Dwindling Light

Oh heavens! I just scouted the forescast for the next ten days (ahem, snow showers? For real?) and happened to glance at the hours of sunrise and sunset; 7:20am and 4:31pm, respectively. As our dark nights get longer (and longer and longer) and daylight is at a premium, we're turning inward here to help each other find the light inside each of us.

On Thursday, we'll be celebrating Martinmas. Making lanterns, cooking warm, nourishing food and talking about giving of ourselves to help others. I'm excited to be passing along this tradition to the kids and, most of all, I'm excited for our lantern walk and soup and bread afterwards!

I found some great resources for telling Martinmas stories here, and many tutorials for creating lanterns. My favorite lantern story is here.

Here's to the fading sunlight and inner spirit!

Knitting {This Week}

Here's what I've been busily working on this week! This is Churchmouse Yarns and Teas, Stay-On Baby Booties...a pattern I'm loving.

This is the start of a pair for a sweet cousin due with a baby girl soon. This is in Malabrigo Sock and I'm finding that I like working with the fingering weight yarn and tiny needles.


I finished another pair earlier this week in Malabrigo Worsted's Autumn Forest colorway. The little guy they're going to was born the same day that I bound off!

I enjoy knitting as part of that daily rhythm we were talking about previously. I days that I don't knit or do something creative with my hands I find that I feel more rundown, run around and just basically unbalanced and unconnected. Knitting gives me something (someone) to focus on as I create for specific reasons and specific people. Love really goes into each stitch and, like a meditation, I am able to breathe deeply and live so centered in that moment.
That is, until I start dropping stitches or tangling my yarn, then I know it's time to put it aside! ;)

What do you find centers and nourishes you?

Jessica

On Rhythm

Just a little post on how rhythm so really and truly affects everything we do (by 'we' I mean my little family group here and myself). With this poor, neglected blog as a testament to how busy, busy, busy can get in the way of true understanding and needs!

A shortlist of my own needs and new understandings:
I need a routine, a rhythm. If I fail to provide myself with this, then I am lost and things are left undone and moments are left unsavored (the worst part!).

We have been reconnecting as a family and our unique rhythm has been emerging and unfolding. So here I am! We have found this nice, steady rhymth to our days (something along the lines of up, work, home, dinner, baths, goodnight...but it works for us) and it is allowing me more clarity to see the things that I need and those that I really don't.

One thing I need is some balance! I know you can relate. As a parent, a work-away-from-home person and as an individual, I need time to reflect on what works. I also need time to nourish those parts of me that aren't sustained by my day-to-day work (reading, knitting, creating, writing and so on) I've been trying on different systems for managing everything and keeping what has been working and leaving the rest. I'll post some more on that later. These "fitting sessions" have been most of what my head has been wrapped around lately so I know you'll get an earful (eyeful?) of that topic very soon!

Please share what works for your family when it comes to rhythm and routine. Are you still trying things on or have you found what works (for now)?

Is That SPRING I See?

Um, nope, not quite yet. We've had some amazing weather over the last month or so (on and off). Beautiful sunny skies with not a cloud in sight. Our garden was turned and readied (and, ahem, maybe some things were planted that could have waited just a few more weeks...maybe) and trips to the beach were made.

But now the weather looks so much more like the Pacific Northwest late winters that we are all accustomed to around here. Which, really, is just fine. No, really...I mean that. Sincerely.

While we try not to blow away with our umbrellas I'll be sharing snippets of the things missed in the last few months of blog absence. Lots of projects (big and small), outings (near and far) and memories made.

Now to go off and stare at the neighbor's spring flowers...what? No one told the flowers it's still winter? Oh, well, all the better for getting us through these last dreary days of winter. My very favorite flower growing next door are the crocuses...so delicate and nearly unexpected as they push up and bloom first thing. What's your favorite spring bulb?

Here's to dreaming of Spring!