Life Happens~ Absorbing Summer

We love summer.

Love love love.

Here are some recent shots of life around here lately~

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Paul has been working with the hives. 

We had a swarm move into the empty hive boxes in our barnand they built their comb under the lid.
He had to move the brood into frames. The bees will fill in the gaps with more comb.

It's dahlia madness in the garden. 

Eve planted a kajillion of them. Want some?

Mrs. William's hydrangea bush bloomed for the first time this year 

(since we moved here three years ago!). It's amazing. 

Mrs. Williams lived here for 65 years before us.

I created a cocktail, (and promise to post the recipe). 

It's called a" Goosey Lucy" and it is SO yummy.

There has been a LOT of swimming in the pond.

Gathering of friends...  

 Family visits (our entire family lives in PA)...

And my quiet practice. 

Being still and quiet is not something that I do enough, but is so good for me.

Be still and listen. It's something I need to cultivate and work on every day.

We planted flowers in memory of all my grandmothers. The gladiolus are for my Gram Kopp.

Planted in her favorite colors, lavender purple and a peachy pink.

 View of the orchard from the tractor.

Our young flock of hens.

The news ladies' tiny eggs are on the right.

The giant egg in the center is our old, over-achieving Ameracauna hen (Connie). 

She lays a big one every week-ish. It usually has a double or triple yolk!

And of course, there is a lot of knitting happening. And planning. 

The planning never stops. 

Back to absorbing this last month of summer!

See you soon!

xo

reenie

Gratitude~ Three very special Gifts and a very clear Message~

Yesterday was a special, odd, goosebumpy kind of day. 

A normal day, routine, running, chores, meals....

But I received some really profound, meaningful and relevant gifts. 

All in one day.
Sometimes life, routine, and my thought patterns tend to make me feel like I am stuck and in a haze with no clear idea of where I am headed. Foggy, depressed, moody.... stuck.
Then the clarity hits... the inspiration, the passion, and the very clear messages that I just love and appreciate so much.
Here is my story of yesterday...

Gift #1 is THIS...

An early 1940s Singer 201-2. With a direct-drive motor, which means no treadle and no belts.

She is all metal and black and completely GORGEOUS.

I am in love.

I plugged her in and ran her for a bit.... she purrs like a kitten.

She now sits next to my sewing table where my much younger Singer Heavy Duty 

(which now seems, not so heavy duty, in comparison) sits.

A real treasure and a very special gift from our friends Joe and Sally. 

She belonged to Joe's mother, and he wanted to pass it on 

to someone who will cherish and use it, which I already do.

I will call her Betty, after Joe's mother.
Joe sent me a bio of his mom, which I will print out and keep in the drawers with the manuals.

Here are photos of the manual cover and inside front... (click to see larger images).

This video describes the model, takes you on a tour of the machine, 

explaining what each part is... plus tells us that this model was used by 

Rolls Royce in their factories to sew the leather for the interior seats!  

So very heavy duty! Watch out! haha. This girl will sew anything!

I have not sewn on her yet, I am still absorbing her energy.... 

and I have yet to go through the treasures in the drawers in super detail.  So far I have found some lady gloves from the 50s and a gianormous sweater shaver (see it in the drawer? It's mauve and so awesome), plus a lot of feet and parts and notions.  A treasure chest!

 Ezmaralda has given her approval, which is good because she now sits in Ez's spot in the studio. 

The perfect spot to watch the bird feeder and remain invisible to the birds.

She came with a bench too! (which I shall promptly reupholster in a Kaffe Fassett print!)

The top of the bench lifts off for storage.

When I closed her up to take a photo, I discovered THIS... 

A scissors holder on the side! 

LOVE LOVE LOVE

Perfect fit! 

Just wait! It keeps going!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then I received a text from our friend Marty. 

While we were running errands he delivered the second and third treasures... 

Gift #2 is a knitting machine from the 80s(?).  

From Marty's mom Allie (thanks so much Allie!). 

I am overwhlemed by Allie's generosity as well as the parts in this box! hahaha

Time for "Knitting Machine University" (when ever we get obsessed by something around here, which is almost every day, we name it, "______ University").

I need a lesson in knitting machines and it will be an adventure trying to put this creature together, but I am sure if I cannot figure it out, there is someone local who can teach me (anyone???).

There is a Bulky (worsted) part... (I don't even know what the part is called yet, a carriage?)...

and an Intarsia part!!! 

 The ideas I have for this are already overwhleming my brains, haha, 

as if there was any room in there before yesterday. 

BUT... the third gift???

This one did me IN.

Marty brought me my dear friend Ruth's yarn bin.

We lost Ruth in Dec. of 2012 to Melanoma.

I met her in 2008 at a local yarn shop just after moving across the country and missing my yarn friends in PA so very badly. Meeting her was such a gift at a very lonely time.

I still have not gone through this bin in a lot of detail. I saw a "UFO" she had started for her young daughter and never finished.... I had to put the lid back on.

Going through this will require some alone time and a cocktail to toast to our Ruth.

So, the Message sent to me today was a very CLEAR one.

Life is short.

I am on the right path. I love fiber arts. 

I love knitting and sewing and designing. 

 I am so very THANKFUL for these amazing gifts I received today, 

for the time I have to play with them, 

for the ideas they have already generated, and the opportunites they present. 

I do not want to take anything for granted. 

~Gratitude.

reenie out.

xo

The Peace of Wild Things~

The Peace of Wild Things

BY WENDELL BERRY

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ Paul