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Showing posts with the label journaling

Hopefulness

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  Good morning! This week has been busy with classes and routine doctor appointments. The arthritis doctor has a few tricks up her sleeve for some of my dry mouth issues (from my autoimmune disease - Sjorgren's Syndrome) that make me feel hopeful. What was the most important thing during that doctor visit is that I felt seen and heard. I am thankful for her and her team. Speaking of hopefulness, look at my daffodils sprouting up! Some of the daffodils are just starting and some already have a head start. I love winter, but I'm looking forward to spring. The crocuses seem to be taking their time this year, as well as the snowdrops (unless those pesky deer have eaten them, grr). Even though I am still knitting my baby blanket, I have gathered four skeins of potential socks to be and am dreaming of a wonderful sock frenzy cast on. 

Journaling and Knitting

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  Good morning! How are you doing on this fine January day? Can you believe we are closing in on mid January? Sadly, we are expecting rain later today after a crazy amount of rain on Tuesday. I'm hoping to get out and walk with Frodo before the rain shows up. I started a new creative journal for 2024 and it will last for two years like the previous one. I do memory keeping and some journaling prompts and whatever sparks my interest. There is something about a new notebook or journal that just inspires me. Many of my journaling prompts come from whatever I see on the internet while I'm toodling about. I like to write about what I am noticing on my walks, what I am looking forward to doing in the coming weeks. There is always a gratitude page and sometimes just write about what I did during the day. Whenever we are gathered with family, I will print some photos of the grands and document the visit. Of course I write about our museum outings as well and any other day trips or week

Creative Sparks

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This past week my creativity has rebounded. Phew! I tend to go in waves on what exactly inspires me to knit, read and/or sketch. I've learned through the years to just chill and see what inspires me and when inspiration strikes, run with it. Currently, I'm knitting gnomes and the gnome knitting obsession initially was slow and somewhat of a chore. Yesterday, after I completed the fourth one, I was officially in the gnome zen of knitting. What helps my creativity is being out in nature. My daily walk is good for me physically and mentally. I see color combinations that would be great in a hat or a mitten. May there always be days where I have more ideas to knit and the projects are overflowing in my notebook. I have been thoroughly enjoying the dip in the temperatures and wearing wool on my walks. Frodo would disagree, since he is 14 (!!) he will be outside for a little walk if it is above freezing, he just cannot take cold weather like when he was a younger pup.   Of course, th

Grace and Ease

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  How delightful to see the oak leaves falling. On my daily walks with Frodo, I've been soaking in the changes of the seasons. Entering into Autumn never disappoints and this time of year is when I think about new knitting projects and writing projects. All the books I want to read stare me down and I rethink my priorities of what I really want to focus on.  Surprisingly I picked up my paints yesterday and dabbled a tiny bit in my creative journal. Weeks have gone by since I created anything remotely related to art. Just like knitting, my interests hop around and one form of creativity over takes another form of creativity.  The older I get the more I allow grace and ease in my days. I have goals, but the goals are fluid and open-ended in a specific time frame. (I always do what I HAVE to do). My holiday knitting goals are lofty and maybe delusional but I know what I can do, what I might do and what can wait til next year.  My non-credit classes have been such fun. I enter them wit

Weekends

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  How was your weekend? Mine was nice. Another weekend home doing my regular stuff. On Friday, I had a sister outing and in the morning we stopped to feed the chickens my sister is babysitting. They were all so cute! We picked up smoothies and shopped at a few stores before heading home. I'm having the tiniest arthritis flare, so I've been taking it easy and staying out of the sun, heat and humidity which makes it worse. I'm in a knitting mood so that just aligns with my values these days. I did some art journaling as well. The iris below has decided to bloom a few months late. We've had thunderstorms over the weekend that were intense but luckily Frodo cannot hear them and slept through the noise. Holly can hear them and she doesn't like them at all. How was our weekend?

Catching Up

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  Good morning! How are all of you? I'm doing well and continue to play catch up after our trip last weekend to Cambridge, MA. The unpacking is the easy part, it's the internet catch up - bill paying and visiting blogs. Also buying groceries while not having a menu plan. I should just give up having a menu plan since I seem to do fairly well winging the meals.  I've been holding off saying this but I'm just about to burst because I am ready for FALL. I'm doing my best to enjoy the summer season especially since this is my husband's favorite season. As of today, we have 50 more days until the first day of Autumn.  I went out shopping with my sister yesterday morning and I bought some new charms from Joann Fabrics to add to my traveller's notebook. They are so cute. The tidy Buddha was from the beach vacation last year.  This fall, I will be taking some classes at the local university for people over 50 years old. I'm excited to go back to school but it

Rainy Friday

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  Good morning to all of you on this rainy Friday morning. This past week I enjoyed lots of sunny days and so I must let them go and welcome the rain. I'm reminding myself that the flowers will grow and the green will become greener, if that is a word, okay, maybe 'more green'. How are you doing?  I have been enjoying my knitting nearly every single day. And as always creative pursuits are coming along as well. Most of March was a minimally creative experience because of my dad in the hospital. This past Tuesday we drove up to visit him and my step mom and it was wonderful to see him up and about talking and planning out all he wants to do around his property as he continues to feel better. I feel the maximum amount of gratitude. In my creativeness the first thing to disappear during stress is consistent artwork sessions. For some reason, showing up and sketching or painting is the last thing I want to do. I tend to read a bunch or knit a bunch. The knitting is simple and t

Grace

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  Can you believe the crazy weather these days? Yesterday was 80 degrees and today is going to be higher than that. It's too soon! My dogwoods are starting to bloom and it feels a bit early to me.  I've been thinking about how I give myself grace. Sure it's easy to give grace to others and it comes easily.  I wonder why I'm so hard on myself especially if I am not feeling well. Living with a chronic autoimmune disorder (Sjogren's Syndrome) and trying to come up with the best ways to manage my symptoms and eliminate triggers, I lose sight on accepting my reality and just giving myself grace. After battling sinus issues for most of this week and a runny nose for three weeks, I saw my doctor and now have some medicines to get me back to feeling healthy. Phew! I'm doing my best! So how do I give myself grace? Being mindful in each moment is helpful. Journaling my thoughts, feelings and pouring my heart out onto the paper with a favorite fountain pen, the best free t

Weekends

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  Good morning! How was your weekend? Mine was eventful as opposed to uneventful. On Saturday my sister and I picked up some smoothies and went to a local yarn store. Of course I bought more yarn - life is short. However I am very specific in what I buy and have a plan for the yarn. In my younger years I bought yarn because I liked it but didn't have a plan for it. I'm trying to be mindful in my purchasing. Sunday we all went to the conservatory to see their Orchid show and soak in all the greenery during the February brown days. I loved it and it was toasty warm in the conservatory.  Sunday afternoon I did a bit of sketching and relaxed.  How was your weekend?

Creative Bursts

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  Yesterday I had a creative burst of energy. Where did it come from? Who knows but I love when it happens and I gleefully go along with it. As I've mentioned before I've had ennui when it comes to watercoloring or sketching. I do a lot of thinking about it but not actually picking up my art supplies and doing it. At the end of January I contemplated about how I enjoy writing haikus and then painting something that pairs with the words. So February first I started that art challenge. Will I do it every single day? I cannot say but I was excited to get started. The notebook I'm using is one that my sister handmade for me as a Christmas present. Isn't it beautiful? The regular evening journal (there are many journals in my life) I've been decorating with the millions of stickers I've accumulated in the past few years. I vow to not buy anymore stickers then I buy more stickers. I could say the same for yarn as well. Speaking of yarn, tomorrow I'll be at a local

Weekends

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  This weekend was slow and easy. I'm still not feeling the best which makes canceling our travel plans to visit our grandson in Indiana the right decision. Our son face-timed me when our grandson had his first birthday cake. I was happy to witness his messy messy eating!! I am grateful for modern technology and being connected to those who live far away. Over the weekend, I did some mixed media art that is in the first photo and I did some watercoloring in the bottom photo. I've had weeks where I don't 'feel' like creating art. I've just accepted that it was a phase and I would want to get back to it eventually. Well this weekend was the weekend to feel excitement sitting with my papers and paints.  We did drop in a local art store as well on Saturday and I snapped that street art. My husband and I bought a few things then headed home. Over all the weekend was lots of resting and recovering. How was your weekend?

Abundance and Gratitude

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  I don't usually chose a word for the year but this year I have a theme. Since September when all the new planners were coming out and I was envying most of them I decided to purchase a Hobonichi Techo. I will use it for daily journaling about my gratitudes and abundance in my ordinary life.  In previous years, I journaled each morning about the day before (and I am continuing doing this in another notebook) and ended the entry with a list of gratitudes. For 2023 I separated the two and now will be writing daily what I am grateful for and why. My days easily get caught up with perceived minor stresses and I wanted a way to refocus, regroup and bask in all the wonderfulness in my day. There is so much goodness in a day! I want to magnify the ordinary abundance. For example: being able to walk daily, having fun outings with my husband, overall good health, etc.  Also for 2023 I am back at reading the bible through in a year after a two year break. I have other little daily spiritual

Around Here

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  After many months taking a break away from this nearly impossible cross stitch design, I'm back at it, trying my best to stitch it correctly. I have grand plans of finishing this before spring arrives, wish me the best of luck! How are you?  Around here, I've been busy being 'Santa' and wrapping the gifts that needed to be mailed. Every morning I try to do at least a half hour of gift wrapping. This year, I have more holiday spirit than last Christmas season. Maybe I'm more adjusted to living in this house? I have less thoughts of what I miss from my old house, and that's progress.  Around here, my bird feeder is a continuous delight! The raccoon has yet to be messing with my feeder and whenever I'm at the sink I watch MY birds. I love them so. Around here, I'm closing in on finishing my fingerless mitts. I'm on the second mitt of the second pair. Today that mitt will be done. yay. After that I am done with holiday knitting! I can then revert back

Weekends

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  Hello! How was your weekend? Don't you love the look Holly is giving? She is half asleep and half alert to Frodo's rustlings. My weekend was great because I celebrated my birthday over the weekend! I had a lovely time with my family and received some really nice gifts. My husband bought me a new fountain pen (TWSBI ECO medium nib) and it's divine. I received some journaling supplies and of course more books to read. My sister made us dinner and a delicious apple cake for dessert. I'll be visiting a yarn store this week to supplement my knitting stash. I also decided to start decorating the house. Yesterday, I managed to put out all the knick knacks. Today I hope to do the little tree. Each year it takes me longer to do the task, but it's fun!  How was your weekend?

Whether the Weather

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  Good morning! I hope you've had a fabulous week. My week was perfection, I spent each day catching up on all those tasks that were set aside for traveling. I'm currently sitting in my kitchen drinking my last cup of morning coffee before the day officially begins. The weather is deliciously cold (gah!). Yesterday was windy which turned warm air into autumnal breezes. The week's forecast is going to be cold, finally. We had lunch outside on the patio probably for the last time earlier this week. Well, at least I had my last lunch, my husband might just sit out there in the cold clinging onto the dregs of summer living. He is so sad that autumn has arrived. I am not, I've been daydreaming of sweater wearing weather for about six weeks.  Yesterday I focused on knitting and finishing the sweater , all day long and as you can see by the above photo it is drying after a little bit of soaking and mild blocking. My husband thinks Holly will sit on it, I do not. Who would wan