Wednesday, January 13, 2016

really reading











Why, hello!  Happy January again, my friends.  
The house is a disheveled again, and again and then again.  It's not at all a holiday mess, this is just life-with-five-people-in-a-small-home mess.  A kitchen-remodel mess.  A sick-mom mess. 

We decided a couple months ago that we are going to work toward selling our house and buying something else in the area.  What does this mean for us?  I don't know.  I do know that we stopped feeling like this house is a blessing and instead has become a huge burden that can't really be adapted to what we need or want long term which clinched it.  So.  That makes my head spin and is a 180 degree turn from my teeth-gritting resolve to make this place work.  It was me, really, who needed to surrender.  It was me who kept stifling the little lightbulb that kept pinging on uncomfortably suggesting that maybe I needed to let go of the status-quo and trust that our good Father can (nay, does!) have good plans for us and will supply all our family needs whether that looks how I want it or not.   Sometimes, though, the hard things that we are familiar with are less scary and seem easier to live with in the moment than the unknown good blessings that we can trust Him for as we follow Him.  So. I'm working on it. 

I love grabbing moments to work on my Norway hat - with Lyddie reading aloud to me, there I am, needles clicking, even for the 5 minutes.  While the girls watch the end of the TV series of Heidi, I settle on the couch and watch too, white and purple and greens carried along the back for a double-thickness.  I am amazed how holding two colors has become more automatic.   The daylight hours fly by so quickly and are so full of things much more important than photos of my knitting, aren't they?  I think my tension has been pretty good; definitely consistent and I am happy with it.  I have a little fear over it being too tight but when I slide it on carefully it fits snug and perfect, not too loose nor too tight.  The final test is yet to come.  Two more rows of hearts to go and then the decreases.  I haven't touched Hitofude because I want this hat done and wearable for a good long time before the cold weather disappears.

Y'all, reading a small section in a book every night actually gets you somewhere!  Who'd have thought?  I have plowed through 200 pages in The Warden and the Wolf King in the past couple weeks!  It helps that it is so good that sometimes I keep reading to (gasp!) three or four chapters.  I am also about halfway through The Molehill vol. 1, a collection of short stories, essays, and poems by many of my favorites (favorite writers, singers, poets) which is also very good.  It is like healing water on my thirsty soul. And I am nearing the end of Teaching From Rest by Sarah Mackenzie who can be found and heard on the Read Aloud Revival podcast - if you're parent who loves books and wants their kids to love books....you should click through that link. This book needs its own post.  I may or may not have highlighted 80% of it.
I am also listening to Hamlet on Chop Bard.


I will get back to The Inspired Room and will share more about it for those who asked, but I haven't picked it up this week. Because the next thing on my wishlist related to that book is a little rug for my entryway and I haven't been able to find one yet! 

13 comments:

  1. Lovely photos of your gorgeous girls again! I love, love, love your hat - cannot wait to see it! One of my one day wishes is to make a fair isle sweater for myself, a 1940s style one - I may even get to it one day! Hope you are all well and that you find a new house soon. I pray Jeremiah 29:11 often too.

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  2. I hope your house sells and you find a super fantastic deal in the next house! We've bought and sold a lot in our marriage and each house felt like home when we moved in. Good luck!

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    1. Thanks! We haven't even listed the house yet, since there are some thing we need to do to get it sell-ready so we're chipping away at that list!

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  3. Cute hat! I just assembled a Valentines knitting board on Pinterest. You would fit right in! Loving all the hearts.

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    1. Found you and following - well, all your boards now! Loved the Valentine's board!

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  4. I'm happy to hear you have put you home on the market and will be moving to a home that will better suit your needs. Home is suppose to be a place of comfort and tranquility and I wish that for you.
    Love your hat!!!!

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  5. My house is in shambles again too. It is just the daily tasks of living that accumulate so quickly in piles. I hope you are able to find a house that works for you. Your knitting is lovely. I agree - little chunks of time spent on knitting and reading really do add up!

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  6. Your hat is looking lovely. I'm happy that you're making peace with your move. I was feeling the urge to move somewhere smaller until we rearranged some room to suit us better. Now we have some rooms closed off, unused, except for when our children visit and then we're bursting at the seams. We think this is the way God is leading us at this time, we have also housed visiting missionaries with the unused rooms so I will try to be content and happy right here for now.
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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  7. I've been meaning to knit that hat for-ev-er! Love your color choices! :)

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  8. Glad that the burden of making the house work is off your shoulders. Yes, the Lord will provide for your every need, even though it may have wallpaper. :)

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  9. The hat! It is beautiful--as is the one Rosie is wearing in your previous post. I really need to get working on my sock head hat, but Donna talked me into a shawl KAL and it has not been easy going so far. I know I will master that bee stitch.....someday! Miss you. Miss my girls. Give them loves from Mimi!
    xoxoxo

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  10. Oh, my! I can so relate! We have 10 people in our family, living in a 1701 square foot home, with a utility room remodel going on (and on hold, the contractor is sick, and we were glad he chose to stay home rather than get us all sick, too), which means that a quarter of the house has no power to it, including our bedroom (which is romantic each night, as my husband lights candles so I can see), and we decided to keep our Christmas decorations up until the Purification, and my health has been bad for months, and we homeschool, and oh, my!

    In better news, your hat is lovely. :-)

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  11. Your hat is fabulous, beautiful colourwork. Hope you are feeling better and the house hunt goes smoothly.

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