This year - 2016

This year, I learned to ferment, more. I've been making sauerkraut for years. The sweet amber here is jun tea. Amazing! Made with honey, green tea, a scoby and time. Perfected by personal preference and imagination. For months it was a weekly routine. Then not.

 I got in my mind that I wanted to make hard cider. I read the directions, sort of. I set off with a plan (apparently not the directions) and created seriously hard, dry, hooch. That was something - rough. The knitting in the photo is supposed to be The Traveler's Shawl. Also didn't follow the directions. It's in a bag, waiting.

 This is my water kefir carrying on. I think that is hooch in the liquor bottle, but I used water kefir over my fresh pineapple to both preserve and create a sparkly fruit. Taste amazing! I am all about the taste (though I will eat stuff that taste like yuck cause it is good for me).

Later this year I learned to make tepache. Pineapple rind, sugar, water, and time. You've got it - amazing. I'm enjoying a bottle from 10.31.16  as I type.

 I started doodling at the beginning of the year, and until late summer kept up the practice of a daily doodle. I used index cards to reduce the anxiety of filling a page or abandoning the process. Some days I created several cards. It was fun to explore a new side of my creativity. That ended too. It seems so hard, all over again. I work at corners, then not.

I created art with my granddaughter every day. This piece is created with crayons and a heat gun. Let me say, "Heat guns are fun." We made beads from plastic bags, melted strips of plastic to make book marks, and kept busy on the search for ways to heat things up.

 I knit short socks for me. I love the heel construction and the yarn worked up nicely for color. The fit is questionable. I admire the sock knitters and hope one day to be counted among them.

I took the girls hiking and climbing often. They enjoy the outdoors and my community has committed to accessible green space. This park allows for easy travel up and down the boulders, but we also visited the climbing park where more effort and care is required.

 More art. My home is storage to paper, paints, scissors, glue, tape, bit and pieces and puzzles. We don't have company, inside. We are living in art world. Recently, we purchase a one inch hole punch. Creating never ends. We make art every day.

 I knit, every day.
The yarn in the blue shawl was a find at the local thrift store. I bought home an unfinished project and the matching yarn. I frogged (unraveled) the work and wound it into cakes. It remains one of my most beautiful creations from a find. It was gifted to a special friend.

Late spring, I decided I would knit shawls. Another opportunity to step up. While I select a pattern for its design, I tend to abandon the directions. This commitment was to follow though from cast on to bind off. Some projects became less interesting as I knit along. Cowls are quick and easy, especially in bulky yarns.

This one is a weekend project.






Kim chi and eggs for breakfast. Protein and probiotics. And coffee.
My goal was to have three month old kim chi. We were eating it as fast as I made it. Today, December 30, 2016, I have kim chi from September. My expectation were high. Shifting...

This year I started working out. Went at it hard for twelve weeks, five days a week. Then not. I'm like that.
I cleared out things I no longer use. Made space. Filled it up.
I gardened. We spent a lot of money to grow REALLY expensive produce. We need yet another new plan.
I saved a lot of money. I bought a roof. Boom! That shifted my financial situation. I go out and look at my money - working. I have a new roof.
I changed positions at my job. I had just decided that I would stay when the whole situation shifted. I've decided to focus on how this works for me and to live in that thought. It works for me.
I made my yearly pilgrimage to San Francisco. I journeyed to Oakland to visit my friend. I drank coffee at Jump N Java. I marched in solidarity with The Water Protectors.
I experience floating at the new float spa. I'm saving my opinion until I've returned for my next float.
I found a new massage spa, that I like. It is very affordable.
I gave of my time, talent, and treasures. And in line with the promise, I am prosperous.
My life is good.

Live by intention.

A Turn of the Wheel

I crochet every day. Usually, I wait until evening and the girls are in bed, but lately, I have been behind the wire with projects to complete. I finished a corner to corner blanket for the now seven year old, added a slouchy hat and booties to the set. The baby had a blanket made for her, so I added a hat and booties as well.

That's a set of wrist warmers I am reworking. I have piles of projects that after I finished, I didn't like. So, I frog them (unravel) and create something new. That particular yarn is lavender scented cotton. A pleasure to work with and wear.

Over at All Acts of Love, I posted some hats I made. After that, I posted them for sale on Craigslist and then took them to a local flea market to sell. No hits from Craigslist. Just logged in at the flea market and only one hat sold so far. I have to collect all my wares Friday. I only bought a month rental. I sold five hats to a friend. I sent six and asked to be paid for the extra. Still waiting for the last payment... Next week I am heading west for my annual vacation and birthday celebration. I will carry what is left with me to sell there. I love the Ashby Flea Market and the booth rental is only $30 for the day.

I've been home since July 30. I officially left my job August 1st. Just eleven days shy of my two years and almost six weeks longer than I wanted to be there. Updating my Linked In profile I saw all the jobs I had listed. There are probably a dozen more I could add. I'm not sure what to do next. I have a lot of skills, but an extremely low tolerance for bullshit. And no, I fail at faking it. The moment I realize I need to go, I shape my plan. Every second I remain at a job past my pleasure is for the sole purpose of leaving. I do love going home.

I love it here! Love it.

I spend my days tending the girls. The elder is in first grade and the other runs rampant until I wrestle her down for a nap. When I can't understand her request, I say, "Show me." She says, "Run. Run. Run." and takes off. She's a wild one and I am exhausted too much of the time.

I have given up planning what's next, as in the big picture. I am open to the adventure. For November, I will begin my next novel, go on vacation, celebrate my birthday with a dear friend in Northern California (naked in a hot spring), hang out in San Francisco, and return home refreshed. Oh, and I have jury duty the week I return home.

I will turn 55 years old. There is no way I could have planned or imagined my life thus far. Things are pretty good. I am blessed and I share my being blessed with my family and friends.

You, be blessed, too.

Namaste.

Having My Way

That's my four year old grand-daughter insisting she can go up the escalator unassisted.

"I can do it myself."

The museum was slow enough that I was willing to stand back and watch (capturing the moment). She made it. This time. Other times things went differently.

We all want the chance to prove ourselves to ourselves and everyone else.

This four year old gets to make lots of decisions about her day. What she wears, eats, drinks. Which books to read. Which toy to play with. Still she is four, and as such needs guidance from one who can keep her safe and support her movement through the day. Sometimes, there is conflict.

Conflict, angst, and distress began my day...

Hair. Socks. Shoes. Tears...

And away we go! They promise a heat index into 108 degrees. While DA is at school, I am going to chill out. When she gets back home, we will do it her way.

As I let go, life gets easier.