I’ve been working! I took about a month off and had forgotten how good it feels to be gathering plants, making dye baths, and watching all the lovely natural colors emerge in my kitchen. I’ve had a good rhythm going between homeschooling and dyeing. Sadly, I haven’t quite figured out how to balance that with housework. But that’s mostly true for everybody (so I tell myself). I told Jonny the other night that it might be a decade or so before we get on top of everything. And I suspect at that point we’ll have realized that there’s no use trying! We went out on a quick date over the weekend that included our favorite new taco place (homemade corn tortillas!) and gathering sumac berries. For several years now our dates have sometimes involved gathering dye plants, which is almost always a lovely way to spend an hour. It’s important that we make those date nights a priority rather than always working on our endless to-do lists.
Today, Silas had a doctor’s appointment so I took him out for lunch afterwards to make it a little date for us. Solo dates with our children are a little harder to come by, but they do happen quite naturally at times. I had an embarrassing moment at the check-in desk when I was asked for his birthdate and I couldn’t come up with more than the month and day. The woman eventually had to prompt me, whispering, “2011.” I think it’s time to make a little card that I carry in my wallet… Years are hard to remember! Once we were back in a room answering the nurse’s questions, she asked if Silas has any allergies. I told her that he doesn’t, but he was quick to correct me. “I’m allergic to poison ivy,” he told her with big, serious eyes. So precious. I made a note of it in my planner, so I’d remember to tell Jonny. I haven’t always carried my planner everywhere, I think to some extent because they were so bulky, or the spiral binding would uncurl and get caught in things. But, I’ve been using this one for the past six months or so and love it especially because it is so easy to carry around in my purse. I use it for keeping up with appointments and other plans, but I also jot down lots of notes on the pages. There is an entire lined page to go along with each week at a glance, so there is plenty of room for writing, at least for me because I’m not big on journaling. Often, I am sketching out plans of what I want to accomplish in my dye kitchen, but there are also plenty of little notes about my kids. One day, it will be lovely to look back at the words and plans that filled my days and weeks.
Dear little Mabel is really keeping us all on our toes! I talked a little bit about that here. She’s so clever, darling, and naughty! At nineteen months, she’s into absolutely everything. For the first time in many years we are realizing we need to up our childproofing game as she can open doors now. She’s a wonderful problem solver and I know that will serve her well some day, though right now I wish she wasn’t quite so resourceful! The other day I was standing at the sink in my studio, and the next thing I knew she had turned over a five gallon bucket, climbed up on top, and was stirring my dye pot! With her help (wink), I’ll have a shop update ready in a couple of weeks. Early February, I hope!
Gwen says
Info on the vest pictures here, please! I searched your Ravelry page for info, but couldn’t find it! Thanks in advance.
Catherine says
I just adore your photo’s Ginny. They are so beautiful- as are your children.
Thank you for sharing your life with us!
Love Catherine xx
Erika says
I only have four kids and I have to pause and think for their birth dates. I do know how old they each are, but I can’t remember my age. I have to figure it out by remembering my oldest sister’s age and then going down the line to myself. Am I in denial about my selective memory, perhaps? 😉
Kate says
The colors are lovely! Did you get that rose hue from the sumac berries? I wish I had known that before we moved. We had sumac on our old place. Have not seen any around our new house yet. Thanks for the update.
ginny says
Sumac berries give soft tans and grays. 🙂
Lisa Howie says
Thank you for sharing your talents and more through this blog Ginny. You are an inspiration! I’d like to ask a question about your dyeing process if I may. I’ve been reading up on this and am very interested in getting started. What is the source of your yarn if you don’t mind sharing? Thank you.
Sarah says
What a lovely post today (as usual)
Your photos are beautiful! Love the colors of the yarn
karen says
how sweet that you had a date with the mister and a date with Silas 🙂 I’m not surprised that Mabel is an escape artist! I bet you are trying to be one step ahead of her when you can!!
Kathryn Cobb says
Hi again Ginny! I am so sorry to be back again but I am sitting here knitting up a pair of Hermione’s Everyday Socks and thinking of your situation. I’m afraid that I am warming to my theme now and have come up with an idea, which you probably have already thought of and either adopted or discarded for some perfectly valid reason. But I thought I would say it just the same.
The postal carrier just left a package of “Dishie” cotton yarn from Knitpicks, which I have never used before. I intend to knit my way through some of the free dishcloth and bath/kitchen linen patterns that they post on their website as a way of trying our some new-to-me stitches and stitch patterns before using them in a more expensive project. Most are simple knit or crocheted squares.
Since your older girls have shown an interest in knitting, I thought this might be a good way to introduce some home management skills and experience to them while helping them to develop their knitting skills as well. Your daughters could be given the simple responsibility of making sure fresh kitchen and bathroom linens are put out on whatever your usual schedule is and they could be offered the choice of making up some linens in their own choice of suitable yarn or fabric, taking into account economies of cost, etc. This might be a hop, skip and a jump to your being able to rely on them to do the linen laundry, including ironing, if appropriate. I started out ironing pillowcases for my own mother.
Anyway enough said; take it or leave it as you wish.
All the best, Kathryn
ginny says
Dear Kathryn, I love these thoughts and ideas! I need to look into the Dishie yarn from Knit Picks! I think my girls would enjoy knitting some dishcloths. Thanks so much for brainstorming for me!! Love, Ginny
Kathryn Cobb says
You are very welcome Ginny! All the best!
Cathy says
Do keep all your planners. I love looking back on my notes, usually about birthdays, food made, presents made, given or received, just lovely. Hurrah for resourceful girls!
Marion says
Mabel is so cute. Your yarn is lovely.
Marion
Ginny says
Thanks, Marion!!
Donna Fry says
Loving the beautiful dye colors! And Mabel is so cute!
Coveting the tee-shirt-Mary, Therese, etc!
Where did you ever find it????
Ginny says
I love that shirt! I bought it here: https://www.brickhouseinthecity.com
Anne says
Do not feel bad about forgetting birth dates! I have six children, two of them girls, both born in November five days and five years apart (11/10/05 and 11/05/10!). I ALWAYS have to pause and think when asked for their birthday!
I always love seeing how your children are dressed; classic styles, natural fibers, and homemade knits.
You’re a wonderful mother, Ginny. Thank you for sharing a little glimpse of your life with us.
Ginny says
That IS tricky!! One of them shares a birthday with my Job! 🙂
Anne says
It must have been a great day to be born!
Jeannie Gray says
Both my kids share the same birth date but not the month. And, they are 21 months apart – or two years, except calendar wise, it’s only 1 year. I can Never remember which one was born in which month or what year it was.
As for resourceful kids…. I was pretty lucky with mine but my poor sister… Her son “fixed” my mom’s toilet by unbolting it from the floor one day when Mom was babysitting. Next time Mom went to the bathroom, the whole toilet tipped over. He’s an adult know and still enjoys building/fixing things in his spare time.
Ginny says
I would have an impossible time keeping those dates straight!
Kathryn Cobb says
My advice is to just go with the flow and prioritize reaching for the joy in your life. You and your husband seem to be doing a great job. Your family will look back and cherish their upbringing and they will have wonderful role models upon which to base their own life. Your days of making family memories for your innocent children will be over too quickly. Life is hard enough without also making it seem impossible; that can easily overwhelm and paralyze one. You deserve so much more than that. May God bless you abundantly!
Ginny says
You are so very right about life being hard enough without making it seem impossible!! I have to remind myself to relax.
Lana says
Our kids did most of the housework when they were still at home. I had detailed lists for everyone. They did the chores so badly but at least they were partly done. Chores had to be finished before starting school in the morning. They were so competitive about getting their school done first that it worked here. Moms need help!
Ginny says
Our kids do too, but I still get behind! Mostly my own space lately. I can’t seem to keep a clean bathroom! I do need to go back to using a chore chart of sorts…
Lana says
It was always the same here. I would go upstairs to go to bed at night and see our yucky bathroom because I was supposed to do that myself. I am so much better at keeping it clean now that I do all the chores than ever before.
Kathryn Cobb says
My husband used to tell me, frequently, something a wise teacher imparted to his class of students; “inch by inch, life’s a cinch.” Why not try taking care of one small bit of the bathroom, a couple minutes at a time, each time you go in until you feel you have a good shot at maintenance? Then you can probably maintain with even fewer bits of time, or your children can be assigned the little bits based upon ability and attention span, leaving you to polish things up or take care of spots. Pretty soon you may be surprised to see that you have a “spotless” bathroom!
Tonya says
Don’t feel badly about forgetting the birth dates…. I have occasionally drawn a blank as well and then feel so badly.
thinking of you and love your beautiful hand dyed yarns.
Ginny says
Thanks, Tonya!!
CathyMA says
Silas’ statement of being allergic to poison ivy reminded me of something along those lines. Last month, just before Christmas, I was processing some meds for a pre-op patient (I work at a hospital). She was a teenager. I noticed under her allergy list she claimed “apples.” I scanned where she lived & noted she lives in a foster care group home. Clearly this child was sent to her pre-op appointment alone, as we take medication allergies seriously, but not so much fruit. I suspect the nurse entered her allergy to apples to snap us all into attention and realize she is a foster child, and we would all have an extra gentleness when dealing with her. I’d say, mission accomplished. Love your sweet blog.
Ginny says
Thank you for sharing that story!
Caroline says
My one little word for 2018 is balance and I have already discovered that there is NO such thing. I live with my husband and have no children and I battle to get anything done or keep any type of schedule so my advise to you is to not even try.
Just roll with it, lol.
Your yarn looks awesome! One day I will brave the postage and actually place an order x
Ginny says
It’s really hard!! Rolling with it is definitely the way to go. 🙂
Eileen says
I understand the remembering dates and year thing. I can spit out my kids birthdays and years, but please don’t ask me how many years I have been married! I never get it right when asked. My husband knows though and tells me the years when the blank look comes over me. I tell him the number is getting so high what does it matter, we just celebrated our 39th., and yes, I would do it all over again with this guy;-}
Your pictures are beautiful and Mabel is precious !
Ginny says
39th is huge! We celebrated our 19th last year. It’s hard to believe that all those years have passed! 🙂