June 26, 2022

Gah! The realization that Christmas is coming and my stitching has been stagnant hit me a few weeks ago. The moment of panic was huge and then I remembered that COVID has screwed with every part of my life. I make ornaments for family and friends every year and that project usually starts in January, not June. Cutting myself some slack and learning that the latest season of "Mayans MC" has been released, I sat on the couch last Saturday and stitched until the last moments of the last episode. What a joy it was to indulge in one of my favourite shows and to stitch until my eyes and fingers finally said "No more!". Ornament #1 is underway:

At the same time, my community garden bed is starting to take shape. My friend and I crammed a full sized garden's worth of seeds into a 4 foot by 8 foot garden bed so I have started moving plants around to fill in the bare patches. Three zucchini found a new home in the pots in the foreground, the beans on the middle right side are now lined up in a more orderly fashion and a handful of lettuce plants have found new homes in neighbouring veggie patches. I am having so much fun going over to the garden every few days to see how our plants are growing and to see the gardening ideas of the other people who also have plots. The other fun part is getting know the other gardeners as I work on building a post-pandemic community around myself. My body and mind are in need of so much healing and the garden with all of the growing and nurturing is becoming a very important part of my recovery.

 The past two plus years have been brutal so it is amazing to feel a smidge more balanced and centred every day. I love that I have the energy and desire to do the things that I have always loved like planting flowers and experimenting with plants. Like the maple sapling and the raspberry cane that have appeared randomly appeared in one of my planters, I am finding joy in the little nooks and crannies of my life.

Happy stitching!