The Pre Winter Blahs…….November 12, 2004

Every year around this time, I start to feel just BLAH….Blah.…blah.  I think alot of it has to do with turning the clocks back and the days getting so darn short and the scenery turning brown and gray.  I have to dig waaay down deep to find motivation…….it just hasn’t been there this week.  It is weeks like this that I just find life so overwhelming at times.  It has not been a good week on the animal front either…..but I will talk about that a bit later.

Over the last week, I have been reading all of the political talk on some of the blogs, such as Kerstin’s.  While I am happy to see people not just sitting back, feeling defeated and just accepting things pro quoto……I am just so not a political person, therefore, I lack that ferver, even though I can appreciate it in someone else.  Thank goodness there are those that will take up this cause, because it is important.

One thing I have thought quite a lot about over the course of the last few weeks is RAOK.  Now, mind you, the girls that have put this together do a great job…..and it is fun, but on the other hand, I have really been struggling with it on a different level.  I am going to resign my membership from the ring, so that someone else may join as there is a number limit to how many people can belong.

The RAOK ring has been a welcome eye-opener to me on just how much the little acts of kindness  that we do for each other can mean.  It has helped me to think outside of myself, so much more.  In the past if I knew someone was going thru something difficult, I would shoot off an email, but now, I put more thought into it, such as an e-card, a box of tea, or a special bath fizz pick me up.  I find that I am paying more attention to the people who are in need, whatever the level of need is. 

However, I find that belonging to this ring, causes me stress as well.  I find it extremely difficult tossing the member list of people I really do not know into a randomizer and then try to figure out something nice to do for these people who I have no mental connection with…I guess it is just TOO random for me.  This probably sounds silly, but I struggle with it.  I find that it means so much more to me and gives me so much more joy to RAOK people who I know, or who I feel a connection with, whether it be a dear friend or even someone, who I may not know but has touched me in some way.

Thank you Kae and Steph for allowing me to be a part of your group and for giving me so much to think about.  I feel that I have grown as a human being from being a part of the RAOK ring and now it is time for me to move onto incorporating it into my "real" daily life.

Fibery Stuff

  In the midst of this yucky week, I did have a nice day out with a good friend.  We headed down to Caravan Beads in Portland Maine and I found these pretties.  My friend Anne from Vermont gifted me with such a lovely scarf earlier this fall and I thought that I would try my hand at making a similar scarf with this shade of Rhinebeck 🙂 Fiesta and these beads.

Speaking of beads…..I would so love to make some beaded stitch markers.  When I first saw them, I though…….how silly??  But now that I have been using this pretty marker, I am ashamed of foo-fooing stitch markers…..LOL.  I LOVE it.  We should surround ourselves with lovely things when given the opportunity.  Now…………would any of you generous bloggers be willing to tell me how to make them, or direct me in the right directions………..I will be eternally grateful 🙂

Waiting for me in my mailbox this week were these 2 soft and lovely balls of Misti baby Alpaca from Pollywogs.  Yup……you guessed it.  I didn’t feel tortured enough the first time……..I am going to make the Flower Basket Shawl for my mom for Christmas. (It’s ok…….my mom never reads my blog….she has a hard enough time figuring out how to read her email..LOL)

I did manage to get some work on the Camisole that I am making for my son’s girlfriend for Christmas.  This is the black lace Cami from Morehouse Merino.  I didn’t think that I would like working with lace weight yarn, but I have to admit, that I am really really enjoying this yarn.  It has a great handle and just plain feels good to work with.  I don’t know if you can see the pattern, but it is a sweet little eyelet type lace. 

Can I get these projects done in time…..eeeekkk???

The Animal Planet

This has been a really hard week here with the animals.  I have a rabbit that I am very concerned about.  One of the things that can affect angora rabbits is wool block.  One of the first signs of trouble brewing is a day of not eating. When you have a rabbit that has been refusing food and water for a few days, you really really start worrying.  When I have a rabbit go off it’s feed, the first thing I do is give them a mixture of mashed up banana and believe it or not, Adolf’s tenderizer.  The tenderizer works in 2 ways.  First it is very salty which helps to encourage them to drink water, which helps to move things along and second, the tenderizer helps to break up the blockage. 

Belinda had gone almost 4 days of turning up her nose at everything I tried to tempt her with, which really concerned me.  I thought for sure that I was going to lose her.  Last night, however, she accepted a carrot and then another and seemed very interested in eating, but only carrots.  Hopefully we have turned the corner, but I am still very cautious in my optimism. 

I had a disheartening week in the dog world as well.  I won’t get into the long details other than to say that it really makes me wonder sometimes why I do this.  The dog world attracts very competitive people and along with that competitiveness, comes people who can be very unkind when it suits them……and completely blind to the damage that their words can bring to others.  I witnessed some of that first hand this week and it really was discouraging to observe.  Sad, that people can be so careless and thoughtless to each other.  The flip side of all of this, is a dear and close breeder friend of mine, lost a puppy, not much younger than my little Dora.  Somehow the puppy picked up an uncommon form of canine meningitis and succombed last night.  It just broke my heart to hear this.  I so wish that the dog community could be a kinder, gentler place, but I have been involved in dogs long enough to know that is never going to be a reality.  Very sad, if I didn’t love these dear little dogs so much, I don’t know that I could continue. 😦

And in Closing…………..FLY LADY

Do the holidays cause panic to rise in your throat?  Visions of mops and dust rags, polish and vacumns are dancing in my dreams.  The piles of wool and roving and books galore…….eekkkkk…….where will they all go???  Here is where I am hoping that FlyLady is going to help….hehe.  I downloaded the FlyLady’s Holiday Control Journal.  I will let you know if it helps…LOL.  It has been fun reading, however, be aware……..number 4 on her list of Eleven Commandments is:  Don’t allow yourself to be sidetracked by the computer.    hahaha!