I started knitting a hat for my husband Kevin this morning.

I knit him the perfect winter hat about 4 years ago, it was made with a soft light grey wool, it was super warm and comfy, and fit perfectly.  Unfortunately it got lost somehow somewhere that first season of use.  I have subsequently made him two more hats.  On the first try I just used some left over yarn I had in a drawer.  It was a sickly peach colored acrylic blend.  That hat never fit right and wasn’t very warm but Kevin kindly wore it anyway.  The next attempt was a wool yarn of twisted brown and off-white.  That hat was warm, a bit scratchy, too big around, and too short in length.  Again he has worn it, but when he does, it never looks comfortable.

So this morning, I decided to try again.  I still have enough of the warm brown and off-white wool left from his last hat and I also have some beautiful gray alpalca wool my mother in law bought for me years ago when I was going to attempt a knit vest.  I found my knitting skills a bit lacking for the vest and the weight of the wool and never got very far with it.  So I decided to take that soft and beautiful wool and join it with the brown and off-white warm but scratchy wool for something hopefully “just right” for my 3rd try at Kevin’s hat.

With my wool chosen and ready, I then needed to pull out the pattern for the hat AND my handy dandy beginners knitting book.  EVERY TIME I decide to start knitting again, which tends to be in the fall or winter  I get out this book to relearn how to knit and pearl (the two basic stitches in knitting).  Somehow I always forget, though each time I pick it up quicker.  There are only so many things I can keep in my head and if I don’t need the info right away, it goes into deep storage I guess…

So I’ve made this hat and succeeded once, failed twice, and now I’m trying it again.  I’m really not sure it will do the trick, but I’m hopeful.

I was messaging a friend online that I hadn’t talked to in a while about faith and life and mentioned that I am pregnant and that we are expecting our 6th child in February.  In response she asked me if I ever got “snippy exhausted”.  I responded saying yes on the snippy and a definite yes on the exhausted.  I also said when it’s all a bit much for me and I’m not my kindest I ask for forgiveness across the board -kids, husband, God, and then work on forgiving myself (which is always the hardest) and try to do better next time.  I also said I go to bed early.

My point is that my goal is not to be perfect but to always allow myself the gift of trying again.  To try again when I’ve succeeded and then failed, never had success, or just think I can’t do something.

Try to knit that hat again, try to speak to my kids with kindness in my voice even if I’m irritated, try to believe in myself when starting off on new adventures/businesses.  I want to remember that as long as I live there is always the opportunity in one way or another to keep trying again.

That being said.   Kevin, if this hat turns out a winner, DON’T LOSE IT!

~Lisa

I was under our backyard apple tree last Sunday chatting with a friend when I felt something grip my finger and sting me.  My visitor suggested it was a black fly.  The sting felt worse than that, but I didn’t question it.  She suggested I press a penny to the sting, hearing that the copper helped draw out the poison.  I quickly sought out a penny and held it to it.  After about 5 minutes the pain went away.

Later in the day, Kevin noticed this:

It had been hanging just above my head in the spot I got stung earlier.  Isn’t it beautiful?  Really a hornets nest is incredibly intricate and just pretty.  And pretty as it undeniably is, that little beauty had me held fast in fear.

It has been a busy week and time for getting rid of the nest was not in the schedule.  So I just told the kids not to go near the apple tree, and warned them about hornets.  This pretty much meant they didn’t go in the backyard all week.  Not too big a deal.

Kevin developed a plan.  He would go out at night with a trash can with a lid, wear protective clothes and cut it down into the can, cover it up, and leave it out in the hot sun the next day so the hornets would bake.  Not a bad plan, but all week I thought about what could go wrong.

Last night after we got home from soccer with the kids and they were all tucked into bed, Kevin suited up.  Heavy jacket, hat, neck protection, boots, pants, gloves, and goggles.  He grabbed the flashlight and I suggested he place it pointing away from the direction he would run as I had read online that if some angry hornets came out they would fly towards the light source.

All went without a hitch and he placed the can out in the sunniest part of the yard for the next days heat.  Then it was time for me to worry about phase 2.  A can full of angry wasps in sunny weather and playing children.  I thought maybe I would keep the kids in for the day…

I dreamt of angry hornets…

When we woke, early this morning and checked on the can, it was tipped over.  Someone, probably a racoon or skunk had gotten into the can and had a midnight snack.  The nest was all torn open and with nary a hornet in sight.

So much for all my worry.

~L

Running up a slide time

Peaceful moment to read time

Snuggled close to sleep time

Finding food to eat time

Seed pods in the wind time

My it has been a whirlwind these last few months, adjusting to the beginning of the school year and the addition of a 5th little boy to our family.  This peaceful morning spent out in the fresh and mild air was a needed and very welcome surprise.

Thanks God.

~Lisa