Our Days

A local blog writer put it perfectly, something I try to remind myself of daily.

"I belong here. In this life. I am linked body and soul to all my limits and freedoms. I can either embrace everything and run excited circles around every piece of it, or I can pull so hard against it all that I break in half. The choice is mine. Everyday."

Little Bit Of Warmth

Since we haven't talked knitting in a while...

It's no secret that I run cold, or that I dislike winter - or more specifically cold weather. This old house of ours isn't well insulated, I feel chilly most of the time. So I layer and wear wool socks and slippers and scarves. This year I thought I'd try something new. A shawl - sounds old lady doesn't it? Not to offend any of you young ladies that sport these.

I wasn't convinced I'd like it when I cast it on my needles. The yarn had been in my stash for years. Cast on as one project only be be frogged barely in. I felt I had nothing to loose, save some time. Not to mention that its a small shawl that doubles as a scarf, as I mentioned - another cold weather staple for me.

I love it! I'm a shawl kind of girl I guess. I bound off a bit over a week ago. And wore it immediately and non stop for a couple of days. I didn't even bother to block it. It's like the perfect sized blanket that can tuck right under your arms to keep it put. It provides a surprising amount of warmth considering its size.

I finally took it off to block it this week. Then handed Piper the camera (scary - for a few reasons) and had her snap a few pictures. I'm satisfied that I indulged myself and knit something for myself. In fact, this has inspired me to do sew myself a few things too. Maybe when my to-do sewing/knitting list starts to dwindle, I might even indulge myself in another.

Research

Piper has a project she's working on for one of her cousins. One that she's come up with almost completely on her own. I've given her some direction on what we could do with her idea. But over all its her concept, a project all her own. A project which she decided required some extra research.

Research that came in the form of play and fun at the zoo. I was happy to oblige her with a research based field trip.

This unusually warm November weather proved perfect for a late in the year trip. So many of the animals were out enjoying the weather. The lion was roaring, loudly. We even got an up close view as the tiger paced back and forth in front of the glass.

Piper decided that I'd be her research assistant. I had suggested she bring one of her drawing pads and pencils. She opted for the camera. Directing me to take pictures of her favorite animals so she could look at them later.

I think we're going to love homeschooling! Hope this week brings more joy and adventure.

Sister Bear

Let me start this post by saying, if you didn't know already, we LOVE the Berenstain Bears around our home. LOVE THEM. I'm new to costume making. Have only made two or three so far in my mama-hood. Piper wanted to dress as Sister Bear for Halloween (and beyond- I'm sure.) Really she had plans for us all to be Berenstain Bears. I pulled off Sister and Brother and called it quits.

Brother's costume luckily required no sewing. Sister's costume I made from scratch. Maybe I'm a bit of a purest. I see the resemblance, but I wanted it to be exact. The pink is a little too light and there aren't any brown or tan dots in the book. It was good enough to satisfy Piper. She wore it out trick-or-treating for the first time ever- we just went to the neighbor's houses. She even got a few pieces of candy out of it.

Hope you all had lovely harvest days.