Dye-ing Days of Summer

Although the sun is shining brightly, the kids are still swimming in the pool, we don't need duvets on the bed and the cicadas are still buzzing, the leaves on the plum tree are turning red....the days of summer are dying.

And I have spent a summer day dye-ing:


This wool says alot about me!

I'm from New Zealand, the land with more sheep than people!
I can knit - I couldn't always do so, but a friend taught me last year and there's been no looking back.
At times I can be very spontaneous. Just before lunch I decided to dye this and it was done before the kids had sliced the bread!
I have too many projects on the go at one time! (I should never have started dyeing my stash of cream wool until I'd used up the coloured stuff I have hiding in baskets!)
I have a stash of wool;-)
I am always a bit tentative about trying something new - but my friend (hi Lou!) was right, it *was* dead simple!
I love adventure.
I jump into things eagerly...and sometimes find myself in a tangled mess!
Making bright pockets of sunshine in the daily monotony is important to me.
I like memories.

This wool was going to be called "Sunny Days at the Beach"

then "Sunflowers Against a Summer Sky"

now.....it's too precious for either

L6 brought me a bunch of flowers he'd picked for me and he looked just like the wool.

I wanted to capture that moment of a gift freely given.

Now I want to do something with that wool that will be a reminder.

Not a crocheted photo frame;-)

I thought "memory basket", but I don't know how that would work!

And there's not that much wool, so it'll have to be something small.

What do you think?

I offered to make something for L6, something specially for him.....but what he *wants* is slippers for winter made from green orange and red to look like traffic lights!

vow of silence

Do you have trouble with your tongue?

I do.

And this last week has been particularly bad. When I've not been saying things that I simply *shouldn't* have, I've been saying things that were not intended badly, but were interpreted so (on four different occasions) and the net result is the same.

As I read about a monk's vow of silence, I decided that would be truly helpful to me! While Father Bear might appreciate the break, the Baby Bears still need Mama Bear to communicate with them, so I came up with a modified Mama's version....for the rest of this week (if I can make it that long), I'll endeavour to only say what is necessary. This is not a legalistic weight to tie around my neck, but a determined effort at reining in my tongue; I don't enjoy correcting my daughter for a demanding accusatory tone of voice she learnt from me!

it's party time

I'm not really a party girl....so why am I here? Coz when there are two conversations going on a in a room I never know which one I really want to listen to and I usually try to do both (you don't want to miss something, you know)....and some of my best friends are at *this* party so I really don't want to miss out on anything they have to say!

Oh, and March is the *only* month we don't have *any* family birthdays!

So come join our conversations this week.....click on the pretty picture in my sidebar to find out more.


BTW, I'm a Mama in my mid-30s with eight kiddos from baby to 12 and a fab hubby too.
My interests are wide-reaching (just take a look at my profile), I dabble in a bit of this and a bit of that, excelling at nothing, but enjoying the journey! If you can stay a wee while (I've only been on this blog lark for a month now so there's not too much to see), feel free and take a peek at the things I get up to and the thoughts I muddle through.

Welcome!

OUT DAYS

I went out for nearly 12 hours today. on.my.own.
It was so refreshing....to not have to talk, to have no questions to answer, to not have to get meals when other people's stomachs were hungry, to not have to make decisions for other people, to not have to supervise chores, to not think about the two loads of washing, to not have anyone argue with me.
I got home in time to snuggle newly-bathed fresh-smelling children who were actually happy to see me. That's always nice.

For about three years now, my hubby has given me a whole day to do what I like with three or four times a year. Often I use the time to do some thinking/planning or running round shops to check out what clothes are available before taking the kids along with me - today I hit a few second-hand shops and picked up some great gifts and clothes (some of which will be remade into something new) and baskets and tins to finish off the games cupboard. I read some books (see the gardening blog!) and designed the embroidery pattern to go on a knitting bag I'm making.

Next weekend hubby gets his turn - he'll probably have a very different day to me. For a start, he'll hang around home for quite a while (I used to try to shoo him off, but I realise now that because he doesn't spend as much time here as I do, he doesn't feel the same urge to get away), he'll probably play tennis or squash with someone, he's bound to go to a movie with someone else and is very likely to go out for dinner with his Dad. People definitely energise him!

what made me use plastic boxes?

Double-post today for those of you who heard about and wanted to see a piccie of the bags I made this morning.

While the children were baking bread/making muffins/playing board games I decided to tidy the games cupboard. The games live in plastic boxes, most of which are falling apart.....so even though I love the way they stack, I decided to say goodbye to plastic and let my creative side have a bit of fun making an eclectic collection of fabric bags. Three down....lots to go! And slowly the fabric boxes empty (actually, we're only just getting to the point that the lids can almost go *on*!)

This one is made from old leggings, the sleeve of a tshirt, some freecycle material and some "leftover stripes":


These ones are recycled serviettes from a thrift shop, and the patchwork one is lined with an old shirt (front and back views):

Friday Favourites #2

On occasion I've said I'd LOVE to have a cellar full of produce we have grown and preserved. Noone realises I'm serious. The man of the house here will sometimes walk past the other side of the kitchen bench, getting lower and lower with each step he takes till the kids all know he's "downstairs in the cellar" now!

As for me, I do what I can.....a straight row of sauces and chutneys (chilli-kiwi is my favourite)



....and the fridge top is covered with jams ~ strawberry ~ pear ~ rhubarb ~ plum and apple ~ pear and ginger and almond ~ apple and plum and grape and blackberry and strawberry (that one is sooooo good, even if it was just leftovers of everything!)


Actually, in spite of not really being a kitchen person, I quite like making them (chutney and relishes I've been doing for a few years now, jams I just learnt to do this summer when we still had plums left after eating as many as we could and giving plenty away) - it's a job you do once and then don't need to do again for some time! And you can see the results of your labour....day after day. Plus it's great to know just what has gone into each jar.

And the spiderwebs....we love them too!

Down the Garden Path

I was going to post something on here about gardening and then realised I had lots of ideas running round my head, not to mention the need to write a "TO DO" list and notes on scraps of paper in various piles that need sorting and snippets of info that I'd love to remember and photos I want to *do* something with......so I started a new blog!

Wander on over and take a look if you like.....http://down-the-garden-path.blogspot.com/