In A Bookish, Quilty Mood

Advent is a time of waiting, of preparation for the Christmas miracle. Of being mindful of the great gift God presented humanity in the form of a helpless baby destined to die thirty-some years later on a cross. My husband and I appreciate the season of Advent, and this afternoon I arranged four candles on our coffee table. Then it was time to attend to chicken maintenance; I needed to add sand and wood ash to the dustbathing box, change out the waterers both in the coop and run. And then clean out poop. Because even if today is the first Sunday of Advent, those chickens aren't going to do any of those tasks for me. In letting the hens out of the run, I guided them into the garden. A couple wanted to poke around freely, but I had things to do and fortunately the chickens acquiesced. In counting them, I was down one, and saw no one loitering in the run. My hubby headed to the coop to see who was dithering. Observing the hens, I realized Camilla was missing, which seemed odd; she...

A few random nasturtiums amid plentiful weeds and a ceramic frog. For all my tidying, much remains amiss, like planters in the garden. And a plethora of EPP projects that live in totes and on other surface areas. And a couple of basted but not yet quilted quilts. And some revised novels itching for release. Mostly I'm aggrieved, for lack of a better word, with all the hand-stitching patterns that I've indulged in over the last few years. I found yet another set of basted pieces waiting for my attention, and yes, I started sewing them together all the while mumbling under my breath at how disorganized is the sewing, and so far flung. A few projects to mix up the evening stitching, sure! Over half a dozen, ummmmm.... Dude, that's kinda excessive. Now maybe if I only sewed by hand, okay. Six, maybe seven projects wouldn't seem so outrageous. But those two quilts waiting for machine and hand-sewing, plus a couple of onesies that require applique, and then books to release.....

Amid a break in yesterday's storm, I snapped the nasturtiums pictured above. The sun shone as though it was May, although today's a flat gray wet mess. Still a month of winter remains, but thankfully February is short, even with the Leap Day. I'm ready for spring, but in the meantime.... There are books to start, EPP blocks to fashion, even some gardening to consider, if no more than admiring the nasturtiums I HOPE won't succumb to a crazy late winter frost in the next few weeks. Despite all the precipitation, I haven't noticed any overt achiness, my hands and knees feeling pretty good. Daylight increases every morning and lengthens each evening, and here in Humboldt the grass is thick and green, albeit super squishy. I wear wellies (rubber boots) when walking outside, which lately hasn't happened much as it's been SO DARN WET. But again I'm grateful we haven't lost power, the basement isn't flooded, and tonight I'll build a fire, enjoying th...

Snapped last night before I realized what was missing! (A basted square halfway attached, but others remain elsewhere...) I know I'm not feeling good when I'm too weary for editing. A debilitating head cold has finally drawn its line in the sand. Dude, don't play games with me. I might feel crappy, but seriously? Especially on a really SOGGY day here in Humboldt, a king tide making the ground squishier than usual. Whatever the elements, nature and viral, here I am limping along like a forgotten sock soaked in the rain. And.... I can't find five basted squares for my Cornflower quilt! I had the sewn rows and their accompanying stacks of squares laid out on the guest bed and after completing a row last night, I placed it with the other two, then gathered the next row and squares and.... What the heck? I don't know what I did with them, but my husband checked around and he didn't see them either. Basted paper pieces just don't walk away on their own, ahem, but ...

Today's pics are ones I took last night, dried flowers collected by the grandgirls and my youngest daughter that adorn our fireplace mantle. These post-Thanksgiving days are...strange. Such a big holiday, then a busy weekend with family, traveling included. Now we're home, yet more alterations await; dear friends are coming on Sunday, staying for the week, yay! I need to prep the house, although not put up Christmas decorations, as there is no time for more than stringing lights on our front fence, so necessary as daylight has diminished sharply. There's also a quilt on the design wall that I put up yesterday and want to stitch together before our guests arrive. I wrote a chapter today, WOO HOO, so missing that element of my life. I adore sharing our home with beloveds; it's also great to return to familiar rhythms that bring me so much peace.     Then I stop myself, realizing how blessed am I to have that peace. This nation is fairly fractured, but not openly waging vi...

This applies to all areas of my life, but as this blog focuses on the writing and sewing, I'll limit my appreciations for those aspects (and still write a long-arsed post, heads-up!). I just finished my second chapter of the day, oh my goodness. I told my husband this morning over breakfast how this novel is pouring from my head and fingertips, and then I took a shower, considering what might happen next, then proceeded to start another chapter for the day (the first completed before eating). I haven't written like this IN A LONG TIME. One day last week I wrote two chapters in a day, not sure from where all this novelistic enthusiasm springs, maybe due to it being November and I'm channeling my prior NANOWRIMO days or making up for last year's spectacular fail. Whatever it is, I'm VERY GRATEFUL to be so prosy, lol, although I do need to get some housecleaning done this week, ahem. But relishing this rather I'll just write myself thank you very much story is ess...