april

April is promising to be a very busy month for our family. Brad and I were walking around our property yesterday morning, both feeling a bit overwhelmed with all that we have on our "plates" right now, and I just really felt the need to stop walking and just look around at our many, many blessings. I don't want to miss them all for the sake of busyness. These things that are going to keep us busy are not things we can help. Some of them were unforeseen. Some of them were commitments made long ago. But I do know that I am going to practice being very intentional in slowing my body and my mind down long enough each day to breathe in the blessings around me.

I finished spinning another skein of yarn. This one is my largest yet; approximately 355 yards. I love the different colors and how they blended when I was plying. The plying part was exciting because I wasn't sure which colors would end up with which, so it was a surprise as it flew onto the bobbin.

The kids and I took a walk into the woods two days ago. I was hoping to find a bit more green, but the forest floor was still mostly brown with the leftovers from fall. There were a few patches of green here and there and some brush that was greening.

There is an old apple orchard in the middle of the woods behind our home. It is one of the strangest things to me, to see an old orchard in the middle of a forest. The trees hardly yield fruit because its been neglected for so many years, but it's a refreshing place to visit and it just looks so strange in the middle of all of the tall oaks, maples, and pines. The area also stays surprisingly free of brush and undergrowth, which seems strange to me, and is another reason I really like it. I need to take my knitting back there this summer and enjoy some outdoor knitting.

I recently ordered three new knitting books. I had already looked through The Gentle Art of Knitting because I had previously checked it out of the library. I enjoyed it and liked enough of the patterns to go ahead and order a copy to keep. I also picked up two other books, Home and Away and Swoon Maine. I've had both of those in my Amazon wishlist for awhile, and I snatched them up when I had enough Amazon cash to do so. Both of them have some really amazing patterns that I will be making for sure. I am loving the photography in both, particularly in Swoon Maine. I do love Maine so I love having the scenery of that beautiful state in a wonderful knitting book. Two of my favorite things in one.