Drink Like a Local

I should start by saying I am not a heavy drinker; my drinking for the week consists of a glass of wine with a group of moms on Thursday nights. However, since moving to Vermont I have become a bit of an alcohol snob. I have to admit local micro brews such as Long Trail, Otter Creek and Switchback are much better than the usual mass produced brews most people outside of Vermont drink. And wine is so much more enjoyable when you have meet the person who crafted it.

Did I Make That?

Ever since I sat watching one of my college roommate knit like crazy during our times in chapel, I have always wanted to make myself a scarf. However, a much admired and loved mentor once told us a story about her adventures in knitting. She tells the story 100 times better than I ever could, but it pretty much ends with a few rows of knitting and her never touching the thing again. Not because she got mad at it, but because she lacked the patience to make it any further. The day I heard that story, I knew that was exactly what I thought would happen if I attempted to knit. And that is pretty close to what happened with my current project.

Why the interest in knitting you ask? Well, there is just something about a handmade gift that has been made for you with care. My grandmother was a quilter,and when I was a kid I had this ugly brown quilt she gave me. It was my favorite blanket and I wore the thing out so badly that there were so many holes in it I could sleep inside the thing. I loved that quilt. However, my mom convinced me to trade it in for something that may have lasted a week and off to the dump it went. I am 30 years old and still think that was one of the worst decisions I ever made. My husband still has his ratty old dog "Scruffy" (no he does not sleep with it anymore). What do I have? Nothing......

My son received a handmade teddy bear for Christmas and formed an immediate attachment to the thing. It is actually really cute. Although, I have to admit, the late night wake up calls (11:30 and 3:30) for mommy and daddy because he lost "B" in the middle of the night are making me question how cute I think it is.

Back to my adventures in knitting. Since my son was 4 weeks old, I was blessed with a wonderful group of moms who entered my life. I have heard it said that the best way to become a better person is to surround yourself with amazing people and I think I have done just that. This past spring two of the ladies made these amazing hat and bootie sets for two of the other moms who were pregnant. It sparked an interest in knitting again, although I almost completely threw in the towel on my first project. I decided I would make a felted bag, because the the process of felting would cover up any mistakes I could possibly make on my first project. Let's just say that I made so many mistakes on the stupid thing that there was no way any amount of felting could possibly cover it up, and there was no way that thing was ever leaving the house. I pretty much gave up on it. Then entered my wonderful friend Julie, who offered to teach all of us non-knittingly inclined moms (3 of us) to knit scarfs. I thought, what the heck I am a glutton for punishment. I finished a beautiful gray scarf yesterday and am thinking I might make one for little man now. As for the dreaded felted bag: that same friend taught me that you can't become attached to the work in progress, so I tore months of work apart and am starting over because I really like the blue-green color of the wool and would hate to not use it for something.

Get Your Butt Outside

I fully intended on talking about something else, but since there is over two feet of snow on the ground and it's still falling this seemed more appropriate.

My absolute favorite way to be a little bit more sustainable, is getting my butt outside. Why not, it uses no energy and no resources and feels great. I spent an hour outside today shoveling the driveway and then another hour out playing in the snow with the boys. What better way to enjoy living in Vermont?!

Ok, so maybe hangining out under the pine tree is not a good idea when the branches are being weighed down by snow.

Why not be a kid again?