I got two new books in the mail last week I had ordered from Amazon. I love that place!

My brother Roger recently told me about Born Amish, the story of an Amish girl who grew up in Kalona, Iowa in the 1970's and 80's and who ran off with a man from Kentucky who had lived in Iowa and hired out as a driver for the Amish.  Understandably, this book appears to be a tad controversial among the residents of Kalona. Now I see that she previously wrote another book, "Crossing Over: One Woman's Escape From Amish Life"... and now with a couple of clicks, it's on its way as well.  

Okay, change of subject: This is what happens when I write what I think (something I was recently told I should do) - random changes. I am remembering something that happened when I was a teenager. One summer day, my friends Anne Hochstedler, Aimee Bodie, and I walked into the town of Kalona from Shiloh. Along the way, Aimee, who was from Washington State, was commenting on how "everybody in Iowa is related." Anne and I both disagreed and I finally stated, rather emphatically, "For example, Anne and I are not related." When we got to town we were hot and tired, and we stopped at my Grandmother's house to rest and get a drink of water. After introducing my friends to Grossmommie, she asked Anne who her grandparents were and then she said the completely unexpected: "Your grandfather was my second cousin." What!? Anne and I were speechless. Aimee, on the other hand, was gleeful: "See! I TOLD you everyone in Iowa is related!" There was simply no response for it.

Along the same vein, an interesting development recently: At the Mennonite church I attend here, there is a man called Don Mengershausen whose relatives, I eventually learned, came from Wellman, Iowa which is about 7 miles west of Kalona. Their last name was Miller (which so happens to be Grossmommie's maiden name) but so is the family name of the author of the book above and I don't think they're related. Well on second thought, I suppose I wouldn't be surprised if they are...  So, I dutifully collected the names of all the relatives Don could think of and got the information to my dad who has every family geneology book there is for our family. I asked him if he could look in the "Hay John" book for Don's relatives. My great-great-grandfather was called John Miller, and to distinguish him from every other John Miller (which is also the name of Don's great-something-grandfather, but different middle initial), folks called him "Hay John" because he sold hay to people. Thus, the Hay John book.  This is the book that Dad found Anne Hochstedler's family in as well as all the other people I hear him talking about that I have no idea who they are, as in: "Well Regina, these people you were talking about from your mail route are third cousins to you, see here?" But it turns out that the Hay John book wasn't the most useful in this case. Dad then went to the Hochstedler book which was printed in 1938 and thus went back more generations (I didn't even know we had a Hochstedler book or maybe I wouldn't have been quite so surprised about Anne back in the eighth grade) and found that Hay John's wife, my great-great-grandmother Magdaline was a half-sister to Don's great-great-grandfather John Miller. After writing down the information and spending about two weeks working it out, Don and I have concluded we are fourth cousins. He was pretty surprised to hear it too. Who knew I'd have a cousin in Grants Pass I'd never heard of?

The second book I got is Mother-Daughter Knits which I am quite excited to have since it goes into quite a bit of detail about custom fitting sweaters and such to get the best fit, rather than just blindly following a pattern and then if it doesn't fit oneself, having to go find someone it will fit to give it to. Or else taking it out and re-using the yarn on something that hopefully will end up fitting oneself.

Wineaux Nights

This is me and my friend Kathy - we had "Wineaux" night last night, where we get together with friends and everyone brings a bottle of wine (that normally follows a designated theme) and food to pair with the wine. Last night was Sangiovese, but Chianti was also included as the wines made in the Chianti region of Italy usually use Sangiovese grapes. We also had an assortment of Italian-like cheeses and hors d'oeuvres to accompany the wines. We pour a taste of each wine, and usually everyone comes up with a favorite, although seldom the same one.  My favorite last night was Maryhill Sangiovese 2006 from the Columbia Valley in Washington State. I was smart this time and took a pic of the bottle label with my phone since I usually lose scraps of paper I jot things onto.

My Wineaux shirt suits me as all my friends know how much I love to read. Kathy hates to read; her Wineaux shirt says, "Drinks well with others" but she wasn't wearing it last night. 

We do get a little bit silly sometimes...

But we always have a good time together.

In case anyone is wondering what a "Wineaux" is:

Well now, that pretty much says it!

We started our group in early 2006, well actually November of 2005 although it took a couple of months to really get going. The problem was, we were a little unsure of the best format in the beginning. We started with the idea that it would just be for the gals and we would meet on a Thursday evening. I had quite a few girlfriends who thought this would be a great idea but for one reason or another, Kathy was the only one who came that first time (it was at our house) so we opened our two bottles of wine and our two hunks of cheese, some crackers, and told Rich he could come join us after all and we had a fantastic time.

From then on, we decided on Friday nights once a month and to allow the men to join us. I was shocked to realize last night that it's been going five years now, but I suppose time just keeps going, fairly quickly actually, whether we think about it or not...

Snow again?

So we have a storm warning tonight, and the next couple of days actually. Aidan is hoping for a snow day.

We don't normally get very much snow in Grants Pass itself - the elevation is about 900 feet on the "valley floor". We get an average of a dusting or two each winter and it's nearly always melted by noon. There are, however, foothills surrounding the city and we often see the snow there.

We actually did have a nice snow fall last Thursday; I took this picture looking out the kitchen door overlooking the patio at about 7:00 that morning:

At about 7:20, Aidan and I headed out with the snow coming down again, looking like a feather pillow was being shaken. I was wondering how the driveway would be since, as anyone who has been here knows, it's a little steep. I kept the car in first gear and it ended up being fine. But then I turned out onto Starlite Place and oh crap, it was icy!

As the car fishtailed, I was telling Aidan what to watch for (he currently has his learner's permit), "steer into the skid..." keeping the car in first and riding the brake. Now I realize that trying the brake wasn't the best idea, but at the time I had trouble keeping my foot off and of course the car wouldn't stop although I swear it slowed it down a little but what I didn't expect was this odd jerky motion as a result; I'm still not sure what that was about.

As we came around the hairpin turn and headed down that last straight stretch, I was picturing us gliding right on through the stopsign at Highland Avenue and I hoped there wouldn't be a vehicle coming because a collision would have really sucked. Hey, a dry spot under that tree! I was able to stop there and re-group a bit. When I "slid" the rest of the way down it wasn't so bad since the hill wasn't as steep there and there wasn't as far to go so I didn't pick up the speed like I had earlier so it was possible to stop at the stop sign. Whew!

I dropped Aidan at school and continued on to work. Just past Gold Hill I noticed there was noticably less snow and by Medford (30 miles from GP), there was NOTHING.

What an odd feeling. Here I've just risked my life and that of my child, and nobody at work had a clue about my drama. *sigh*

Yes, I used to say, "I grew up in the ice and snow, I know how to drive in this stuff!" But sadly, I haven't had enough practice over the past 25 years so now I'm like many of these other west coast people who have no clue...

Gratitude - Day One

I, like many people, have heard about the benefits of practicing gratitude. The common advice is to think of three things daily that you feel grateful for, write them in your Gratitude Journal, and watch your life change. Blah, blah, blah.

Yes, I'm grateful for my family, my home, my job, my friends, my stuff, et cetera. After a few months, (days?) a person starts repeating themselves because really, can we really think of that many things to feel grateful for?

It has recently come to my attention though: Thinking is not quite the same as feeling gratitude. Thinking of something is the first step. But then, to make it really meaningful, one must feel it.

The best way I can describe the process is this:

1.  Feel the energy present in the palms of your hands. Just keep observing until your palms feel a little bit warm and begin to tingle. I don't really know how hard this is for most people; it comes very easily for me because we were taught about this in church when I was little. I do think there is the chance that children are more perceptive to this sort of thing than adults. Also, I have heard that if it is difficult for someone to detect energy either around themselves or others (or objects), it can be useful to try practicing on a cat by holding one's hand a couple of inches above the cat's fur. They have a more noticible energy field around them.

2. Notice the energy in your feet. When you can feel them tingle too, connect the line of energy through your body from hands to feet and back with each deep breath in and out. Doing this raises your energy level and can be done anytime. It is also how to raise your energy level if you are interested in the Law of Attraction principles.

3. Once the energy is flowing through your body, you can feel it center at the heart area. Here is where we feel stuff. Once I thought about what I was going to feel gratitude for, this heightened the feeling to an unbelievable level. With each breath in and out, I could feel the essence of the gratitude in each cell of my body. (Well. I think I did anyway.)

My goal is to Practice Gratitude for 28 days. Today was my first day. When I first woke up this morning, I thought about my hands.

 I am SO happy I have two hands! This makes it very useful to do stuff. I am thankful to have thumbs which make the whole picking things up way easier. Just think of all the things that would be REALLY HARD to do with only one hand... carrying things, cooking, knitting.  Oh yeah! I was just thinking the other night how useful it would be to have three hands so I could eat and keep knitting... Oh! Sorry! Yes, how thankful I am for two hands. As it was, I set my knitting aside and thought about the fact that eating while doing nothing else made me very mindful about each bite, the flavors, etc. (I was eating by myself that evening so not even anyone to talk to... hmm... "talking" could be a future area for gratitude as I like doing that quite a bit...)

So Day One of Practicing Gratitude: Hands.

Where this comes in useful (I'm hoping, and why I'm even bothering with this whole thing): Whenever I find myself getting stressed out, I intend to create the energy to feel gratitude towards my focus for the day. Not surprisingly, I did have a couple of opportunities to try this out, and yes, it did take my focus off the annoyance that would otherwise put me into a funk for who knows how long.

I don't want to feel anxiety anymore...

Toto's Africa

When I was in highschool in the early 80's, Toto became a favorite group for me after hearing it from a schoolmate whose two favorite groups were Toto and the Rolling Stones. While I never gained the same appreciation for the Stones, I could (and did) listen to Toto for hours and had purchased the cassette of Toto IV. I believe I may have worn it out. Any kind of piano music is a favorite for me.

So when I encountered this You Tube video of the acapella group, Perpetuum Jazzile, performing Africa, I was very impressed. Even if Toto were not a favorite, this version of the song is very compelling. I invite you to view it; here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjbpwlqp5Qw.

The fact that all instrumentals and percussions are done by people is what makes this so cool.  They snap their fingers and slap their legs to sound like rain, and jump on the risers upon which they stand to mimic thunder... Also they really look like they are having fun, their smiles are awesome - seeing and listening to this makes me happy.  :)

Decluttering... It's a Mind Thing

I think our house is in pretty good shape. Yes, we constantly have "stuff" to pick up, but we get to it regularly and doesn't look too bad. My problem is the hidden clutter, the things that get stuffed into a drawer, or closet, or attic, just to get them out of sight.

When I first heard about Feng Shui some years ago, I was completely intrigued. And to find out more, I did what I usually do: go to the library and find some books to read up on the topic. Although the internet makes research a lot quicker, there's something about holding a book to read that a computer doesn't quite match.

A common theme in the Feng Shui literature is to get rid of clutter. They say it is impossible for the good energy to flow freely when you have a bunch of stuff in the way. (Now I don't really want to get into a philosophical discussion about the plausibility of the topic - energy exists. Deal with it. Also, I think most people can agree that having a bunch of junk laying about does not make for a very positive atmosphere.) Anyway... although I could agree with the concept, I had no idea how to actually get rid of anything that wasn't obviously destined for the garbage. Now I was brought up to save anything that had any "good" left to it. It was acceptable and even encouraged to give things to anyone in need, but my oh my. If we ever tossed something that could in any way be useful later on, it was a great lesson that it should have been saved. This, of course, established a pretty deep belief system.

 
Then I happened upon the book, "Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui" by Karen Kingston. Oh wow. It gives practical tips on how to let go of stuff, beginning with presenting the perspective of why people have such a tough time. It gives ideas such as, none of us REALLY own anything - we won't have it when we're gone, therefore we are simply the temporary custodian of our things and should freely give other people a turn with them. What?? Also, we need to have faith that the universe will provide when we're in need of that item in the future (feel free to insert "God" here). And, if you later find yourself thinking you could use the item you got rid of, be sure to trust that the "you" that made the decision to declutter it had a very good reason for doing so and move on.

How empowering! I had read lots of books on getting organized, yadda, yadda, and for the first time, actually felt compelled to get up off my backside and Do Something! Usually I'm quite happy to just sit around and read about stuff rather than actually doing them...

Between this and following Flylady (http://www.flylady.net/), I've decluttered a LOT of stuff over the last ten years. So why am I having a problem? I think it's because I've been through the easy stuff. Now I'm left with the hidden things, items that have more complicated history. Also because I keep buying things... like I suppose all Americans do.

A co-worker recently commented that she saw something about a fellow who is committed to owning only one hundred items and challenges others to do the same. I was appalled. "So do dishes count as one item for the set? Or do you have to count each piece?" I asked. She replied, "ONLY ONE HUNDRED THINGS!" (I have googled it and believe this is what she was referring to: http://guynameddave.com/about-the-100-thing-challenge/)

Oh.

So I look around. I haven't actually counted up my items of clothing and shoes, but I bet there are at least 50 things there. I easily have at least 50 books (which are constantly sorted through for donations to the library). Let's see... maybe all my fabric can count as one item... this is rather sad as I don't even enjoy quilting anymore, but I do have several projects still in process and I keep HOPING I'll want to get back to them... I bet I have close to 50 things related to knitting now. And I haven't even checked the kitchen cupboards. I'm a little afraid to...

Ye gods. This is not good. I guess I need to actually go read this man's blog for inspiration.

One thing I did decide to start doing a month or so back, was to use things up. I started looking in my pantry and freezer at food that's been there a while and challenged myself to either toss it, or look for ways to use it up. Came up with some pretty good soup a couple of times that way. Also looked in the bathroom cupboards and drawers and tossed a good number of things I didn't want to use, and started using up others. Have finished up a few little odd bottles of lotion and this bottle of Mary Kay face lotion that I had quit using about a year ago when I found out about using coconut oil on my face, and all over actually. Yes, the stuff you cook with. It's absolutely fabulous on your skin! The only thing is it doesn't provide sunscreen. But other than that (winter time especially) it makes my skin feel so soft and tighter somehow. It's weird. I did however use up the bottle of Mary Kay and just this week begin to use the coconut oil again. My face is happy! I'm also using up this mango body butter on the rest of me daily to get it used up where as when it's gone I'll go back to using coconut oil on legs and arms and such. Well, after I use up more lotions I have. Oh my. Why do we save stuff for "good"? And then suffer when it's gone bad?

Baby steps. That's all I can say... baby steps. It does make me more mindful about not bringing more crap home though, that's for sure.

When I think of my ideal existence - simplify - have few things, but love what you have - it's at odds with my current reality. That's going to be my mission now I think. "Do I need this? Do I love it? Do I use it?"

It's humorous actually, because since I secretly believed I should have had the life of Laura Ingalls Wilder as a girl, to think about the cabins and small houses they had... and Ma still knit and sewed for the whole family. Why do I need SO MUCH STUFF?? Since I would like to live in a cabin or cottage one day I should cultivate the sense of this right now. At the very least, it is conducive to feeling peace. I could use some of that at times.  :) 

Fuzzy Purple Yarn

So Yvonne left me two skeins of this purple fuzzy yarn today. It's to complete Kathy's bikini set - see entry of February 1, 2011.  I think hot pink and this lovely purple should coordinate quite nicely, don't you?



Purple fuzzy yarn from Yvonne

 Trouble is, I've got quite a bit of knitting to catch up on before I cast on a new project... I still haven't sewn on the stupid crab thing and seashell onto the January block, although I did get the three fishes sewn on. Sheesh!

My plan is to begin the February block tomorrow as I head down to Sacramento for a compliance seminar on Friday. Good thing I'm going with another person so as to share the driving... driving is such a waste of time when one can be doing other things...

Like knitting!

Sunny Days / I Feel Fantastic!

One never knows where inspiration will strike...

I have encountered two new songs recently (well, new to me anyway) that are now my current favorites. Funny thing is that each of them were played on the Sticks and String podcast which I just discovered over the Christmas holidays and have been listening to them from the beginning ever since. Sticks and String is done by "An Australian bloke who knits" and is quite entertaining... maybe even for non-knitters perhaps. I do enjoy listening to his accent along with the knitting topics. Here is a link to his website:  http://www.sticksandstring.com.au/

So the first song is called "Sunny Days" by Eoghan Colgan. It is such an uplifting, happy song and I love the lyrics!

The second one is "I Feel Fantastic" by Jonathan Coulton. It also has such an upbeat tune and words - after hearing them in podcasts episode 4 and 2, I found them on iTunes and now have them in my When I Need to Feel Happy playlist. 

I so recommend both of these songs - however, if you want to hear the songs before potentially purchasing them, I am including the links to these podcasts. Who knows, you may even enjoy the knitting bits.  ;) 

Here is a link to the Sticks and String podcast, episode 4 (Sunny Days):
http://media.libsyn.com/media/sticksandstrings/Sticks_and_String_-_Show_4.mp3 

And here is episode 2 (I Feel Fantastic): http://media.libsyn.com/media/sticksandstrings/Sticks_and_String_-_Show_2.mp3

Quote from Richard Bach

Just saw this one today that's pretty cool:

"Can miles truly separate you from friends... if you want to be with someone you love, aren't you already there?"   ~Richard Bach

Look What I Spotted!

It's my very first car! Er, pickup. When I moved out here in 1986, I bought this little Mazda. I loved it! It had a four speed stick-shift on the floor and had a really hard time coming up over the mountain from Merlin into Grants Pass on the freeway. It also required about 10 minutes to warm up in the cold weather in order to work without being a bit dodgy.

Wow, I thought for sure it would have been scrapped long before now. I used to see it around town quite a lot when I first sold it, then gradually less and less often. It's probably been at least 15 years since the last sighting.

I have mixed feelings about seeing it: It's looking so darned sad! On the other hand, it does have happy memories that bring a smile to my heart...

Pride & Prejudice

I have been trying to enjoy Jane Austen for a long time now. But it's been really hard going. I had heard of her works of course, and when my friend Rosemary mentioned a couple of years ago that she was reading "Emma", I asked her if I could borrow it when she was finished. I've had that book, yes, for a couple of years now and have started over with it several times but have not been able to get through the first couple of chapters. The trouble was that all of a sudden the realization hits me that I have absolutely no idea what is going on in the book.

I've checked out the library's copy of the audio version of both Emma and Sense & Sensibility over time, and again, half the disc would go by in the car and I would realize I had no idea what the story was about. I work in Medford which gives me a half hour of car time both morning and evening and am happy to have books to listen to. Especially since the commute gives me less actual reading time during the course of a day...

I was faintly astonished and largely impressed as my teenage niece Caitlin described Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility as being her favorite movies. What?

When I was at Marji's house last fall, we began watching Pride & Prejudice and (maybe because I really do like to talk... I know, hard to believe) I found myself with the feeling that I had no idea what was going on. We didn't make it through the whole movie. We did get far enough to encounter the five daughters and I mentioned to Phil, "Hey! You guys could have three more girls and have a household like theirs!" He got quite an appalled look on his face so I'm thinking that's not going to happen. Oh well. There were four girls in our household and we didn't have quite that much drama as we were growing up, although it seems there is much more so now when we all get together at my mom and dad's. It's entertaining that way so I have a feeling we now work it on purpose.    :)

So it's not that I haven't wanted to enjoy Jane Austen. I've listened to the audio books, "The Jane Austen Book Club" and "Writing Jane Austen" both of which I enjoyed quite a lot. There are so many people that adore her works that I knew there had to be something there to like. Besides that, I've heard so much about the dashing Mr. Darcy that it stands to reason there must be some reason to pay attention there... Not to mention all times I've encountered knitting references to the Jane Austen era.

This winter when I downloaded the Nook Reader app onto my iPhone, I found it came with a couple of free books. One of which is Pride & Prejudice. (I'm pretty sure I'll be actually be able to spell prejudice by the time I finish here!)

Okay. That's it. I really need to get through this! I started with page one, and this time I looked at the first sentence and would not continue until I could rephrase it in modern terms. Okay then. Now the second sentence. Hey! It's working! I get it!

I only had to do this translating bit for the first page or so and then I was good to go...  Of course, reading takes away from knitting time whereas listening to podcasts, audio books, and movies, can all be done while knitting. For some reason, I have been getting very little actual reading done these past few months. And also, I have not made it completely through the book. I did find the audio book at the library and am listening to it in the car this week.

Last night Rich and Aidan had to go out, and since a co-worker was kind enough to lend me her movie version of Pride & Prejudice, it seemed an apt time to start watching it.

So... a glass of wine, a movie, and working on finishing up my January afghan block... sssshhhh... don't tell Marji I haven't finished mine yet. I think she finished hers on Monday which I was supposed to do too but I got caught up with stringing beads onto some black cotton for another project I just couldn't wait to dip into...

Being a Knitter Means You're OLD??

Recently upon learning that I knit, a friend's response was, "When did you get to be so old!?"

I responded that I was born old. What I should have added however, is "But... I'm getting younger all the time!"

There are plenty of young knitters! I am a chick with sticks! And who but the young (or at least young at heart) would ever consider joining a Stitch & Bitch group?

If more knitters were to knit in public, it would be way obvious what the range of ages are.

So... let me ask:

Would an old person knit this??

I have to say, this is probably the most creative thing I've come up with. One day my friend Kathy brought me this skein of hot pink "fringy" yarn with colored bits throughout and says, "I thought I would do a project with my nieces with this but it doesn't look like that's going to happen, so I'm giving it to you."

Oh dear. As a rule I don't wear pink. Certainly not that shade. So a scarf is out.

Hey, I could make something for Kathy! And then I remembered the bikini pattern in my Stitch & Bitch book. I couldn't use the pattern the way it was written as the yarn they used was much different (maybe classier even... I know, hard to imagine), but I could use it as a place to start. The hard part was keeping good notes every time I had to rip out and start again to get correct sizing and then get the second half the same as the first.

Kathy claims it wouldn't even fit her cat which of course means she thinks it wouldn't fit her either and I know that's completely untrue because it fit me (well, sort of) and she's at least as "small" as I am...

Ah well, I guess sometimes we just have to go along with the delusions of friends, don't we.