We Are Diminished...

My MIL passed away March 12th after a very long time spent in poor health. Although she was in a nursing home for eight years, and although she suffered with many painful symptoms, she was nearly always cheerful and a pleasure to be around. Her health has had an impact on our family for quite sometime. It will be strange not to plan our weekends around visiting her. And grocery shopping will not be the same without having to stop and think about what we needed to buy in order to make her life more comfortable. I was one of the fortunate people who was unable to relate to all the "Mother-in-law" jokes that make the rounds. I was lucky to have a MIL who loved me as I loved her. She will be greatly missed.

More Knitting Fun

This is my completed bear that I knit in response to a blogger's request for teddy bears to take down to kids in Jamaica. She'd been there on vacation and seen children so poor that they had no toys of their own. So, she posted a WWII-era pattern for quick-to-knit teddy bears and asked people to help out. I had a lot of leftover, washable yarn which was perfect for this. It's a quick, easy project. I knit in many good thoughts and wishes for the little child who will receive it. I'm in the middle of bear number two as we speak. This little project has superceded my felted clogs, but they are next to be completed! If you'd like to help, you may get the pattern here Bear Drive

Wishing For Spring

I'm behind in my posting due to family emergencies. How quickly our lives can spiral out of control! However, one of my new year's resolutions is striving to live a more deliberate life, and that means making the time for things that are important. So I will get back to keeping current on my blog. I have finished a knitting project, and and half done with my clogs. (Photos to follow.) The garden languishes terribly, since the weather here has not been inhospitable to working in the dirt. They say we may even have snow tomorrow morning, but it's March after all, the changeable month. We don't want to wish our lives away longing for Spring, for it will be here soon enough!

"Whosoe'er would reach the rose,
Treads the crocus underfoot.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning
"Bertha in Love"