KNIT WIT

It is the time of year where the pressures of the farm are on low dial for now. It gives me the luxury of fiddling around and about the house. About a month ago I was looking for Christmas paper to wrap something and it started something really big. I got very upset and angry with myself as I began to realize how much stuff I had accumulated and saved for all the rainy days. I am one of those, " I might need this one day" kind of people. Well I just don't have room anymore for all the "one day" things.

 

It is now at least a month later and I am still sorting and organizing and ruthlessly throwing out those "one day I'll use it things."

 

My biggest load of stuff has turned out to be all the knitting and crochet paraphernalia I have accumulated over 30 + years. I have thrown very little out to be truthful but it was truly all over the place. It is now organized and all in one place. It is labelled and sorted and I certainly don't need to purchase yarn or patterns for, well, almost forever.

 

Of all the creative things I have learned to do and love to do in my life this has got to be the one I enjoy most. It gives me endless hours of quiet pleasure. All the studies that tell you to do crosswords and stuff have nothing on learning and creating a challenging pattern of stitches. Plus you get something lovely you have created and can give yourself or someone else.

 

So the clutter is down to a minimum. Its a good feeling. Probably the only one who needs to fear me once I am through with sorting my things is my husband. Workshop. Watch out !!!  "ha, ha. Only kidding honey."



All the Right Tools

 I know why I love baking and gardening.

Both let me get my hands into it.
As a child I remember how much I liked "feeling" things.
The many different textures and sensations.
Nothing has changed. I still like it !

 I also learned from my mother that having the right tool for a job made things a lot easier in the kitchen.
I do everything with hand tools.
I have cultivated quite a collection over the years.
When I am in the thrift stores I am always on the look out for those forgotten, neglected hand gadgets that don't get used by most people anymore. Many of mine were old when I got them but they work like new every time and have stood the test of time.
They don't make things like that anymore.



On bake day, out come the essential tools I need to accomplish the task of creating wonderful breads and more.

 Best of all I get to have my hands involved. They are absolutely my BEST tool. They give me the ability to feel, sense and know when the doughs are at their right moment.

Dough is alive and has different feelings through the course of its' creation from culture to bread.  


I love being in my kitchen and knowing
that I have all the things I need at
my fingertips so that I can pull up my
sleeves and get my hands busy whenever it strikes me.

Working in the garden or out in the fields is the same. The work goes a whole lot better when the tools are there when you need them.
Mostly though I like to have my hands in the soil, feeling it and knowing it. When I think about it I already knew as a child what my destiny was going to be.

Thank goodness my inner child followed through.