Catching up

I've been having trouble finishing things lately. I blame winter.
When I looked at this blog and realized it's been 10 months since I last wrote here, I wasn't surprised, but wondered how that time managed to blow by so quickly. What on earth was I doing for 10 months that kept me from updating at least once in a while?
After our excursion to Mississippi that took us through Mother's Day last year, I went home and back to work. I remember that part.
I went back to working in the garden, starting knitting projects that, like the rest of my life, didn't get finished and I did some reading. We might have seen a movie or two, Harry Potter and Sherlock Holmes. We obviously aren't discriminating.
In late August, I had hand surgery, carpal tunnel and thumb joint restructuring, to be exact. For more than a month, I couldn't type except left-handed, which those who know me isn't something I need to be doing. I'm about as left-handed as the husband is right-handed. Together we make a whole-handed person.
After the hand recovery, it was back to work again and then the holidays and then winter and now we are knocking on spring's door, grateful for whatever sunshine we get and days with temperatures above 32 degrees F.
To alleviate the boredom and rut-inducing coma that winter brings, I've started the garden in little trays under a PVC grow light set-up the husband built that now rests on the dining room table, because that's the only table long enough to hold the contraption. In the trays are sprouts of a few varieties of bulb onions, Italian parsley and savory.
He tells me we can open the greenhouse soon and I can get some lettuce, spinach and other cool weather stuff planted in the raised bed in there, but he keeps going to work when he should be home and that plan keeps getting delayed.
A couple weeks ago, on a particularly cold and blustery day, I dug into my craft closet and found seven quilt tops in varying degrees of completion. I pulled out the one-most-likely-to-be-finished-soon and started working on it again. It had been so long since I took the lid off my sewing machine that I had to dig out the manual and look up how to thread the darn thing. Fortunately it all came back rather quickly and the Easter wallhanging is now ready to be sandwiched together and machine quilted and maybe, and I'm not making any promises, maybe it will be hanging on the wall by next month's holiday.
I have three knitting projects on the needles, Kian's blanket, Jerry's scarf and socks. I go back and forth when the mood strikes. I'm also reading. This time it's Elm Creek Quilts, a series of books by Jennifer Chiaverini about a quilting retreat and all the people, women mostly, who interact with the art as well as each other. It's light reading and goes quickly, but it's perfect for this time of year when my mind doesn't really want anything heavy and mind-bogging anyway.
I still haven't ordered Margaret Roach's new book, "....and I Shall Have Some Peace There." I'm probably going to download it to Kindle this week. I've had it on my wish list since last year and couldn't wait for publication day. The premise behind her story is so much like mine, only I haven't dropped out....yet. I think I've put off buying it because I know I'll start reading it immediately and I'm afraid I won't get back to the Elm Creek stories, but I can't wait any longer. I have to know what it was like and if I am brave enough to do something like that.
In the meantime, spring can't come soon enough and like I was this time last year, I'm ready for a few days off work for a bit of R&R. Unless we make another emergency trip somewhere to pick up a new baby, which I've already been told won't happen, I'll just have to plan my own getaway this spring.
Upstate New York sounds pretty nice right now. I'll keep you posted.