Pumpkin Sunrise

  Good morning! I'm briefly here to say 'hi' and I miss you guys! I am knee-deep with two grandbabies and their parents until the weekend (an ENTIRE week!). Sometime early next week, I'll be able to visit your spaces and catch up with your news. I finished the stockings and even stitched their names on them before Christmas day, I felt so accomplished. I am still experiencing lingering virus symptoms but over all I am feeling so much better. What are you working on this week? Happy New Year my friends, I am thankful for our little community and the spaces we visit and share. Thank you for reading and visiting this space. May your 2024 be a year filled with blessings and grace!!

  Good morning! How are you doing? Are you ready for the holidays?  I'm pleased to report that Frodo has been doing really well! He was barking so much yesterday that I have gratitude that he was back to his old self plus some annoyance mixed in with the gratitude. What a wonderful place to be. I am still battling my virus, but each day I see progress and that makes me happy (today is my first day to not be under a blanket!) and luckily my husband is fully recovered. Onward and upward. Yesterday I did lots of knitting and have mad scheming plans to finish these stockings for the grands for Christmas day. Completely doable if I set my mind to it! The worst part is the duplicate stitching of their names.  May you all have a Merry Christmas and I'll see you in the New Year. 

  Our weekend was stressful.  Yesterday we took Frodo to the emergency vet ER (had to drive north away from the city because two of the 24 hour vet hospitals near us were either at full capacity OR had a 5-7 hour wait time). Frodo had vomiting and diarrhea and was pretty lethargic. I was scared. But luckily his bloodwork showed that he was okay for a fluid treatment to tackle his dehydration and an anti nausea shot before being discharged with a slew of medicines (you should see my chart on the fridge, good grief!). The photo above was him when we got home, they were magical in their treatment!!  Today we will monitor him and I'm encouraged that he shows improvement so far. My husband has been ill the past few days and of course I caught the bug. So we are staying home and chilling out. Our holiday plans are up in the air with my local family since we are under the weather.  How was your weekend? My posting will be hit and miss the next two weeks.

  I started wrapping gifts this week and I'm almost done with the task. Yesterday, my husband and I went out for a little shopping and walking around a tiny town nearby. I bought some yarn (from Santa, how does he know what I want??). We had an early lunch at a tiny cafe and I ordered FANCY avocado toast. Honestly it's made me rethink how I make my plain avocado toast at home. I am also surprised at the price I paid for this simple yet delicious food. However, when you eat out you are paying for the luxury of sitting in a dining space to relax and enjoy your food, while people watching. The endless blue skies and sunshine on our outing brought me such joy in my heart.  My son and his family return to us on Christmas day for almost a week. I'm excited to see the kids again and I hope this visit that no one is ill and I get to sleep. What brings me comfort and joy: - the Advent season - Frodo's haircut - easing back into knitting cautiously - avocado toast amplified - det

  Good morning! How are you doing on this fine morning?  I've been happily knitting on two projects. I started a Christmas stocking for my grandson for my house a few days ago. It's wonderful to be knitting again without pain, but I am still limiting the amount of time I am knitting to make sure I don't return to any arthritis flare ups. The other project is a simple rib hat for me.  What are you working on this week?

  How was your weekend? Mine was so great that I only have one photo. The best news of the day is that I can knit and my hands are healed. I know, you are wondering if I learned my lesson. Yes I have. I will not marathon knit gnomes while having an arthritis flare up. Over the weekend I was able to knit and enjoy my knitting. I started a Christmas stocking for my house for our grandson. I'd like to knit one for our granddaughter but I am taking the knitting slow and easy. I've been reading mostly if I'm not knitting. My current read is Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano which is so good I cannot stop reading. I will be sad when this book is finished.  The rest of the weekend was socializing with my family, doing the laundry and weekly cleaning like I always do. I have a lofty goal of being 'done done' with the holiday shopping by the end of the week. I need to start wrapping gifts soon.

  Yesterday we went to the art museum and then had lunch out. Above is the nativity the museum displays every holiday season - the arrangement of figurines changes year to year which makes it fun to see the differences with the aid of a photo of course.   Are you ready for the holidays or getting ready? I am trying to be ready. I continue to take it easy with knitting and barely do one hour a day. My hands are mostly recovered but I don't want to risk any repetitive injury. While my hands may be idle, my mind is active with what to knit next. My daughter wants a sweater (yay!) and I'm itching to knit something for myself. I'm creating lists and more lists as we inch closer to Christmas Day. My son and his family will be here almost a week. I have menus to consider and outings to plan out and to offer. Hopefully the grands will be healthy this time around which will help me sleep better. I'm still recovering from lack of sleep! Are you baking this year? What are you baki

  Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I started an easy cowl  project for a Christmas gift and one that was gentle on my sore hands (my hands are mostly recovered from the manic gnome knitting). This simple, yet elegant cowl was perfect! My hands are happiest with circular needles and wool yarn. The wool is from deep stash and I am lucky to have another skein of this pretty yellow colorway to knit something for myself if I choose to do so.  What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How are all of you doing on this fine Monday morning? I'm back after having family here for nine nights (!). Our little granddaughter went back to ER this past Thursday for some oxygen monitoring and was successfully discharged the same day. She sees her doctor this afternoon in her hometown, so far she is feeling better. The miracle is that no one else came down with the virus. (maybe her dad but it was barely 48 hours of a mild cough). It's all about me and I'm glad that I didn't catch it. Our company left Friday morning. My husband and I blitzed the house like madmen. We put away all the toys, playpens, the highchair and compressed our kitchen table down from seating six to seating four people. I completed four loads of laundry that day. (let me tell you that little baby and grandson generated a load of laundry per day - and both kids generated a bag of garbage daily - I do not remember any of this when my kids were little). We strategically went thro