Blessed Vernal / Autumnal Equinox dear internet friends,

It was a beautiful day here in Nova Scotia. We woke to heavy mist and thoughts of rain. The rain came down so heavy last night that even nestled in the basement, you could hear it’s heavy downfall. I love the rain especially this time of year. With it, the temperatures rise, plants grow and the earth thaws as does my hopes and dreams (cheesy but true). They begin to spring forth like the streams.

My Mom is visiting us right now. We set out on a walk this morning to show her a high ledge that looks out on the water. It’s rocky and dense with forest. As we were up on the highest point, the sun was beginning to burn off the fog illuminating distant hills. I felt hopeful despite all the chaos and destruction happening on our planet. I hope you can feel some glimmer of hope with the birds making their nests, with crocuses beginning to burst forth after what felt like an eternity of winter.

So come along on a few makings and musings…

I wanted to share a little bit with you about some of my making – it’s really been a while! There always seem to be a pair of my most recent pattern on the go – I find them the perfect knit for working through my stash of MacAusland / Briggs & Little wool. Lately, for the second colour, I’ve been knitting with different colours in order to use up otherwise forgotten tiny balls of wool. You can see an example above! Currently, I’m knitting a blue and orange pair using Briggs & Little which will go up in the shop all in good time and I’ll share here in the future 🙂

** Everything in the shop with the exception of new things is 25 % off for the Vernal Equinox, one of the most uplifting times of the year. **

The Midhalda sweater that I designed for Tolt found a home in Connecticut which I am really happy about. I have no doubt that she will be loved and cared for in her new home ❤ The night before I mailed her out, I took a couple of pictures in the basement by the woodstove. I’m glad to have photos of my work that I can check back on to remind myself “hey, I made that :)”

In other wool news – I picked up a few skeins while at the Mariner’s Daughter in Lunenburg a few weeks back. Lunenburg is such a sweet little town. Over the past couple of years, I have bought very little wool simply because I already have a solid stash, I don’t knit as much as once upon a time due to aching wrists and well the cost of wool has gone up pretty significantly. All that said, I was happy to treat myself with a couple of Canadian Skeins – 2 are Lichen and Lace and the larger of the 2 are an Alberta company named either Mule yarns or Custom Woolen Mills. It’s very similar to MacAuslands our local Maritime wool however with unique colours that I haven’t seen before.

We stopped there yesterday with my Mom to look at the houses and get coffee at the Laughing Whale. If you’re in Nova Scotia – I highly recommend especially if you are a geek about old houses as well 🙂

Always finding the time to beachcomb…

The area near our home is a treasure trove for old pottery. This morning, we actually discovered that some pieces I found fit together and form a scene of a 18th c lady playing a guitar with a young boy watching! I’ll share a picture in my next post. My usual finds are pipe stems, pottery and glass. I typically collect any pipe finds but am more selective with the pottery and glass. My absolute favourite is anything that has a design or writing on it. A piece I was pretty stoked about finding the other day was…

BEHOLD! I was giddy after finding this! Right before I stumbled upon it, I was daydreaming about finding anything that I could easily identify being from Nova Scotia. The X – J – Q is from this Ginger Beer bottle produced in Halifax in the late 1890s. The stoneware bottles were actually made in England and exported to Canada for use by bottlers. I find it fascinating that a piece of a late 19th century person’s garbage just washes up under our feet creating a direct link to the past. I like to imagine a sailor drinking his ginger beer and just after arguing with a mate, tossing his bottle into the harbour only to find me 2 centuries later. I’ll do a post about my finds if you’re interested or perhaps if you’re not anyway because I find history through garbage incredibly interesting.

And then my friends there is the carving I’ve making. So on our small slopped rocky property there are massive towering beech trees. We actually had a tree doctor to see if we could immunize the trees and save them but he said that they were unfortunately too far gone. So, 3 came down. Currently we are working on clearing out the back because it looks like a disaster happened back there with tree limbs piled high on top of each other. Much of the trunks we are planning to burn for heat next winter however, I am working with the wood to carve and create, my favourite! Beech is so beautiful and I would love to capture the beauty of the grain and allow others to have a little piece of Nova Scotia magic. Below are a few pictures of my work. I have 1 spoon available in the shop as all others sold. Thank you so much for your support – it is greatly appreciated and encourages me to continue to explore and create in new and exciting ways (photos also include some of my beach comb finds – behold some of my beloved 19th century pottery loves).

And lastly, I started my seeds perhaps way too early. Every single year, I am so eager to watch things grow. To water and observe the slightest amount of growth. This year, we created a grow light set up for the first time. Inspired by Ricky from TPB, I wrapped the shelving in tin foil and attached the grow lights using picture wire. The seeds are noticeably much stronger and healthier looking than when I stuck them by the window.

I’m growing mainly flowers that are deer resistant – the dream is to have a beautiful garden both in our front and back yard. It’s going to take years to fix up the back because of all the challenged presented to us (rocky, slopped and massive dead trees) but I dream about it and work on it bit by bit. I’ll do a post so you can get an idea of what we’re working with. I do think we can carve a small Fae like garden back there.

Anyway! This year, we are growing tomatoes to attempt in containers, variety of herbs, hollyhocks, geraniums, statice, straw flower (dried flower), Phlox, Foxglove, bunnytail grass, poppies and lots of lavender as well as a few others. The dream and planning of gardens alone brings me so much happiness and joy that it’s well worth any hiccups in the process.

I hope you’re all well and finding joy in small everyday things. Life has been challenging after what feels like a 2 year winter lifting due to the pandemic to be plunged into an unjust war in Ukraine is cruel and senseless. For Ukrainians and all those affected, I truly am sorry and wish for better days ahead for you and your loved ones.

Be well and keep going ❤