October Yarn Along

Better late than never!!

Spring in the garden has been keeping me more than busy.  The apple tree has blossomed and the weeds are flourishing...

 But I'm finally here to get a late Yarn Along post on.  And in case you only visit for Yarn Along, I am reposting the photo of the finished blanket I was working on last time...

Recently finished reading Educated.  It was a page turner and very well written...

Have started Mister Owita's Guide to Gardening.  Not sure about this one.  I find her style of writing a bit too...What?  Self-focused? Flowery? Wordy?  I don't know what it is, but something about it just 'niggles'.  Maybe it's her attitude?  Has anyone else read it?


And a new crochet project...

Didn't have enough of the blues/browns I started with, so had to improvise...

Now edging the squares in grey, which I think will tie it all in together...

And down at the river, the willows are adorned in their bright green spring leaves...

I hope whatever 'season' you are in, you are enjoying it.

xx

Weekend Words

Presbyterian Church, Stanley, TAS

"I believe it is a fine thing to go to church regularly.  Our village news sheet says "Attend the church of your choice." 

There are many reasons to go to church, aside from the inspiration of the sermon and the music.  First of all, it gives one a chance to step aside from the problems of life for an hour and sit quietly, and reassess values.  Daily worries and anxieties suddenly reduce themselves to a fair proportion.  And then it is good to gather people together who believe in the power of God - or good - and all bent on a serious hour of worship.  People gather incessantly for political rallies, club meetings, committees, all full of controversy.  How blessed to spend an hour thinking about the meaning of life.

Not all communities are as fortunate as ours.  We have a federation church, which means that as long as you seriously believe in God and intend to lead a Christian life, you are eligible to be a member no matter what sect you belong to.  I think the church would be a greater force in this age if it were a single united congregation.  Minor theological differences should not separate men of good faith.  

On this particular Sunday, our young minister had preached about the brief period when the carpenter's Son called the fishermen on the shore of Galilee to pick up their nets and follow Him.  I fell to thinking that the greatest miracle in the history of man is that all over the world even now, people are still trying to "pick up their nets and follow Him".  In spite of wars, oppression, dictatorships, nobody has ever been able to permanently get rid of God.  This is a comforting thought in this atomic and satellite age."

Stillmeadow Sampler - Gladys Taber (p107)

Church of Christ, Caveside, TAS

Weekend Words

Leisure is a rare commodity in this time, and we need it.

Nobody fritters away any time, and of course time is too valuable to fritter away. 

But the spirit needs renewing and what a renewal a little quiet time can be!  One needs to look at the sky, at the countryside.  Or in the city, one needs to sit on a park bench half an hour or an hour and just not be doing anything.  A good many problems solve themselves if one is quietly looking as the stars come out.  Fatigue blows away in the stir of evening air.  Even grief is lessened when one sits quietly in the dusk as the fire-flies light the meadow.

We busy ourselves too much.  Now and then the well of our spirit needs time to fill up so that we can draw from it again.  And when someone says to me that he or she cannot bear to be alone, I always feel sad for it means the level in the well is so low that no bucket can reach it.  Also the people who skim like water bugs over the surface of life are in a bad way when they need spiritual depth to sustain them.  But those who are able to have a quiet time for a small piece of day always find an amour against trouble.  

In June I find it easy to drop everything and sit in the garden and watch the butterflies and admire the opening roses.  Suddenly I feel the wideness of the universe and gain a new sense of well-being.  My thoughts are not profound.  I think about how much the lemon thyme has spread over the flagstones.  I think, without anxiety, that we ought to do something about the rose canes next fall.  I think the wasps should not gather right under the arm of my chair.  But chiefly I am absorbed in just being.

Then, restored, I am ready to shell peas again!

Stillmeadow Sampler - Gladys Taber (p98)

Quick

Spring has arrived in full force and I am needing to spend much of my time trying to keep up with the garden work.  Still getting out at least once a day for my river walks...

The blanket is finished...

I am enjoying Educated.  It's very good...

you can see a close up of the crocheted edge I did around the blanket

Started a new crochet project...

probably for charity

Been baking (and eating) Anzac biscuits...

We have been having some beautiful sunrises this week...

The differences in colour are amazing...

both taken from my kitchen window

That's it!  Short and sweet...

Will try and get back next week!

xx

Weekend Words

From An Alter in the World - Barbara Brown Taylor...

"As important as it is to mark the places where we meet God, I worry about what happens when we build a house for God.  I am speaking no longer of the temple in Jerusalem but of the house of worship on the corner, where people of faith meet to say their prayers, because saying them together reminds them of who they are better than saying them alone.  This is good, and all good things cast shadows.  Do we build God a house so that we can choose when to go see God?  Do we build God a house in lieu of having God stay at ours?  Plus, what happened to the rest of the world when we build four walls - even four gorgeous walls - cap them with a steepled roof, and designate that the House of God?  What happens to the river banks, the mountain tops, the deserts, the trees?  What happens to the people who never show up in our houses of God?" (p9)

"The easiest practice of reverence I know is simply to sit down somewhere outside, preferably near a body of water, and pay attention for at least twenty minutes." (p22)

"How then should I pray?  When I fretted over people I knew who were in trouble, so that my worry for them followed me around all day like a hungry dog, was that prayer?  When I cooked dinner for people who had plenty to eat at home, thinking about them while I chopped the turnip greens and mashed the sweet potatoes, was that prayer?  When I went outside after everyone had gone to bed and moaned at the moon because I could not come up with the right words to say what was in my heart, was that prayer?" (p177)

Weekend Words

Not everyone is able to walk, but most people can, which makes walking one of the most easily available spiritual practices of all.  All it takes is the decision to walk with some awareness, both of who you are and what you are doing.  Where you are going is not as important, however counterintuitive that may seem.  To detach the walking from the destination is in fact one of the best ways to recognize the alters you are passing right by all the time.  Most of us spend so much time thinking about where we have been or where we are supposed to be going that we have a hard time recognizing where we actually are. 

 When someone asks us where we want to be in our lives, the last thing that occurs to us is to look down at our feet and say, "Here, I guess, since this is where I am."

(An Alter in the World - Barbara Brown Taylor)

Natasha's photo of a Connecticut walk

Friday on my mind

Almost at the end of another week and the warm weather we are having is keeping me busy in the garden.  Needing to mow once a week now, and always weeds to pull, plants to cut back, and this morning I noticed that my greengage plum tree is blossoming...

With all the garden time I'm putting in, I haven't had much time for knitting or reading. I'm still working my way through  A Fort of Nine Towers.  It is interesting, but the going is slow as it is my bedtime read and most nights I'm lucky if I get through 3 or 4 pages before I start to nod off.  The Willie Nelson autobiography is good.  I read a bit when I have my coffee or lunch.  Such a varied life he's led...

my knitted blanket is sewn together, but I've still to do the crocheted border.  Maybe I'll have a finished photo for you next post

The DVDs are from the library (as are the books).  I've yet to watch The Guernsey Literary... movie, although I did read the book a few years ago.  It will be interesting to see how it stacks up.
I watched Conviction.  What an amazing (true) story!  I was so engrossed in it that I forgot to knit while watching.  Highly recommended!!


And yesterday Marnie and I had a day in Launceston.  I bagged a few bargains at the op shops...

Kent Haruf and Henning Mankell books (favourite authors).

Two DVDs: Reality Bites (an oldie but goodie) and Rudderless (a 'watch again' movie - already borrowed from the library 3 times!)

And a pretty floral springtime dress (yes...I do wear them occasionally!)

All for the grand total of $15

And a couple of pics from my morning walks this week...

soft early morning light

good morning moon!

 morning fog

still and quiet

And beautiful days...

And now some lunch, and then back out to tackle more weeds in the garden.

xx