Taking it slow
Today I’m not rushing. I’m consciously trying not to try to do sixteen things all at once. I’m taking the time to do things slowly and one at a time. It feels an astonishingly calm way to go about things and I don’t know why I don’t do it all the time.
I went to church this morning and listened to a very short but deep sermon about the black times in one’s life. It clearly hit home forcefully with a lot of the congregation and several, including a close friend, were in tears afterwards. I scooped up my friend and decamped to the nearest coffee shop for a chat. I’m glad I took the time and wasn’t rushing off like I usually am. I actually felt very fortunate that I’m not dealing with any major dark periods (other than teenagerdom of course, which does have its moments), but I know how quickly that can change and how important it is to have friends at those times.
So, here I am, savouring the good times. It’s cold and grey outside and I’m sure it’s going to pour. We’ve lit a fire and the cupcake queen is baking, filling the house with wonderful smells. Max and I are learning French verbs. He’s surprisingly good and I think things may just be starting to fall into place.
An ordinary day, taking time to enjoy it, slowing down and living in the present.
Life is good (on the whole!),
Helen
Odds and Ends
Today I’m tying up loose ends…so bear with me…lots of bits and pieces to report, questions to answer, that sort of thing…
The Rug
The rug is coming along very nicely – and seems to have struck a cord out there in blogland. I did a few inches at the top and have now started working up from the bottom as well – it needs to meet in the middle and not finish at the edge. It’s a little fiddly and the fabric does fray a bit too – but a manageable amount. The book recommends cutting strips using a pinking blade on the rotary cutter to eliminate this….but I don’t think pinking blades have made it to Switzerland yet, so I’m pressing on without!! I don’t have the feeling yet that the ugly stash is drastically reduced, but it’s early days, and I live in hope on that one!!
The Son
He’s doing much better, thank you all for asking – three days off school being bored and without electronic stimulation other than books on tape seemed to be quite a challenge, but he did baking, helped me with dinner and even came to the grocery store with me yesterday. The headache basically hung around for three days. Last night I was out with friends and he seems to have overindulged in watching Doctor Who on TV resulting in the headache back with a vengeance and a sleepless night. Er, did the doctor say ‘no TV’? Did she say that for a reason? Would it have been sensible to assume that she actually knew what she was talking about? All calm on the western front this morning, so I’m hoping that we may be through it all!
The Stash
Do you want the good news or the bad?
The good? OK, here goes. I haven’t bought any yarn at all this year (trumpet roll at this point please!!) and have used a fairly whopping 2,600 yards (3 pairs of socks and a cardigan). I’m feeling virtuous…..
or at least I would be if it wasn’t for the fabric debacle….which is a miserable 28.75 yards net increase, mainly caused by me panicking about having the right fabrics for Stitch Tease and also faffling around and dithering about the Hopscotch quilt. MInd you, I only count finished projects in my totals and there are a fair few WIPs which could be finished within the foreseeable future, so it is salvageable. I’m still a bit ashamed of my lack of willpower though 🙁
The Knee
Still not healed…..boring, boring, boring…
I’ve been discharged by the specialist and only have one physio session left and then it’s just a case of wait and see. I have no pain most of the time just pootling around and getting on with my everyday life, can manage pilates and yoga, but running and skiing aren’t on the cards at the moment. As the weather is absolutely perfect for running this is a tad frustrating….but I can live with it.
Don’t ask what has happened to my weight in the meantime. Nightmare city made worse by the prospect of a 30 year school reunion in Newcastle in the summer. I see the dreaded D word on the horizon….
Enjoy your weekend and don’t forget to take time out so smell the spring flowers and listen to the birds singing!
Helen
A devious plan to use up all the 1980’s fabric that I will never use any other way and which keeps falling out of the cupboard.
I’m sure this is a problem for everyone out there who has been quilting since the beginning of time like me. My stash originated about 25 years ago – at a time when little spriggy calicoes and Laura Ashley flowers were the things to have. I have never been a woman with a lot of willpower and I clearly collected everything I could get my dirty little mits on and more. I also appear to have had a few moments of total mental aberration in fabric shops…..I’ve bought more than my fair share of truly horrible fabric…
….and it’s all still there…
This morning had come to the end of the road with my fabric stash. It’s all supposed to fit neatly into one fairly large glass-fronted Ikea cupboard. Needless to say that this hasn’t been the case for a fair while (and I have just ordered MORE FABRIC!). the doors don’t close anymore and anytime I dare open one of them there is a cascade of fat quarter bundles ontop of me.
Anyway, this morning I was pondering what I could do about it all. I started to really look at what was in there and there was really quite a lot of it that I didn’t like at all. Not only was it not very nice, there was no way in h*** that it was ever going to get used.
So here’s the scoop…
I’m making it into a rag rug!!! Rag rugs take up tons of fabric and the fabric gets all scrunched up, so even if it’s butt ugly, you really can’t tell!!
In Houston last year I picked up this booklet… (Rugs from Rags by Country Threads)
And for Christmas I asked my husband and son to make me a frame following the instructions in the book (thereby killing two birds with one stone – a nice father son project and all their Christmas present traumas were instantly solved!).
Today I strung the frame with strips of calico..
and now I’m making my rug…
The book says it will use 15 yards of fabric! Imagine, 15 yards of old and unusable fabric gone in one foul swoop. How much space does 15 yards take up? It must be a fair amount, right.
Pretty cool huh! (OK if you think the rug will be butt ugly too you might not agree with me, but those who go for homely shappy chic will know where I’m coming from!!)
Helen
Shock and sadness
Today it’s a beautiful spring day in Switzerland – the warmest day so far this year.
Most people don’t seem to be thinking about the weather or enjoying the day. Today our hearts as a nation are going out to the parents and families of those killed and injured in the horrific bus crash near Sion. Today they will identify their dead children and take them home to Belgium.
It seems unbelievable that so many can have died – driving through a road tunnel – something that many of us do daily. Whether the driver made an error or had a heart attack doesn’t really seem to matter. It won’t bring the children back.
I can hardly conceive how those families are feeling. My heart and my prayers – for what they are worth – are with them today. I am acutely aware of how precious life is and how really unimportant the niggles of everyday life actually are.
In Memoriam.
Helen
