Being your better self

Here's my latest piece from the Jewish Independent in Vancouver--this piece also appeared in a Winnipeg paper.  It's about rough days, and...well, donkeys, of course:

It takes work to be your better self

Other news...we've been very busy with summer here.  Summer camp, wading pools (with slides!), picking strawberries and canning strawberry jam, checking out cool bugs, rabbits, and other important long walk, digging outside, planting, gardening, digging... hot weather activities.

I've also been busy on a secret project--a new design to be released as part of the Manitoba Fibre Festival "flatlands collection" which will be available soon on Ravelry!  Stay tuned for sneak peeks...it's all about handspun flax, subtle handknit textures, and more..

making

Nothing gets me back in my "work groove" better than a little quiet and a chance to do things and make stuff.  This past week has been pretty darn productive.  I've written two articles (and one will go live this weekend sometime), I've done some blocking and knitting, I've mended some clothes--which instantly increases what I can wear again...it's all good.

Both twins are also somewhat better settled when they are back at school, so I love routine.  Part of that routine is getting to do something absolutely crazy beyond producing meals for everyone else--It's eating a homemade lunch, by myself.  Better yet, the lunch doesn't comprise of a calzone or sandwich (things I could eat one handed while trying to feed those babies, for instance) but rather a salad.  here's an improvised delight I ate yesterday.  One cut up leftover baked potato, some spinach, some dilly beans--canned by me in long ago hot summer weather, some leftover 'mediterranean' type salad on top (cut up tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, carrots, with oil, vinegar, and Italian herbs), topped by plain yogurt and some peanuts for crunch.  Eclectic?  yup.  Good?  You bet.  And...I did not have to compete with two five year olds over the salad, which, by the way, is an issue.  I have two boys who love salad but will eat it all before I get to serve myself any!  

 Also on the schedule?  Writing up a pattern to submit as part of my local festival's collection!  Here's the sample, all blocked and tidy.  The yarn?  Handspun flax, from TapRoot Fibre Lab.

That one bead?  Recycled glass, purchased from an African fair trade vendor, at a long ago street fair.  Having a deep stash is great when it comes to finding that perfect bead or button...
Happy Spring Making!
Joanne