in the garden...

 

i finally made it to the farmers market, last week i think, or maybe the week before.  i brought home gala apples, squash and zucchini, peaches, atlantic salmon and a mess of beans.  i froze the beans and ate everything else, although i'm still working on the apples.  

every time i prep fresh green beans, it takes me back to one of my favorite memories.  sitting on the front porch of my grandparents house (my dream house) with my grandmommy, swinging in the glider and snapping and stringing beans.  we always had a cold bottle of pepsi.  back then, my granddaddy was a distributer (i think that's the word).  he delivered the products to the stores.  he would bring home bottles by the case.  these are the old glass bottles.  i loved them so much.

the garden is winding down out there.  the high temps seem to have broken and i can see things changing.  the magic basil is still going and i'm still hoping for flowering so i can collect seeds.  i'm still getting strawberries and tomatoes and the lettuce i planted is starting to sprout.

and the spiders... there have been so many huge webs and huge spiders out there...crazy times.

how are things going in your garden?

thanks for stopping in...

lots of love & magical blessings

~*~ 

ten things...

 - that photo makes me ridiculously happy...

 - my list maker type is tracker with a little unloader thrown in...

 - my shins hurt...

 - all i want to do is sleep...

 - inspired by a seven year old to get back to work on the sweater...

 - to walk or not to walk...

 - this series on netflix...

 - apparently football is back...and i don't care...

 - just five things...

 - early morning walking skies...

 

thanks for being here...

love & blessings

~*~
 

 

learning to be ok with mistakes...

somehow, in my childhood, the need to be perfect and to accomplish things perfectly was ingrained in me.  whenever i try to do something, be it bake a cake, clean the house, garden or knit a sweater, i expect myself to do it with ease and have it turn out perfectly.

yeah...

this need to be perfect is something i've been working on for a while now.  i'm learning to be okay with making mistakes and having to redo/restart something.  

this sweater is really teaching me this lesson.

yesterday, most of the day was spent working on the sweater and feeling so good about my progress and how i might even finish it in time for autumn weather.   seeing as i started it exactly two years ago today, it is definitely time to get it done.

just a little bit ago, after my morning walk and an hour and half in the garden, i decided it was knitting time.  i picked up my instructions to check my progress and then started to knit.  but something caught my attention and i thought a should re-check.  

see it's been bothering me for a few days that i think i'm running out of yarn before i finish.  well...

turns out, i'd started working on the front, but i did it on the back.  uh huh... brilliant, right?

in the photo above, the white line marks the approximate area that i should have turned and moved to the front instead of continuing to knit on the back.  

so now, i've got to frog (undo) that section and learn how to undo bind off stitches...

needless to say, i'm a bit frustrated, but i'm trying hard NOT to beat myself up or call myself names.  

it's okay to have to undo and pick up again.  it doesn't really matter how long it takes me to complete this sweater.  it is for me, and i can wear it whenever i finish it.

these are the things i tell myself, when what i really want to do is rail at myself and cry...

but i'm okay.  and i'm okay with needing to undo, it will give me practice on the different stitches.

i'm putting it aside for a day or so and switching to a different project.

today's life lesson is: being perfect, isn't possible.  and it would be completely boring if it was...

and also, it's okay to make mistakes

so tell me, what lessons is life teaching you right now?

thanks for stopping in for a read...

love & blessings

~*~ 

 

creative a.d.d.

 

hello, i'm laura and i have creative a.d.d.

those photos are of aspects of six different projects i'm currently working on.

my creativity is constantly giving me ideas and inspiration and i have trouble saying not now.  i also have trouble with things i'm not used to doing (ie: learning new things) which is something i'm trying to change.

those six different projects, that's just the start.  there is also the gardening, the baking, the woodworking, the papier-mache, the clay sculpting, the sewing and more.

i know, if i could focus on just one thing at a time, i'd get a lot done.  these things were all started at various times, some as long as three years ago and the most recent was december 2019.

the photos above are all w.i.p.s. and i love them all.  i never know what i'm going to feel like working on or what my body/brain limits are going to be each day so it's good to have variety.  this week the sweater seems to have my attention, but while i'm knitting and purling there are all kinds of ideas stewing in my head about things i want to try.

i've been working my way through "The Artist's Way", a book about creative recovery by Julia Cameron.  one of the things i've found out about myself is that i'm terrified to try new things. so i set a goal for myself to try two new things (that i've never done/made/etc) each month.  last month was just one, i was more than halfway through the month when i set this goal, which was to learn to use my dehydrator.  i know, that doesn't seem like an art goal.  but for me it is, as it is trying something i was afraid to do.  (i don't know why i was afraid of my dehydrator, i'm also afraid to use my food processor, so...)

i had some moderate success with the dehydrator, and am ready to try again.

that's the point i'm trying to teach myself, to try...

so...creative a.d.d. and sometimes creative a.d.H.d. when an urge hits and i work on something non-stop until it is done.  it happens, occasionally.  

do you have any creative blocks? do you jump from thing to thing?  how do you approach trying something new?

thanks for stopping by for a read...

love & blessings

~*~

 

 

september...

 

i love september...

i love the turn in the air that brings cooler weather. i love the shorter days. i love the scent of the air.

i love pumpkins...

here in my part of the south, september is part summer/part autumn and really the best mix of both.

today i'm trying to decide if i want to bring out the halloween decor.  i'm mostly a stick to the month decorator when it comes to holidays.  for example, i decorate for autum (normally) starting september 1st, bring out halloween on oct 1st and go back to just autumn nov 1st.  winter decor comes out dec 1st with yule/santa stuff going back in storage a few days after the 25th.

this year feels different.

i started putting autumn decor out on aug 1st. maybe i'll wait a few days then hunt up the halloween stuff.

i just realized i've not been to the farmer's market at all this year.  that is very depressing.  i'm going to try to go tomorrow or friday.  i'd love some fresh local corn, and apples...oh and PUMPKINS!!!  

the photo above is actually from september 2015.  i don't really have one autumnal from this year, yet.

well, that's all for my ramblings today.  do you have a schedule for your holiday/seasonal decorating?  are you ready for autumn, or are you a spring/summer person?

thanks for stopping by for a read...

love & blessings

~*~

ps...i appreciate the comments and suggestions from my last post.  i know that therapy doesn't wholly work without all the information...so yes, i know i didn't help myself during those therapies... thanks again  xoxo