moments from the weeks

..

These pictures have been sitting here for days, collected over the weeks. I have not been so good at taking pictures lately. I enjoy having this blog to collect our moments, our days, through the seasons... I need to try to be better at it...


Days have a soft glow to them, colors the pale yellows and greens of August. And some even brighter colors have been spotted higher up on the mountains! Not rushing to autumn yet though.

I have been out of the house more often, finally feeling a little stronger and better every day. We have our family outings to town, library, midwife, horses, farm.

I do my kitchen chores and am so grateful for the energy to do so. I cook, bake our bread, sweep the floor.

I knit. I think about sewing. I read and plan for our homeschool year, which we will start the first week of September.
 I'm almost done with Chloe's cardigan, kind of. I am winding some soft yellow yarn for baby. And lovely green yarn from sweet friend.

The girls and I organized some tiny newborn baby clothes!

We garden a little bit. I think about our gardens last year, all the food that we grew that fed us all through the winter. We do not have that this year. It make me sad, some. But mostly I'm okay with it. Been kinda busy growing a baby instead. And our potatoes are looking really good.

It has been such a rainy summer. I know that most people are not saying that. Even over at the farm on the other side of town it rarely rains. We are more up in the mountains. We feel blessed, and the cooling afternoon showers have been so enjoyed and appreciated. 

One day I put on a sweater. There has already been occasions for layers. And sometimes still it gets very hot.

The other night Chessa told me a bedtime story, of a little fairy living in the forest, in an mushroom house, with moss for a bed, wild strawberries and nettles for food.

I am obsessed with nettles lately. Me and baby need them. We made a yummy soup last week full of good veggies and lots of nettles. The girls say that is funny that nettles are not always nice to us (stinging!) yet they are so so good for us and we love them so much. 


It is late now. I get in bed early these nights. I have no book to read tonight though. The library does not have the last Anne of Green Gables book, oh no, what will I do. The girls and I together have started the first book. I had been saving it, they have never heard it before. They love Anne, of course. When I can find nothing to read I sometimes pick up one of Chloe's library books. I just finished one about a family traveling to Oregon, bringing along with them a wagon full of grafted fruit trees. I don't know if Chloe's wagon train picture above is from that story or not. She told me though that the picture is from a story she read, the book did not have pictures, but that was how she saw it.


Oh! And the bear! They sure have been coming around a lot this summer. This one had been visiting the night before, and the next day was right out in front of the house. Bear, you should go back into the forest.


I was supposed to get in bed. Okay. Goodbye!


...

in the forest, along the river, by the lake

 ..

To celebrate this middle of summer season and the month of august, and just because we really really needed to, we set out last week to one of our favorite nearby lakes. Past the back of the lake, up the river, deeper into the forest.

For a while it rained, it poured, it hailed.  Then it cleared up and we had a few of hours of sunniness by the river.

We stopped at the back of the lake where the river is flowing in (the lake is very very low right now) on our way home so the girls could could have a little extra running around time. Jason and I watched from a distance. I am so happy for all the days like this that they get to have.

Earlier when we were sitting beside the river I said how nice it was that we got to enjoy the sun and the storm too on this day. And then I hoped that maybe we would even have some fog later. And then we did. It was wet, rainy, and grey all the way home. It was all wonderful.

It feels so good to be in this later part of the season. I hope you have all been enjoying beautiful August days too!


...

baby knits and big girl cardigans and lovely anne

..

 Hello friends, How happy I am to be joining Ginny and her Yarn Along once again!

Keeping me company in recent months has been dear beloved Anne. I have had this copy of Anne of Green Gables since I was younger, and over the years I have re-read it many times. I have been getting the other books in the series from the library, and am just now finishing up Anne's House of Dreams. I just love letting myself disappear into Anne's beautiful world!

My knitting at the moment is not looking like much, I just cast on this morning. The other day Sara gave me two huge skeins of Cascade Eco wool so now I am able to start this autumn/winter cardigan for Chloe. She was wanting her next sweater to be brown, and although this color is darker than we had in mind, we are so grateful for the gift. And so happy to be knitting!

After much deliberation as to which pattern I might use... tea leaves (too dark for that I think) shalom (I feel like it would require too much modifying, and thinking) same plain cardigan as last time... Well yes, same plain cardigan as last time. (Isn't that funny Melanie? I meant to tell you...) (ravelry)

And Chloe would like this one to have a hood, which I am very happy about about, because I think cardigans with hoods are so very nice. And I think we may have some just right buttons for it, I will be excited to try them and show you.


Oh yes, and the baby knits! Well, there are no baby knits yet! And at some point soon I may start to feel concerned with time. Cardigan and baby things will be my knitting priorities for the next months. The only reason I am starting the cardigan first is because I have no good yarns for baby knits.

Mostly for baby I am thinking of soakers and longies for cloth diapers and warm things like gowns, cardigan, bonnets of course! (Since we were vegan when the girls were born we never used wool, so this little winter baby really has no woolens at all, and that just cannot be...) So hopefully a few of these things for newborn can be made before the end of november comes.

I would love to know about any of your favorite patterns or wool yarns for baby? What is nice and soft? What works well for you for diaper covers? I have been collecting some free patterns from ravelry, I have the pattern for the vanilla soaker, and I have heard and it seems that the picky pants pattern from little turtle knits (I think? not looking it up..) is very nice so I am hoping to be able to get that pattern some time. These decisions, and thinking about things like gauge and yarn size and such are sometimes a little too much for me these days. But all the rest is fun. So so good to be knitting again.

 (Photos taken by Jason, a hike way up in the mountains a few weeks ago...)

Speaking of Anne, as she would say, don't these pictures provide so much scope for imagination?


With love, Renee


...

these days... (these months!)

..

Well hello! Hello hello hello!!!

Dear friends, how I have missed you! I sure did not think I would be away so long.
I sure did not think that at 4 months pregnant I would still so sick!!!

I am grateful to be having better days now. Although I'm still puking once in a while. But once a day is way better than 5 times a day.
Yes, see, I have to talk about yucky things like puke and stuff. Cause it has just been way too big of a part of my life these past few months. Sorry. Seriously, 5 times a day.


And what else have I been doing?
Very very close to nothing at all. I sat here, and I was sick.
I could not clean the house, cook meals, feed my family, tuck my children into bed at night... and these are all of course things which I have done every single day of  my life for the past nearly decade and a half...
Yes, it was very challenging!
I can't even really begin to get into it.
I am pretty impressed that we have survived!



I do feel that I have kept my spirits up pretty well. I mean sure, I do get a little emotional at times. And actually at this point, when I really thought I would be much better by now, I am getting a little frustrated.

But hopeful!
And of course happy!
Cause there is a baby you know!

Did I mention that I haven't been able to knit?
I could barely even read.
I listen to the birds, watch the trees out the window, daydream. Good thing I am good at daydreaming.

Did I mention that I like to keep my house very neat and tidy?
Do you think my house is very neat and tidy right now?
Ha!


Oh, here are a bunch a random photos from the last few months. As you can see we even had two birthdays pass. You can also see that Jason is quite talented when it comes to baking birthday cakes!

Would you believe that most of the pictures that I discovered on the camera (cause most of them were not taken by me) were of cats (real ones) and horses (wooden ones). The girls have made themselves an entire herd of wooden horses! They are especially fond of Appaloosas and Paints, and all draft horses. They even used some of their own birthday money to buy more wood and saw blades.


Oh, did I mention how wonderful my husband is? The girls have been pretty great too of course. But oh my dear Jason. My hero. My prince. And thank goodness he can cook!

Thank goodness though that I have been finally able to return to the kitchen.
So grateful to be able to bake our bread!


I am also feeling such gratitude towards my dear friends who have kept me company through this joyous yet difficult time. Emails and phone calls, and sweet comments here, with such supportive words of love and kindness, blessings and wishes for health. And sympathy from those of you who have suffered the same kind of awfulness that cannot even begin to be described as "morning" sickness.

Dear Mel, you said you would come over and read to me!
Jules, that day we talked while I was lying so sick in bed, and you told me how good it was that I was so sick cause it meant such a good thing. And I said I know.
And Sara's weekly phone calls, always checking to see how I am doing.
And the blog reader/friend in Kansas who wished we lived closer so that she could help us get our garden planted! Oh, that was so sweet.

(Yeah, our garden is coming along a bit slow this year. But we will have to talk about that another time.)


 ~

It has taken  me about 4 days now to write this post. (Not that it is eloquent or anything like that...)

Yesterday we went to see our midwife. Dear sweet wonderful midwife, oh how we love her!
I am apparently not much good though at counting months or pregnancy time.
I am halfway through my pregnancy!!!
Wow.


Well I guess I should be going now. But I promise to be back soon this time.

Hope you are all well, happy, and enjoying beautiful days with your loved ones.

With love,
Renee

(P.S.  Maybe we can talk about baby knitting next time...)


...

the season, and a baby

 ..

Hello friends! I hope you are all well?

The girls took all these pictures the other day.

I sit and rest.

We are having a baby!!

We are so so so so happy!!!

I am very very very very very very sick.  So I can only say hello real quick.
Hopefully I will be feeling better in these coming weeks and will be able to return soon.

Thanks for those who have written to say hello, and to all my friends who have shared such loving words and support these last weeks.

Baby. So wonderful.

Wishing you all beautiful days this season!


...