Pumpkin Sunrise

  Good morning! How are you doing? Right now it is nearly 6 a.m. and it's still dark outside, the days are getting shorter. I am all in for the approaching fall like weather that is very very far away. As you know I was busy traveling to visit our daughter and her family and I barely knitted a stitch, but I thought I would share with you the beginnings of another shawl  when I did pick up my knitting.  I am doing the same pattern as the last time. I was in the Boston area and we decided to split the super long drive into two days of driving. On the way up we stopped overnight in Beacon, NY and on the way back home we stopped at Ithaca, NY. I went to every independent bookstore I could find that was opened in each town plus the Cambridge area. The above photo is my book and stationary haul from the entire trip. I am excited to dive into some of my books. Two of the books I've read more that 3-6 times which are:   Wuthering Heights and a Tree Grows in Brooklyn. ...

  Good afternoon! How are you? I’m doing pretty good. We finished a whirlwind trip to see our daughter and her family in the Boston area. It’s going to take a few days to recover. I loved seeing our littlest grandson, so sweet! Can you believe he’ll be a year old soon? I cannot.  It’s going to take me a few days to get caught up with the laundry and other duties so I hope to visit you soon.  I took these photos before I left. I am more than ready for fall. Summer is rough for me with all of my health issues. However I do enjoy crisp AC air that is abundant inside buildings! I started another shawl for the trip and did not knit one blessed stitch. My intentions were there though. 

  Good morning to you! How are you doing? I'm doing okay, the air quality is improving. My knitting is the same and there is progress on the shawl! After finishing the lacework I had more yarn left over so I decided to add garter stitch ridges and some simple eyelet rows in between. I call it knit doodling and it was easy and fun. The sock  that I started last week has had little to no attention! I hope to switch that up this week. What are you knitting and working on this week?

  How are you doing today?  I'm doing okay, the Canadian wildfire has messed with the air quality which is messing with my breathing and my dry eyes even when I am wearing the scleral lenses. I tell you what, it is always something for me. Yesterday we all went to my dad's house to celebrate his birthday. We had a nice time. the grands (his great grands) were there and he had a potato digging event. The little ones loved it, they even had little garden gloves in which to dig into the dirt once the potato plants were emptied into the wheelbarrow.  Later on we had a lovely lunch on his screened in porch. In other news, I started another sock - don't be fooled I went outside for this photo and then came back inside due to the poor air quality. What's new with you? How is your air? 

  How are you today? Well I'm doing great and I'm thrilled to share with you my finished pair of socks that do not match. I am a very matchy matchy girl so this is unusual for me, but you know what? It is freeing to have them not match. I finished this pair over the weekend and they are for my husband. I immediately cast on another pair of socks for him right afterwards. I need easy knitting when I'm watching tv at night. In other news, it's hot again and I am hiding in the AC waiting for the hot humid weather to pass me by. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How are you doing today and how was your weekend? My weekend was fantastic in that I did nothing exciting at all. I read, I knitted, I sat on the back patio watching my birds and relaxing. I am feeling restored and rejuvenated. Oh and guess what? I heard the cicadas for the first time this weekend. We are in mid-summer now.  I have been feeling wonderful! Yes you read that right, I am feeling so good these days and feeling like myself. I've been on the new immunosuppressant for eight weeks now. It will not be in full effect for six months but I'm enjoying feeling the beginnings of it working. The other fact that makes me feel good is that I do not have a doctor's appointment for a MONTH. Whoop!  So far in the past year I have had doctor appointments with PCP, Rheumatologist, Pulmonologist, ENT and Cardiologist. Then I've had so much testing done by all of them. I am basking in my one month of no doctors.  Because I'm feeling better I am also feeling ...

  Good morning! How are you?  Well the weather is much more manageable this week, phew! I found it interesting that when it was super hot the birds didn't visit my feeders much. They were probably dying from the heat too. Anyways, I am grateful that it's just regular hot. Today is the first day I wished it was fall and that is the fastest ever. I haven't even made it one month into official summertime. I have a long long way to go. The title should be non-knitting news this week. I was recovering from a cold virus so I didn't knit much and when I did I worked on the second sock . I doubt I will be knitting much until Friday. We have the grands sleeping over tonight and they take all of my energy!! Do you like my cellphone in the photo? My little granddaughter (almost 3 yo) will say 'hang on, this is an emergency' and answer it. Ha ha. So cute. What are you working on this week? Are you ready for FALL?

  Good morning! How are you doing? How was your week? Happy Fourth of July a few days late. We had a family gathering that day and I am so very grateful for the helping hands that made my work less work. I paced myself and delegated and yet I was still exhausted. I miss the days when I had endless energy when I was younger. Anyways, I was excited to get an email from the local farmer's market that their corn was in!! Wahoo! Their corn is superior to any store bought corn. Just saying.. Yesterday after Mass, we offered to watch the local grand kids for an hour or so while my son and his wife did boring errands. My granddaughter played 'hospital'. That's the hospital in the photo above. I must say she is a thorough doctor and made everyone feel better. My grandson was building cars from my son's old brio set. Because of my virus battle (still winning!) I had low energy and did minimal knitting. However I did sit on the back patio when it wasn't sweltering hot and ...

  Good morning to you all, how are you doing today? Are you in this crazy heat wave? I am so very grateful I have AC and can sit inside my house and ignore the weather. Thank you for the well wishes, I am feeling better and I believe the cold is mostly gone which is a miracle. I am slowly building up my stamina again.  My knitting has been slow but I have been knitting. I snapped this photo yesterday on the back patio and am pleased you can see the color changes better. I am half way through the last chart of this gift shawl . As I said before, I might cast on another one when this is finished. I tend to be a knitting repeat offender, ha ha. What are you working on this week?

  How are you doing this week? Are you going to get the heat wave ? We are going to have one all week long, sigh. I really dislike hot and humid but my husband loves this kind of weather so someone is always happy in this house. I love winter and he does not.  We've been sitting out on the back patio enjoying the birds, chipmunks and squirrels. They are busy little beings. I usually take a book out to read to pass the time if we are not talking to each other. As soon as I get hot, I scurry back into AC. Last Tuesday we babysat the local grands in the morning and our grandson had a stuffy nose. You guessed it, I got it and it walloped me. Even though I am on a strong immunosuppressant it seems so far I am winning the virus battle. I am grateful and I am super grateful for the nebulizer that seems to keep it out of my lungs so far. (I don't want to jinx anything by talking super-positively!!) Because of the wonderful virus gift, I didn't do much except read books and nap a lo...

  Good morning to all of you! I hope you are well and enjoying your summer. We have been having some pretty nice weather this week and soon it will be getting hotter outside. That means I'll be hiding inside. I've managed to walk a few times this week wearing my 'wind' glasses (moisture chamber eyeglasses) and they WORK. I love them more and more and am letting go of how they look on me. There is freedom in this thinking. My knitting has been the same, I continue to work on the socks (not in the photo), I just finished the second sock cuff and started the stockinette portion of the leg, that is bliss. My shawl  is almost done. I am on the last chart and work on it every single day. I love when the shawl gets longer and longer with each knitting row. I am seriously considering knitting another one in gray for another Christmas gift.  What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How are you and how was your weekend? I'm doing pretty good and I had a restful weekend. Since I have my 'wind' glasses now (moisture chamber glasses for dry eye) I am walking outside regardless of the crazy weather. They transition so I get the best of both worlds. I am happy with them and I'm glad I bought them and put my prescription in the lenses. I spent a lot of time resting and reading in the afternoons. I'm mostly reading self help books which I am getting tired of reading. Once I finish the two I'm currently reading, I'm switching to history for my non-fiction reading. For fiction I'm in the middle of My Friends  and I'm enjoying it. I have the kindle version and love that I can carry a big book in a small devise. Also when I read at night I can tent it onto the pillow and when I fall asleep I do not get bonked on the head with a heavy book. I had lunch over the weekend on the back patio and listened to the noisiest Northern ...

  Good morning! How are you doing today!  I'm pretty excited to share with you the current shawl on the needles. I'm having so much fun knitting this! Now the only drawback is knitting with a dark brown in the evening. Where are my youthful sharp seeing eyes when I need them!! If I get motivated enough I hope to knit on the back patio and listen to my birds.  What are you working on this week?

  Good morning to you! I'm sitting at my kitchen table writing this post and listening to the birds gently start their day. I'm enjoying watching a mama cardinal feed her baby safflower seeds, so sweet. The word is out on the street that I'm feeding them and I cannot believe how many birds are visiting the feeder. Who knew that they like this seed this much.  Over all it's been a nice week. I had a bit of an autoimmune disease flare but I think it's settled down. I'm still waiting to hear back for the doctors. I have so many specialists it's difficult to decide which one to message.  The above painting is from the watercolor preprinted set that my daughter and son in law gave me. I am having so much fun, I only started this on Friday. We are watching the local grands today so I don't know if I will have the time or the energy to resume painting. Since I felt off this weekend, I went to the bookstore to cheer myself up. I love bookstores and libraries bot...

    How are you? Are you in the midst of summer weather? It has been hot around here. I am grateful for the AC and the ability to hide in the AC. I've been enjoying the goldfinches that come to my thistle feeder. I am serving up safflower in the other bird feeder and all my regulars from the winter visits are enjoying the change up. I am lucky I have a kitchen window that overlooks the bird feeders, that makes doing the dishes a delight. I finished my hat ! I loved knitting this project because of its simplicity. I could knit this one again and again. Now I wish for fall already so I can wear it now. I've tucked it away in on my fall/winter shelf and it awaits a chilly day. sigh. What have you been working on this week?

  Good morning! How are you? I'm doing pretty good, every day I feel better and more like myself if that makes any sense. At the end of last week, we went to the art museum to see the new exhibits and then had lunch out. I enjoyed the outing so much, it's been quite a while since my husband and I went out just the two of us.  I have energy now that the new medicine is working and I deep cleaned the kitchen. I will not tell you when it was last done because it's been a long time and I really do not remember. I also deep cleaned the bedroom again, it's been a long long time.  Late last week I splurged and bought moisture chamber glasses and am having my reading prescription as well as transition lenses made for them so I can have the best of both worlds. I need to wear them with the scleral lenses on SUPER windy days. I'm sure you are wondering why I need to read, well, if I am outside I would like to read a book or see my knitting and if I am walking I look at my pho...

 Good morning to you!! I am making progress on my three knitting projects but when I'm working on one I am looking at the others wishing I was working on them. I really want to finish the hat (burnt orange) and have merely an inch to knit before the decreasing. This is the project that I feverishly work on each evening and hope to finish by next week. The socks and the shawl are both making minimal progress while I focus on the hat. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How are you? Boy did this week fly right by and now it's June? How has this happened? All of a sudden it's late spring and there are hints of summer. I dropped into Whole Foods quickly and spontaneously bought a mini watermelon and was quite surprised it was yellow inside when I cut into it (I did not read the sticker....). I do not like the texture and the taste was 'okay' until I ate a yucky piece (do I sound like a kid or what!).... Oh how I regret this purchase. Lesson learned, I must read the stickers. I pulled out my color pencils and did a big swatching session. I'm hoping I will be inspired to create some art or at least try to create some art. After feeling unwell for so long I'm now starting to feel like myself and want to dive back into creative pursuits that I shelved. No matter how my health is I am capable of knitting and reading but any kind of art producing like watercoloring, drawing or sketching is not something I can muster. I...

  Good morning to you!! How are you today? I'm doing well and have been enjoying two knitting projects this week. The sock is coming along I am now on past the heel flap and gusset working my way down to the toe. I love a plain sock on the needles. Sadly the socks will not match because the color way repeat is so very long and I just don't feel like figuring out how to make them match.  The hat that I started near Christmas has been resurrected this past week and I'm now putting a marker in every time I work on it so I can see the progress. I can't remember how many inches I have yet to do but I like seeing my progress. The Musselburgh hat is one of my favorite hat patterns because it is a VERY warm hat to wear when it's super cold outside. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How are you? Happy Memorial Day!  Our weekend which is still going strong today has been filled with the local grandkids being here. Today they are coming over for the day and we will have burgers and fries for dinner. Yesterday I made brownies so we already have a dessert. I've been trying to build up my exercise routine after weeks of slacking off due to my health issues. I guess slacking off isn't the right wording. I did take a slow walk yesterday and heard the spring peepers (frogs) for the first time. Truly spring!! I love hearing all the birds as well. My bird feeders have been visited by: cardinals, sparrows, nuthatches, chickadees, goldfinches and many titmouse. I have a thistle feeder and a safflower feeder and best of all the raccoon who lives in my woods does not bother with them (yet). We went to the local garden center for deck flowers and those are growing nicely since it's been raining nearly every day.  What have you been up to? Do you do ...