March on!

Hard to believe that it's already March......how is it possible?  If I imagine today as a "You are here" spot on a map and I turn backwards to see where I've been then I would have to say I feel great satisfaction with the number of things that I've accomplished.
1.  I've gone through and repurposed or thrown out several shelves of stuff in the basement.  When you combine two houses worth of belongings there are going to be duplicates.  I have also discovered that I am ready to simplify my baggage.
2.  I've begun my hobby of winemaking and have so far been successful.  I am pleased with the space that Scott and I repurposed for winemaking and with my organization of all of the equipment.
3.  I haven't ticked anyone off so far or if I have, they haven't told me yet.  :-)
4.  I have successfully completed several knitting projects.

If I turn and look forward to the future I feel excited about what I see.
1.  Continued work and maybe even the completion of my hobbit house.
2.  Helping Scott build our greenhouse so that we can have a year round garden, berries and fruit trees.
3.  A new grandchild....a little girl this time.  I LOVE GRANDCHILDREN!!!!
4.  AND I can hardly wait to get going on new knitting projects.  In fact, the only problem I have is where to start!

Here's what I finished in February.

Pearls of Progress

If the rest of 2014 is anything like these past months and the month of March ahead of me, it is going to be a challenge to keep my head above water.......but a challenge I welcome because it's all good stuff.  It seems that we're never in one place very long and my list of knitting projects keeps increasing.....and I LOVE IT ALL!!
This week finds us back in Denver for 5 days and then a quick trip to San Antonio, TX to check in on my mother-in-law in her new home.  There are two golf games on the schedule with Scott's sister and her hubby and probably a joint birthday celebration of some sort.  Then it's back up the mountain for a 5 day "visit" and back down to Denver for our regular time with our grandson......like I said......LOVE IT!!  Be assured, I do not travel without a knitting project or two.  AND>>>>>..........(that was supposed to build anticipation)......
I've started a new hobby!
I've got my first two batches of wine fermenting in my "wine room"!!  This was what I requested from my family for Christmas and birthday.  For Christmas I received the wine-making supplies complete with fermentation buckets, bungs, air-locks, siphons and tubes, hydrometers and carboys.  Sounds like I know what I'm doing doesn't it?  For my birthday I received the wine kits, one Australian Cabernet Sauvignon and one Chardonnay.  I have a friend who has made his own wine for several years and believe me when I tell you that I called him a couple of times for help.  It was so much fun and so far is looking good......well, it smells good anyway.  It will be several months before I can tell you how it really turns out.

My friend and wine-making mentor, Russ Rainey.

As far a knitting projects go, I've finished a couple more baby sweaters and a mom/baby ear flap hat set with huge pom-poms on them.

That's all for now.....the other sweater isn't blocked yet but a picture will follow soon.

Priceless Gift

I had a unique opportunity today.  It made me cry because it was so precious to my soul. 

I got to unclasp the string of pearls that I cherish and add a pearl of such rare value as to make it priceless.  Few people ever get to add a pearl of this kind to their memories and to be given the privilege of recognizing this moment in my journey of life, to be honored enough by life and my creator that I got to glimpse it's value, truly makes it glow.  To me this is the essence of the adjective "luster" often used to describe the glow of something rare and precious.

What was this beautiful "pearl" of awareness you ask?

It was a compliment given to me by someone from my past, from my "hometown",  in Lresponse to a "Throw Back Thursday" picture on Facebook.  

I was feeling pushed down by life and  hadn't slept well.  My eyes were burning with the need to sleep more and my soul wasn't ready yet to face the continued unfolding of whatever the day had to present to me.  I was struggling with regrets about the choices I'd made on how to spend my time the day before.  (These were useless regrets because that day was already gone.  It had ceased to be the minute the sun had set.  At this point the only choice I had was to not make the same choice for the current 24 hours ahead.).  I was having a hard time holding the head of this struggle under water,  until it gave up and let me go.        

When I saw the old picture of myself I snickered  and that was the first hand up out of the dark hole I was beginning to stare into.  As I read the comments, I began to feel my spirits lift and then I came across this one. 

 "I remember the face by can't think of her name.   I  remember her as very friendly though.".  

I swiped at the tears on my cheeks and lifted myself completely off the edge of that yucky place I'd been sitting near.  I said a thank you to God for the encouragement and reminder about what is really important.  I wrote a note to the person who had given me such a gift of value.  

I gently added the beautiful pearl to my necklace of memories and placed it back over my head patting it gently into place over my hearts.  And after a deep breath I got up to face the day, this time in a much better spirit.  It was a great day!