June 2023 Recap

June 2023:

Have I mentioned I got to do a test-knit for Reywa Fibers with their lovely 100% yak-down yarn? This sweater design by Meli Alness puts all the detail into the sleeves, starting with bobbles wherever the knitter feels like adding them!

Meanwhile, Dad and I got out sailing for the first time in 2 years! I made a video of that day (and the books that helped inspire it) here:

https://youtu.be/GnaqelBQU7g

Father's Day (in a previous post) also included this little one's first try on her mamma's old tricycle!

Our long, northern days make great sun-tea! (When the wildfire smoke isn't too thick for the sun to shine through...) Get my "recipe" on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/G4T0iNKdAJ0

Flowers and vegetables are in season!

June also begins herb-harvest season for tea year-round. 

Short video of chamomile harvest here: https://youtube.com/shorts/2oFLM68UmdI?feature=share

It was fun to pull out the old Etch-a-Sketch for a long day in the car with Maren and kids...



...and great to see my youngest foster-brother again (at his daughter's graduation, mentioned in the previous post). Ninh was 10 when I was born and loved carrying me around!

Don't forget our June birthday!

And... the test-knit of Reywa Fibers' Chiaki Sweater is complete! The last step of embroidering the sleeves at will was so fun!

Find the pattern and yarn here (both on sale through the end of July!): 
https://www.reywafibers.com/shop-patterns/chiaki-sweater

Time for another page in the nature-journal to help me focus in on God's beautiful creation!

And our carpenters came back to get more siding on!



Dad is currently painting more siding since the lumberyard did not order enough to finish our garage, and the manufacturer meanwhile quite making our smooth version of this product. Thankfully they had a double-wide product that could be ripped in half and painted. But it is a huge project for Dad who was already in the middle of many others...

Celebrations!

These have been weeks of celebrations!





Through Father's Day, birthday, graduation, and Independence Day... FAMILY has been the common thread.







One thing nearly a decade of chronic illness has taught me is that FOOD is not as important to a celebration as we usually think. When all the traditional foods are stripped away by food sensitivities, there is still FAMILY!



Though my sister and I have not been able to eat many of the foods our family is enjoying in these pics, we have learned to be creative to replace a few of the traditions. But even that was unavailable when I celebrated Independence Day with little bits of the most bland foods to try get digestion back on track after a short flu. I was just grateful to recover in time to spend the day with extended family!



But even when family is not available, the AUTHOR of the family and of life itself is always with His children.

"All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies." • Psalm 25:10

That love brings meaning to all our celebrations!

"But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress." • Psalm 59:16

"Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you." • Psalm 63:3

What celebrations have you enjoyed lately?!

A Lamp to my Feet

To illustrate the Swedish Proverb shared in my previous post, I recently re-read a good book which has been a favorite since I first found it in our home library in my youth. When young I mainly enjoyed the exciting story. But through all the [dozen or more] times of re-reading it since then, The Princess and the Goblin amazes me more each time with the truth which George MacDonald fit "between the lines." For example:

"She jumped up: she had but to keep that light in view, and she must find the house.

"Her heart grew strong. Dark as it was, there was little danger now of choosing the wrong road. And – which was most strange – the light that filled her eyes from the lamp, instead of blinding them for a moment to the object upon which they next fell, enabled her for an instant to see it, despite the darkness. By looking at the lamp and then dropping her eyes, she could see the road for a yard or two in front of her, and this saved her from several falls, for the road was very rough."

Maybe you need to read the story to see the connection clearly, but this little description is to me a beautiful picture of how God's word is our light through all the dark and rough paths of life. If only we will keep looking to it/Him as our guide and focus.

Your word is a lamp to my feet
   and a light to my path. 

• Psalm 119:105

The Princess and the Goblin:
Free audiobook on LibriVox: Listen or Download Here
Free e-book on Gutenberg: Read or Download Here

The Best is Between the Lines

 

In a good book, the best is between the lines.

This Swedish Proverb explains why good stories written for children and youth continue to be some of the most inspiring to me all through the years!

When a deep truth is tucked into an engaging story, stirring adventure, or masterful word-picture, it sticks with us in a way that an essay packed with facts usually cannot.

At least for me. How about you?!

Sabbath Rest

Do you take a Sabbath rest each week (or attempt to)?

Or does it feel like a waste to you? Maybe you just don't think you have time to slow down and rest every week.

It wasn't all that long ago that nearly all businesses were "Closed on Sunday." Has our culture really progressed in this area - or is it mainly adding to the stress levels and chronic illness pervading recent generations?

Where does this practice come from anyway? Well, it's not just some man-made tradition. In fact it was instituted at the very beginning of human existence!

I started reading the book of Genesis again this week (one of my favorites!), and that is where we get the blueprint for resting one day out of seven. (Genesis 2:2-3) The One who created us and knows exactly what we need is the One who also set us this example of the rhythm of rest!

And this is not merely an example that we can choose to follow (or not), but this principle is reiterated in the 10 Commandments God gave His people. (Exodus 20:10)

Of course legalism can set in and mess up anything God meant for our good. But Jesus dealt with that when He was teaching on earth. (See the four gospels at the beginning of the New Testament.)

On the physical side, many of us can feel the effects if we don't get a change of pace and extra rest one day a week. But even if you don't notice that yet, are you ready to try taking some small steps toward a Sabbath Rest this week? It may be a learning process and look different in various seasons of life. But ask God to give you His rest, and see how He leads you!

~ Hannah

Bouquets from 6.9.23

Hypothyroidism and "Hope in His Steadfast Love"

A few weeks ago I was hiking through deep snow. Then at the end of April I enjoyed the walk in this YouTube Short.

But now it is once again hard to walk as far as the garden, so I am grateful to remember a couple of sitting exercises we learned from a PT back when Aunt Dorothy broke her neck and spent a couple months in a halo. Learn them in my newest Short: 2 Simple Ways to Get Moving! [even if stuck at a computer or couch-bound]

There were years where I couldn't even manage this much exercise. So I can be grateful for this ability even though I recently found out my current form of thyroid medication hasn't been absorbing for a couple months. And since I don't have a thyroid, [see part of that story in this post] it may take a while to get back to my normal.

As my body and brain struggle through the slough of deep hypothyroidism once again, it is a good time to remember that "[God's] delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love." (Psalm 147:10-11)

Winter & Spring Walks

We have already had a few memorable walks in 2023.

In March Elsa asked out of the blue if we wanted to go snowshoeing for the first time in many years.





It was a joy to spend a couple hours on a mild afternoon out in the woods of a local state park!







Then on April 21st we combined another outing with trip to choose lumber to be milled for our basement build-back. The world was extra beautiful with several inches of fresh snow covering what had mostly melted to mud.



Destination: Itasca State Park
Headwaters of the Mississippi River!



It had been more than 10 years since Elsa and I had visited this childhood haunt. But I couldn't forget tradition of getting my toes in the River no matter the temperature!









Another highlight was plowing our own path through the snow to get a look at the historic Clubhouse which Grandpa and Grandma rented for the whole family many years through the 1990s.







Then on to the Old Timer's Cabin on a favorite little hike across the bog.

What a joy! Neither of those special days would have been possible if we hadn't begun learning tools to heal our limbic system impairment and lower the chronic stress response which extra activity and exposures have triggered ever since our bodies crashed 9 years ago.



More recently, walks have been taken on our gravel road... sometimes only within the shelter of our tree line so the spring winds on the prairie don't blow us over!

5 Reasons to Take a Walk Outdoors:

#1 Breathe Fresh Air
#2 Stimulate Lymph Action
#3 Strengthen Eye/Brain Connections
#4 Make Discoveries [such as the moose tracks marching past our place in photo above!]
#5 Lower Stress & Boost Healing Hormones