Full Life/Full of Life
Posted on | July 27, 2009 | 12 Comments
Or, reasons Twitter seems the only online activity I’ve been able to keep up with lately!
Traveling – NO, MDSW, Boone (no pics, lots of rain, some hiking, exceptionally relaxing), and Ocracoke. All these have made for very happy times, but very full schedules when we have been home. And now we are planning for San Francisco at the end of August. To visit my brother and his partner Julie and do some hiking and exploring, see what a redwood looks like in person, and make our way north to Portland for a day or two. I’m looking for some suggestions of great yarn/fibery things to do out that way, so please let me know if you have any suggestions (particularly fiber farms, historic/inspiring textiles, and other yarny things)!
Also MUSIC. Besides the travel above, which music is a subset of, I’m on a crazy music discovery binge. Paste, NPR, Last.FM, KEXP, as well as the tips of good friends. Luckily I can (mostly) multitask while my ears are filled with goodness.
IRL work – busy, busy, busy. Thankful to have some job security (Knock, knock.)
Knitting! The little design snippets you’ve been seeing – aside from a bit of nervous procrastination before each big step in the process – has kept me and my brain quite busy. Calculate. Knit, knit, knit. rip. Recalculate (Once! Usually this occurs a few times at least, even with a written pattern. Perhaps I am learning? Calculate 2x, knit. Calculate 4x, cut once!) Knit, knit, knit. The knitting and finishing are now complete and grading sizes/pattern writing is in process, which may take me more time than the knitting. Less if I am lucky (and focused). In certain moments of procrastination, this has distracted me:
Gold on the Golding
And this has become my car knitting/project for when my brain can’t take another minute of maths:
Green Mirasol, yum!
Taking advantage of some time with friends, including this one who has just departed for far away places:
Sometimes I love blurry photos!
Saying goodbye to another old friend (our VW Golf), passing it on to the new home of a very capable and talented mechanic. It seems a little strange to be so attached to a car, but it was a good one and we were a little sad to let it go after serving us well for 10 years, and allowing us an opportunity to watch & participate in the growing local biodiesel movement. And we are now officially a one car family. Which is a pretty concrete step in the direction of some of our big plans, a very good feeling.
Food. FOOD. Food. I have not blogged about food or this year’s garden though I have so much to say! This is where the bulk of my “free” time (formerly online & knitting time) has gone over the last several months. Planning, learning, cooking, baking, gardening, preserving, stalking our local farmer’s markets. Weekday evenings find us in the kitchen, cooking dinner in addition to varied other food tasks – Roasting coffee, chopping & storing herbs, making bread, mixing up granola, learning to preserve/pickle/make jam… In less than a year’s time we’ve gone from habitually eating out a couple times a week (much more when counting lunches at work), to only once or twice a month (lunches included!) It’s been fun, time consuming and sometimes exhausting! But very tasty, and very good all around. Satisfying, in more ways than one.
And another little surprise which I’m quite excited about being involved in but can’t share just yet (another week, I think, not long!) Not another new pattern, no, but I think you may get a glimpse of the mystery one! Eep!
SO… How are you all??!
—————-
Now playing: Laura Gibson – NPR Tiny Desk Concert
Via Barefoot Rooster!
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12 Responses to “Full Life/Full of Life”
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July 27th, 2009 @ 9:45 pm
glad you are loving the laura gibson — and this post is full of things i want to know more about — and full of what summer should be. thanks for that.
July 27th, 2009 @ 10:00 pm
I know what you mean about food…it seems to take over my life (in a good way!) at this time of the year!
July 28th, 2009 @ 7:51 am
That does indeed sound like a full and fun life!
Have fun in San Fran!
July 28th, 2009 @ 11:57 am
It’s nice to get away from the computer! and live!
I finally learned that I need to calculate, and recalculate at least three times before I’m sure of what I’m doing. Seems that I always make those first calculations when I’m very tired…so lots of mistakes.
enjoy your trip to San Francisco!
July 28th, 2009 @ 6:02 pm
That green Mirasol project looks just gorgeous!
That’s so funny about the car. We’re in the exact opposite position. After being a 1-car family for 6 years, we’re now back with 2, and it is such a RELIEF. It feels so freeing to be able to go places at will and not always be scheduling everything so carefully.
Good for you for giving it a try, though. I’m glad we did it for a while, but it was time for a change.
July 28th, 2009 @ 6:30 pm
Wow! Lots of stuff! I tell ya – I have been the canning queen as of late!
July 29th, 2009 @ 12:52 pm
That gold spinning is just unspeakably beautiful.
I like that picture too.
July 29th, 2009 @ 2:13 pm
It feels like it’s been awhile since I’ve seen you! Glad you’re having such a full and fulfilling summer. And I hope you have a wonderful time in SF! You might want to check out Laci’s in Berkeley: http://www.lacis.com/
They have all sorts of unique tools and books. It’s close to a BART station, too.
Anyway, enjoy SF and Portland. Hope to catch up with you soon!
July 29th, 2009 @ 8:49 pm
It does sound like you are living a full and satisfying life of late! It makes me so happy to hear that! Barefoot Rooster has good taste…my personal favorite of LG is Broken Bottle. :)
July 30th, 2009 @ 5:27 pm
Visited after a long time, and good to get an update!
When you’re in San Francisco, do go to Imagiknit – they’re in a nice area with cafes around, and the store is well stocked.
August 11th, 2009 @ 1:17 pm
Imaginknit in SF – next to the very cool Dolores Park, and Abundant Yarns in Portland. If you are driving between the two stop at Crater Lake, even if you have to go the long way. It’s beautiful and the road between there and portland is, too. http://mindofwinter.prettyposies.com/archives/000257.html
Love that you are gardening, preserving, etc.
September 30th, 2009 @ 6:02 pm
Totally missed this when you posted it. What a hilarious photo. When I first saw it, I thought maybe it was the same moment as the strawberry brandy photo, and maybe the photographer was a bit happy! Hee hee. I want to get back to the blog and photo posting and catching up on all sorts of things from the past several months. Hopefully when I get back I can establish my internet connection at home…