EKjourney Backup

January and February are probably my least 2 favorite months of the year.  I tend to go a little stir crazy being cooped up during these Winter months and waiting for warm weather and longer days.  To be fair, it has been a beautiful winter with mild temperatures and sun.  Though, I could do without the fog! I have been quite complainy about feeling the need for a "life overhaul".  I just want to purge most of what we own and go down to the most basic and simple ways of living so that we can invest more time into other areas.  I find that time requirements are really increasing in other areas of my life and I have yet to find a way to rearrange the hours.   We need some big changes.  We got rid of our chickens and are trying to find homes for our fiber rabbits.  We plan to put in a more permanent garden and limiting our vegetable garden.  We are wanting to go through the house and downsize and clean and organize (truthfully, I do this every y...

Sunny weather means a walk to the library! Daffodils are sprouting. he he he Today (Saturday), it got up to 63 degrees, IN JANUARY!  It felt like a spring day as we worked outside in the garden in t-shirts!   Phil wrangled blackberries and has the wounds to prove it.  I worked out in front and got the Cottage garden and the Tropical garden cleaned out.  This morning, I made a list of plants that I would like to have since I have been strongly encouraged to find a permanent arrangement rather than digging things up constantly and rearranging. Children played played and played! The bees and the Honeysuckle.  Oh my!  The whole plant was buzzing and the bees were heavy laden with pollen.  I could have sat for hours smelling the blossoms, listening to the buzzing, and watching them flitting from bloom to bloom.   I want to do this all over again tomorrow!  Next up, working on the side of the house.

Saturday was rainy and cold.  My parents had taken Brighton up to Portland for his birthday (and Sawyer went along as well).  Phil took the girls up to the school to run around and play while he worked.  It was a perfect opportunity to work on crochet fingerless mitt patterns.   I finished my second pair of mitts (the ones in the picture) and sewed the buttons on on our way to church.  I grabbed my camera (my new camera...details at the end of this post) and we took a Sunday afternoon drive (in our new van...details at the end of this post) and stopped at a few places to photograph the mitts.   First photographs were in the rain in a big field. The rain finally stopped and we chose this beautiful green rolling hills location.  Then, there was a brief break in the clouds and the sun came out so we quickly pulled over and took a few more shots in this lovely storm lighting.  (Storm lighting might be my favorite to photograph in.) About my new camera...

I finally finished the birthday gift I made for my Sister-in-law, Tina.  This was a great learning experience and when I put them up on my Whirlygigs and Whatknots facebook page, I got positive feedback.  I think I can easily turn fingerless mitts into an artistic accessory like my hats because I can do such a variety of textures as well as colors.  I should be able to iron down a basic pattern and then have a lot of freedom to individualize each one.  I am super excited to get a few made and put them up on my Etsy shop. Incidentally, my Etsy shop is a bit of an outdated mess at the moment.  I took down several of my posts because my hats have gone traveling to Coeur d'alene, Idaho with a friend of a friend who wanted to show them to a shop owner.  Some of the other listings have expired (Etsy lists for a certain length of time and then they must be re-listed) and since switching over to my new computer (I upgraded from a PC to a MAC), I haven't been able t...

I hardly know where to begin...this is not quite the vacation and start to the new year that I envision...in fact, it is the one that I feared. I shared that Christmas and pulling it all together was a challenge for me.  I shared that I was so looking forward to a week long "break" from the business of real life as well as time to prepare for the new year (cleaning, organizing, homeschool plans, etc..).  I have shared how we attempted to jump in with two feet and attack the house with a sense of purpose and accomplishment.  I have share that sickness soon followed.  The chaos that ensued on our week of relaxation and productivity...oh my...and I will tell you that (and hormones) made a perfect storm of insanity that I can barely think around! Here is our start to the new year. Phil decided to tackle the bathroom remodel.  It was loooong overdue.  The ceiling was covered in mold due to the leaks in the roof.  The old metal window was a magnet for moistu...