Friday | The One Before School Break

It is the Friday before school vacation week! We’re taking the week off from Blackberry Bluff School and Colton will be on a break from all of his programs. It might sound like a vacation but I’ll likely be busier than ever and will yearn for a vacation of my own once the week ends. Alas – you all know how that goes. My hope is that I’ll find time for stitching and reading. Spending small moments recharging my batteries will make all of the difference! Here’s what I hope to be working on:

Thank you for the encouragement you’ve given me for this project! I finished picking out all of the darning stitches and was finally able to follow the chart correctly. I’m past the halfway mark on this section! Now it’s almost like sock knitting – it takes no thought and can be picked up and put down very easily now that I understand how it works. My needle has memorized her path and knows exactly where to go! I’d love to be lucky enough to stitch a few more rows this weekend and next week. Once I finish this part there’s just a tiny more that I want to do and then she’ll be done.

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I recently wrote about sliding into a reading slump but this is the stack of books I’d like to finish before the end of the month? Normally it would seem like an easy win but I’m not so sure right now. I will be extremely happy if I just finish two, especially considering how busy next week will be for me. I brought Homecoming home from the library yesterday and started it after everyone went to bed last night; it felt so good to finally have a new Kate Morton novel in my hands!

I’m ready to start on the International Booker Shortlist. I have immediate access to 3 of the books (Time Shelter, Still Born, and Whale.) I don’t intend to buy any of the others because I’m saving my bookish dollars for the Booker Longlist this summer. Perhaps the other three will become available through the library system, but I’d be surprised given that they are so new and niche. The winner of this prize is announced on May 23, so that gives me plenty of time to get through the books in my possession. Maybe one of them will win!

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Just a few things I’ve been grateful for and inspired by over the last couple of weeks:

🧑🏻‍🍳 125 Best Vegetarian Slow Cooker Meals has been my go-to cookbook lately. These meals are easy on our budget and waistlines. I love that the author gives directions on starting the meals the night before, which makes a big difference in my life! We have especially enjoyed the Split Pea and Lentil Curry (p 114) and the Tortilla Soup with Corn and Chilies (p 56).

🧽 I am loving the Method Pink Grapefruit All Purpose Cleaner. It smells bright and clean and wonderful. Its pretty pink color is a bonus!

🌷 Spring flowers are everywhere! Our tulips haven’t bloomed yet but we have daffodils and hyacinths. Our peony plant has just emerged, the rose bushes are becoming green, and our baby forsythia has the tiniest petals on it. The lilacs are beginning to bud, blue scillas are popping up, the woolen catkins on the willow tree have gone to seed, the mint is spreading, the lavender is waking up. Our grass is not green but the neighbor’s is! Life is coming back. Just a few more weeks to get past final frost and things will really go wild!

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I hope your weekend is full of exactly what you need. I’ll be reporting back on Monday with an update on my One Little Word; until then – take good care!