Little Things

 So maybe this slow to depart winter isn't so bad. Last night I got home in a driving wind and rain storm, loved on my baby a bit, and took a hot bath. These are some pictures of the cozy view out of the bathroom window. Having grown up in the Pacific Northwest, that damp green ground is a thing I didn't know I missed since leaving home. I've been living in various parts of the dry and dusty west for almost ten years now, so it's been a while - and I miss it.

I found out about this book, Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort of Joy, while reading the amazing and inspiring blog Bloom. I searched the internet all day trying to find it without spending money on it (swaptree), but couldn't. The next day I went to fetch Rowdy out of the book section at the thrift store, and a simple glance to my left revealed its pretty pink patterned self sitting there on the 0.25 rack! I'm so happy it found its way to me, I'm just 20 pages in and so inspired! Here are a couple of quotes/passages that really speak to me and where my life is at right now:

"When money is plenty this is a man's world. When money is scarce it is a woman's world. When all else seems to have failed, the woman's instinct comes in. She gets the job. That is a reason why, in spite of all that happens, we continue to have a world." - Ladies' Home Journal, October, 1932

"Acceptance is surrendering to what is: our circumstances, our feelings, our problems, our financial status, our work, our health, our relationships with other people, the delay of our dreams. Before we can change anything in our lives, we have to recognize that this is the way it's meant to be right now. For me, acceptance has become what I call the long sigh of the soul...'Everything is going to turn out all right' This is simply part of the journey...Whatever situation exists in your life right now, accept it...Cast a glance around and acknowledge what's going on. This is my tiny kitchen with the dirty floor, this is how much I weigh, this is my checking account balance, this is where I work right now...this is okay, this is real life." - Sara Ban Breathnach

Brilliant. I love that she pulled that Ladies Home Journal quote from the depression, applied it to her situation in '95, and here I am, finding complete comfort in it during the economic woes we're experiencing in 2010. I feel like it so applies to all us lady bloggers. Most of the blogs I love to read are being written my moms, grandmothers, young women - all of whom are taking this economy and working with it. They are sharing and inspiring and creating a community of resourceful women who will ultimately get us all through these hard times, and its so nice to be even a tiny part of that.

This book is like a little guide to being grateful and finding happiness in the small things and in the abundance we already have in our lives. A lot of what she talks about are things I've started doing already, that I wish I'd started doing so much sooner - what a bunch of wasted years spent worrying! I cant' wait to hear what else she has to say, I'm pretty sure she's going to inspire me to clear out my clutter at some point...

Oh, and did you notice the other book? Embroidered Effects: Projects and Patterns to Inspire Your Stitching (Sublime Stitching) I got my floss and didn't know where to start. When I mentioned this to my lovely neighbor she loaned this book to me. It's PERFECT. Totally starts from the nitty gritty basics. Now I just need to get started.

And so I spent my lovely, waning winter evening, with a rare rain beating on the window -being inspired, preparing papers that may or may not help to lower our mortgage, knitting and drinking tea. Babies cozy in bed, dear husband reading a book with his eyes closed and glasses askance, everybody warm and cozy and healthy. Chickens and goats annoyed at the weather but snug in their houses...Now that is an evening that was easy to accept and be grateful for!