All Fingers and Thumbs

Well no surprise here - my first Squam at the Lake was such fun! Days simply playing like kids at a camp. I haven't been this excited by knitting since I sat under some olive trees , and I didn't even take any knitting classes at this Squam! Just spending time with my lovely cabin mates and taking in all the knitting conversations have me feeling the way I used to about the special stitches. Oh wool, just in time for summer, it's a date! Trying a little video of some of my pictures - with a cheeky little soundtrack courtesy of my old favourites Air. Despite the evidence of these images there were many other people there with me after the first couple of days. Too busy making stuff, crying with laughter and feeding my face to take many photos after my first walks in the woods apparently! Squam - June 2014 from Sarah on Vimeo . It seems a given that it will be a wonderful time staying at the lake and participating in the workshops with so many fellow creative crea...

Seen: A guest bed piled with gifts of welcome Wooden houses in a spin of colours beneath glorious trees My dream library   A wonderful painting of light The beauty of home Heard: Red cardinals Wind rustling through leaves The thump of raindrops pouring down The poppoppop of corn My own heartbeat Touched: Warm dogs Glorious blooms Books of paper and pixels Soft hollows of sea worn shells By longing for the arms of my Mr Smelt: Fresh linens Sage Scented baths Lily of the valley Friendship from a group of women catching up over coffee and buns Tasted: Salty sea air The best ever sticky bun piled high with piquant pecans Crisp, summer whispers caught in vinho verde Rich oven roasted tomato soup paired with my first ever grilled cheese How happy I can be    

Oh. This. Holiday! Photos are mostly trapped on my phone, words are swirling, both will be indulged in depth in this space I am sure. Till then two things I needed to celebrate today. 1) The moment of purest, everyday magic that opened up my day. A glorious ribbon of light, snaking in under the blind and held fleetingly in the gauzy curtain. I hope some of the wonder and awe I felt has been captured in the pixels above. It was joy. 2) I am returning each day to a poem that dropped in part in to my inbox in a newsletter (Thank you Heather Day  http://heatherdaywellness.com/thisisme ) earlier this week. It says everything I most needed to hear that day and it makes me feel calm and whole and present to read it. (I haven't got a volume of Rumi's poetry so I am relying on various sources on the interwebs to cross reference (thank you!) for reproduction, they seem to agree and it's working for me) Response to your question - Rumi Why ask about behaviour   when you are soul-ess...

Just downloaded a new e book (The Goldfinch) and am finally packed and mentally prepared for three weeks of fun, fun, fabulous holiday time, culminating in Squam. Am so excited to see what unfolds in the next few weeks. Ready to see what it will bring not what it will take. Ah happy as a cat on a lap.

The brambles and I have made an uneasy peace in our garden. They are supposed to stay in the wilds at the bottom but like to creep along the edges of our long narrow garden when I'm looking the other way, always seeking more land for their wilds while I would like a few softer plants to have their sway. A few months ago, when snipping rather effetely at them in an effort to check them a little before they got their spring vitality and made a push for the house to trap us forever, I found a little holly sapling in their midst. The bramble snakes had filled an old cold frame but somehow a holly seed had found its own little niche in there, a very welcome intruder! Mama came to visit this past weekend and so I sought her plant wisdom, to first check that it was indeed a holly and secondly that it was in an okay position. Happily there was good news on both fronts.  We have a lime tree that is going to break my heart a little this coming winter when it has to be cut down. It's...

It has been a week of crashed out, feeling much more poorly than I have for a long time and on Monday that had me in tears railing against the unfairness of still being ill. Then gradually as I've rested this week I've read and watched things that helped me realise that fighting with the reality of where I am gets me nowhere but trapped in that place of protest and suffering. By accepting the need to rest and recover some energy it's coming back all the faster than if I tried to push myself well. There is a state when I am so low with this illness that I almost lose sight of who I am and can believe almost anything (so long as it's awful!)of the situation, including that I will never be well despite a whole raft of evidence (and more and more lately) to the contrary. Yesterday I felt flickers of energy creeping in and picked up two balls of mohair and am now knitting a cloud* as I let my body heal. Let this be a step on the path from accepting what is to truly loving ...

I was excited that the 12th fell on a day I was visiting a friend as I thought I'd get lots of gorgeous photos. Turns out you can be too busy having fun for photos! So this is late and only eight but done trumps perfect :) :1:Paws that like to wake you up for play:2:LouLou and I:3:A cafe stop:4:before thrifting adventures:5:A little blue sky for company:6:Thrifty finds:7:Flowers for the gnome:8:Percy, owner of playful paws: