This time I have an excuse

To start this post, I'm showing a picture of the kind of place I wish I had been in for the last month. I went to the cotton yarn sale at a local knitting store, and found a new reprint of Jan Messent's Knitted Gardens a book previously available for $100 up used. Look at all the little animals, the knitted veggies, the beehives! Such an inspirational book.

But why, you ask, have I wished I was in a monastery? Well, August has never been my favorite month, and this year didn't change my mind. The first half was helping my son get shipped off to college across the state. A little sad, but mostly just hectic (and financially stressful - never good). I took the day off to help pack the truck and see him off. When I came back inside from my child moving away more or less permanently, I checked my email and learned that my high school/college sweetheart, to whom I was engaged, and who I've kept in touch with over the years, had died of a heart attack the very same day. Attached to that sad message was a photo of all of us in college. Well, the juxtaposition really threw me for a loop, and I've been a bit out of it the last few weeks. When I told my cousin the news, part of what she said was "maybe you should paint a room". Little did she know I had been doing just that! In the midst of the launch, I finally got around to refurnishing and repainting my bedroom, the very last holdover from my whole-house remodel four years ago. Yes, when things get chaotic, I'm the type that likes to push it to the very limit. And since Hunter's been gone, I've been converting his room into a craft room, with a closing door to restrict access to naughty cats. I could post some work-in-progress pictures, but I'm creating some special bits, and I think I'll save it for my next post.

I did receive some amazing things in the mail.

The fabric from Bethany's swap. I think that ALL of the pieces were truly exceptional (check them out), and I got all of my favorites! The cacti is Bethany's, Dorathy's pitcher plants, and Mimi's sweet little flowers. AND one of Michelle's batiked dolls:

A Halloween one! Yay!! I am going to very carefully craft it into a feature of this year's decorations.

I also received a pretty quilt from bekka, who is blogless.

Great colors! My near-disaster quilt was well received by my swapee, who found the story funny (in a good way). In addition to room decoration, a have promised a couple more pieces for various things. So I should at least post sporadically this month. Thanks for sticking around!