Its mid-January....the days are short but seem so long.  The holidays are over and the hectic nights of sewing, painting, selling crafts...making sure everything is ready for that big day is in the past.

January brings hibernation.  Our bodies want to relax and sleep just like the bears.  The nights start early and stay late into the morning.  I am not one to sit still, but this time of year I fight the urge to just do nothing and stay inside so I try to get outdoors and enjoy the winter fresh air.   Up here in Canada we love our sports.  Hockey is number one and pond hockey has become very big in a town just north of where I live.  In fact they have the biggest pond hockey tournament in the world!  I used to play hockey but gave that up a few years ago.  Baseball is my passion now.  Last weekend on the snowy fields in our town a group of us with bats and gloves, heavy winter boots and toques walked through the snow to the baseball field.  There we attempted to play ball.  Talk about an exercise program we created!  Running to first base when your the first at bat takes a lot of physical exertion and it doesn't get any easier if your the last at bat either!.  We played for over an hour and BBQ'd hot dogs and drank hot chocolate.  Lots of fresh air, food and good friends. 

On the crafting side I have been lazy almost forcing myself back to the painting table and into my sewing room.  Once I'm there its all good but the urge to just curl up in front of a fire and hibernate is very hard to fight.  I've been painting more mason jar solar lights.  Most of these jars have dates stamped on the bottom.  Some I have go back to the early 30's.  I often wonder what these jars could say if they could talk.  Who packed them with fruits and sauces and pickles and put them on a shelf to be eaten?  What were these families like? Now these jars are re-used for solar lights.  Did anyone in the 30's even imagine a solar light let alone crafted from the jar they just ate from?  We have come a long way in the past 80 or so years.  I try to stay true to the old ways by creating objects from discarded items.  That's what my parents and grandparents did and I feel proud to be continuing that part of them.  Whether it was out of necessity back in their days or just out of a creative passion for me it all works out positive.  Reduce/Reuse/Upcycle.  Every little bit helps the planet..  We should all try it at least once.