If you are looking at this picture, I could see you scratching your head and asking yourself…"Is she a hoarder?"
Nope, not a hoarder at all … this mess is a good thing!

That table is full of "stuff" that was on top of the kitchen cabinets and the essential oils for making soap and handcream were inside another cabinet that we had screwed into the wall so that it would never fall over onto little people.

What it means is my kitchen is getting updated with a fresh coat of paint and eventually some new counter tops.
It's been 11 years since we renovated the kitchen so it was time for a little face lift. 🙂

I snapped off these pictures today and the lighting was not the best, so I will take more pictures this weekend when it is completed. 
Most of the clutter on that table will be going into the yard sale pile for the spring. 

As we have been going through the house and updating rooms, we have also been building a pile of things looking for a new home, to lighten the load.

Every time we go through a room and I remove items for the yard sale I can feel the weight of stuff leaving my mind and spirit and it's a good thing.  I was happy to enjoy them for a spell and I am happy now for someone else to have a chance to enjoy them as well.
See…I am not a hoarder at all.

 

Today was such a beautiful day and finally I was able to get out for a walk. 
Things have changed a bit here at The Woolen Rabbit which as made getting out for my daily walk a bit more challenging.

A few months ago I started tossing around the idea of going back to work.  With all of the children almost living on their own it has become very quiet here and I have missed having someone to talk to.  So, I put together my resume and sent it out to a few places that I felt I would be happy to work at.  A few weeks later the vet hospital that I have been sending my dogs to for the last 20 years responded and I accepted. 🙂
It's definitely been a challenge juggling everything but so far I am keeping up with everything.
The Woolen Rabbit is not going away and I will be keeping everything the same at least until the holidays are behind us, but after the first of the year there will be some changes. 

So with that being said, I want to tell you how very much I enjoyed my walk after almost 3 weeks of not getting out to walk.
It was such a beautiful day!  The air was crisp and the sun was shining and the late fall colors just made me smile.  I love the neutral brown shades of late fall.

While I haven't been successful with the walking part of the KAL "A March Through Time" ironically, I have for the most part kept up with the knitting.  Life definitely is a bit wonky right now…LOL.

I am not sure where this pattern or my life is going, but it's been challenging and enjoyable!

 

Wind stirs the bamboo,
But once the wind passes,
The bamboo is silent.
Geese land in the chill pond,
But once the geese fly away,
There are no reflections.
In the same way,
Once the red dust passes,
The mind is still.
Deng Ming~Dao
Today when I looked out the window I saw the loons that have made the pond across the street home.  It's highly unusual to see loons here in this pond, let alone 2 of them, but it was clear to see why there were 2 swimming together.  If you look very close, you can see their wee one swimming between them.
This must have been a late baby judging by it's size, but it makes me happy that they have made this spot their home to raise their little one.
It really is such a beautiful place that I am able to call home.

 

 

 

"We gather together to ask the Lord's Blessings."

As you look at the large table of people you can see that the Lord has blessed me indeed!
I have been hosting my family's Thanksgiving Dinner for many years now and over the years the people at the table have multiplied in the very best of ways. 
There are parents, children, grandchildren, in-laws and friends….truly a blessing! 

Thanksgiving Dinner has always been a special day here…a day of gathering together.
With a large family it's not always easy to get everyone together with the busy lives that we lead, but this year everyone was able to make an appearance, which meant a lot to Ken and I.

We were so happy to have Brian's parents here with us this year.  Brian's mom made these cute little turkey confections to sit alongside everyone's dish.  How cute are these?  The little ones may have had more than one or two of these, just sayin'.

…and one of those little ones was this guy!

Ken and I had so much fun entertaining this gathering. 
We are very thankful for the gift of family.
~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This says it all….."Happy Thanksgiving!"

I am still trying to find a new balance between working, dyeing, walking and doing the things that I also enjoy doing. 
It was a very long day yesterday and I really wanted to skip my pottery class, but the class structure is a tightly scheduled group of classes and if you miss one you will never be finished, so of course I went….and I had a lot of fun.

The group of woman in my glass are great.  We spend a lot of time laughing and helping each other learn this process.  Sometimes with grace, but most times not.  It is playing in mud after all.

Our teacher is a little older than my oldest daughter Stacey and her dad has plowed our driveway for at least 15 years. How I ended up in her pottery class is a strange coincidence in itself.  This is a small community that we live in so you almost always know someone who knows someone if you know what I mean.

Well, last night, our teacher, Jennie was worried about one of her chickens who had been attacked by a neighbor dog. (too long of a story for this post), so knowing that the Vet I am working with also attends one of her classes on a different night, I encouraged her to call him.  After much discussion, she finally called him and felt much better afterwards knowing that she could bring her chicken, who really is a much loved member of her family in to be looked at the next day if she felt she needed to be seen. (who knew a chicken could be a pet…not me?)

Now this chicken is named Nina Simone, so when I saw her name pop up on my computer screen the next day I had to chuckle.  It definitely was different seeing a chicken on the operating table in the surgery area, but she came through with flying colors and will live to cluck another tale or two.  Heck, she behaved better than a lot of dogs!

With each class comes new growth.  I love the glaze on this bowl, but If you look at it closely you can see that it is a bit thick and if you lift it, it is a bit heavier than you would want it to be.  One of the things I really wanted to concentrate on in this round of classes was to get a more consistent and thinner wall and on a few of my pieces I succeeded. 
The batter bowl and the coffee mug were my successes. 
Now we will see if I can not ruin them when I glaze them next week.

I love new challenges and pottery has really helped me to stretch my brain.  I have really grown to appreciate the talent of true pottery artists!

The Thanksgiving Issue.

Today Carole asks us …."What are we thankful for RIGHT NOW, in addition to the daily things we are always thankful for such as family, friends, etc…so here I go.

1.  My pottery class that I just came home from.  I am working with a great group of women.  We have a ton of fun, lots of laughs and in the process we are learning some cool things.

2.  My new job that I am really enjoying.  Life had become very quiet with all of the kids on their own.  It's nice to have conversation in my life again.  (no, the Woolen Rabbit hasn't gone away…at least not yet.)

3.  Along with that new job is wearing real clothes again instead of the daily dye uniform.  I still don that dye uniform a few times a week, but it's nice to wear big girl clothes too.

4.  Plumbing in the bathroom…whoo hoo!!!!  It's so nice not to have to haul upstairs numerous times a day.

5.  Having Hannah home for a few days. We'll be celebrating her milestone birthday!

6.  The beautiful flowers that I picked up on my way home from Pottery class for Thanksgiving.

7.  Arranging those beautiful flowers.  I think I would love being a florist.  I love putting bunches of beautiful, colorful flowers together.  It's kind of like dyeing yarn, but smells a whole lot better.

8.  My camera that allows me to capture all of the moments of life in a snapshot to remember forever.  Both my phone camera and my big girl Nikon.

9.  For the ability to knit.  I am really enjoying my Mystery KAL, "A March Through Time".  Ironically, I have not been able to keep up with the walking as I adjust to a new schedule, but I have been keeping up with the knitting.  It's been a fun knit and I will figure out the walking part as I go along.

10.  You knew I would have to put this in here, but it's true.  RIGHT NOW, I am very thankful for my family and looking forward to hostessing most of them and a few others here on Thanksgiving.

Yesterday I mentioned that it was a day of special birthdays, so today I want to share and celebrate our littlest member of the family's special day. 

Say whaaat???  I didn't eat that many, I swear I didn't.

Little Mr. Finley has the very best expressions and we got to see most of them yesterday…LOL.  In the first picture you can see how very happy he was to eat cupcakes and cupcakes he ate indeed!  I believe over the course of the day and evening he managed to eat 7 of them.  I love how after every.single.bite, he wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his brand new shirt.
It was his birthday though, right?

Along with the cupcakes is the joy of discovering that birthdays also means new toys.  We brought him down a couple of big trucks that Ken picked out, because you know even big boys and grown men remember playing with their trucks in the sandbox and they want to be sure that the little guys get to do the same.
Finley will have no shortage of trucks between his and his brother's to build those sandbox memories.

…and when you take those toys away to introduce another present, this is the face you get…ha!!
Of course once he realized that a new package means a new gift, he started to get it.
I just love little kids, they have no filters…LOL

All in all, I think he had a very nice day.  Surrounded by his family who all love him very much.

Happy Birthday Finley!

 

Nov. 22nd is a day filled with good things.  21 years ago this beautiful young lady entered into our lives.  Hannah is my youngest child and is a whirlwind for sure!  How can it be 21 years already when she is still 10 in my mind??

Hannah has always been a feisty girl who you never have to guess what she is thinking, because if she doesn't tell you, her expression will say it all..ha!  Here is a picture of her when she was about 3 years old and it's a picture that her siblings always remember and chuckle over.  You can tell she was not happy about something here!!

…but this is how I always remember Hannah when I think of her young years.  She is the hardest worker that you could ever want to work alongside with.  Hannah frequently came to dog shows and fiber events with me when she was young and was a wonderful travel companion, always doing more than her share of he work.  Making her own waffles at a hotel for breakfast and spending time with the dogs was something she always looked forward to.  We had fun. 🙂

Always kind and compassionate with the dogs and always thoughtful and helpful with me.

Goodness….21 years!  Legal cocktails for Thanksgiving. :) 
Happy Birthday Hannah….Love you!!

Tomorrow, I will share the other birthday munchkin. 🙂

Yesterday I told you that there have been some big changes in our lives over the last few weeks and one of those changes has made my weekends a little busier.  Amazingly though I think I get a lot more done because my time is a bit more prioritized.

Today, I spent the day juggling dyeing yarn for orders and doing some more test painting before I take the color commitment plunge on the kitchen after Thanksgiving.  I also spent time in my office taking care of some of the more tedious parts of running a business and then spent time finishing the first scarf on my loom. I started the second one as well….it was a good and productive day.

Ken also worked hard, putting up some drywall in our mud room which is on the other side of the bathroom and did some repair work on the piles that hold up the sun room slash dog room then buttoned it up for winter with some new insulation.

Whew…we both worked hard today but we ended the day with a few competitive games of Bananagrams and a few snacks and beverages.  I love this game!

Tomorrow we head south to visit my son and his family.  Little Mr. Finley turns 2 and as I mentioned yesterday, my baby Hannah turns 21. The wheels of life keep turning so quickly, I can barely keep up!
I will have some pictures to share with you all tomorrow. 🙂