Higgledy Piggledy

The days are getting longer! Seed catalogs have been arriving! And, I'm trying to think ahead about the wonders that the garden will offer up after all of this rain and snow! The weather has, indeed, been chasing us indoors an awful lot lately. Anything I can do in front of the woodstove is game.

I've been knitting slouchy hats for Willa's teachers and am starting the fourth one this week. Slouchy hats were their top request and this pattern has been a humongous hit.

I have forever loved nesting dolls and found this pattern (photo above) from Sublime Stitching. I'm embroidering a few for Willa's room and will put them in simple oval frames.

We had a sweet morning hunting for used and vintage treats at the Greenwood Country Store last week. A stack of children's albums (including Wind in the Willows and The Sound of Music), an old egg beater with those satisfying, whirring gears, costume jewelry for dress up and a pile of old, crocheted doilies for $1. I'll be visiting there often.

My friend Lois gave me a division from her bromeliad. A bromeliad she bought while in grad school in Berkeley a-ways back. I love having a part of her plant.

Cooking my favorite beef stew ever. Baking my first loaf of bread. Gulping down this chai concentrate with my morning tea. And thinking about making salted caramels and homemade marshmallows.

I've watched It Might Get Loud three times now, two times with the director's commentary. I was loathe to put it back in the mail this morning and felt like I was saying goodbye to old friends. Really cool old friends.

To fend off doldrums, Willa and I have been going swimming on Sunday evenings and it has become my favorite part of the weekend.

I made a small resolution to meditate daily and these podcasts help me in a huge way. I need to have a voice to focus on, or the voices (and monkeys) in my own head detract from any rest my brain desperately needs.

What are your favorite indoor pursuits these days?