Time and Effort vs. Instant Gratification

Pottery is not an art form that produces instant gratification. Along the clay-making process, there are lots of mini-victories to celebrate, but time and patience are what eventually get rewarded. I am reminded of this still (even after decades of making pots) each time I try to rush through one of the steps to hurry the process. Clay does not like to be pushed to save time. 

I took that same lesson to the kitchen this weekend. I cooked my favorite lasagna recipe for dinner last night. All told, it was a 12 hour activity including shopping for non-staples, prepping the variety of ingredients (including pasta!) to cook and simmer throughout the day, assemble the layers, bake and enjoy. Was it worth it? Yes, yes it was. Would I cook like this every day? No, but when I do take the time, the payoff and enjoyment are well worth the effort. 

Here's what I'm knitting right now. It combines a special colorway called "The Knothouse 2018" hand-dyed by Periwinkle Sheep with a pattern by Casapinka called Local Yarn Shawl. As each pattern section builds, the final result, which takes weeks of nightly knitting will be phenominal! 

In today’s world of speedy internet and lots of electronic communication choices, it’s easy to get sucked into warp-speed addiction. Faster is better. If we don’t have to spend 12 hours cooking one meal, then we get to fill our time with lots of other productive activity. I like that premise, but I don’t think it’s always more productive. Just because we can cram more into a 12 hour period, doesn’t mean it is worthwhile. When I speed through life, I miss the nuance of each activity. Every once in a while its good to slow down and take your time.

Click on this recipe for the full instructions!

Favel

 In our household, the word 'favel' is used to describe sitting around doing nothing. I thought it was a Yiddish word. When I looked it up on-line, it had a completely different meaning and origin. This doesn’t deter me. I’m sticking with using favel to describe inactivity.

Overall, I’m more of a ‘shpilkes’ kind of person -- busy, hard to sit still, go, go, go.  I’ve learned through the years to try to temper that with some time to ‘favel.’ It’s a good balance to aspire to. Yoga helps. And I find when I can even out the need to be productive with some time to reflect it’s really the best use of my time.

I've been playing with the use of chalkboard paint on my work. 

This way, people can personalize their garden stakes according to what they have planted.

I've also been experimenting with chalkboard paint on a frame.