Yarn Along: The Last of 2014

Joining with Ginny at Small Thing's for this last Yarn Along of 2014! I can't believe that tomorrow brings a new year. Already!

Well, all that secret knitting I was doing these past few weeks were these cowls. But, unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of all 3 of them before they were mailed away. Oops! Luckily, now that the holidays are coming to an end, I am making one for myself (yup, that's the knitting in my photo), so I will have one to show you eventually.

I also finished up a dress for Phoebe, just a couple of nights ago. I have yet to give it to her, but I will get a picture posted in the next week or so.

I'm reading The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. I am a couple hundred pages in and am really enjoying it. It's sort of a monster of a book, but I was captivated from the get-go.

What are you reading? What are you knitting?

Wishing you all a lovely last day of 2014!!!

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Gratitude Sunday

Today I am feeling grateful for

• These slower-paced days with minimal to-do lists. The bustle and anticipation of Christmas is over, and now we have a few days to just slow down and enjoy being together. We have been 'busy' building forts, playing games, and reading. We have all stayed in bed later than normal and our pajamas have clocked some serious wear-time. The house is a disaster, but somehow it seems acceptable. The kids and I still have another week of break, and I look forward to a few more lazy days ahead....
• A chance to head back to the gym this morning... my body is feeling under-worked and overfed (see above!) and it felt good to lift some weights again.
• The hummingbirds that have decided to stick around and visit our feeders each day, even through the winter. Spying them out my kitchen window is a guaranteed mood-lifter. Their tiny bodies never cease to amaze me.

What are you grateful for today?

Playing along with the other Taryn of Wooly Moss Roots Pin It Now!

A San Diego Tradition

First off, I hope you all had a very merry Christmas! We spend Christmas eve with friends, and, since we have no family in town, we had a very quiet Christmas all to ourselves.
We used to spend the holidays rushing home to visit our families (mine in Chicago and Todd's in Texas)... however, plane tickets to these places from Portland are typically very expensive, and with a family of four, we just can't swing it. But, as we discovered last year, plane tickets to San Diego in December are very cheap. Plus we have friends there, it is warm and sunny, there is a beach, and the Mexican food is outstanding. So this year, just like last, we spent a few days in San Diego, soaking up the sun, before Christmas. And we even got to watch a flock of wild parrots! It was fantastic! Here are a few pictures of our highlights:

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Happy Solstice!

Wishing you warmth and light on this shortest day of the year!

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This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo- no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by Soulemama.

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Yarn Along

Joining with Ginny at Small Thing's for this week's Yarn Along.

Trying to finish up my last secret knitting project... and I just realized that I forgot to take pictures of the two that I already mailed out (oops).... So I guess I can't show you all those but I do promise to reveal the secret post-holidays!

I just finished This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein. It was amazing. It is heavy... very heavy.. and was a bit difficult to immerse myself in, but once I got going I was hooked. It talks about the climate crisis (in detail)-- not so much about the science of climate change, but the politics behind climate change and why nothing has (yet) been done to change the way things work. Klein discusses the problems with Big Oil, the scandalous sides of many of the big green organizations, and the power that money (and greed) has over the world's economies. Most of the book is a bit of a downer.. discussing the urgency of the threat of climate change and how the situation is starting to become hopeless. But the last quarter of the book talks about what has been successfully done so far and where we need to go. In short-- we need people power. Mass organizations of individuals who think that PEOPLE matter MORE than CORPORATIONS. And people who are willing to stand for that.
Anyways, as I said, it is heavy, but so worth the read.

And now I have started Pretties by Scott Westerfield, the second in his Uglies series.  It's teen sci-fi. I needed something imaginative and very fiction-y after This Changes Everything.

What are you reading? What are you knitting?

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Around Here

Holiday preparations are in full swing around here. Here's a peak into our past week;

Pattern for these felt ornaments can be found here

 

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