Faster I Go, More Behind I Get

 

“The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.”  ― Lewis Carroll

That's my life in a ntushell!  I'm stuck in an Alice in Wonderland world!!

It seems I go fast, but I'm just spinning my wheels in stationery place!  Yep, I'm so far behind in my projects--especially my knitting.  I wanted to have the Lenten scarf finished in order to wear to Easter services--but, I'm behind one whole week--and that's alot of stitching.  The patterns have been interesting --thrown in some stitches I've not knit before.  As I knit, I try to catch up on TV shows--there is "Outer Banks"--and I love "Candice Renoir" (all in French so you need to read subtitles) that definitely slows my knitting attention!  

There is my Musselburgh hat waiting to be finished--just a few more rows and it would be finished!

There was an inquiry from family about plans for Easter!  What?? Is it time to plan for Easter?  Holy smokes—

I just need to calm down!  Breathe deep! and recenter myself--it's okay!  everything will be okay--even if projects sit for a little while longer----other things go by the wayside-- after all, it is Easter time!  Just be happy in the space I am at the present time--yes, this is a happy place for the time being!  So what?  If I'm still behind-- in the words of Lewis Caroll  "The more passionately you pursue your dream, the more demands you'll have on your time".  Isn't that the truth??

Exercise?!

 Whenever we go to a store,  the spouse will leave my side and go 'walkabout'.  The family hates that!  he doesn't say where he is going--just takes off and we can't find him when we're ready to leave the store!  Oh, he's just on a 'walkabout'.  

Meaning:  an informal stroll among a crowd conducted by an important visitor.British

AUSTRALIAN:  a journey on foot undertaken by an Australian Aboriginal in order to live in the traditional manner.

• noun: walk-about; plural noun: walk-abouts
• a walking tour is our meaning to this term!  He is doing a tour of the store to parts unknown to us!

Well, I'm going to do a 'walkabout' in my own neighborhood!  Beginning April 17, there will be 'walkabout' quilt a long==indeed, I need to move my bod and get more exercise and this quilt along will give me an opportunity to create and exercise!  Sounds like a fun event.  I've signed up for the daily activities--hopefully, fingers crossed I can keep to the schedule!      

Dishcloths

 Dishcloths!  Something about dishcloths that I like!  Especially if I can knit them with handspun cotton from my stash.  It doesn't take long to knit a cloth--just have to stay with it for a few hours

This was March’s  pattern from Kitchen Sink   GAlene has a  Year of dishcloth pattern club--it's free!

Each month you will receive the pattern along with a recipe to coordinate with the dishcloth--pretty clever if you ask me!  Last year, which I missed, was associated with spices--I think I might go back and knit those and include the spice with the cloth as a gift.

I've knit January, February and March pattern--now, onto April--I'm sorry that I've not baked any of the recipes she has included but someday! I will.  

April's pattern references Mini Easter eggs.  I've selected this lime green hand spun cotton to knit with. 

 This is a fun pattern to knit; think I'll have some mini candy eggs close to munch on as I progress! 

Cotton

I Love Love my little nano 2.0 electric spinning wheel!  It has sat in the box for several weeks--you know how that goes--you have something in plain sight and then you forget about it.  the other day, hubby said, "what's in this box?"  That woke up my spinning spirit!  Out of the box, it came and I've been spinning a few minutes every day!

What am I spinning?  Brown cotton!

This is brown cotton that I grew--didn't card it myself, but found a mill that would take my 3 lbs of ginned cotton and card into roving!  It's such a pleasure to spin.

I was worried at first that this little EEL nano wouldn't be able to put enough twist into the spin, but no worries on that front!  It spins perfectly!

Years ago, my partner in crime and I were at a natural dyeing workshop in Birmingham, AL.  There we met another cotton spinner who told us she could get "red" cotton, which is a darker shade of brown,

 

  She asked if we would be interested--well, YES!  It was selling for $10 lb--unheard of, but it was years ago when this happen!  We both said we'll take 25 lbs!!!

This was a bargain and we didn't want to pass it up!

Finally, it went out of mind until the day a large box showed up at the door!  

I mean a large box!! and inside was not 25 lbs but 10 huge carded balls of red cotton!  Only 10 lbs!!

Oh goodness!  So thankful, we didn't get 25 lbs!!  For years, some of those carded balls of roving were given as door prizes at our spin-ins.  I still have a box full of cotton to spin and my friend and I laugh often about out excited buy!!

 

Baby Update!!

I"m happy to report that our little great grandson, JD, is improving every day.  He's off all the bells and whistles; no more oxygen tube to tie him down.  He is gaining weight and eating steadily.

His intake is advancing every feeding--Thank you Lord Jesus!!  Our prayers have given him a new outlook on life.

He still has a feeding tube for small amounts of vitamins and nutrients he needs for the time being.  

Soon he can go home!

That is the greatest blessing to report!!

Now for more sundry news--not exciting or earth shaking but it is news in our household.

Hubby has wisdom spots!! say what??  Not "old age spots' but wisdom spots!

That's what doctors call those little brown spots on your face and arms--

extra wisdom, they don't give!

On this Palm Sunday--we have been blessed!  Count each day and minute as your assignment to be kind to each other

A = April = Avocado

 This is no April Fool joke--  I freeze my avocados!  Yep!  When they get too ripe, I put them in the freezer for another day when I can bake with them. 

Now, I'm ready to bake some flourless Avocado chocolate brownies! 

I add sugar free chocolate chips and walmuts to my batter--yummy good!  Top off with sugar free whipped topping and you ahve a great dessert worthy of praise!

And another great recipe is chocolate avocado cookies--I don't make this recipe often as I'm too lazy to dish out heaps of batter to make cookies; I'd rather smooth out the batter in a baking pan and bake!!

I'm not a fan of avocado toast--no texture there for me so I"ll use our overripe avocados this way.

April brings us birth-days--in fact, there are four special days in April--Son, daughter, husband and grand daughter in law!  We have one big celebration for everyone--special gathering!

On the fiber side of life--ain't much happening!  My mojo for sewing has slowed down--my thought is to finish what I've begun and really complete it--

there are the BOM that I would like to do but have resisted--good for me!

A to Z here we come!!

--Journey to Easter

 

Our cowboy Church fortunately has access to a shofar for call to worship--It is a great call to worship!

Our caller is the chaplain at the Sculpture Prayer Gardens in Kerrville, TX  If ever in the area, please stop in to spend a few minutes celebrating this special prayer garden.  You can even leave a prayer on a rock.

Recently, we had a family/friends dinner and one of our guests was wearing tassels through his back belt loops.  When asked about them, he replied it was a way to show his faith and when people asked about them, he could talk about his faith--it was a perfect opportunity to lead into a conversation about God. 

tassels — in Hebrew, tzitzit – צִיצִ֥ת “You will have these fringes [tzitzit] to look at so you will remember all the commands of the Lord, that you may obey them …  I am the Lord your God.”  (Numbers 15:38–41)

The tzitzit pictured above are tied in two different styles.  The all white one is tied in the traditional Ashkenazi style, while the one with the thread of blue (techelet) is woven in the Sephardic style.  Notice that each tassel has eight strands with five knots, totaling 13.

The long thread of a special shade of blue that God commands in each tzitzit is called techelet in Hebrew.

According to a Midrash (story), the blue thread acts as a visual reminder to keep a heavenly focus on the Divine Presence of God, since the blue resembles the ocean, which resembles the sky, which resembles the Throne of God. 

We are leading into the last few days of Lent before Palm Sunday and the return of Jesus to the city after his 40 days of trails and temptation.  

My trials are nothing compared to others but I've been knitting along with Victoria Methodist Bristol on their special Lenten Knitalong--Each week a Lenten plan has been laid out with patterns to knit as we meditate on our journey.

We’re in week four.  I’m knitting with my hand spun wool/cashmere blend.  

Each week a section is revealed along with scriptures and pattern; hymns add to the mediations.  A lot of prayers are said as I knit.   By Easter, the scarf will be ready to wear!