Composting and Looking Ahead

This summer, I spent a lot of time existing and not much living. If you've been around these parts for a while, you've probably guessed from my (few and far between) posts this summer that I've been in a bit of a slump. I can think of more things that I didn't do this summer, than things I did and when people ask how my summer was, I'm not sure how to respond. It came, it went and here it is, mid-October, my season full time employment wraps up this coming Sunday, and the long winter is staring us straight in the eyes.

I spent a lot of this summer in a state of melancholy. I've always been prone to glumness, but usually I buck up and shoulder on. This time however, I went for the full wallow. My creative well felt all dried up. It was all I could manage to work full time, fix dinner, tend and harvest the gardens, clean the house, run, and keep up with Etsy.(Okay, maybe I wasn't melancholy, maybe I was just tired.)

But last week I woke up on Monday morning and felt, like myself. I was awake. I was ready. I was tired of wallowing (or whatever the last few months have been about) and ready to get down to business. I'm calling this summer my "composting" summer; a fallow time necessary to grow great things in the days to come.

So here we are, a week later and I'm declaring it business as usual again here at Of Woods and Words. I'm committing to much more regular postings (I have so many post ideas floating around) and since this winter is appearing to be a little less project-heavy than last year, there may even be a blog redesign in the works before year's end. (Sorry layout, you're soooo March 2011.)I'm thrilled to be a mere week away from working from home and today has been a delicious little teaser, as I've been working from home (with the exception of a late morning board meeting) and actually working on my first freelance article in a couple months.

While it may feel (to me at least) that not much happened this summer, here's some of what's been going on during my absence:

We had our best garden year to date, despite a pretty cool summer. Last night was the first night we had a killing frost, which actually feels like a major blessing after harvesting gluts of green beans, kohlrabi, kale, potatoes, tomatoes, and so much more. Our freezers are filled to the gills and an empty mason jar is rare find in the cabin these days.

I've continued with my running and have 8 miles on the schedule for Friday's run. Whew! Running hasn't gotten easier per se, but it definitely has become a habit and I look forward to my runs, even though the decreasing amount of daylight has made it trickier to get my runs in before work. I got really into the Chicago Marathon yesterday and was so excited to think that in two years' time, I'll be one of those runners. Running = the bomb-diggity.

 

Over the last couple months, I got the lovelies above ready for a consignment order from Doodle Bird Design and Gifts in Minneapolis. I'm excited to have my knitting in an actual brick and mortar shop. If you happen to be a Twin Cities dweller, Kristin stocks a fantastic selection of handcrafted items from Minnesota artists and the shop is well worth a visit. Plus, you can buy a pair of my mittens, if you're not the sort of person to like waiting for Etsy orders to arrive. ;)

It's been a while, I know. What's new with all of you?!