A Well Crafted Life


Autumn feels like she is truly here to stay.  While out and about on my daily walk yesterday, I wore a fleece jacket and dare I say some thin gloves?!  These are the days I've been dreaming about.  The daily changes I see in nature are welcome and cozy.  Leaves falling, squirrels acting insane with their darting about, same with the chipmunks but they seem more dignified about their scurrying.

This week more red leaves were falling joining the yellow ones that have been around for a week or so.  Autumn is glorious!


I'm still adjusting to an empty house, even though my house has been empty of children for quite some time.  Motherhood lasts forever, and evolves, never staying the same.  But like the seasons, motherhood gives way to changes.  Overall, I love having adult children and take comfort knowing they are own their own.

It seems like yesterday I was their age, being my own newly minted adult.  I remember the feelings and uncertainty of what was to be or going to happen.  We married earlier than others when we were in our mid twenties.  We also moved all over the place every few years, towing the children, improving fringe benefits, buying and selling houses.


When the children entered school age, we stayed.  We settled down and called this town our home. I distinctly remember wishing for time for myself.  Sure I captured snippets of "me time" but I yearned for massive amounts of time for what I wanted to do.  Maybe those thoughts were escapism from the mundane parts of motherhood.  Endless little statements of:  'brush your teeth' 'did you brush your hair' 'no you cannot keep that insect in the house' ' yes, you have to take a bath' etc...

Now that the kids are adult age, I look back and reflect, I look forward and reflect.  How do I want to define my time and my efforts.  I'm still mom, answering questions, giving advice (trying hard not to opine...).  My husband and I plan excursions and revel in the ease of just being the two of us while talking about the kids no matter where we go.  They are never far from conversations.


Reading blog posts from all of you, reading your journeys gives me a broader perspective.  Some of you are married, some are not, some married for a while.  Some of you are childless, some have many children, some have one.  Some of you are homeschooling and some are not.  Some of you are my age or close to my age and some of you are young.


We are all creating a well crafted life.  I enjoy reading your journeys and your reflections.  The tireless nights with a sick baby, the endless work days without time to knit a single stitch, the eager anticipation of seeing adult children and yes, some of you are grandparents.  All of you find joy and comfort in an ordinary day.


On a side note, look at my sock blanket!  I am making steady progress now that the chilly weather is back :)


Comments

  1. Having adult children is an interesting experience. On the one hand it's wonderful seeing your kids out in the world, and relating to them as adults. On the other hand it can be very challenging when they hit a rough patch, and you just have to watch from the sidelines, no longer in the position of being able to be the one to get them through it. I find this especially true for my daughter who has some fairly major health issues.

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    1. so true! I try my best to be supportive and to listen but when I'm off the phone, I worry and fret and feel frustrated that I'm not in "charge"!

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  2. What a wonderful post. This may be my favorite post this month ! Great reflections. We have a lot in common. Our children grown are never far from our conversations either!

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    1. Thank you Kathy! We talk daily about them :)

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  3. Oh Karen, this post made me cry because it is so beautiful and filled with such love and wonderful reflections on life. Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. We are all so different yet all so alike in many ways. I too love reading about people's lives and perspectives, it is such a huge plus side of the internet. Have a great weekend xx

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    1. Thank you Jane, and isn't the blog reading like peeking into windows of houses while on a walk and catching glimpses of a life lived?

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  4. Thank you for such a lovely post! I love reading about all my blog friends' lives, most so different from my own, but we all do have things in common.

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  5. Great post, Karen. Amazing, isn't it, how quickly those busy child-filled days passed? Time still goes by way to quickly but in a different way, hours to be cherished, right?

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    1. I thought that the childhood days went slowly by until late middle school and high school then it sped right by.

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  6. Oh, Karen, you've written a wonderful post! Fall is indeed marvelous, as is the stage of life and motherhood I find myself in. Both of my sons are far away, and I miss and think about them everyday, but next week I'm going to thoroughly enjoy a trip to CO where all four of us get to be together. I do feel like it is a well-crafted life, and thank you for putting it into such eloquent words.

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    1. I cannot WAIT for your trip!!! take lots of pictures and share them with us :) We share in your joy!

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  7. So beautiful, Karen. I hope to get back to my blog soon. I've been doing as your title says, living a well crafted life.

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    1. I'm glad you are happy and busy, the blog is always there at the waiting.

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  8. A beautiful reflective post -- yes, there's always more crafting to be done, no matter where in life we may be!

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  9. So many ways to find joy in the ordinary... if only we look for it and recognize it. <3 Thank you for this today.

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    1. "if only we look to recognize it" so true so true!!

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  10. Such a beautiful post Karen, we talk constantly about our daughters despite them been grown and have families of their own. I have cherished every moment of them growing up and am thrilled to be included with the Grand children. A well crafted life indeed.

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    1. I love reading your posts and your adventures with the family!

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  11. Your post spoke to my heart. It always tickles me when someone says exactly what I have felt myself.

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    1. Thank you Laura, so glad we are similar in many ways :)

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  12. Lovely. The days are long, but the years are short, right?

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    1. you said it! I wonder where the months go by?

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  13. Your sock blanket is looking awesome. What a sweet post. I enjoyed it very much. I agree at how it's so interesting to read ppl's stories and see different lives from mine and see some similar to mine.

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    1. thank you for the sock blanket love :) I love to see other's lives and get some inspiration for mine.

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  14. Yes to the joy of ordinary days and a well crafted life. Lovely writing, cozy blanket, and hooray for autumn.

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    1. I am making steady but slow progress on that blanket :)

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  15. What a sweet post you wrote about different times and varied experiences as we grow more mature.

    Your sock blanket is a true winner. Lovely!

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    1. Thank you Nancy! We are all having so many different experiences but we are all maturing!

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  16. Excellent post and beautiful blanket! I love how your stripe pattern is working out to look randomly planned/coordinated. I've started a few of those blankets but they always look like clown barf & I've frogged or trashed them. One of these days I'll try again. Your knitting is so motivational for me. Thanks for that!

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    1. you should try again! I sort of "planned" the colors in the beginning now I just pick random.

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  17. So true. I think of that often myself as I read blogs. Connected through wool. Xoxo

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  18. Wonderful post, and I just LOVE your sock blanket!

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  19. I love that you have enough sock yarn to make an entire blanket!

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    1. a few friends have sent me some yarn to help me along the way, and the rest is mine! I knit with a lot of fingering weight wool :)

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  20. Such a beautiful post, Karen, I agree with every word! I love that you and I are essentially in the same stage of life, where our children have left the nest and we are thinking towards the future. We've never met but I feel so close to you! xx

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