First Snow

I have missed you all!  I'm sorry for my absence, but I have found it almost impossible to find the time to sit down and work on my blog. I decided last week to give the Littles a week off from their school lessons and allow myself some time to catch up on the mountain of things that I put off during our very busy soccer season. Many of the Littles were still waiting for me to pull their fall/winter clothing out of storage; actually, I had to pull mine out as well.  A few bedrooms needed cleaning and organizing (Oh, what a job that was!), and two out-of-state trips to the Children's Hosptial with Little #6 were made.  The yard and garden needed last bit tidying up before winter. I don't think we could have cut it any closer as we were raking up the last bit of leaves and tilling the garden only hours before wintry weather was upon us. A daunting pile of papers was finally filed, phone calls made, bills paid, and appointments were scheduled and rescheduled. It's amazing how quickly the little things add up when not attended to each day.

In addition to the many things that I wanted to catch up on, I felt a bit (okay, maybe more than a bit) discouraged, wondering if I could actually keep up with my blog.  I've enjoyed this little space I call my own, this little diary of our life on the farm.  I love being able to look back at our lives over the past year and have pictures and writings of the simple things that I normally might not have remembered or recorded.  I also have truly appreciated the opportunity to "meet" others from all over the world and cultivate friendships with those I may never have met if it wasn't for the lovely little niche of bloggers that I have found and connected with through blogging.  I have been discouraged about the amount of time, or rather the lack of time, that I have had for blogging.  My content is lacking because I don't feel that I have material that is interesting enough to share.  I feel that I have just been scurrying to keep up with everyday chores...dishes, meals, errands, dirty diapers, laundry...all, of which, are not very interesting.  In addition, the youngest Littles have been doing a great job keeping their mama on her toes. We have a two, a three, and a four year old all who seem to be in the throes of the terrible twos...one just coming into it, and one that has been there a while and doesn't want to leave.  I actually had considered giving up on my blog, but the thought made me so very sad.  I just couldn't walk away from it.  I wanted to stay connected to the friends I have made, so I've decided to keep writing, but taking it slowly, not pressuring myself to write on a schedule and allowing myself to be okay with fewer pictures or less words, remembering that simple is okay.  I'm hoping with time we will get caught up here on the farm and fall back into a healthy rhythm (and maybe my four year old will decide he is too old be stuck in the terrible twos).

So, now that I have shared all of this with you (I wasn't planning on doing so), I want to get back to the original intent of this post.  Sunday morning we woke to unseasonably wintery weather, our first snow storm of the season. Much hustling had been done the day before in preparation of the storm, so I was quite content to snuggle in next to the wood stove and take the first day off we have had in many weeks. I hadn't done much knitting since spring, except for the occasional row or two on the Little Bud's sweater.  I needed something fresh to work on, and this cabled headband for Little #2 was just the ticket.  I'm looking forward to catching up and enjoying more peaceful days in front of the fire with a knittig project in hand.