A baby in shades and a boy playing baby;

a day of cleaning rewarded with an evening (and $16 dinner for 8) at IKEA;

fabric for curtains and the rods we’d needed for hanging them;

six in bed before collapsing with puerperium and the Doctor;

a lazy day of hung laundry, stolen moments with book, dusting, and party prep;

a bag of apples from a neighbour’s tree;

a baby shower to celebrate the upcoming birth of a dear friend’s first child;

home again to tuck the last standing child in bed;

discovering they’d spent their evening cleaning the chaos, also known as the basement;

a good morning, high hopes of further basement cleaning replaced with a much slower and welcome speed;

more laundry hung, more stolen moments, a new recipe, and yard cleanup by little helpers;

friends joining us for dinner;

and a wise (and gentle) reminder from one of those friends that summer is short and children don’t stay young for long.

This weekend was busy work, slow pace, and cherished moments.

once again I’m doubling up with these two beautiful friends

:: joining Amanda for weekending:: 

:: giving thanks with Taryn at Wooly Moss Roots for Gratitude Sunday ::

A few weeks ago I steeled myself against hesitation and resolved to cast on a sweater in my size.

Last summer when the lovely Shannon of luvinthemommyhood introduced a Summer Sweater KAL (knit-a-long) I signed up full of assurance that I would have plenty of time to knit a sweater for me. Somewhere between preserving several hundred pounds of produce, knitting three child-sized sweaters (here, here, and here), and giving birth (that small thing) I realized it wasn’t going to happen.

When Shannon returned with the KAL this summer I shook my head. I knew it was not the right time to start a big project.

So…imagine my surprise when I found myself casting on a Shalom with the Cascade Eco I’d purchased for last year’s intended sweater. Even more surprising because I’ve always been on the fence about this pattern. So many talented knitters have displayed this sweater but I’ve been unsure. Some I’ve loved, others…well, I just haven’t.

I’m so glad I gave it another look. I realized I much prefer it knit with sleeves and extra buttons – a simple fix. And how serendipitous in this season where I’ve been seeking a place of Shalom to find one growing in my hands.

It’s been a nice quiet knit. Not perplexing, although I did get my obligatory pattern reading flub out of the way. I checked other knitters’ notes on the pattern (see my related bookmarks with my ravelry notes) and decided to follow Soulemama’s modifications.

Based on my previous (and limited) experience knitting sweaters for children it feels like I’m knitting this one for an elephant but thanks to the beauty of top down knitting so far it seems to fit. The chunky weight of the Eco wool makes the knitting nice and quick – a serious bonus these days.

And since it’s yarn along day after all, I have a book to share. While I’ve been knitting I’ve been reading Death Comes to Pemberley. I have mixed emotions about this continuation of sorts to Pride and Prejudice. I’ve certainly enjoyed the venerable PD James‘ writing in the past but a murder mystery surrounding my favourite classic novel? I hesitate. I’ve only just read a few chapters so I’ve yet to make an true opinion, so far I’m simply having a hard time fitting my beloved characters into these new pages. Have any of you read it?

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Find Shannon’s KAL posts at luvinthemommyhood

And yarn along with Ginny at Small Things

I have things to say, words to write, but they all get jumbled up in me. I feel like my shoeslaces are tied together – I only get out a few words before I fall flat.

But flat feels like where I need to be. And it may sound backwards but in this place of stillness and dependance I’m learning about peace. I’m finding strength in the weakness. Soaring in the lowness.

Light is shining in the darkest parts of me. Brought to light, I’m recognizing some surprising suspects: jealousy, resentment, pride, shame. Things I’d rather not admit to. Things I didn’t know had snuck in under cover of dark. But exposed to the light, their days are numbered. Now I know their names, they will no longer draw life from me.

Grace is finding me. Rather I am finding it here. Right here. It’s never been anywhere but here.

And this grace knows no bounds. It’s leaping clear over the “NO TRESPASSING” and “KEEP OUT” signs in my heart. Rooting out those places of pain that I’ve protected so carefully. Protected but never suspected it wasn’t protecting but releasing that they needed.

As all this light and grace increases I feel new growth in me. No green leafy yet, but roots are beginning to shoot out. Something beautiful is growing.

I am not forgotten or abandoned.

I am chosen and destined.

I give thanks again and again.

And so it happens that joy grows.

Burger‘s out after chasing a few sales (ahhhhhmazing);

Dan’s softball tournament – one game played just a stone’s throw away;

a sign made to cheer on the ball players;

no one crying when it was forgotten at home;

many meals outside;

pie, pie, and then more pie with last week’s Saskatoon berries;

finding myself alone in the house with a sleeping babe;

choosing to “take it while I can get it” rather than using my time wisely – and napping;

ice cream eaten in bathing suits, plates licked clean;

hot days followed by deliciously cool nights;

only two sunburns to soothe;

ice cold herbal tea for all;

kids on foraging trips – returning from a neighbourhood walk heavy laden with beautiful (inedible) berries, crabapples, and sour green apples;

sweet times with even sweeter friends;

and  a weekend finished off with a few pages and a few rows.

Our weekend was relaxation, sunshine, and family.

::

Wishing you a beautiful start to the week!

once again I’m doubling up with these two beautiful friends

:: joining Amanda for weekending:: 

:: giving thanks with Taryn at Wooly Moss Roots for Gratitude Sunday ::

Well, I’m not much for getting blog posts together these days. There is so much happening and we’re (mostly) having a great time. And while I’m in no way ready for summer to be over (or school to begin, gasp), I’m secretly looking forward to the slightly more scheduled rhythms of autumn.

In the meantime, we’re enjoying visits with friends and family, market trips, canning adventures (and lunacy), summer storms, and long days.

Since complete sentences seem to be beyond my scope these days, or more likely at the best of times, here’s the bullet version of some highlights:

• I am head-over-heals in love with my clothesline. Some may call it a sickness, I call it hugging Mother Earth while showing the neighbours our underwear. It is a bizarre kind of high.
• Our baby, although Daddy tries to tell me she’s not really a baby anymore – I baulk at that, is growing. She is trying to stand unassisted and walking holding fingers, clapping with joyful exuberance, and just generally being a most wonderful little person. Plus her hair makes a crown of curls when she gets hots. There is nothing not to love in that.
• Petting rabbits is fun. I’m trying to convince Dan we need a couple. It’s doubtful I will win this but I have cute children on my side.
• I’ve been canning lots, but not as much as last year marathon of canning. We’re still eating our way through last year’s abundance (or excess depending on where you’re standing). If only Canada Post didn’t cost an arm and a leg I would send you all a jar (or two).
•  Currently, I have 29 – 1 ltr jars of dill pickles lined up on my counter and outside on my canning table*. I think that should get us through the year…
• *Yes, Dan – angel of canning innovation that he is, bought me a propane burner. Canning outside is a whole new world. I love it even more outside.
• I’m knitting again. I never truly gave it up but through this summer of unexpected twists and turns it was more an afterthought than a constant. Well, I’m back, baby, and I’m knitting my first sweater for me!! A shalom in Cascade Eco to be exact.
• Our garden is growing! And we are harvesting from it! This is an exciting surprise…every time something grows it feels like a wonderful miracle.
• I’ve discovered Pomona’s Universal Pectin. This stuff is amazing! Thanks to its wondrous gelling powers I’ve been making jams with honey rather than sugar. Thanks to that fact I’m now actually letting my children eat the jam I crank out so fiendishly.
• I finished the 10-day fast. I made it through, and learned things about myself, and will definitely bring fasting in more often. Oh, and Laura Emily, is my hero. Really, truly, she is an amazing woman. I’m so excited I signed up for this next adventure with her.
• By way of Anna Marie Horner I discovered this cause and this fundraiser – what an incredible program. I love what they are doing (and they’ve made donating so sweet).
• My genius friend (thank you, Sally) let me on to the BEST fruit fly solution ever. Okay, perhaps you are of the sort who is above killing them (you’re a better person than me), but if you aren’t and you spend frustrated minutes trying to catch the darn things while your family and friends laugh at you, ahem, then this is the ticket for you: An inch or so of apple cider vinegar in a jar with a couple drops of dish soap (to break the surface tension) left uncovered. I didn’t think it would work and the smell of ACV makes me almost as batty as the fruit flies but low and behold I had near twenty fruit flies dead at the bottle of the jar in an hour. Well, I never!

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How about you? How is summer, or winter depending on your hemisphere, treating you? Are you ready for a change or do wish it would never end? Happy Friday!