Cottage Life Summer 2024

Hi friends, welcome to our cottage life update about things we have been up to and happening around the cottage. Things get hectic time to time due to the rollercoaster of ups and downs of chronic illness and flare ups that are unpredictable, summer is usually easier though.  I hope you have been well and enjoyed your summer too or if your in the Northern Hemisphere your winter.  Summer has now been and the days will soon get cooler and Autumn will be upon us before we realize it. 

[Start of image description: at the top is a white rectangle with the words "Summer 2024" and the words "Cottage life". Underneath is a wooden table with a gingerbread Batch/Summer Holiday home iced like a gingerbread house. Then next to a pink notebook with the words "Make it happen" on it and a blue pen with confetti at the top. End of image description.]

Chapter 1: Summer 2024

Summer Holidays

In December I had a break to enjoy the summer break with my family and to spend time with friends too. We went to the beach with friends, toasted marshmallows over the fire and the boys went fishing together. We had loads of fun! We had fun at the local lake a few times this summer, its one of our favorite places to visit. The Master Crafters had fun going swimming this year too at their cousins, lakes and beaches.  The Master Crafters, our friend and the Journeyman also went on a few camping trips together and went fishing, saw a horse and had a ride, saw a seal and found a shark tooth. We went to another lake that was so beautiful and clear on our way home from seeing the largest and 2nd largest Kauri trees. We enjoyed the summer school holidays we had fun at the local lake, beaches and park. The Master Crafters had a few sleepovers and playdates with their friends which was really good. We enjoyed catching up with family this summer too. We had a lot of movie night with popcorn together together every Saturday as usual but we had a few more movie nights. One week we nearly had a movie night each day!  

[Start of image description: a photo of Arjaye outside ready to go to a Christmas party. She is wearing a mint headscarf with a floral blue headband, a white dress with pink flowers and lace at the top with the sleeves rolled up.  She is wearing a silver sparkly necklace and her cross necklace along with a few earrings in her ears and nose. End of image description.]

[Start of image description: Arjaye standing in front of the second largest Kauri tree she is smiling. Arjaye is wearing a floral and patterned dress with a shrug over the top and she is holding her walking sticks. End of image description.]

[Start of image description: a photo of a lake nearby with clear blue water and a blue cloudy sky in the  background. End of image description.]

Birthdays 

We celebrated family Birthdays in December and January, the Master Crafters enjoyed their Birthdays and I am looking forward to my Birthday this month too. It was nice to catch up with every one and see them too. We had fun on our trips to the local lake for their Birthdays too - best part of having a Birthday in Summer the weather is good enough for swimming.  They both had fun choosing their cakes - one chocolate with chocolate icing and drops and one carrot cake with cream cheese icing. They had fun playing together and playing the new games they got for their Birthdays.

[Start of image description: a wooden table with a homemade carrot cake with cream cheese icing for the Master Crafters Birthday. End of image description.]

[Start of image description: a photo of our local lake and with hills in the background. End of image description.]

Knitting And Designing

I've been doing a bit of knitting working away on projects which I will share soon, I have been mostly working on blankets despite the heat of summer laughs. I have a temperature blanket for 2024, the temperature blanket for summer 2023 which I managed to find the orange yarn in store again which I hadn't been able to find and is why I had stopped knitting it. A baby blanket for a friends daughter which still needs to be finished. I have so many sketches for knitting designs back, I lost my sketch book and was heartbroken that I was not been able to find. I found them online in the Christian Artist Master class I did, thankful that I had shared them and that group was still open.  These were the ones I created alongside God as I changed things instead of closing the doors to Cozy Woodland Cottage Knits like I had been going to do. I cant believe its been three years since then. This year I have new plans for knitted items for the shop too from last year. I'm excited to share these with you!

[Start of image description: a photo of a quilt with Arjaye's temperature blanket for 2024. It has orange and red stripes depending on the temperature range of the day. End of image description.] 

Reading And Fables Of Hope And Light

I have also been doing a lot of reading which if you follow me on social media you would have seen in my stories, my goal is to read 107 books this year - roughly two books a week. Some weeks I read more than others and I have a few books that I'm reading that have sections for the different months and seasons that I am also reading over the year as well.  

My favourite read so far is Tomorrow isn't promised by Chelsea Burden it was an amazing read and hard to put into words how inspiring their faith is and trust in God through challenging times. Anyone whose been through similar will understand the struggle. A great reminder that tomorrow isn't promised and to make the most of today. 

The anthology Fables Of Hope And Light which my story Life Between two worlds in launched on 12th January and is available in ebook and paperback you can find it here.  I still can't believe I'm a published author, it has been my dream since I was in high school! Life Between Two Worlds is a short story about Tash and Oakland as they celebrate Emilia the Guardian in the Spring Court. Who will now be the new Guardian? Only time will tell. Will Oakland leave his world to be with Tash and live their lives together like they'd once planned? Tash tries her best to adjust to the changes that seem to be coming up in their lives.  Will it all be overwhelming for her? Join them as they face changes among the Spring Court also known as the Pansy Court.

[Start of image description: a wooden table with white flowers on the right on the left is Fables Of Hope And Light book by various authors. The book has a picture of a castle and the sun behind it with a meadow in the foreground with leaves and flowers with orbs of light. End of image description.]

Wild Whimsical Garden

The garden is going well with the raised garden beds making it easier to be able to garden especially with both of us being disabled. We blanched and froze some celery, chard and silver beet for soups and stir fries for winter. We enjoyed quite a few salads over summer thankful for the salad vegetables from the garden. We planted corn, pumpkin and butternut but the corn never grew. I moved the herb garden to our deck, and hope to get new herbs soon. The Journeyman has been having fun baking, and making mussel fritters from fresh mussels friends kindly gave us. 

[Start of image description: a photo of the bench top in the Woodland Cottage on it are metal cooling trays with homemade shortbread. Each of them has fork pricks on top of them and are in rectangle shapes. End of image description.]

Planning And Christian Home School  Adventures

January was also spent getting things ready for homeschool, ordering books - pre-packed curriculum, printing out our homeschool planner, goal sheets, sticker charts and bookmark charts along with a tracker of all of their marks for the year. School went back in February and has been back a month now. School is going well with new goals, topics and other things we would like them to learn. This year I have written out a list of things I would like to learn how to do this year too. Tapestry, keeping a herb garden and getting more herbs, making sour dough bread using a starter and the rest of the list I have to write still. 

[Start of image description: a wooden table with a gingerbread Batch/Summer Holiday home iced like a gingerbread house. Then next to a pink notebook with the words "Make it happen" on it and a blue pen with confetti at the top. End of image description.]

Journeyman's Workshop

The Journeyman got a new cabinet over summer to put his custom hot wheels cars , so he now has somewhere to put his paint, screws, tools, sanding pads, and cars while they are drying other than in boxes and on the cabinet or freezer. It has made such a big difference. The Journeyman and the Master Crafters went to a car show together and had loads of fun.

[Start of image description: a photo of Arjaye at the park she is smiling and wearing a mint headscarf and blue floral headband. She is smiling and has her sunglasses on, she has piecing's in her nose and is wearing a bright blue throw with a summery floral dress and her bag over her shoulder. End of image description.]

Well that's another update about us and our busy summer, till our next cottage life update for autumn. How are you doing friends?  We would love to hear what has been happening or what your looking forward to this season. 

[Start of image description: Arjaye standing in next to a bunch of ferns she is smiling. Arjaye is wearing a floral and patterned dress with a shrug over the top and she is holding her walking sticks. End of image description.]

Thank you for visiting Cozy Woodland Cottage Knits!

Have a great Autumn or Spring if you are in the Northern Hemisphere! 

Faith, peace and Love,

[Start of image description: Arjaye's signature with a blue feather floating in the air. Below is a meadow with yellow flowers with a a basket of pastel yarn and a hedgehog next to it. In the middle is two toadstools and a black cat running through the grass. End of image description.]