Pumpkin Sunrise

It's been awhile since I've compiled a "happy list".  So here it goes: -for finding an apartment in State College for our son this fall----PHEW! -for sunny skies and rainy days -for early morning risings and writings of thoughts, oh and the pens :) -for an awesome noodle bowl lunch yesterday - authentic and good -for cell phones and who they connect me with -knitting anything these days! -for my RA doctor who has tweaked my meds (again) after reviewing my hand x-rays that showed RA damage (boo).  He is diligent, caring and wonderful!  and I'm feeling a bit better.  I see him in a month for another check up. -for salads and crunchy stuff in a salad -  lately I'm into almonds or walnuts. -for the power of prayer and positive thinking and focusing on the goodness of every single blessed day What would make your happy list?  Please share in the comments I'd love to read them! Also here are some places this week you should visit: -...

Good morning!!  Another Wednesday's upon us, so quickly too, well at least for me.  So on my needles this week are projects I've shared with you before.  The block scarf is finished, I just need to bury the ends and block the daylights out of it.  I need length (and I bet I'll get it!). My simple simon socks will be focused on now that I'm down to three projects.  I want these to be finished in a week as well.  Let's see if I make that arbitrary goal :) My reading has been fantastic.  I finally started a book that has sat on my "to read" shelf forever at least it feels forever!   I Know This Much Is True  by Wally Lamb is a detailed account of identical twin brothers, one suffers from schizophrenia and the other brother's burden to live with his brother and his mental illness.  Oh my.  I almost gave up on the book because of "sexy talk" (I had my FILL from Housefrau).   But in the end, I was being a little premature in...

Weekends are for memory making,  relaxing and enjoying quiet moments of our days.   If you would like, please share your weekend moments  in the comment section with a link to your blog. Hello!!  I'm sitting here with a hot cup of tea ready to give you the weekend recap! dandelion Friday night we had a work related banquet for my husband and had a lovely buffet and some delicious shortbread cookies dipped in chocolate.  Our house guest was fun to be with and we had a jammed packed visit with him. dandelion with frodo's behind :) Saturday my husband and houseguest gave a workshop somewhere in New Jersey all day.  So I had the house all to myself.  I banned any "work".  So I read most of the day then sat and knit through some episodes of Gilmore Girls and Merlin.  I had a really great time :) Late late late at night they returned home after picking up our son from the train station.  I woke up from Frodo grow...

 Spring has sprung around these parts of Pennsylvania-- truly beautiful.  I'm still in that flux of not knowing weather to wear a long sleeve or short sleeve shirt, wool or cotton sweater.  I guess I love that most about spring, you never know and sometimes you guess correctly! My husband has a colleague visiting us for a few days and I've been frantically getting the house "company ready" for his arrival yesterday.  On Saturday, our son comes home for a second spring break (yay!!!) Already the week is filled with activities, mainly finding him a new apartment for the fall semester. Our daughter's birthday is tomorrow!  Happy birthday if she is reading this :)  I cannot believe she is going to be 26 years old.  I still feel like I'm 26 on the inside, well let's be honest, I sometimes feel like I'm 15 years old on the inside.  My outside self belies me especially when I look in the mirror :) Yesterday I had an appointment with my R...

Today is the virtual baby shower instead of the regular yarn along for Ginny!!  I've been waiting and waiting, secret keeping is so difficult for me... I'm  excited to show you all (finally) what I've knit up for Ginny's baby to be.  As you know I love Elizabeth Zimmermann's February baby sweater , so of course, that was what I knitted.   Surprise !! Ginny , I wish you a happy healthy pregnancy, birth and baby!! You are loved and we appreciate your dedication to hosting Yarn Along . Thank you Tracey for organizing this virtual baby shower !!

I'm thrilled to share with you my little shawlette.  My oh my, an unassuming garter stitch short row pattern that has you counting every stitch on every row :)  This is not TV knitting or talking knitting. After a few "feathers" I was able to listen to audio podcasts and I felt quite accomplished. I love how the pattern showcases a variegated yarn.  You know the ones that you buy then think, what can I make?  Yep, those skeins have a pattern now, this is it. A tip:  I used stitch markers to place after doing each short row section which helped me immensely. I loved working with Camilla's yarn , such a treat!! The notes are here

Weekends are for memory making,  relaxing and enjoying quiet moments of our days.   If you would like, please share your weekend moments  in the comment section with a link to your blog. Isn't he a beauty?  He or she is a box turtle that I found at the wood's edge enjoying the sun. Too bad the turtle is an awfully shy one :) So now that I've finished with the nature part of the post, how was your weekend?? We were busy doing indoor chores and outdoor chores yesterday.  The little upstairs bathroom is finished, done, complete.  My overhaul of the two linen closets is also finished.  I'm on a purging roll and am seriously contemplating my dresser clothes.  I love to clean, organize and freshen up areas. Yesterday the university had it's annual book sale, which tends to be my favorite, lots of novels and textbooks and how to books.  Look at the stack I bought-- total of nine dollars, pretty sweet!  I was excited about...

I decided to pull out the "big" camera and take some progress photos to update my Ravelry project page, then I thought I'd share them here as well.  I confess, I'm looking forward to finishing some projects so that I can start some projects.  My maximum amount of works in progress is FIVE.  Do you have a maximum?  I'd love to know! The purple scarf is for my husband and when I initially started the project I was not thrilled with how much attention it needed.  What I thought would be a tv talking project ended up with a pay attention project.  Now that I've made lots and lots of progress, I can work on the scarf while watching tv.  My game that I play is to place a stitch marker right were I start each day so I can see my progress.  Scarves tend to be never ending in my mind so when I finish for the day and see 2-3 inches, I'm quite happy! Next up is this lovely lacy shawl that is pure pleasure to hold in my hands.  The pattern is...

This past week I've been rotating between all of my projects on the needles.  The pincha shawl  is coming along nicely and is nearly done.  I am going until I run out of yarn!  I love that this pattern allows you to use up as much as you can.  My other project, a scarf for my husband, is the project I've been working on during the evenings while we watch tv together. Hausfrau has been a compelling read for me.  I have to warn you, it is explicit and against all of my moral values.  The main character is incredibly flawed, unhappy and self destructive in her extra marital affairs (some are in detail).  I am drawn again and again to figure out why and that is why the novel is good.  I want to read it. However, my next novel will be a palate cleanser - devoid of risky behavior! What are you knitting and reading this week? Joining Ginny and Frontier Dreams

Weekends are for memory making,  relaxing and enjoying quiet moments of our days.   If you would like, please share your weekend moments  in the comment section with a link to your blog. Can you believe it snowed here yesterday?  All day the weather we were supposed to have three months ago finally arrived.  Call me crazy but it was beautiful to watch inside my cozy warm house (full of knitting, of course). This weekend was all about that little bathroom redo.  The ceiling and walls in the tub area had mold (ick) that could not be bleached out anymore, I've tried.  So he treated the whole area and now we are back to pretty nice looking walls and ceiling!  We picked "purple veil" which is the same color as the powder room from the main level.  It's a vibrant light lavender.  I do love it so. I've bought new towels and rugs and so of course started cleaning out one linen closet and then added our linen closet.  I...

Good morning!  or maybe good afternoon?  How are you?  Around here, life is going well.  This past week I've walked daily even yesterday after a whole day of rain!  Unfortunately we didn't get far, and what was a drizzle changed back to pouring rain.  The walk was shortened but my what a power walk to get back to dry clothes.  Poor Frodo was soaked through, my husband carried him under his coat during the worse part of the downpour. Have you been enjoying the daylight that greets us in the early morning?  Oh I do love that about the time change.  This morning during my journal entry for the day, I heard the bluebirds in their nest up about the rain spout outside my window.  So excited that they are there! Earlier this week, I glanced out the back window upstairs and saw a red fox slinking through the woods.  Also, the wild turkeys and deer were standing in the middle of the road when I returned from running errands the oth...

My knitting this past week has been about the same.  I'm enjoying the pincha shawl pattern .  I have the pattern completely memorized and STILL it's a full concentration knit because of the counting for short rows.  I've managed to listen to a few audio podcasts while knitting but it's a challenge for me.  I love the emerging colors as I add a feather each day. My simple sock  is crawling along.  I'm not thrilled with the single ply yarn however the colors are delightful.  Because it's single ply they wool tends to be splitty.  Oh well.  More concentration!! I started a new book, Hausfrau   which was a Christmas gift from my son.  So far, the premise is good. However, I do not like the potty language (remember I'm a prude...).  For some reason, that bothers me more the older I become.  I've read a few chapters so I cannot fully opine about the plot.  Stay tuned! What are you knitting and reading this week? ...

Weekends are for memory making,  relaxing and enjoying quiet moments of our days.   If you would like, please share your weekend moments  in the comment section with a link to your blog. Another restful weekend for me, how about you?  Over here I woke to snow flurries, don't worry they didn't stick, phew!  As you can imagine, it's quite chilly today.  When I finished getting ready for church this morning in a spring themed outfit, my husband informed me of cold the weather.  I marched back up those stairs and reverted to my winter attire.  Spring seems to be a fickle clothe wearing season for me. Saturday was relaxing and nothing super exciting.  Our son phoned.  I snapped a photo of my notions pouch for a hashtag challenge on Instagram.  Shamefully, I have much much more I tote around in my bag but the table is only so big! What do you lug around? My husband and I queried back and forth: "what do you want t...

So then we wake, we turn the page of the calendar and poof -  it is now April!  I'm in disbelief that spring is in full swing.  On my walks, the trees are budding, lawns are greening and growing and the air feels different, fresh and breezy. Spring time reminds me of my grandmother (my dad's mom).  She was born in May and just loved spring.  Her gardens burst forth will crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, lilies and daffodils, a sea of brilliant color.  Her six children would buy her a plant for Easter, her birthday and Mother's day every year.  The abundance of blooms were the result of some pretty gifts. She had a porch swing on springs so there was a swing-bounce, swing-bounce to the repetitive motion and she had a garden swing as well under two large trees where she could look at her home and her gardens. The cushions on the swings were thick and comfy.  I would sit and swing, kicking up my feet daring to try to swing high.  I remember...