February has been a bit challenging here. Toby has been unpredictable and had a couple of quite violent and scarily out-of-the-blue meltdowns, the worst of which resulted in a trip to A&E for me with a bitten hand. It was shocking and upsetting because it was so sudden and unexpected, he's never bitten me like that before. Knitting was out of the question for a couple of days, but the antibiotics have dealt with any infection and the swelling and bruising have gone down so I'm happily knitting away again now.
As a result I've been thinking a lot this month about counterpoint and the fact that tough times are somehow necessary in order to be truly grateful and appreciative of all that is good in life. Even though our good days here don't contain the elements that many people require to call a day a good one, (like trips or meals out, holidays, family celebrations etc.) I count us lucky that our good day requirements are simple and mostly achievable.
Our good days are created simply when Toby is calm and content and we each have a little time to ourselves. Even on a bad day I try to find a moment in the early morning or late evening to sit with my knitting, * read a book, or ** listen to some music, and say to myself "My day is really good right now" ***. It has felt good to say this out loud, and appreciate that in that moment things actually are good. I'm going to continue this practice and acknowledge the good moments when they arrive with that little phrase, it's really helping me to feel more positive, especially on days when good has only come in fleeting moments.
Our regular countryside walks have of course been another source of good in our days. Although the winds have been cold and the mud is still thickly gelatinous underfoot, there are changes that signal a shift in the seasons is on the way. The first herald of spring in our local woodlands is the emergence of carpets of snowdrops and overhead the bright yellow catkins of the hazel tree release puffs of pollen which are wafted to neighbouring trees on the breeze. We've had a few bright blue sky days of sunshine too and that is always uplifting, especially after weeks of grey murk and mist.
On one of our regular walks we stop at a bench for a snack and in this field there are these curious tussocks. It's taken me a while to work out what they are, but I've now realised that each one is a red ant colony. There are hundreds of them dotted across this field and it's quite mind blowing how many ants there must be busying away under the soil. Sitting on this bench while Toby eats his biscuits is another good moment, nature is awesome and always wonderous to contemplate. We're lucky to be able to get out into the nearby countryside and enjoy it, and also to have regular visitors to our garden too; birds and squirrels and the beautiful foxes. Little Katsue (with the broken leg, which she's adapted to well) and handsome Kai are both still visiting most days for snacks. The first 3 fox pictures above are Kai (the dog fox) and the lower 3 pictures are Katsue (the vixen).
Well, that's my news from this month, I am working on patterns again (a couple of different small 7 inch animals, including the fox/deer pictured at the top of this post, plus coats and cardigans patterns for the small animals) and I'm putting the finishing touches to a couple of tutorials that just need laying out and proof-reading. I hope to share more news of those soon.
'Til next time thank you for dropping in to visit with me, wishing you good moments in your days ahead, J x
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*Currently reading Watership Down by Richard Adams, first read it as a child and in the intervening decades I somehow forgot what a great book it is.
** Listening a lot to The Wailin Jennys version of 'Light of a Clear Blue Morning' and the soundtrack to the film 'Land' (especially Healing part 1 &2, Over the Pines and Walking Hymn)
***Quote from the film 'Wonder', based on the book by R. J. Palacio, which I've been watching lots recently, if you've never seen it you should :)