Ten Things

There was once a blog I absolutely adored, Fox’s Lane. I loved the lifestyle she shared, her creativity and honesty, the slow mindfulness. I was sad to see her stop blogging at a time when most blogs of this type had already left for shorter forms of communication on social media. Recently I was thinking of her, did a quick google search and there she was!! She’d returned to blogging…

It reminded me of why I started this blog in the first place, so today I’m going to steal one of Kate’s simple formats and share 10 things.

ONE

Gardening is a skill on my long list of things to learn in this life. Right now, I mostly just maintain whatever is already growing in my yard but last year I buried seeds in one pot and to my surprise they came back this year, despite my absolute neglect. They lasted a week. A lovely week it was!

TWO

I read this book about the Enneagram, which I’d heard about all over the place but never dove into. I quickly and easily identified as a 9, The Peacemaker. My major takeaway was how our personalities are fluid, moving up and down on a spectrum ranging from healthy to average to unhealthy and recognizing that I’d been stuck in the unhealthy range for a while. The author wrote about how 9’s can sleepwalk through life, trapped in habitual patterns of mindless reactivity and how when overwhelmed with too many things to do or too many decisions to make, we can slow to a crawl or eventually a full stop. Since a body in motion stays in motion, this full stop can be really difficult to come back from. I was there and since recognizing that, I’ve been putting in the work to get back in motion and stay there. Healthy 9’s are inspiring, self-actualized people and that’s definitely what I aspire to be.

THREE

I now have an 8 year old and made my first confetti cake from scratch. He’s never been one for big birthday parties so we did donuts at our homeschool park day, the trampoline park, dinner and cupcakes with two friends the next day and a Dodger Game with another friend after that. He was a happy boy after 3 days of treats and lots of quality time with all his buddies.

FOUR

The Enneagram book launched me into action and I started exercising again, focusing on my nutrition and getting organized to eliminate my overwhelm and get working on my goals. It’s been helping having my lists, notes and printable’s all in one place. I’ve been a bullet journaller for years but I’m finding a wall calendar and this binder to be a better solution for me right now. (Especially now that I have an Epson EcoTank printer and can print anything my heart desires! Not sure how I lived without it)

FIVE

We’re heading into our 3rd year homeschooling and these are two books I re-read every single year to help set aside comparison and maintain the mindset that life is learning. We do enough, he’s right where he needs to be, and arbitrary grade level standards do not determine future success and it’s okay to take a wildly different path.

SIX

One day on our weekly library outing, this baby bird had fallen from a tree and was crying down below it. We sat at a distance observing to see what mama bird would do. Kiddo asked what I thought happened and I said, “His mom probably told him 100 times not to leave the nest and he did it anyway out of curiosity and now she’s letting him live with the natural consequences.” LOL…he grinned, knowing he’s been that baby bird many times over.

SEVEN

A little thing bringing me all the joy is this rainbow of lace I organized on my thread rack one afternoon. I love sitting in this space!

EIGHT

A recent thrift score. I’m selective about what I’ll bring into my home so my collection grows slowly, but when I find a doll destined to live with me forever I always know it immediately and cannot leave her behind. She needs some repairs and doesn’t have a date anywhere on her but as I suspected from her style, she is stamped with JAPAN.

NINE

We’ve been making smoothie bowls together for breakfast and they’re so pretty and delicious. I find healthy eating so much simpler in the summer. When it’s hot, fresh fruit and salads are just so refreshing.

TEN

I made more progress on the Miniature Clothing class I’ve been taking and just have one project left to go, a lined, hooded coat. How cute are these tiny jeans and all the fiddly details on that blouse?! Soon I’ll have all the tiny construction skills I need to make her a full wardrobe of my own design. I’m realizing now that I’m seeing this photo on the screen that the string for her eye mechanism is visible…improving my doll photography is also on my list of things to learn 😉

Now that I’m in motion, with a project I’ve always dreamed of in pieces on my studio floor, I’ll be making a pointed effort to post regularly. See you soon!