Hitting 50 with a cold lake & warm knits

Sometimes it's nice to venture out when all other sane creatures seem to be hibernating. Today it was a grey 29 degrees. We braved the cold and headed out for a morning hike. Our most frequently walked trail has become new again now that it's frozen over. The swans, fish, frogs and turtles are gone. At least gone from our view. The place that was bustling with constant motion and sound is now still, quiet and mysterious. 

It gladdened my soul to see these plants sprouting up in the springtime. In summer and fall this weedy shelter was home to tadpoles and fish. This grass is still beautiful, but in a whole new way. Each stage has a magic of it's own. 

My birthday was last week, I hit fifty years.

The current "me" feels very connected to this season of the lake. Partly because I was born this time of year.  But more than that I see I have changed...yet I still remain completely myself. I think even more myself than ever.  I can only describe it as a "truer" me. There is a certain clarity, a peace, even a stillness inside that has come with the years.

I am still knitting away. I just finished this scarf, ribs with random bobbles here and there.
It's a match to this Bobble Hat.

I also made these little hats. Hats are instant gratification fun for me to make. They are the only thing you've got to show off when you are bundled up from chin to boots, which I am these days. Each day I can at least have a bit of fun by popping one of these on my bean.

My daughter came along with me to brave the frigid morning, it was actually her suggestion. She was also grabbing the opportunity to snap some photos in the great outdoors for her online taxidermy scene.

I hope you are all warm and well and taking on this new year with a spring in your step, discovering and creating beauty wherever you find yourself.

Tea with Squirrel

I’ve never had a tea cozy of my own. Sure I’ve made them to sell and made them for gifts, but never made one for myself until today. Each year when the temperature drops and I have need of a cozy I grab a kitchen towel, wrap it around my teapot and that’s that. It works so well that the real need is gone so I figure why waste the time making one when there are so many other things pressing. This adorable squirrel pattern was so simple and quick that I couldn’t resist it. I whipped it up today from a piece of berry wool felt. It would have been done even faster but my sewing machine has issues with metallic thread and I wanted  gold stitching for this festive Christmas season. Tonight while the children were finally nestled all snug in their beds it was just me and the squirrel for tea. He did his job while I glanced through some of my inspirational Christmas books for more ideas of things to make and do.

My day off

Everyone can use a day off. Working folks get holidays off.  Moms at home usually work overtime during holidays. My husband often suggests that I go off and do something "fun" by myself. My problem is that I can never think of anything worth doing. Or the day finally arrives and I decide it's just too much trouble. Everything I really enjoy doing I do at home, all the time. Fun events or nature excursions I enjoy most with my family. But, when my husband suggested that I go down to the city (NYC) to my favorite store (Kinokuniya Bookstore) and also browse the fabric shops I took him up on his offer. I am not a person who sees shopping as a form of entertainment, if fact it is quite the opposite. Except at my favorite store where I can stay for hours looking through oodles of japanese craft, sewing and food books. All of the sewing books come with full size usable patterns, ahh...love.

Working in the garment district for years, hustling and bustling to meet deadlines, I could never appreciate it. This time I just puttered along browsing from one fabric shop to another. Imagine, if you like fabric, streets of nothing but fabric and trimming stores just waiting for you to come in and haggle over prices. It can be fun once in a while. As for the noise and crowds, I've had my fill for a while.

Speaking of noise and crowds, Grand Central Station. I decided to go home a couple of hours earlier than I had planned. It's funny that I felt like I needed a day out to get some peace and I end up running home early for the same reason!

Ahh, home. They picked me up at the train station and the girls beseeched us to let them pick up driftwood by the water. The train parallels the river. It's good to keep a pair of  rubber shoes in the car, because you never know when you might need them. It's also good to get out once in a while so that you can appreciate what you have to come home to.

Seeking Solitude

I have been a bit absent here, I know. For a couple of months my life has been a social whirlwind, blogging is a social arena too and I just needed a break. We all need time with our own thoughts, quiet times when we can recharge. One of the books I am reading right now is ‘Freedom of Simplicity’ by Richard J. Foster. I read this passage a couple of days ago and it pretty much sums up what I have been feeling for weeks.

“Many of us would find great relief in discovering our own cycles of activity and quiet. For example, I function best when I alternate between periods of intense activity and of comparative solitude. When I understand this about myself I can order my life accordingly. After a certain amount of immersion in public life, I begin to burn out. And I have noticed that I burn out inwardly long before I do outwardly. Hence, I must be careful not to become a frantic bundle of hollow energy, busy among people but devoid of life. I must learn when to retreat, like Jesus, and experience the recreating power of God.”

Foster says, “I can order my life accordingly”.  Those moments aren’t just going to happen naturally, especially in our too fast culture. I am deliberately making room for those quiet times. I am forcing myself to say “no”, even to  good things. (See Andrea, I am taking your wise advice!) Last Sunday I took a walk with my family. The girls were off gathering nature bits to make fairy houses, my husband was off studying trees, I had a chance to sit and just think and be still.  I took this photo of the swans, and now I am using it as a reminder to me to be proactive in seeking out quiet moments and not just sitting back, waiting for them to happen. You have to make them. It does takes effort, it may mean saying “no” to people. If you are like me the benefits will be so great that when you don’t have breaks of solitude you will feel very lonely for them.