January Cold

 

I thought I took a better picture of all of the Grackles in this tree. They really didn't like having their picture taken and started flying away. My daughter used to call them Walmart birds. They seem to love french fries. 

 

Happy Birthday to Edgar Allan Poe! 1809-1849

 

One of my favorite authors. Think of it, he didn't use AI he didn't have a computer. He wrote long hand and had so many more life experiences than I will. He had so many in his short 40 years of life. Albeit a much harder life than I think I will live. It just struck me today as I was reading my email. Yes, I belong to a Edgar Allan Poe reading list. And Yes, I have read all of the theories on his death. Such a mystery. I miss the man who started on January 19 1949 to put a bottle half-empty cognac and three red roses on his grave in Baltimore. For over 60 years. The morning he failed to show up, I grieved for that unknown man. Odd I know, to that man it was a service. It was that unknown man I thought of first this morning.

 

 

But this week, I have been reading books about Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. The first book, (I don't normally read current fiction but this was good.) My Dear Hamilton by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie and the old book by Anya Seton My Theodosia. I have read a series of books by Kenneth Roberts and not being a New Englander,  I really loved them and his version of history. But how in the world how I have gone down this rabbit hole. 

 

I got this bound and steamed and put away for October. I guess you could say it was my third finish for 2026.

I finished my rug for the challenge too. 

  

I got it bound and steamed too. I think it turned out pretty cute. I tried to use only my old wool that I had. I did have to get into some of my newer wool a bit because I have used up so many of my old bags and bags of past projects, which was a very nice surprise. I always like having an excuse to buy wool. 

Then the rug that my daughter drew out for me when she was in college. Its called Rise and Shine. 

 

So that is my first finishes for 2026. Which should have been finished in 2025 but you know how life crowds in and plans get changed. We are having a real winter for us. Cold and foggy days. Its our version of snow I guess you could say. I always think its perfect hooking weather. Except of course, having Polly who thinks we need to go for walks. Which is why I got her. So hooking kind of takes a back seat. 

 

My plans are to play around in dye pots this week. I bought four or five yards of white wool and I need some colors. Nothing is quite so much fun to me is dyeing wool. Its like magic. Making such fun colors and then using them to make rugs. I do love rug hooking. 

I hope your week will be wonderful and full of creative endeavors. 

Thank you so much for stopping by to read my scribbles.
 

~Kim~ 

 

 

 

Rugs 2025/26

 

 

I finally got my I cloud pictures back. If I blogged all of the time I would notice things like that. So the fault is all mine. We took a quick beach trip in October and had the loveliest time. Perfect weather and camping was just perfect. I did take pictures, so I could have new ones to post and I did think I would come home and I would write a blog. Then of course, life happens. 

 

I will post a few of my 2025 rugs. I did write so many blogs on my favorite rug of 2025 so I won't go on and on about it. It was a challenge for myself and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  

 

I think it was because a friend of mine did our family genealogy which had always been sort of a mystery and I found out that the majority of the family had been farmers. So I had stories and pictures in my head. So this was the rug. 

 

I was able to finish this rug at the beginning of spring in 2025. I put it away and when I got it out I remembered how fun it had been to make it, in the winter while I was dreaming of April. I bought this off of Etsy and it is by Whimsy Rugs and its called April showers. 

 

I started this rug in October thinking it was such a small project I could do it in two weeks. Ha! I finished it the other night. It is the next rug to bind.

This is a pattern from Cotton Wood Creek. I enjoy doing this rugs and the way she has them on fabric so I can draw the pattern out myself. Not really happy with the colors but I am glad its almost finished.

 

Then last of all my challenge rug from Saundra at Woodland Junction . My husband drew it out for me and then life went completely crazy. We had to go to Arizona because of a health scare of our son in law. 

It seemed every time I picked up a rug hook, I would get a phone call and I would put the rug away. I have to be in a certain state of mind to be creative and stress causes my brain to just curl up and go away. I decided I would get this rug finished no matter how many things happened or the phone rang. It because sort of a test for me. Could I push my brain to do what was required? When I steamed it yesterday. It was sort of a victory for me. So against all odds. My challenge rug.

On Friday morning, Jan. 2nd. I had decided I would finish this rug. I had picked up my hook, put a piece of wool in my hand. My phone rang. I looked and it was our youngest son, and I knew something bad had happened. My mind, yelled  Oh no! I shot an arrow prayer up ward and said, please God. I answered saying, are you hurt? He was in the emergency room, he was okay but his car was totaled. At 6:24 A.M. he was on his way to work, in the middle of the intersection a woman ran a red light and there was a wreck. Thankfully his car a Tesla even though damaged beyond repair, it I think kept him alive from the impact. 
  He was bruised and cut and thankfully alive. We talk about that one second. Either faster or slower life could have been very different. The Tesla, is a big computer. It took pictures from all five angles. It had a thumb drive which the police knew about and had the information in real time. Then a day or two later the car sent a computer print out with graphs and information. He was going 40 MPH. and the pictures show her running a very red light.  

 

I had decided, I will finish this rug. I can't tell you how much I felt like a flake. I mean every single time I went to work on this rug. Something life changing happened. But now it is finished and I can move on to a new project. I went through my boxes of patterns and I think I could work for five years and have to never buy another rug. What a hoarder I have turned into with rugs. Finished and not even started.  But of course, never enough wool. 

 

 I guess the moral to the story. Hard things happen but there is always a rainbow. Life is full of surprises and twists and turns, but in the end, what can I learn from this and how can I use it to make me better through it. Its been a few interesting months but I do see that there are lots of sweet blessings in the midst of each and every thing. Its really made me slow down and take stock of what is important and what is not. 

Have a lovely 2026. As a friend of mind said, Wow, Kim you have already had a miracle in 2026. That is what I am going to choose to see. A year of miracles. 

 

~Kim~ 

 

 
 

 

 

January 1, 2026

Welcome to the New Year. 2026 Wow! I can't believe another year is here.  2025 was a blur. It was a very interesting year. 

I think I start every New Year post like this:

Lord, give me a quiet heart

That does not ask to understand,

But confident steps forward in

The darkness guided by Thy hand.

Keep a Quiet Heart, Pg 12.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

As I turn the calendar to a new month and a new year, It reminds me that 365 days are an good time to see how many things happened that changed my life. There are many. Our son got married in March and now we have a lovely daughter in love. We got a new grand daughter in April. I think its 8 girls now and 7 boys. Three grandsons graduated high school and all three are 18 soon to be 19. 

As I said, I have learned many lessons and none of them have been easy but very soul searching. Our middle daughter got sick and doctors never could figure out what was wrong with her. She is good now. But I learned that when life is darkest, find for one day, that one small victory that I can thank God for. The day she was able to keep two teaspoons of yogurt down, was one of those victories. Lots of small steps.

October 31 our son in law was rushed to the hospital and was in ICU for three weeks and then he was in rehab. Thankfully he is home and is on the mend. We made a rush trip to Arizona. We had a surprise visit with grands and celebrated our grandson's birthday. So lots of things we were thankful for in the midst of one of the hardest trials I had to watch our oldest daughter walk through. And like everything, I am so thankful for the woman she is. 

So what I have learned this year, I can walk through fires and not be burned. I can go through floods and not drown. I can even laugh when I can't see the sun. I can rejoice everyday because God is in control and I am not. I think the hardest thing of all and I still can't figure it out, but people being so nice to me just reduced me to tears. I had so many people just reach out and say something so nice and kind when I was at a breaking point and that was the hardest thing for me. No clue why. I suppose its pride and having to admit, I know nothing really about life. I just keep learning.

So going into 2026 I feel battered and broken. But what I am so thankful for is that I have a brand new year and a brand new month. I get to start over with 365 days that I get to see what God will do this year. Normally, I am afraid. But this year, has been so different.  I have decided in 2026  I am going to just "do it scared." 

Happy January and Happy New Year!

~Kim~ 

 

September Thoughts

I love September, I always have. Sad to say though, it seems do I dare say the ether, is working over time to ruin the month. I work so hard and being positive in an very negative, changing world. That is all I am going to say about it. I do say every day to myself. Focus on the good, on the good. So Pumpkins are good. Maybe next year, I will just give my flowerbeds over to growing pumpkins. Every place I go, I always have to go over and look at the pumpkins. 

 

This week, my husband got the news, that the company he works for will be selling to an competitor. 

We just went though this last year. Now we are repeating it again. Do you hate repeating challenges?  

I keep wondering, what didn't we learn last time? I love this quote by John Bunyan. " I have found the bottom and the ground is firm." Its still firm. All other is sinking sand. 

I did dye wool on Tuesday. I got some amazing colors. Nice fall colors. I should have taken pictures before I sat down to write. Just take my word for it. Nothing gives me more joy than dyeing wool. 

Now I can finish the projects I couldn't because I just hated the yellow I have. Do you do that? If you have a color and its just so hard to try and get past it? I kept staring at the yellow I had, and I knew I couldn't even cut one strip because I hated it so much. I dyed it and now I can use it.  

Now I can finish it. I am much further, the bottom sunflower is finished and the green is finished now the background behind the rooster and the background. Nice work to accomplish today. We have clouds! Dark clouds with promises of hail, lighting and we are under a flood watch. I believe its called Hurricane Mario.

The weather man said its been 105 days since we have had rain. So I am looking forward to it. Weather in California is not the same and anywhere else. Weather in other states is serious. 

I will stop for now. I thought I should check in, or my blog is going to go stale again, I don't want that to happen. My new computer is so very nice. 

Have a delightful Thursday,

~Kim~

"To fear is one thing. To let fear grab you by the tail and swing you around is another."

---Jacob have I loved, Katherine Paterson, 1980