Mix a little foolishness with your serious plans. It is lovely to be silly at the right moment. — Horace
I've been collecting vintage items here and there for the past few years. I tend to buy things that have some kind of use, like cigar boxes that store my paints and buttons, a saucepan that holds all my embroidery thread and needles, a basket that holds yarn (what else), and mixing bowls that have held a myriad of mixtures, doughs, and sauces for our meals.
Every so often, I just want the thing to make my heart happy. That is its purpose. Just to be pretty and make me smile.
I recognize that I have a lifestyle that offers me the opportunity to purchase frivolous things from time to time, but I also know that I've always treasured these little... treasures. When I was unemployed and only working a few hours a week, I would wander through thrift shops and pick through bargain bins for the precious little sparks that made me smile. I've shuffled along beaches and riverbanks looking at stones and branches and bits of sea glass. It doesn't matter what it is: sometimes, the time taking notice of these little slivers of beauty is enough to gladden my heart for a while.
So, I bought a bottle the other day:
I noticed it for sale on Facebook Marketplace while I was looking for something to organize my closet (a neverending search). It is antique? Probably not. Is it useful? Not particularly. But it says "Made in Italy" underneath, which I may or may not believe at this stage:
But I knew it would look lovely with my other bits of vintage class on my mantlepiece. And it would look even better with some string lights inside of it:
I don't often have all of the lights on, but given that it's nearly Christmas, I probably will have them on more often in the evenings. And the sight of them all makes my heart smile. Simple and true:
I don't have a lot of gifts to buy this time of year as I'm staying here on the Island this season. That just means I feel a bit freer to indulge my silly shopping habits a bit and to support some local artists. I needed more coffee mugs like I need another hole in my head, but when I see that
Ceramics By Jenny is restocking her online shop, I can't help but take a look. And I love knowing that my purchases help to fund her dream of living the artist's life. I breathe a sigh of satisfaction with that thought every time I sit down with a cup of coffee with one of them:
I've been tired. I think I've been getting bogged down by other people's drama and other people's worries lately. Maybe everyone else's hustle and bustle of the holiday season has somehow permeated my pores. Maybe the short days and long, dark nights are getting to me. All I know is I felt much better after spending a few days at home sleeping as much as I could.
I also have noticed that I've been pushing through things that I'm not particularly happy with, not least of which is my current knitting project. I was working on it last week and was nearly finished one panel when I laid it down in front of me and realized how much I did not like it at all:
I was aiming for kind of a sunburst effect. It looks like I got more of a "muddy rippling river" effect instead. I wanted something that looked sharp and stylish, not middling and wonky. So... I ripped it all out and started over. And I am much happier with the simple look of diagonal stripes at regular intervals, knitted dishcloth-style without any highfalutin short rows to mess me up. It's going to take me more time than I wanted to but I think I'll like it much more when I'm done:
I admit that the knitting has been a bit slower these days because I've been distracted by the pending ten days off I have during the holidays. The planner in me wants to make sure I squeeze all kinds of time out of it to do ALL THE CRAFTS and ALL THE PROJECTS. I was digging through my yarn a little while ago trying to find something and this group of yarn skeins all landed together on the coffee table. When I walked past later, I realized how pretty they all looked together, and it made me really happy because I've been trying to use each of these in projects for ages without success. I already have some ideas of how I will use them:
Except I was also thinking about working on one of my new embroidery kits over the holidays:
And I also thought I might finish spinning up some yarn on my spinning wheel...
And I also thought I might do some sewing...
Hmm... this could be a bit of a problem...
Regardless, today I feel privileged to be "overwhelmed" by these choices. Not everyone gets to have the luxury of choosing which bits of vintage glass to buy or which little craft to play around with. And life is short. I got a reminder of that this morning when I heard the news that one of my cousins passed unexpectedly this morning. I am still reeling from that news.
I think the best I can do is just take each moment as it comes, as nothing at all is promised to us. And to not judge myself too harshly for not being the most efficient, most productive, and the most prolific all the time.
I'm off to go sit with a coffee and think about life for a while. And maybe knit, too. Have a good week!
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