To live an artisan lifestyle...one must have hands. Most of you reading this know that I injured both of my hands in the move to our new place. The injuries effectively put me in a place that I have difficulty tolerating.... The 'do nothing' space. I barely scraped by during this last summer with a minimum of canning and gardening. (see the tears hear) Painting, textile work, sewing, making soap, archery, wine making, writing, all were put off for a time to let healing happen. I spent the summer panning for gold (insert giggle) mostly that was a good excuse to keep my hands submerged in cold water all day. Even reading was difficult because I couldn't hold a book for enough time to read a few pages. Much needed work around the house didn't get done. Then... in October my hands started getting better. They probably would have been better sooner but I stubbornly persisted in denying that I had a serious injury that would not heal without complete rest. In October I could see results . By November I could hold a crochet needle again . Using very thick cotton yarn (thank you weaving works in the u district) I have completed 5 throw rugs for the house. When I say completed I mean.... I had a bunch of half finished throw rugs that were yelling at me from last February. Those are all done and I am slowly working on a 6th. I saw a really good Victorian style hearth rug on Etsy that I want to make but I need Feral Jane to sit down with me and show me a couple of stitches that I haven't mastered yet. Feral Jane can be pretty hard to get to these days. She landed her dream job and has been self indulgently going to work 5 days a week and insists that on Sundays she needs to stay home and do laundry... that is ...when she is not headed down south to make sure her aging mother has enough cat food to feed all the strays she takes in. So, I have to wait until she can pencil me in to her busy schedule. It could be a while before I get a lesson in how to create a large flat circle.
Our chicken world is pretty quiet right now. We are getting a manageable two or three eggs a day. The girls aren't getting up until about 8 am and they are in bed by 4:30. With that little light, I am surprised we are getting any eggs at all. The shortest day of the year is next week and then the light will be coming back. I'm good with that. Not that this winter has been bad its actually an improvement over years past. Jimmy and I have offset the grey rainy days and cold nights by sitting by the fireside in the living room, in the evenings, chatting about nothing. drinking something warm ...and of course...spiked. We have prepped for the holidays, We have a decorated evergreen tree in one corner with new lights (yes, we finally bought new lights) Jimmy made a lovely wreath for the door to keep away the evil spirits of old. He made it from cedar,pine and three kinds of holly from our overgrown property. We put a lovely brass menorah in the front window, and a wreath of evergreens on the statue of Bastet and threw a cupcake in the stream. (our new neighbors are so confused. You can see the questions in their eyes.... but they are too polite to ask outright. Which is good, because it is really hard to explain to people of strong 'one faith' ...cautionary agnostic polytheism)
Our chicken world is pretty quiet right now. We are getting a manageable two or three eggs a day. The girls aren't getting up until about 8 am and they are in bed by 4:30. With that little light, I am surprised we are getting any eggs at all. The shortest day of the year is next week and then the light will be coming back. I'm good with that. Not that this winter has been bad its actually an improvement over years past. Jimmy and I have offset the grey rainy days and cold nights by sitting by the fireside in the living room, in the evenings, chatting about nothing. drinking something warm ...and of course...spiked. We have prepped for the holidays, We have a decorated evergreen tree in one corner with new lights (yes, we finally bought new lights) Jimmy made a lovely wreath for the door to keep away the evil spirits of old. He made it from cedar,pine and three kinds of holly from our overgrown property. We put a lovely brass menorah in the front window, and a wreath of evergreens on the statue of Bastet and threw a cupcake in the stream. (our new neighbors are so confused. You can see the questions in their eyes.... but they are too polite to ask outright. Which is good, because it is really hard to explain to people of strong 'one faith' ...cautionary agnostic polytheism)
