progress and a pause

 We finished the living room to the point where we could get the furniture all put back in place. We still need to attend to a few details such as face plates, wall decor, and curtains, but I'm giving the paint another day or so to cure. I've learned that lesson the hard way in the past. 


We were going to start the kitchen and dining area over the weekend, but we decided to take a much-needed family break and spend some time resting and playing. This week is going to be broken up a bit due to some traveling, so we're going to hit the kitchen hard next week and tackle everything at one time. I'm currently hem-hawing around regarding the paint color of our kitchen cabinets, so I want to at least have that finalized by the end of this week. 

The plan for the kitchen is to paint the ceilings and the walls. I'm going to paint the cabinets either a shade of white or possibly a light gray. We bought butcherblock countertop and a white ceramic farmhouse sink (I'm sooooo happy about both of those purchases.) I'm having Brad remove one of the upper sections of cabinets from one side of the kitchen window so we can put open shelving there. And we will be installing a white subway tile back splash. 

The weather was perfect over the weekend. We spent time outside. We picked and ate many blueberries straight from the bushes. We spent time weeding the raised beds. We visited with family who were in from Texas. We played with our animals, and the kids visited and played with their cousins and spent lots of time in the pool. We made sushi. I listed a bunch of homeschool material online. I spent some time knitting my shawl and spinning some merino. It was very unusually laid back for a summer weekend.

homegrown and handmade

  Some of my handspun. 

Very high tech fiber-drying apparatuses, huh?

 

I fought with the seeming frivolity of posting today. When I get really busy and consumed with projects or duties or just daily life, I often find pausing to take photos or write blogs tedious. I'm like, "Let's just get on with it! No time to pause for photos!" 

And many times, that is true and quite agreeable. I certainly find it harder to stay focused when I'm stopping to find my camera and snap photos. 

But yesterday, while swirling around in my busyness, I remembered why it is that I pause to take photos. I love to look back through our Shutterfly albums or read back through this blog and see all that we did as a family. I love to see our adventures, our journeys, our projects, our trips, our endeavors. 

So I paused long enough to grab my camera several times yesterday and this morning. And, admittedly, I hesitated. But, come one, these are the moments. 

So what has kept me so exceptionally busy?

Well, remember that interior door that I decided to paint? The one I mentioned back in this post? Yes, well that turned into painting all of our trim white. Then we decided to paint the walls. But first the ceilings, because nothing has been painted for eight years and you could tell. Then my mother-in-law gave us a very nice monetary gift to be used for a "home improvement" project! So then we decided we were going to replace our forest green counter top (yay!) and paint the cabinets. 

You know how home improvement projects escalate.

But also on top of all of that, I've been trying to wash as much as my alpaca fiber as possible, which is an all-day process. It's not an all-day project in the sense that I'm constantly consumed and attentive to it, but, rather, one that is drawn out and requires attention frequently. 

I've also been spinning and knitting and we've been picking and freezing cherries like crazy. And now my herbs? Well, they need picked and dried so we can enjoy them throughout the next year when we no longer have the fresh ones. 

Do I sound like I'm complaining? Oh, I'm not. All of these things are quite up my alley of interests. (Well, except painting ceilings.) And it has felt quite good to be so involved in the things that get my heart ticking. 

By the way, I'm joining in on the Yarn Along over at Ginny's blog, Small Things. 

up north and other things

We spontaneously threw all plans out the window on Sunday after coming out from church to absolutely stunning weather. Instead of raking and seeding our yard, we packed up a quick dinner, put on our hiking clothes, and headed an hour north to the mountains. After hiking for a couple of hours we enjoyed sausages, grilled potatoes and brussel sprouts, and fresh veggies and hummus beside the creek. I even snuck in a few rounds of knitting while waiting for the charcoal to heat up.

I was able to wash a small batch of alpaca fiber yesterday, and I plan on doing another one today. Then will come the most tedious part of combing the fiber into rolags. One day I really, really hope to save enough money to purchase a carder because that would make this so much faster. But until then, I focus on slowing my mind down enough that I can enjoy the process of combing it by hand. It is a wonderful process.

I am also really excited that we are nearing the end of our official school year. We should finish up mid-May which really isn't so far away. The kids are busy this week preparing their project fair boards for next week's event. We have evidences of their topics tucked away everywhere in our home right now. Sprouting onion bulbs, jars of plants plucked from the forest floor, rocks on EVERY flat surface of our home, and index cards and markers on the kitchen table, kitchen counter, and coffee table. My type A personality is trying to remain calm among all of these extra things laying around the house.

I finished my sweater and am currently blocking it. Sadly it grew a lot after I soaked it. Grrrr. But honestly, I wasn't too too surprised as I know these kind of sad affairs happen to most knitters from time to time. I threw it in the dryer (stop cringing) hoping to shrink it a bit, and it worked, but it still looks a bit big to me. I have it blocking right now, but I'm anxious for it to dry so I can try it on.

Have a wonderful, blessed day!