Harvest of Gifts

ScannedImageIt is that time of year, when the hours feel like minutes and the weeks like days. I really do not know why the last few months of the year seem to go by in a blink, maybe it is because there is so much to do (even when not taking into account the holiday season).

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Basket of Persimmons and Quince

I have been bringing in the end of the year harvests, the quince, the persimmons, the grapes, the figs, the apples, and I still have to finish gathering the walnuts. Then there is a matter of canning, drying, and baking all the above mentioned late harvest.

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Zinfandel jelly

Then I realize that I need to get the gifts for the holidays, and this is when I realize that I am holding a silent protest against being a consumer. The advertising in every outlet I see has been telling me for weeks what I should be buying for the people I love, and how to make my dollar go further that I should be shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving, or now Thanksgiving days itself. But I have never been one that believed the dollars I spend equates to the love I have. When I spend time creating something, I have to have that person in my thoughts longer then just checking them off a list; I think of then for several hours as their gift is coming together. I don’t know if they realize or fully appreciate everything that goes into their gifts, but I can at least feel good that for me the meaning of the season has not been lost. I cannot put a price on my love, or relationships, saving a dollar on a sale and hunting to save a penny is not who I am. My gifts may not be fancy or complete showstoppers, but my heart is there.

I hope you have a way to feel the meaning of the season in your holidays.

My Hooks of Fall

ScannedImageThe calendar and the weather finally are coming into sync; it is fall. The leaves are changing color, the evenings have a chill, the final harvest is being collected, and the kids do not need to be told to wear shoes. Some find this to be “crochet weather”, but to me it is quite the opposite. I have a harder time picking up my hooks and getting my craft completed.

Maybe it is because my fingers don’t want to move, but I think it is more likely that I look around and realize the year is almost over, and I did not get accomplished everything I was hoping to over the warm months of summer. Once again I took that time for granted. I did not get that patio put in that I have had planned for a couple of years now, I haven’t gotten all the closets cleaned out, I haven’t even gotten the boxes of holiday decorations from last year put away yet (but, at least I am ahead of the season this year for having them out!). So instead of playing with yarn, I finish painting windows, I pick walnuts, grapes, and apples, I make jams and jelly, I am finding recipes for squash, I am lighting fires, and pulling out the jackets.MP900384696

My mind races with ideas of what to create with my hooks, but my hands are busy elsewhere. These last 8 weeks of the year tend to just go by in a blink, and there is so much to pack into them. Not just because of the gift giving and holiday meals, but because for me this is my time of reflection. Where have I been this year and where do I want to go in the next. I do have some crazy ideas (I will keep you posted), and hopefully I don’t take the warm months ahead for granted and I put my ideas into motion.