Thankful Thursday... bit of knitting and sewing. Catching up.

I'm thankful to share life with DH and our four marvelous daughters.

The girls and I - and even DH at times - craft together, cook together, laugh together and garden together.  I just wish, with all my heart, that we all lived a lot closer.  The older I get the more I wish it.

The little sisters are visiting.  We are doing some crafting, and are planning on spinning some of the fleece from the rancher in South Dakota.  We'll then be dividing the raw stuff for needle felting - some for Jimmie, some for me.   I also want to make a cam mo colored wallet for a big sister, and some beeswax "buttons" for them to take home to our daughter, Ele, who beads and Bee, the one who sews.

Garden update:  Tomato watch...(the pink flower is a hopeful geranium)

This little Heirloom is still fruiting and setting flowers.
I don't know how it's doing it with so little light.
It sits in the shadow of the house
and only gets about four hours of light a day.

I'm teaching Jim how to use the Nina to make button holes for her blouse, or conversely, we will set up the old machine with it's gadget for button holes, as they are usually neater looking.  She is teaching me about Mushrooms.
 
Pumpkin mushroom:  Ophthalotus olearius... I call them, Beautiful Danger!

Because they can be confused with:  THIS Mushroom, the edible Cantharellus spp. 

You do not want to be eating any of those first ones.  DD tells me that mushroom poisonings are on the upswing, and it's being blamed on the economy as hungry people, who are not familiar with mushrooms, are collecting them and eating them, or worse yet, feeding them to others, in soups or other dishes. 

Knitting News: Gee has seen her Noro sweater- I tried the pieces on Jimmie because she was standing still for five minutes - and Gee loves it.  Now to sew it together and put the collar and edgings on. 

At the moment they are climbing a mountain.  Yesterday DH, Gee and J all spent three hours in fitness, and then we all went to their Auntie's house for tea and a chat with their aunt and uncle.

Jimmie is digging up some bunny ears cactus babies for herself and for me.  I hadn't even noticed that they had produced babies but now I'll have little pots of bunny ears in the window sills.  Next ceramics project will be to slap some glaze on some small terracotta pots to make colored pots for sunny winter window sills.

Last night's short walk along the Lake at sunset:

Make it big!

Remember to keep a watch on the sky, as it's almost always doing something interesting. 
One of the things that struck me about a book I read a long time ago, was this question:  "When was the last time that you just sat and watched the sky get dark?"  I think we have to do more connecting to the natural world and it's rhythms, for our Heart's Ease.