Another Link in The Chain

Wow. Its been a good long time since I have posted. I'm not going to beat myself up about that- though I'm sure there is a part of me that may try. I'm here now. I'm absolutely gushing about a comment left on my last post and feeling so very encouraged to keep at this blog for what its worth. :) I'm also back from a very refreshing visit to Arizona for a visit with my Grandparents and for the Tuscon Gem and Mineral Show. Clearly I have a lot to write about.
Since having a baby I have thought about tradition and ancestry so much more than I ever have in my life. Since wanting to change the way I live I have thought so much more about the way things used to be done. My Grandma is in the process of planning a family reunion this year so these subjects came up a lot during our visit. My Grandma is the youngest of her family and she has already lost siblings. Ours is the sort of family (like many these days) that is sprawled out all over the land. We are lucky to come together here and there for special occasions. Basically we do not have very many opportunities for passing down family traditions. And until recently I did not even realize that I cared about that. I now find myself wanting a way of life that looks more like the lives of these women who came before me.
So while we were visiting my Grandma and I made good use of our time together and she showed me my very first knitting pattern. A dish cloth, taught to her by her Mother. This is a precious thing to me that while I wash dishes everyday I will remember our visit. Stitched into this little cloth is the stories she told me, the encouragement she gave me, the homemade noodle soup she made us, the peanut butter cake, and the pitter patter of little Cora marching around the house telling Pepe the dog "No!" It's just a dish cloth. But what a precious dish cloth it is to me. And how wonderful is it that I will never again for as long as I live ever have to buy a dish cloth?! That is a gift that keeps on giving.

Dish Cloth

One skein of cotton yarn -worsted weight
#7 knitting needles

Cast on 4 stitches
Knit 2 rows
Knit 2, yarn over, knit to the end of the row
repeat to 40 stitches

Knit 1, knit 2 together yarn over knit to together knit to the end of the row
repeat to 6 stitches
decrease to 3 stitches
Bind off

A New Old Paradigm

Our dryer broke. So I am taking this opportunity to give hanging laundry to dry a try. It has slowed me down considerably. I am finding out that this is not nesasarily a bad thing. Before I would shovel piles of clothes from one machine to the next and end up with mountains of laundry to fold and then put away. LAundry was always bulky and overwhelming. I think a lot of clothes that weren't even dirty would get tossed into the piles of dirty because it didn't seem like a big deal to have just one more thing in a load. But now, laundry is less about loads and more about items. Now that I have to shake and hang each item , each item becomes more valuable somehow- more cared for because I have the responsibilty of taking care of it. I think twice before throwing things into the laundry pile. I feel in touch with the week of clothes that as I remember the precious moment our family spent using these clothes. Our clothes will last longer. And I actually kind a like the crisp feeling of fabric air dried. I can't promise that I will always air dry all of my clothes. But I appricate the pace of this much more.
One of my goals this January is to move further in the direction of stewardship. Consume less, conserve more. I want to teach my baby girl to take care of what she has. Her clothes, toys, books, water, this earth. I grew up with a disposable mindset. We literally got rid of things simply because we had had them for a while and were ready for something new. In fact as a society it has been drilled into our brains that we must. But no more. I am now striving to live to honor the things in my life. I am thinking long and hard before buying things. I don't buy the cheapest one anymore. I buy the one that can fullfill its purpose the longest. I have finally realized that if I buy a can opener I would rather spend 3x as much on one that could last forever than the cheap one that is made with the intent that it break quickly so I will have to buy another. To me, at this point in time, that mindset is simply unacceptable.
I want to spend less time in stores. More time at home. Less time taking out the trash, more time taking out the compost in my backyard. It would be great to let the drive for needing to get rid of things turn into what other purpose could this be used for. We are not what we buy.

Homeade Skincare

• I have taken a bit of a blogging pause- a hesitation really. I have been wondering exactly what Im doing this for - who my "audience" is. I think I'm really making this blog so that I can record what Im up to- to keep a log. My friend suggested that I write this like I'm writing to a good friend- one who is listening with unconditional love and acceptance. I thought that was very good advice. So somehow I turned this paragraph blue and underlined and bulleted it. I have no idea how I did it or how to undo it. So there ya go.
  

Anyway, I got an amazingly inspiring book for Christmas this year- Organic Body Care Recipes by Stephanie Tourles. I made the Aloe and Calendula CLeansing Cream, only I used chammomile because that's what I had. It is delicious and I swear my skin looks smoother and more supple- as promised :) The only thing is that it lasts for 30 days so that means it need to be remade once a month. So we'll see, it may be just a special treat.
Oh and that's my lady love crystal that sits on the windowsill above my kitchen sink. Isn't she gorgeous!