A Milk Bottle and a Barn

How quietly,
   and not with any assignment from us,
or even a small hint 

   of understanding,
      everything that needs to be done
         is done. 

--from Luna, by Mary Oliver

I overheard someone at the pool yesterday saying that we've had rain twenty-six days out of thirty-one this month. I don't know if that's correct, but it definitely has been a wet October. Any thoughts of drought during the summer are now, appropriately, quenched. Wet: that is us.

Luckily, yesterday was one out of the thirty-one days when the rain actually stopped. I had driven down to meet a friend at a cafe in Shawnigan Lake, where the food was delicious, and the coffee was rich. While waiting for our order, I noticed these signs. I knew these were my people:

Around the corner from from us were these sweet little felted creations for sale. Another indicator that I was among like-minded people. Seeing these made me feel like I should pull out the needle-felting kit I have squirreled away somewhere and actually give it a go... just as soon as I get all my other projects on the "to make list" finished:

About halfway through our visit, the sun broke through the clouds, and we looked at each other and declared that we should get outside. We found a trail by the lake, and just as all lakeside trails do, it did not disappoint:

We found ourselves on the road back to the cafe when we saw a sign that read, "Vintage Shop" with an arrow pointing to the right towards a side road. Well, why not, we said to each other, and up a small hill and down the road a bit, we found this place, Shawnigan Vintage Barn:

We wandered in, and well, it was another cave of treasures, waiting to be explored. It was full of lovely things, very nicely displayed, and included everything from furniture to kitchen gadgets to linens to... well all kinds of cool old stuff. And with the fire crackling in the wood stove, it was not hard to spend time wandering around:

As is always the case, I went in hoping to find something (this time, a blue pyrex bowl to complete one of my sets), but I came out with something totally unrelated. This time, it was this glass bottle, which I spied on one of the higher shelves. I think it's just a pretty as all of those pretty, trendy S'well bottles I keep seeing everywhere, and probably even more useful:

When I picked it up, I was immediately sold by the fact that it had a nice, tight, usable lid. I knew for sure I could use it as a water bottle on my desk, or to keep milk fresh in the fridge... or whatever. Lids that work are wonderful things:

I think it might part of a line of milk bottles from a company called Egizia in Italy, except it says "Made in Portugal" on the bottom. I haven't been able to find any other bottles online with polka dots, so I don't know for sure. I just know it's a charming little find that made my day.

Today was another busy day in preparation of another busy week, but I did find time to finally take some photos of my finished Icterine. In my last blog post, I was sure I was headed for a bit of a disaster because I needed to fix the bind off for the last few stitches. I thought I'd need to use yarn from another skein, but when I cut the button off, I decided I wasn't going to do that. Instead, I decided to use the last inch and half of the tail yarn and do a little sewing and weaving, and well, I'm glad to say it worked:

It turned out to be a pretty decent size:

And I am still so in love with the cables:

They remind me of the aspen leaves I saw on my walk today. The undulating shapes are so satisfying:

I have another couple of busy days ahead, but I'm trying not to get too obsessed with trying to organize and plan every single second. Instead, I spent some time in the kitchen making some good food to fuel me through it all: a batch of Greek lemon soup, a batch of butternut squash soup, a roast chicken for dinner, and, in an effort to use up some of the applesauce I made, a loaf of this Whole Wheat Applesauce Cake. I'm happy to report it was a success: surprisingly light and fluffy, and perfect with a cup of tea after a walk:

So, here I face another busy week, but I'm trying to have faith that just as Mary Oliver says in her poem, all that needs to get done, will get done... whether I force things into submission or not.

And with that, I think I'll have another cuppa...