A Little Reading, A Little Knitting

I finally finished a book I've been reading called Mother Carey's Chickens by K. Douglas Wiggin. It's the story of a widowed mother and her 4 children set in Maine (I think) about century or so ago. The mother is an example of what, I believe, ever mother truly aspires to be within. Her very loving, well-behaved kids adore her, she is well respected by all who meet her, she is able to make any house a home, and is a hostess extrordinaire!

I must admit that I had a hard time relating to the sublimely perfect Mother Carey. I generally prefer to read about people whose maturity challenges me but have at least a few faults and struggles... lest I find myself depressed and hopeless. For this reason I found Stepping Heavenward to be a great treasure as I think the author of did an amazing job of creating just such a character.

However, while I have little hope of ever comparing myself to Mother Carey in any positive way (you can see my boys being groomed into manhood above), I greatly appreciated her total devotion to her task of being a mother and her certainty of her goals for her children. What seems like a complicated and often overwhelming task (raising children) she singles down to a very succint task and purpose which is the basis for everything she does and every decision she makes. So for me, simply keeping her perspective in mind is a goal I'll hold on to...

And while I do, I think I'll opt for a little lighthearted mystery in A Deadly Yarn by Maggie Sefton. (I certainly wouldn't want to strain myself too much... or add further to the twinges of guilt I sometimes feel for knitting like I do!)

The yarn is some Araucania Atacama alpaca that I picked up in exchange for some yarn that never became the gift it was intended to be. I never would've given it a second glance in the hank but it knits up beautifully so I'm making a scarf. BTW - Little Knits has this on sale right now for a ridiculously low price that is taunting me ruthlessly.