Full Days, Happy Heart

I feel like we've packed a lot of living into the last couple of weeks. I'm honestly surprised at the passing speed of the days, weeks and months. I thought life as an empty nester would be more quiet than it actually is. I still haven't found my footing really. It will take as long as it takes and that's just fine.

I'm finding time to cross some longstanding WIPS off of my to do list. This sweater is much too cute to ditch because of a little hole so I decided to mend it.

I thought paying homage to moths was a good way to put good karma into the world so that I might be spared that particular nightmare in my life. I'm happy enough with how it came out and I have several more mending projects waiting to be done. There is something that makes me feel so virtuous when giving something a second life. I love mending and making do. Well sometimes (my kitchen) I can't stand it much longer!

The weather has been quite chilly off and on here which has me wanting to cook and bake. I don't really eat much sugar these days so bread feels like a nice way to express that part of myself. I have baked 5 loaves in the last week and half which means lots of sharing. I've never known anyone to turn down freshly baked bread. I really want to delve deeper into this subject and am considering going down the sourdough rabbit hole so if anyone has bread cookbook recommendations, I'd love to hear them.

 I also recently made fresh ricotta for the first time ever. It's incredible. In fact looking at these pictures has me feeling hungry and thinking I will need to find a way to use the rest of this with tonights dinner. Speaking of which, cooking for 2 takes practice. I'm starting to get better about the amounts I cook but I find that I don't really need to plan a meal for every day as there are still more leftovers than I anticipate. We do eat them for lunches but even so...it's too much food and I try to avoid wasting it. I do feel more like trying new recipes these days. I don't know if that is because we like most everything or maybe because since I don't really need to cook every night, it's more fun to put more effort into cooking fewer meals.

Last Sunday it warmed up enough for me to accompany my love on the outdoor course at his archery club. It was a gorgeous day and I loved getting to capture him in his element. Archery is his golf (or knitting) and he does it as often as he can. It made my heart happy to see how much it meant to him to share this with me. I love him more with each passing year. With each, wrinkle and grey hair. With each challenge that we are confronted with. I never could have imagined when we were first married, nearly 20 years ago, how much more I would love him now.

If you are looking for something lovely to watch this weekend, I recommend these two movies:  The Bookshop and This Beautiful Fantastic. No gritty reboots, superheroes or explosions to be found in either of them. Wishing you all a beautiful, cozy, creative autumn weekend.