Daisies

Daisies

Monday, December 26, 2011

Truth Be Told

Truth be told, it has been very difficult to get into any kind of spirit this holiday season. Truth be told, I have been working nonstop, my mother-in-law has been in the hospital for over two weeks now, and I have had to reassess my departments whole schedule due to unfortunate circumstances. Truth be told, I did not even touch a holiday decoration this December. Truth be told, I think with the economy and such, people just don't seem to be in the holiday spirit (ie. nice) this year. Truth be told, I am really really looking forward to the end of the holidays and the start of a new year. Even with all of these deep down truths, somehow someway, the holiday spirit/merry making has snuck in here and there just a little bit. The kids both got mommy-made scarves. There were one or two gingerbread houses made. My husband made some cookies. There was Christmas painting and crafting done by the kids and somehow we did end up with a whole lot of presents in front of the fireplace. And most surpringly, I did get those Christmas cards filled out and sent out. How I did it, I am not so sure. I regret not decorating, not baking any cookies or anything at all myself, not crafting as much as I wanted, and most of all not giving the kids and family the holiday season that they deserve.











This December we enjoyed; hot chocolate, new haircuts, board games, mimosas, just chilling, lots of heartfelt gifts, momma made scarves, being tuckered out at the end of Christmas day, knitting, gingerbread houses, smokey mountains after a rain (which we have had a lot of due to unseasonably warm weather), and most importantly precious family time whenever possible. Next year I will do December differently. I can not let my job, the weather, and other people dictate my life at home. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and lets hope for a great new year.
Peace, Yasmin

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Knit Along

I am joining in with Ginny of Small Things this week to share two of my loves, knitting and reading. I couldn't help but smile when I saw Ginny happens to be reading the same book as I am at the moment. I am reading "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder to my kids. I think we are all really enjoying this book and even my 5 year old boy is thoroughly engaged. Someone who noticed my knitting bag at work today said, "Isn't it funny how as we get more dependent on technology, we are craving to go back to the old ways?" I know that me and my family are definitely trying to head towards a more self sustainable life and all I really crave is to go back to the land, so this book ties in perfectly with our hopes and goals for the future, minus the hunting ofcourse:-) The knitting is the scarf I am working on for my assistant...I think it is coming about quite nicely.


Peace, Yasmin

P.S. Please keep my mother in-law in your prayers as the doctor's try to figure out what is going on with her.

Friday, December 9, 2011

This Moment

I am once again participating in "This Moment" inspired by Soulemama to capture a moment from this week. This moment is from the Polar Express pajama party and my kids getting a bit crafty. On our way home tonight from the party, we drove in our heated vehicle and sang along to Christmas songs on the radio. Time to get in the holiday spirit.


Peace, Yasmin

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Bringing it all into perspective

So today was somewhat of an awful day. I had planned to just work 4 hours at work, because technically this would be my normal day off, but some training was in order. So that was my plan, 4 hours at work, and then home to clean, bake, decorate, and craft. Unfortunately I had a team member call out on me and then the health inspector showed up a half an hour before I was planning to leave, boo. Two hours later than my planned work day, I finally left and went home and literally had no energy to do anything, so I crashed into my bed and watched documentaries. I drifted in and out of sleep and before I knew it, it was 5pm and time to get ready for my knitting circle. I kept thinking that I really don't feel like driving to the yarn shop, and wouldn't mind just staying in bed with no motivation whatsoever, but I promised my fellow knitters that I would be there this week, so off I went in a bad mood. As soon as I walked into the shop, my mood lightened and as I knit and purled, my stress seemed to melt away slowly but surely. My knitting circle is a tiny one and just consists of 2 other ladies that are atleast twice my age. One of the ladies in my knitting group I would say is somewhat my knitting mentor and the other lady is the yarn shop owner. These two ladies are some of the kindest woman I have ever known and I truly care for these ladies. My "knitting mentor" lost her husband 6 years ago and still has a hard time talking about it. My yarn shop owner recently found out that she has invasive cancer and will be going to Duke for lots of tests at the end of this week, please keep her in your prayers. When I hear about what these ladies have and are going through, it makes me realize that what ever is going on in my life doesn't even compare to the stress that they have and are experiencing. In the end, my job is just a job and it helps me provide for my family, which is the most important thing in my life. So, I try to concentrate on knitting and not stressing out so much. At the beginning of this year, I had made a resolution to try to stress less...I need to remind myself of that every single day. Oh and by the way, I finished the scarf for my friend's daughter. Yay!! Pictures below are of the scarf, the scarf modeled by Ashleigh, and just for kicks a picture of Rian and his toys, because he insisted.




Peace and Happy Crafting, Yasmin

Monday, December 5, 2011

Weekending

I was just talking about needing to slow down and low and behold, I end up getting quite sick, as if my body is telling me that yes Yasmin...you need to slow down. No rushing to and fro or going to bed at a ridiculous time, instead I am knitting, reading for myself and reading to the kids, and baking lots and lots, because for me baking is mostly a stress reliever. Work has been really taxing recently and what I really really really need is a staycation, so that is what I am keeping my eyes on. The end of crazy work days due to the holidays will be a wonderful welcome, so for now I concentrate on my crafty side and lot of family time, because really is there anything better than hugs and kisses from the people you love, no I think not.




Apple Pie finally and my daughter actually likes this one, woohoo. Yummy carrot muffins, a family favorite. Ofcourse I made some Who Bread as well, but how many pictures of the same bread do you need...right? Pasta sauce and Lentil soup were also made this last weekend. And last but not least, a new scarf hopefully ready by Christmas to gift my assistant.

Peace, Yasmin

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

First Snow!

We had our first snow today...at first it was that slushy snow/rain mix and then we got the real deal. Huge fluffy snowflakes, but not enough to stick to the ground. This makes me want to bake and make lots and lots of soup, thankfully my little man is finally getting on the soup wagon. He wasn't too big into the soup thing in the past, but this year he has come around. When you are hungy you eat, right? I also have dreams of knitting these amazing sweaters, slippers, hats, scarves, etc...and I think that in my mind I am this amazing expert knitter. If only this were true, in real life knitting projects take a lot longer to complete than I would like, but with working, cooking, kids, sleeping I knit here and there, because that is all I can manage. I am thinking that I am packing too much into my days off and maybe I need to try to take care of some of these chores on a daily basis, rather than all on my day off. I am understanding the way of the olden days when everything was somewhat put on hold in the winter time and am feeling the need to slow down myself. We are preparing for the coming cold days with thermals and lots and lots of warmth in the house. We have also just started reading "Little House in the Big Woods" by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I have been wanting for some time to find a book to read to my darlings, but I thought there would be some challenges in finding a book that appeals to a 5 year old boy and a 8 year old girl, so I have been putting it off. But after a visit to the bookstore today and after talking to the bookseller in the children's section, she recommended the "Little House on the Prairie" series as that was what she read to her kids, which were about the same age difference as mine. I used to love watching the show on TV and thought it would be fun to get my kids excited about it as well. I also thought that with us wanting to eventually have a farm, this series might be inspiring to the kids. We read half of the first chapter tonight with some antsiness from the little guy, but they seemed both quite engaged with the book. I did however not think about all the talk about hunting and butchering and how my vegetarian kids might react to that. My daughter asked "Why isn't Laura sad about the family pig getting butchered"? I told her that she was sad, but that she was also thankful for the future meals that the pig would provide. I also did add that since the pig was squealing, for me that means that the pig is in pain and that is why I do not eat pork. It is getting to be about time to knit a few rows and get to bed, so that I can wake up in the morning for dishes, laundry, dog duty, and kid duty, before going to work. Hopefully my dream of getting all of this done before 7:45am will actually happen.












My red eyed son (gotta figure out how to avoid that) in his thermal top with his handsome hair brushing. Ashleigh reading "Heidi" or "Ella Enchanted" I am sure...she tells me that she can read those books over and over. Carrot muffins, they were a family favorite. Lots and lots of dips to satisfy my hunger when needed. Tofu Mayonnaise, Tofu Curry Dip, Tofu Pimento "Cheese" Dip, Asian Garbanzo Dip, and Guacamole. Lentil soup and Smoky Potato Chowder. Who Bread, Banana Choc Chip Bread, and Pumpkin Choc Chip Muffins. Still working on that scarf. Let me get to it.
Night,
Yasmin

Friday, November 4, 2011

10 Things


 

 

 

 

 

 



10 Things I am thankful for this week:

1.  Beautiful kids dressed as Thor and Punk Rock Fairy.
2. A casserole dinner party with lovely friends and lovely conversations.
3. Getting out of my funk and finally finding inspiration to cook and bake for the family. Curried     Butternut Squash & Apple Soup, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins, Banana Choc Chip Bread. (I will add recipes to my recipe tab tomorrow)
4. Pumpkins carved by kids and Oma.
5. A quiet house after everyone is put to bed.
6. A good book.
7. Almost finished scarves and the casting on of socks.
8. A bountiful fridge, because there are so many people that aren't able to feed their families three times a day.
9. The cooler weather and the thoughts of snuggling, crafting, holidays, family time, and peacefulness.
10. A health scare and a trip to the ER, not being the worst thing imagined.

What are you all thankful for??

Keep warm,

Yasmin

 

 

Friday, October 28, 2011

This Moment

I am joining in with Soulemama today to partake in "this Moment" This Moment is meant to capture a moment/memory from this week that I really cherish. My little man is not feeling too well right now, so maybe we will be forced to slow down a bit, which would most likely be a welcomed change for us.
He is chilling, in our bed ofcourse.

Hope you have a great weekend, see you on the flipside.
Yasmin

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Yarn Along!


Joining in with Ginny of "Small Things" today to share a book and project I am working on. The yarn is being knit into a scarf for someone special and the book is Friday Night Knitting club. I know I know...I am a bit of a knitting geek, but I love these knitting books and reading about how yarn can save someone's life.
Enjoy, Yasmin


Saturday, October 22, 2011

Southeastern Fiber Arts Fair!

This weekend the WNC Ag Center is hosting the Southeastern Fiber Arts Fair. Last year when I went, it was the first fiber arts fair I had ever been to. I wanted to take the whole weekend off, so I could take it all in in a leirsurely pace. Unfortunately with quarter end inventory on the 23rd, I was only able to take Saturday off for it. So this morning I bundled up the kids and headed over to the ag center to check out all of the animals. The kids really loved the sheep and goats last year and my daughter was especially fond of the rabbits. There were a few tears when she found out that we would not be able to take home a bunny this year....one day my darling, one day. After we enjoyed all of the animals, I took the kids home to daddy and headed back to the fiber fair. It was time for this momma to get some quality alone time. All of the fibers, spinning wheels, soaps, and colors were gorgeous. It was a pretty sweet way to spend a Saturday and I did bring some extra special homespun/handmade goodies home. When I got home, instead of diving right into my new yarn, we headed to the bookstore for some hot coffee, chocolate milk, and some choo choo train fun for my little man. After the bookstore we enjoyed some basil pinenut asiago filled ravioli and garlic bread. Yummm.








I hope to enjoy a lot more fiber fairs in the near future and be inspired to get crafty. Ok time for me to cast on.
Yasmin

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Weekending

This past weekend, we decided to go enjoy the changing colors. After getting on the parkway, I almost immediately regretted the decision. The parkway was full of tourists and almost every overlook we passed was completely packed, but then we arrived at Graveyard Fields and the colors along the way were amazing.








We had a beautiful weekend of Leaf Peeping, hiking, and some yard work. Yes people, I wear Toms for my yard work. They say that we aren't at peak colors yet...it is hard to imagine them being any more beautiful. Hope you had a great weekend as well.
Peace, Yasmin