Lovely World

cold

I've had a cold over the last few days. A bad one. Just a couple of weeks ago I had remarked that I had not caught a significant cold in what seemed liked years. And here I am, suffering the usual runny nose, congested head, and all the rest. Resting feels good, as do long hot baths. I think it is my transition to Spring cold, as with it have come some warmer days. Some of the snow is actually melting away!

We are more than half way through February. The sugaring buckets are going up on the maple trees in my neighborhood. I'm sure there is another good snow storm or two in the works, but change is in the air. No turning back.

blue

Yes. There is more snow this morning. Heavy and sticky. Some vanilla frosting for the trees.

A knitting project almost completed.

A new doll. The figures I am painting have inspired me to translate them into cloth. I am making removable clothes for it.

An old print of forget-me-nots hanging on my daughter's bedroom wall. You can see her violet collection on the windowsill. My grandmother grew violets as a hobby. It makes me happy that Miriam enjoys keeping them too.

A niggly migraine hanging about my head for the past few days. Goodbye to it already.

It is a transformative experience to simply pause instead of immediately filling up the space. By waiting, we begin to connect with fundamental restlessness as well as fundamental spaciousness. (Pema Chodron When Things Fall Apart)

little bit of love

♥ A pink package in the mail.

♥ Inside the package is a beautiful heart embroidery from Barbara of Indiana Blue (she has more - go see!).

♥ Old photos of my sister and me as small children. Could our dresses be any shorter? That is me getting kissed by one of our horses.

♥ My painting of friends walking a tightrope. They look pretty secure in their journey. Probably because they are together.

place of rest

Our sense of the world is shaped by what we experience. A child's first sense of place is the home. Memory is formed in the landscape of home. What must it be like to have no home, no safe place? What must it be like to have to leave a beloved home because of war or persecution or poverty?

I have deliberately created a place my children can rest. All children will come to know the inevitable ugliness that exists in the world. Memory of rest and beauty and play can be a lifelong balm to adult angst. Is this where optimism rises from?

Clearing blue sky, a promise in bare branches. In winter, there are sunny days. In adulthood, childhood can return.

enough

Two days of snow. And it is still coming down. Another storm forecast for tomorrow night.

Inside a lot. Cabin fever? Being shut in makes me investigate my internal dialogues more closely. Wondering what is enough. Enough material comfort. Enough love. Enough success.

There is so often too much here in the United States. I am overwhelmed by excess. Just this morning my mother bemoaned her feelings of distress upon entering a K-Mart earlier this week: too much stuff, too much needless, poorly-made stuff. I would also say that Americans, amid our great material comforts, often worry excessively about security, or the sense of a lack there of. (Elizabeth posted this, which points to our conflicted culture.)

Excess and overload. Here is what the Tao Te Ching says:

Hold to these principles: Seek simplicity, grasp the essential, overcome selfishness and wasteful desires.

Great trouble comes from not knowing what is enough. Great conflict arises from wanting too much. When we know when enough is enough, there will always be enough.

Painting and sewing animals. Wondering how I might combine these two?

yarn

I have been moving slowly along with my goal of making a granny square crocheted afghan. I am enjoying the process, and I think I have gotten far enough along that I am now very motivated to finish. Since I started without a specific pattern I am making things up as I go along. Luckily, the granny square is very forgiving and flexible.

I went to the yarn store last week to purchase more yarn for the afghan. While there, I saw one of the most beautiful scarves I have seen in a long while. The store owner handed me the pattern and directed me to the Noro yarn that I would need. You can see the skeins in the above photo. I will hopefully cast on this weekend.

In the third photo you can see another corner of my work room. I really love the prints of models for wooden toys that I bought from here. I framed them in inexpensive frames I bought at Target.

Today we were hit by a large snow storm. The kids are home, and I have my friend's kids here as well while she is at work. Busy!

quarter of two

:: My clock says it is quarter of two. I have been cleaning out my work room and moving things around. Here is one corner.

:: A couple of watercolor sketches from this week

I have spent the last two days helping out with my son's 2nd grade hat making project. Before the winter break, these same children worked in groups to make fleece hats to give to a local charity. This week, they were able to make a hat for themselves. It was great to see the children so satisfied with their newly developing sewing skills. All in all about 60 hats were made.

HAPPY WEEKEND EVERYONE

indoor plants

My indoor plants keep on growing, just like my children. I have to buy new and bigger pots for them, just like shoes for my children.

These are a few that got new pots this weekend. {This photo shows them in the old pots.}

Hermine likes to indoor garden. I always like her blog.

Happy Monday to everyone. Maybe it will snow this week?

watercolors

I pulled my little watercolor box out of a drawer yesterday. I wanted to use the paints to make a card to enclose in a package I was sending. I haven't used these paints in a long time. My good friend D, an excellent painter himself, gave me the box of paints two years ago when I was being treated for breast cancer. It was such a thoughtful gift.

Now that I have made the card, I will make some little paintings. I struggle with drawing and painting, but I have decided not to let that stop me from doing it anyway.

Do you like my mechanical goat? It is from Oh My Cavalier. I think she has sold out of the animals, but she many other lovely things to see.

{Nicole, don't look too closely! I am so excited about this!}

festival of lights

We have had a busy time celebrating this Hanukkah week. We attended a potluck party at our synagogue on Friday evening, and last night we hosted our annual Hanukkah party. This is always fun. The adults indulge in good food and talk, and the large gang of kids have a great time sitting together to eat at the "children's table" and planning and putting on a play about the Hanukkah story. They take great liberties in their dramatic retelling, and the costuming was quite spectacular this year. The adults also engaged in some intense dreidel game playing after dinner. Much chocolate gelt was consumed.