Looking back at my hopes for October, I think I have managed to slow down a little. I’ve been spending a lot of time working on some new and old skills. As I mentioned last month, I had a few more weeks left in my calligraphy class. Though the 8 weeks finished last tuesday, I still hope to keep up the habit of practicing a few times a week. Another great new skill I have been working on this month is preserving and fermenting. Oh man, I’m a little addicted. Granted, I am someone that gets super passionate about most new things, I think this one I will be in for the long haul. I took a workshop (more on that later, it deserves its own post) 2 weeks ago. It was 4 hours and I debated whether I wanted to commit my entire Sunday afternoon to preserving and fermenting vegetables. I hesitated but in the end, I knew I would be happy I tried something new. I love trying new things but I also love Sunday afternoons at home preparing meals for the week ahead, with some Netflix playing in the background. I love my routines.
After the workshop, I knew I wanted to put my new skills to the test and I got to do just that this past weekend. Matt and I got all the ingredients at the market and I made 6 jars of dilly carrots Sunday morning. Now I’m just thinking of all the other vegetables in season that I can put into jars for the winter. I say this all the time but I swear I was born in the wrong decade. This new skill has amplified my dream of living off the fat of the land, in a little house in the country. Cuz now I’m confident I can feed us carrots and kimchi throughout the winter months so we won’t get scurvy. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I also learned to make sauerkraut and kimchi. Amazing, right? Like I said, that event deserves its own post.
I could talk about preserving all day but lets move on to other things. I also dusted off my paint brushes and have been doing some watercolor. Honestly, why do I even leave the house at all – can I just stay home all day working on all my projects? The reason I picked up the watercolors again is because I am integrating them into those wedding invitations I mentioned last month. It’s been a fun way to mix traditional and digital design together. It’s not something I get to experiment with very much with my day job since we have an established brand. Working on side projects allows me to try new things, which is something I hope to do more of! I’ve really enjoyed spending evenings working on this project.
And because an ambitious (wo)man is never satisfied, I’ve also signed up for a new pottery class now that my calligraphy class is done. After finishing up a class this spring, I knew I wanted to take another to really get confident on the wheel. Plus, there is really something so special about having one evening every week that is technology-free, where I make things with my hands and don’t think about anything else. Pottery has been extremely meditative for me and those 3 hours every week really allow me to disconnect.
I’ve also been trying to make an effort to take my camera out on walks around the city, fall is such a beautiful season that it’s a shame that it disappears before we can really appreciate it properly. We’ve also been enjoying the last days of the market before everything heads indoors. One of my favorite things to do on the weekend is to spend a morning picking up some vegetables at the market, planning what meals I can make for the week to come, or to freeze for a future date. I’m hoping to pick up all the necessary ingredients to make a new batch of kimchi this weekend, see how well I do on my own!
Those are the main points to share about the past month, and now that we are a couple of days into November, it’s hard to think of new goals to set for this month. I hope to keep on the trend I am currently on, getting more hands-on with projects and trying new things with different mediums. I’m going to have to start thinking about a Christmas card design for this year (so many ideas, so little time!) and maybe start thinking about what I can make (pickled vegetables anyone?) for Christmas presents. The temperature is definitely dropping and the days are already so short so I think November will be a good time to stay in and make things. It’s also a good time to integrate some extra yoga classes into the schedule to stay active when all I wanna do is curl up on the couch.
I hope everyone else is taking good care of themselves as the winter slowly sets in. It’s definitely a hard time of the year and we’re all feeling a little less energy because of it. Hang in there!
