Striving valiantly

“It is not the critic who counts;
not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled
or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood;
who strives valiantly;
who errs and comes short again and again;
who knows great enthusiasms,
the great devotions;
who spends himself in a worthy cause;
who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement,
and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly
so that his place shall never be with those timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

-Theodore Roosevelt

Mountain Living

Keep close to Nature's heart...

and break clear away, once in awhile,

and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods.

Wash your spirit clean.

- John Muir 

Nothing like the mountains and nature to wash your spirits clean...I think Muir was on to something there. We've had such a great winter in the northwest, much down hill skiing and x-country skiing,  unfortunately for me I hurt my right leg down hill skiing- after much investigating online I figured I did not have a torn meniscus but tendonitis- which is a relief- but equally stinks because I am so much pain hobbling along.
Feeling a little sorry for myself I nourish myself with hot chocolate and whip cream also granola- epic amounts of granola, both store bought and home made. Homemade is best but when in a pinch I'm not complaining eating the premade stuff, as long as I get my oats- my horses are rubbing off on me.
Birgitta, my aunt taught me how to make hot cocoa- the secret is to mix the cocoa and sugar first in the pot and then add a small amounts of cream to make it all blend in to a liquidy paste...then add the milk, other wise you get the cocoa clumps. I think of my mom when I drink cocoa, growing up in Sweden during the 2nd world war- where everything was rationed or non existent, they would make it with water and no sugar (pretty bitter tasting)- if there was any cocoa available.
Growing up in Oslo as a kid, after hours of sledding- looking like a wet felted wool blanket ( fleece & Gore-Tex was not yet invented)with my wool mittens, hat, sweater that had been soaked and then frozen stiff by playing in the snow. Once inside, I quickly peeled off  my wet wool clothes and sat in my long johns by the fire, frozen fingers wrapped around the cocoa mug, the warm steam and sweet smell of chocolate would be inhaled, then devoured, accompanied usually with a delicious open faced salami sandwich - which always hit the spot.
Fond memories. My mom made the best cocoa, and so.... the memories of her and my family in Norway I guess somehow is connected to that, in a cup of cocoa.


Here in wintery Montana, darkness is the name of the game, getting up in the morning at 5:30am to feed my horses, still is under a starlight sky. " Zero dark thirty" as chef calls it. Wearing my heavy muck boots and whatever parka or the like, I can find in the wee hours I trudge in the snow, it is bone cold. The girls greet me in the darkness with a whinny, they are cold and hungry after a blustery night- I grab a bale from the barn, I can't find my knife to cut the twine that holds the bale together. Using a leftover piece of  twine to rub against the twine that holds the square bale - the friction between the two will brake the twine, the hay comes out in flakes and easy to feed. Fiona and Bella get good amounts of hay in the winter- it's what keeps them warm.


Living in the mountains a great sense of gratitude for nature and quietude that is here, but also a sense of isolation. As an introvert living in a small mountain town suits me - I never felt at home in the city, but I still miss all the cultural and historical offerings Oslo provides. My daughter left for Portland, Oregon with a group this morning- she will be gone for 4 days visiting and exploring the costal city. I am a bit jealous since there is no travel in my near future. Always been very interested in Portland, it seems like such a vibrant and energetic, artist town...city. With limited amounts of artistic endeavors in my neck of the woods I yearn to stretch out my arms and ask for more- more creativity and inspiration and as I wrote here I have been quite lost as I no longer dyeing yarn. So....I have signed up for an E-course with Flora Bowley who lives in Portland. The beauty is I have access to her and her teachings online, I am eager to get started. Her colors, creativity and talent has inspired me to jump into something head first -painting.
Pretty incredible to be able to do big city things from my little small town in the mountains, using my puter. I can still have one foot in the city and one foot in the woods -I'll always be in the woods...heh!


Mountain living can have the best of both worlds....even in the darkness of winter a new bright light that shines inside me...


In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary. 
~Aaron Rose

One fine day

If I said it almost felt like June in January- would you believe me?

Well that's what I told myself...

the sun came out

I think I even heard birds

White Pine Sweater in the works

Mixing 2 of my hand dyeds- a heathered look

I have a thing for greens and lilac, it reminds me of summer

the pattern calls for worsted but with these 2 strands it 's almost bulky- we shall see, once I block it.

I'm sure it will be a great barn sweater

Belly up to the bar

Hot Cocoa and whipped cream is being served by the gallon

Even though another winter storm is rolling in I'll take these beautiful bursts of sun light

a slight pause from life in a snow globe

" Wolfie" - Wolfgang

 our new addition to our family

  cross between wolf, bear and Tasmanian devil

 3 months old

 Sheltie/Chow mix

and yes, he definitely has my heart and my husband wrapped around his paw.

The kids love him

Lily is excited to have a new playmate

Mimi hates him

Such a great personality, loyal and sweet

it's like having a baby again, always watching what he's chewing on, potty training

  the nightly

very late night walks

or early morning-

depends how you look at it.

He's a snow dog and plays outside for hours

 helps with feeding the horses

 helps snow shoveling

here with a "snow berry" necklace

 Yes, it was truly a fine day

even folks at the market were in a good mood

sunshine is really a valued commodity these days

Though June is mostly like January cold and snowy-

it felt sure with a little seasonally trickery from Mother nature

The end! 

Wishing you all a fine day!

****************************

addendum

 the last post- it wasn't hard to write

but it was hard to "publish"

- it makes writing from the heart a little harder

when the subject is

loosing my mind living with teens

not always unicorns and butterflies these days.

 

My dad used to say" this too shall pass"

( which always involved me in some way)

and in all cases

it did

 

 the sun started to shine

 

 and we all had

one fine day

 a heart felt thanks for all your words of support and wisdom

and

thank you for all you who didn't comment

for biting your tongue :)

 

Good at doing hard work

Penelope Trunk told me I was good at doing hard work.

Coming from her I felt as if I won an award.

Known for being brazen and brutally honest, she has brought clients to tears.

As I reflect on those words- it makes me feel strong as if my inner Viking can seize the day at any given moment.

Surely this been a hard week,
 our parenting skills firing on all cylinders and tested our compassion for the "teen years"
Smiling, thru my tears I can share a few highlights, living in a very small mountain town "where everyone knows you're name"-  I will make this short and simple.

#3 got in so much trouble this weekend- a nightmare looks dreamy to me.

The past couple of days, the police has been involved, new found friends we thought were great- ended up being a REALLY BAD INFLUENCE, epic amounts of lying, sneaking out of the house at 1 o'clock at night and blissfully ignorant parents ...a few other things I will keep under my hat.

 Feeling stretched - wondering where the bottomless pit would end, some very hard decisions and conversation I wished never happened more importantly, a few life lessons that would test anyone's patience.

Parenting is the hardest "job" I have ever had, holding our children accountable for their actions, letting them rise to the occasion to figure out how to be responsible while keeping their integrity intact- always treating them with love and respect even through tough times.

As the afternoon progressed we learned more what had happened and what # 3's  role was in this big mess.

Disbelief, in what we heard, disbelief that he got caught

 Tears- on both ends.

Yet, relief.

Relief, knowing we had his back, that he had a safe place to land even when shit hit the fan.

Relieved that we were now in the loop and could now start damage control.

I stood on my tip toes and gave him a hug telling him- that doing the "right thing" isn't always the easiest.

That evening our son went to the "parents" house to apologize. We drove around the neighborhood a few times, it was dark so he couldn't quite recall the house- maybe he just needed that extra minute before he would have to face the music.

His voice fragile, from the back seat asking- will you stand behind me?

We all felt fragile- fragile with the anticipation of the next few minutes.

I responded- always.

Thinking he was tough as nails for doing this- no one wants to see their child scared.

He rang the doorbell and we were greeted- by the parents, introduce ourselves- hand shakes all around. Our son looks them in the eyes, takes a deep breath and begins his apology

with the courage of a Lion

 he offers the most genuine, articulate and sincere apology
 

you could tell the other parents started to melt...unexpected.

Most of us have been young and stupid at sometime and it was comforting to see that they could connect with that-
a few stories from their past, something we all can relate too on some level,
I guess their awkward way of extending our son an olive branch.
 

Glad and impressed that our son had the guts to apologize, the father accepted.

Solo, as non of the other boys that were involved had come forth.

- we said our goodbyes and left friendly terms.

Our son walks the line, head held high - he felt closure that night.

Something hard was done- he was very good at it.

Aware the battle is not yet finished and there is still a long walk up the mountain- I have no doubt he'll make it.

We all slept a little better that night.

And we are all better for having done hard work.