coming through-- I'd rather watch it on TV than watch what is going on outside my window!). And so I could knit in the dim light of candles and flashlights once the power went out...which it did, for almost 2 days.   I had been looking at some "circular vest" patterns and this one seemed to fit the bill.  Its ingenious, and simple and fun.  The yarn I found has fabulous colors, rusts and browns and a gorgeous turquoise. Its acrylic, which made it inexpensive, but a little funny texture.  I love the pattern, and will probably make it again....in a smaller size, and in wool.  Oh, and the daughter said she wanted one.  Shouldn't be too hard to adapt down to a 6-year-old size.  All in all, a nice little knit for a hurricane and a great addition to my fall wardrobe as temperatures are cooling off.  Here are my notes on Ravelry if you want more about it.

real life issues

This post will probably be a little bit more serious than most for me, but I want to be honest with you and where I am in my life right now.  This week marked my 37th birthday...its certainly not the first time a birthday has made me feel "old" but I suddenly am feeling like 40 is just around the corner, and how did that happen? 

It seemed somehow appropriate that I spent my birthday afternoon at the cardiologist. Now the good news, is that he doesn't seem to think much is wrong, and so that visit went about as well as I could possibly have hoped.   It has been one of those months where I seem to be at a doctor's office every time I turn around...4 times to my primary care, 1 to the cardiologist, 1 routine check-up for the girlie as she turned 6, 1 trip to promptcare for 2 stitches for the boy, and today was off to the dentist for a cleaning.  It doesn't improve yet, as there is the annual trip to the dermatologist next week for him to check my fair skin (and many freckles and moles), another 2 dental appointments (hubby and daughter), and a follow up with primary care and cardiologist in 4 more weeks. Ugh.  But the bottom line with all of this....and I stress this because I don't want you to worry....is that I am FINE.  Little problems, all of it. Most of all, even the little things seem to be getting better.

And that's where I get stuck.  Because in the midst of all of my little problems and my temptation to throw myself a pity party, I need to get a grip on myself.  In the past 8 weeks, I have seen my mother-in-law come through illness we were not sure she would survive, and she will (God-willing) get to come home within the next 2 weeks or so.  I have had a 33 year old friend, with 2 little ones, who has been diagnosed with breast cancer and undergone a double mastectomy.  I have a church aquaintance, 42 years old with growing boys at home, diagnosed with colon cancer and she underwent intense radiation prior to surgery which was in fact today.  I know a family  from my daughter's school, whose 4 year old is undergoing chemo for a rare type of cancer.  And most of all, I see them all going through these trials with such grace that I am constantly humbled.  I am driven to prayer, and for this, I thank God and I am thankful for these friends who share their journeys with illness so candidly.  

I am strengthened by them.  I am given hope from God. I am learning more about where I have failed to put my complete trust and hope in Jesus.  I hope that you, my family and friends and other readers, are with me here:  we do not know the number of our days.  I hope my number is somewhere up around 20,000 more (which would put me close to ninety!).  I pray that I may live each and every one with my face turned toward the One who knows my heart, my weaknesses, and my selfishness, and who loves me anyway.

God brings to my mind this verse today, and I pray it, for myself, for those friends and family I mentioned above, and for you....

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:19

rainy days at home

It seems as though it has been raining for weeks...although I vaguely remember roasting in the sun as we closed the pool up last Sunday. How can that be? I am loving the cooler weather, though, and am so happy that fall is on the way.  We have been spending a lot of time inside, since the yard is mostly under water and you can only go shopping so many times before you start to wonder if the bank account will continue to support this activity, you know?

Here's what's been going on around here in the past few days:

• Twenty five pounds of Roma tomatoes turned into eleven pints of spaghetti sauce, and into the freezer for an...ahem... rainy day.  We used two recipes, one is chunky and the other smooth.  I think we will enjoy the smooth one better, but we'll see. It was the recipe from Barbara Kingsolver's wonderful book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and she kindly puts the recipes online here, since I don't (yet) own this book (but may yet have to buy it...so much garden and healthy eating wisdom!).

• Painting with the boy

• Three loaves of oatmeal-whole wheat bread baked from The Secrets of Jesuit Breadmaking, by Brother Rick Curry, S.J.  I love my library. This is one great bread book!  And this is a really yummy bread!!!

• Dancing in the living room with my little buddy yesterday afternoon.  I had to admire his creativity turning the hobby-horse into his very own air guitar to rock out...where did he learn how to play air guitar??

• Taking the girlie to her very first Irish Dancing lesson last night in the rain.  Wish I was young enough to join her in class! It seems like so much fun and I think will be very good for her coordination and discipline. 
• Still working on my "hurricane vest"...a knitting project that was started as Irene arrived, and is now nearing completion...pictures soon, I hope.

So, the rain keeps coming down, and we are hanging in there, keeping our spirits up with yummy smells from the kitchen and lots of music on the radio.  Then there is always the ark-building project....we may need it yet!