Treading Water

Well friends, it has been quite the month in the Riddell house. I have had an incredibly stressful and difficult few weeks, and I have been doing my best to keep my head above water. 

The biggest change so far is that Annabelle, my beloved steed of the past six years, finally gave out on me. This has been a huge blow—while she wasn't my first car, she was the car I moved out of my mum's house with, and she was the car that brought me to Illinois, and she was the car that I brought Lee Lee and Coleslaw home in. She saw me through so much, and while twenty-four is a perfectly respectable age for a car, I was hoping we'd have more time together. 

I am currently without a car, which is a huge adjustment. I'm relying on the bus and city e-bikes for now, and I'm hoping to be able to get a new car before winter hits, which gives me a few months to save up some. I'm very fortunate to still have transport available to me, even though it is less convenient than having my own car. 

I pulled out my Sock Blankie last week, and the little squares are just what my tired brain needs right now. There's a part of me that wishes I was working on a sweater project, or a design sample, but apparently tiny garter stitch squares are all I've got in me at present. 

I haven't seriously ridden my bike since before I moved to Illinois, so I'm trying to get out on some short rides to get back in shape. I'd love to be able to use my bike to get to the nearby grocery store and both library locations, as opposed to spending an hour on the bus or paying for a city e-bike. I didn't think I was super out of shape, but it turns out that cycling uses very different muscles than the ones that I've been using lately! I did manage to get to the nearby library (just over a mile from home as opposed to almost two and a half miles), which wore me out more than I expected. I was very careful in the library and only got as many books as would safely fit in my bike basket, and hopefully I'll get my cycling legs back soon!

Otherwise, I'm focusing on taking it one day at a time, worrying about the things I can control and trying not to stress too much about the things that are out of my hands. My main priorities are getting enough rest, staying hydrated, eating regularly, and cuddling with Coleslaw, which are, in my opinion, the only priorities that really matter.

Shawl Project, Family Visit, and a New Treasure

Happy Friday, friends! I did not mean to be absent for almost a month, but it's been a crazy spring here at Riddell House. First and foremost, the yellow shawl has grown, though not as quickly as I'd hoped:

Last week I was in South Dakota for my brother's college graduation. I ended up being out there for longer than I'd initially planned, but it was good to see my family, and I got to sit on a pink boulder and look at the river while the rest of my family went hiking:

This week when I went to the thrift store I managed an incredible score. A vintage all-metal Singer, preferably in a sewing table, has been on my wish list for years, but I've had trouble finding one in my price point and within reasonable driving distance. Most recently, there was one at a local Goodwill that they had listed for seventy-five dollars, which is way more than I want (or am able) to spend, but when I walked through the furniture section of another local thrift store a few days ago I found this Singer Touch & Sew for just twenty-five dollars. 

It fits just perfectly on this little wall, and I can keep my Kenmore 12 Stitch on top of it when it's closed up (my Brother LS-2125i lives on a shelf on an adjacent wall). I'm so thrilled to have found it, and I'm really hoping to find the energy and motivation to start a sewing project soon. My mother gave me some fun fabric a couple of months ago, and I have a project planned for one of the lengths, but between work and taking Coleslaw to the park and a string of medical appointments, I haven't even managed to prewash the fabric yet.

I hope you all have a good weekend! I'm back to my retail job after taking last weekend off for my trip back to South Dakota, but I'm hoping to get some good morning cuddles in with Coleslaw and finish my current library book (Otherlands by Thomas Halliday).