A Shot From Today:

I am enjoying the Leaf Peepers group on Flickr. Thanks for the invite -you know who you are.

Just for Pretty:

This is a tree in our yard. I have wanted to get out and take more foliage pics, but I'm just feeling so out of sorts and very tired. I hope this is over with soon whatever it is.

Unrelated, I have been making our own yogurt again, and now that I have gotten used to the process it's going smoothly. I find that adding a few tbsp. of dry milk to the fresh does help thicken it up, and it's delicious. It doesn't last very long, but is cheaper than store bought.

I did a photo shoot the other day which went pretty well. I have had access to my business associate's D90 which is very nice indeed. I love my D40, but I need more lenses, and am NOT in love with the idea of buying the specialized CPU type needed for it. I may need to make the switch to another camera body one day. You know, if the house ever sells, and I can earn more than I owe again.

We have been using all the jars of beans and grains in our pantry in combination with bits and pieces of fresh stuff from the last few farmer's markets of the season. I can make really good soup out of almost anything, and it's nice to have this time of year.

I have been thinking a lot about patience lately. I think I have a good deal of it at this point in my life. I think I have had to. I am working on gratitude, and the maintenance of hope. These things are tough right now. I lose hope after long stretches of having to be so patient, and it seems the two go hand in hand for me. Patience turns into a sort grim acceptance of my situation. None of this is helped by the fact that I don't feel well, and that I can't seem to make it through the afternoon without a nap. I cannot afford to take a nap every day. I don't know any mother who can. I am also lonely, and at the same time I avoid my friends when I don't feel like I have the energy to be positive or giving. I'm sure I'm not alone in this.

My Flash is Back:

Before:


After:



Who knew it took so much artificial light to make things look natural? Also, I now have a child who is old enough to ride a little bike while eating a sandwich AND pretending to be a lion (see first photo bottom corner for sandwhich). She is an infant no longer. I like babies and all, but this is so nice. I mean, she's PRETENDING. That's so amazing, and she talks A LOT. Every week she has new words, and some of them she just picks out of casual conversation.

By the way, that cute little calico shirt came from Lulu & Bea and it's become a favorite of mine. I am trying to decide for myself if it's worth finally offering up some knitted kids items for sale. People have been telling me for years when they see Rayona's sweaters that I should do this, but I am not a fast knitter. I feel like the amount of time that goes into these items is more than what can be recovered financially. We'll see -I am faster than I used to be. I also may be teaching a beginner's knitting class at a coffee shop in town this fall. I need to diversify my income a bit. My body is telling me that I need to rest from cleaning, and I have not been feeling well at all lately. I have been very tired, and somewhat depressed on and off. I'm not sure what's going on, but it's really interfering with business as usual.

Anyway, I have changed my comments settings to allow anyone without a Blogger account to leave comments. I have heard that that was an issue for some.

Why we live here:

In keeping with the whole "spending-more-time-together-as-a-family" thing we took a trip to Keene again -this time for a hike:

Those tiny blue and red dots are my family.

It was splendid -one of those really chilly Autumn days where the air is sharp and wet. It was misty out, but the sun did break through a few times. Days like this make me realize how much I have been missing my husband. I can't remember if I have mentioned it before, but he works rather far from here, and has to leave early, and come home late. This is one of the problems with our region -the lack of very much work close by. It depends, of course, on what you do for a living. For the past few years he has been doing layouts for a newspaper publisher. He is also finishing up his apprenticeship to become a tattoo artist -which is what he really would rather do. This commits him to a few days a week in addition to his full-time schedule. So time is a problem for us. I like our Sundays very much.

Anyway, please head over to Flickr for the rest of the photos -there are some nice ones. (I am still waiting for my speedlight, though.)

We had the most lovely day:

We finally made it over to the Burlington Farmer's Market today. It's a 2-1/2 hour drive from here, but that gave me some uninterrupted knitting time. Please head over to Flickr for photos -there are some good ones.

The first thing I noticed is that food seems to be waaaay more abundant in Vermont than in the Adirondacks -for obvious reasons. We are not much of a farming community. We have the world's shortest growing season for one thing, and not much space that isn't occupied by lakes or pine trees. So it was really nice to see so much local food. I must have taken 10 different pictures of eggplants. It was exciting. Also, there were such beautiful flowers.

I like this shot:

One of the highlights of the day was the fact that I got to meet Diane ! She was very warm and funny in person just like she is on her blog, and I had a really nice time talking to her. She is my first "crossover" friend from the blogiverse to real life. That was fun. I also came home with an adorable (and well made, I might add) shirt for Rayona from Diane's shop -Lulu & Bea. I will provide photo proof of this soon.

So altogether, I am loving all this time off from work, but sweating finances big time. Ray and I clean two or three days a week, and spend the rest of our time at the park, and the library, and the coffee shop. This can't last. Oh well, we have a few more fun weekend excursions planned with Daddy. Next weekend we are going on a hike, and in October we will go to Rhinebeck . I'm sure we'll do some stuff in between. I love having a sane schedule, and I look forward to the day when our housing is affordable again so that it can continue.

So please check out the rest of the photos -I love the fall!

Finally:

I was out in the yard sanding some of the paint chips off of Ray's rocking chair when I realized that I finally had a moment to lie back and LOOK UP. -So naturally I grabbed my camera first, but the important thing to note is that it's Wednesday, and I didn't work today or yesterday. Of course I didn't make any money, either. I need the rest, and it's good to have my schedule slow down. In fact, it turns out that I may be able to switch from cleaning to photography sooner that I had thought. It remains to be seen, though. I'm hopeful, and awaiting some information.

It's already beginning to look like fall around here.