Hopping

Over the last few months a blog hop has been making its way around the world, moving from one country to another and from one blog to another.  I have read many such posts and on occasions have been tempted to join in myself when a blog author has passed the baton on to one and all.  I have now been tagged by Leigh who writes over at leighside knits so here we are....

What am I working on...

...now that it is Autumn my focus is on my home and my family preparing ourselves for a time when we will be inside much more.  It is the time of year when I feel the desire to clean my house much more than in the spring, when all I want to do is be outside.  Cleaning away all the dust and cobwebs that have accumulated over the Summer when my home is largely ignored.  In the kitchen I am preserving something that I do every year, more of that in another post.  In the garden we are tidying, pruning and picking the last harvests, getting the garden ready for its dormant period over the Winter. The dew is heavy each morning and it won't be long before the frosts arrive for their stay.  Our learning has taken on a new rhythm with the turning of the season, focusing on being inside a bit more as the temperatures cool.  I am creating many things at the moment, ideas in my head and on paper, gifts for birthdays and Christmas, clothing for myself and my family, items for the home.  Working on each a little bit here, a little bit there as and when time allows.

How does my work differ from others in its genre...

           n. kind of style

                                       Oxford English Dictionary       

My style is my own.  I don't know exactly where it fits in.  I love to cook, sometimes following recipes to the letter,  or exchanging ingredients or making a recipe up from scratch.  I write about this sometimes but I am not a food blogger.  I garden, less than I would like to, I use the biodynamic method as a basis.  I write about my garden occasionally but I am not a gardening blogger.  We home educate, like all home educators, we have our particular way of doing this I can, and sometimes do, tell you what we do but not a how to do it.  Home education is our way of life which I write about but it is not the sole focus of my blog, that I fear would be rather dull.  I make and create things mostly sewing and knitting sometimes I share these but lately less so.  My work is different simply because it is mine.

Why do I create what I do...

...almost everything I create has to have a use be it practical, for warmth, for learning or out of necessity.  I rarely if ever create for decoration except perhaps the odd piece for festivals usually for Christmas.  I wouldn't make something just because I liked the pattern.  I apply the same thought process to my making as I do to purchasing something - do I/we really need it?  We are hugely wasteful as a society throwing things away when have no more use for them.  When I look around our home at the items we have created from bits and pieces that were no longer performing their original function it makes me very happy.  It is what my father does and my grandfather and I suspect many of my forebears did.  It is what happens in the 'poorer' nations of the world, the ones we label as 2nd and 3rd world, I struggle to see the creativity in going out and buying new, throwing the old away.  There is one expression that has been much used in our financially straightened times "make do and mend".  This was a pamphlet produced during the war to provide tips for women on frugality and style during rationing.  Now whilst rationing is what we are doing then and now the basis for it couldn't be more different.  For me it speaks of if we make do now then there will be a time when, in the future, we can go back to how we were.  Or perhaps I am being a little too cynical?

How does my creative process work...

...I have had a bit of an epiphany recently, nothing new really..............I have always known that the more organised I am the more time I actually have.  For years the structure and rhythm in my life came from education and employment, then five years ago I found myself at home all the time and for the first time in my life my rhythm and structure was my own well perhaps not entirely my own as I had a baby..........  As the children have gotten older and they move away from me more, the time I have to call my own has slowly increased but, like a rabbit caught in the headlights, my use of this time was not terribly efficient.  Early on in my time at home I started to plan our food, born out of need to get a meal on the table for a young child whilst also caring for a baby.  I have tried various rhythms and structures to our day with varying degrees of success, what I have come to realise is that any changes I make need to be slow and small, big ones meet with resistance.  By thinking ahead about each day, what we will eat, what we will do, timings, doing the preparation necessary in advance if needed, I actually have more time for other things.  I have cleared my head of the clutter of the important parts of our life and made room and time for me to think about other things.  I now know that if am I working on something there will be time to complete it and I have the head space to think about when.  What I need to ensure now is that I don't have another rabbit in the headlights moment and have too many ideas and not enough time to fulfil them.  Slow and steady is my mantra.

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Thank you Leigh for inviting me to join this blog hop, I would like to invite...

Just Having a Yarn

Marigold Jam

...to keep it moving along and of course anyone else who wishes to take part and share your answers........let me know in the comments and I will add a link.  Enjoy your blog hopping!