sunshine

Showing posts with label sunshine. Show all posts

Sunshine, Growth, and Refreshing

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

This time of year, I always get that sappy John Denver song stuck in my head. You know: "Sunshine on my shoulder makes me happy. Sunshine in my eyes can make me cry."

It's true. There are times when the sun comes out in late January and early February when I feel like I could literally weep with gratefulness. That doesn't sound like SAD at all, does it? *snort*

Because it's warmed up a teeny bit, we've been getting a far amount of overcast days, so when the sun does shine, I feel like a thirsty dog, lapping it up in big, sloshing gulps.

Of course the one day I didn't want the sun to shine - Sunday, Groundhog's Day - the sun was out bright and early. Six more weeks of winter. She says as though there was any possible alternative to that on February 2nd - of course there's six more week of winter . . . if not more. Le sigh.

Now that the newness of the new year has worn off, the winter doldrums are settling in. I figured one sure way to make spring feel like it's coming really fast was to start a massive knitting project that must be completed by the end of May. Wedding afghan #4, day 1:

Last Thursday, I consciously avoided Facebook and all other social media all day. And it was glorious. Far too often, I poke that little blue box on my iPad and start mindlessly scrolling through other people's lives, clicking on links, looking for the next dopamine hit. Turns out, a lunch break spent reading a book is far more fulfilling than one spent on Facebook or Bloglovin'. . . .

Speaking of social media, does anyone else use Buffer to schedule social media posts? I just discovered it this week and may be in love. It allows me to schedule posts and tweets days in advance and I can use a little "Buffer" button on my browser to put any website I stumble upon that I want to share into my Buffer queue. I just started using it for some of my social media work this week and so far, it's saving me time and keep me from getting sucked down the social media rabbit hole.

Also, happy 10th birthday Facebook. And now I feel ancient, although my Facebook account is only 8.5 years old. Still. . . wowzer.

My little Meyer lemon seeds haven't sprouted yet, but the rosemary plant above has been putting on all sorts of new leaves lately. It's so lovely to have something growing this time of year. The lemon seeds take about two weeks to sprout and apparently that tests my limits of "gardening faith" because I had to root around in the pot until I found one of the three seeds I planted to make sure it wasn't rotting. Glory be, it wasn't rotting, it was sprouting so I tucked back under the soil. We should have the first little shoot of lemon trees in a couple days now.

I brought home my mother's sewing machine a couple weeks ago, because I feel the need to develop my sewing skills. I used to sew quite a bit in high school, and a teeny bit in college, but I was never especially good at it, which may (or may not!) have stemmed from the fact that I never actually read the machine's manual. . . . First things first, eh?

How are you beating cabin fever this winter?

January Calm

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

I hope this second week of January find you well. I'm feeling happier, calmer, and more accomplished than I have in a long time which is to say, 1) I've started exercising in earnest again and 2) The sun's been showing his pretty face on a more regular basis. It's been a quiet week around here, but a good one indeed.

This new year, I've been discovering the beauty of MITs, or Most Important Tasks. Each morning I set three MITs and write down a few other things I'd like to get done before evening. Having three things that must get done keeps me on track with the multiple projects I juggle at any given moment and then the rest of the stuff I get done in the day is just gravy. I like to live by a saying I found in an article my dad shared with me from the Irish Times: "Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow." There are certain things that must get done each day, but without setting MITs, it's easy to let other projects which maybe don't need to get done right. now. take centerstage while important (but maybe not so glamorous) projects languish in the background. By setting MITs each morning, I know my day will be well spent and I also know that if I put something off until tomorrow, it will actually get done.

I'm now signed up for Shamrock Shuffle 8K in Chicago in March and the Ham Run Half Marathon in May. Last night I had a nightmare that I spent most of the half marathon hanging out at the halfway point, but never actually made it to the starting line to actually, you know, start racing. I think my subconscious might be a little concerned about actually being ready for these commitment. But yay for keeping new year's resolutions, if only on paper so far. ;)

I hit my 100th sale on Etsy today. To sweeten the deal even more, the sale was made by dear, far-flung friend. When I first stocked the shop in late July 2012, I had no idea what to expect. Since then, I've been humbled and amazed to have so many people invite my knitting into their lives. Thank you!

Remember those firestarters I mentioned in last week's post? Here they are in action. They're essentially made out of rubbish (egg carton, dryer lint, and melted wax from the bottom of candles) which makes them an upcycling success. I kind of love that.

The polar vortex is behind us and temps are hanging out in the "perfectly acceptable" range, at least for now. This means we've stopped hemorrhaging firewood. Thank goodness.

I hit the 20K word count mark on the current WIP. Progress indeed.

I've always had a thing for late afternoon winter sunshine. So serene.

An otter slid down the bay and then right past the cabin, leaving fun slide marks through the woods. I think an otter's life can not be a bad life.

Ah, February Sunshine!

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Lucky us: we've recently had a slew of sunny days. We're also experiencing a pretty impressive range of temperatures each day, consistently on a range from -15 below to 40 above. That means dry pavement (hooray for a drive home made almost entirely in 5th gear!), sparkly snow, and some beautiful frosty trees and shrubs. Since our cabin has a fantastic southerly exposure, it's also made for one toasty cabin.

This morning, we woke up to 57 degree cabin, so Andy started a fire, we ate some breakfast and then headed to town for the weekly errands. When I came back a little after three this afternoon, the cabin was a stuffy 88 degrees! Ick!

It seems a little ridiculous to have the door wide open in February, but sometimes you've just got to waste a little energy. That said, I knew I didn't want to waste the sunshine, so I headed out on a little hike down the lake in the late afternoon while I waited for the cabin to cool down.

I can't get enough of these blue skies. If you could put sunshine in a bucket, I'd take a big slurp out of it and then dump it over my head.

Wordless Wednesday: Flower Therapy

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Andy and I have spent a good part of the last couple days racing winter storm warnings. (The snow missed us, which makes me so oh-so-not-very sad.) Despite my optimism about impending spring on Monday, lately it's been blustery and cold. Lake Superior's in its second day of turquoise-hued turmoil. Looks like we're getting a preview of April's "cruelest month" qualities!

To compensate for the wind and grey, I thought we'd celebrate our own little festival of colors here on Of Woods and Words and post some of my favorite spring flower shots from years past. What's your favorite springtime flower? Me? I can hardly wait for lilacs!