The Friday Exhale: 5 Thoughts on the Week

I’ve never actually crocheted a garment before. And funny enough, I’m terrible at reading crochet pattern instructions, so this is self-drafted. What I have is an old sweater that fit me well but has a big stain on it, so I’ve cut it into the shape of a vest and I’m using that as my pattern. So, not completely self-drafted. I will let you know how it turns out. – Cris

This is a Christmas cactus in my mother’s sunny kitchen. Isn’t it lovely? In Italian, the word for Christmas is ‘natale,’ and this plant is called a ‘natalina’ because it blooms profusely at Christmas time. I came across this photo I took a few weeks ago and it made me smile. It’s a lovely antidote to the messy, yucky weather last week and the cold and snow we’re having this week in southern Ontario. – Maria

So, I have struggled all my life, up until recently, to hold onto a pair of gloves or mitts for more than a season. This glove, part of a pair I have had for a few years! was rescued by me a few days ago from the drenched grass beside where I had parked my car the night before. It took a few days for it to dry completely, but it is now reunited with its mate. Yay! Is there anything that you consistently lose? Do you have a story of something that amazingly was lost and then found again? – Maria

When a new rule was announced at the high school where I taught, over students’ groans, I would remind them that it was a result of too many people doing something that was dangerous or dumb. Therefore, people needed to be reminded to behave properly and safely. In the same way, I am seeing this reminder to be kind to ourselves a lot lately: blogs, greeting cards, memes. I included it in a card to my daughter. Maybe the reason this message is so widespread is that many of us need to hear this advice and then take it, including myself. Do you have any tips for being kind to yourself? – Maria

Sometimes I like to make a big jug of tea, add a few different flavoured tea bags, some caffeinated and some herbal, and see what they taste like together. So far, none of the concoctions are worth saving to memory. Today I added an orange pekoe, a mojito mint green tea and a raspberry thriller. Probably not the best combination, but the flavour is good enough.

Do you ever make a tea combo? What teas do you mix together? Cris