Time doesn't stop.

A surprising amount can happen in a week.

In the past seven days, the priorities of my life have drastically shifted around. My average day has gone from lonely and leisurely, to unable to get enough minuets in to wash the dishes! In the course of a few days, my trip to Israel has taken over my life. Every day I realize how soon I’m leaving – How soon I have to buy a plane ticket, what needs to be packed away for the rest of the winter, what I need to buy before I leave, who I need to make sure I call to talk about the trip, and ever so many other little details.

Dread Falls on Etsy

But everything else I was doing and planning has not dropped out of existence. Yule will still be here in barely over a month and I still have my responsibilities to my community. Before my decision to take this opportunity to go to Israel, I was planning the Yule feast, working on designs for a new banner, and trying to stock my Etsy account (www.etsy.com/shop/starofjoy).

I am still doing all these things. The fabric for the new banner has all been cut and ironed, the background has been sewn and hemmed. I am excited for my first appliqué project – a huge 4 and a half by 12 foot banner depicting the wild hunt. Tomorrow I will pin the creatures onto the background and finally see what it will look like.

My first banner, needle-felted

I’m debating a Christmas pudding for yule this year, and I may start working on some natural dyes for the marzipan on the yule log. I still need to find gifts for some of my community mates, not to mention my family.

I have been planning to spend almost a week at my sister’s house for Thanksgiving and now I’m feeling a bit like I don’t have the time for it.

But I do. I do have time for all of these things. And they are all exciting! There is so much for me to do and love doing before I leave, and I am so lucky that this trip fits into my life as well as it does!

The timing of this trip allows me to have Yule with my community, and still have a few days to get myself pulled together. It will get me home in time for May Day and Rites of Spring and Claire Trail’s graduation!

But time is short and I have money to raise, so back to work for me!