Pumpkin Sunrise

  I'm amazed at how much I take for granted in my surroundings and my life. I live in a small rural town and my husband and I take the same daily walks down two of our adjoining roads. You might say it's a 'same old, same old' way of living. I thrive on sameness, honestly the more mundane my days can be the more content I am. I eat the same breakfast every day (cheerios)!  This week we put a pause on the Great Decluttering of our house (yay) and ventured to towns that are close to us. We sat on a bench and watched geese and goslings playing by the river and we picnicked outdoors at a park near a beautiful covered bridge. This particular bridge is retired from car crossings and filled with picnic tables. We took Frodo with us who was thrilled to be exploring new places. His nose went into overdrive trying to decode the information. He thoroughly enjoyed our outings. No matter where we go with Frodo, there is someone who stops us on our excursions and tells us about their

  This weekend is brought to you by two household pets and an elusive frog that posed ever so pretty for a photo while it was enjoying the abundant endless sunshine.  How was your weekend? Mine was packed full of household chores and tasks. It's too boring to list them but let's just be honest and say that checking off a long list is satisfying especially if you color code the list. The Great Declutter has taken a brief pause because my trunk is full of stuff and I have to get rid of that before I can load up again. Excuses come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Yesterday was brilliant sunshine and over 80 degrees. On our daily walk, I was wishing for capris instead of jeans, I was overdressed.  How was your weekend?

  Good morning! How are all of you? How has your week been?  Spring took a nose dive for a few days with temperatures in the forties. Good grief. I am thankful that my rhododendron blossoms survived. Within days, my flowering apple tree should be showing off. The older I get the more I like spring. I don't mind the cold blitzes all that much either. I'm hoping today we get out for a daily walk in sunshine. Frodo had a 'beauty' appointment and is looking ever so dapper. He shivers for two-three days from the conservative hair cut. He's such an old man, we just blanket him up and love him as his body adjusts. The knitting continues to be only at night time. I have officially started the Great Declutter this week. I worked mainly on thinning out the filing cabinet and the overflow of documents into SIX shoeboxes. I've made great progress and finished the last drawer yesterday. I'm now contemplating going through my clothing. I know once I start I will create a

  Wasn't this week a rollercoaster with what the weather would be! We has sun, we had warm, we had cold we had a bit of a dusting of snow. I think Mother Nature is feeling all the feels this week. It doesn't matter to me, each day we are one day closer to warmer days. I'll take the occasional blast of snow in stride. There's been lots of journaling as always. I find it soothing and therapeutic. So that is where I need to be right now in this moment.  For April I am suspending my 'haiku a day' challenge. I might be haiku-ed out with thinking up my poems. I did that challenge both for February and March. I'm switching back to sketching daily with a sketching prompt from Doodlewash , they are great for some quick sketching ideas. This is supposed to be fun so my perfectionism is being set aside. If we were living in a perfect knitting world, I would be telling you all about how I finished the sweater. Well, I have 10 rows to go and then it will be reality.  I&#

  Good morning, how are you doing?  Today is looking to be a sunny day and that is a welcomed sight since it was overcast and blah for two days not to mention rainy as well. As you can see by my photos we still have snow on the ground but I'm confident that pile will disappear over the weekend.  I've been knitting only at nights now instead of during pockets of my day. Can't say why but I've been trying to read more in the afternoons and not multitask while I do my reading. My other reason to read more during the day is because when I read at night I fall asleep so quickly! I don't think I read more than a page or two and I have trouble remembering what I've read. I've decided to decrease the sugar I put in my coffee (again) and decrease the amount of salt I add to my food (again). Yesterday was a slow going morning drinking sad coffee. Today the same coffee tasted happier. About a year or so ago I worked at decreasing and eliminating the sugar I put in my g

  What a glorious week! This photo was taken earlier in the week and all of that beautiful snow in the background is gone. We still have snow in parts of the yard but it's shrinking so fast. Yesterday I wore a spring jacket, I wrote it down as a gratitude. I felt light and free. Today will be a nice day as well and then we go back to cold but not that cold. I love March and how the emergence of springtime begins. Can you believe we change the clocks this weekend? Golly, time is a flying by so quickly. On Monday I received my second vaccine dose and for that I am extremely grateful . I'm on a medicine that lowers my immune system and so I qualified. I was so not well all through the night and most of Tuesday. I had most of the side effects - nausea - fever - chills - aches and pains. By Tuesday evening I felt a bit more like myself. Even though I was miserable, I was very very grateful to be miserable. From all of the intense shivering my lower back pain acted up and I had to d

My husband celebrated his birthday this past week, it was a quiet affair. However there was a cheesecake slice (or two) for him and I bought ONE donut from the grocery store. I haven't had a donut for over a year. Lots of family called and wished him a 'happy birthday'. It was a nice day. Last year I skipped decorating for Easter, I wasn't in the mood. This year I thought 'why not?'. Miss Holly loves to fish out an egg or two from the vase and bat them around the house. She is sneaky about it and sometimes I have to search around the house looking for the missing ones. (there is one missing as I sit and type this post)  On one of our walks I heard a robin! What a welcoming sound to hear. I'm witnessing every day the soft signs of winter leaving and spring pushing its way in. It begins with more daylight, birds singing and the melting of all that snow. Frodo has decided that Spring has already sprung. He keeps trying to sit on his back yard stoop to survey hi

  On Friday I ripped back all of the short row shaping and stockinette knitting to the color work portion of the yoke sweater because I followed the wrong size (oops!). I'm happy to report I am back to where I was on Friday morning before the rip out session AND I am following the correct size this time, phew. I enjoy the humbling experiences knitting gives me. My weekend was just like all the other weekends - quiet and relaxing. We were itching to have an outing so we went to the hardware store on Saturday afternoon, you know, living up the high life. They have a large decorating section that is fun to browse while my husband looks at boring tools. We managed to get a walk in before the snow and rain arrived. I love winter but I am looking forward to getting outside more for walking and fresh air. So I guess....I'm ready for spring. There I said it! The February challenge of writing a haiku a day will continue through March until I fill up the homemade bound notebook my siste

  How was your weekend? One of the things I love most about winter, and there are many aspects, is that the weekends blend into each other in sameness. Every weekend might just look like the last weekend and I can comfortably predict next weekend as well.  The constancy of sameness is soothing and calming.  I had a grand time 'rearranging' art and craft supplies Saturday morning. I have ordered another notebook planner cover and a new notebook (yes, another one). This one with hold art journaling. I have LOVED doing the daily haiku challenge and while I love the comfort of a small page I'm excited to branch out to a bigger space. I'll show you eventually. I've been pulling out various watercolor pan sets and using them. The top photo of the woodpecker was a set without black. Good gracious, I really don't like to mix black, but I appreciated the challenge. In the evenings I'm working on my latest fair isle sweater that I cannot stop knitting. All other proj

  I think my computer is possessed by the devil. It's been a bumpy start to doing this blog post but I believe I am over the bump. You know it's bumpy when you think you might need to buy a new computer... How was your week? I've been doing lots and lots of reading both fiction and non-fiction. I'm enjoying the mixture of both, but I'd like to finish a book or two this weekend. The reading list so far: Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach Bury Me at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown (highly recommend!) Carry Me Home by Sandra Kring I just borrowed Tradition by Jericho Brown and hope to read it this weekend. My knitting has been slow and easy. I've been knitting in the evenings while watching some TV programs. During the day, I've been writing my daily haikus and sketching. Also I've been doing lots and lots of journalling.  I'm writing more - I guess reflective personal essays for myself. I'm in a reflective mood I guess. I continue to meditate twice a d

  Good morning! How was your weekend? I'm sitting here in the family room as the day begins with Frodo sleeping by my side. He is a faithful companion and I love him so. My weekend was nice, we didn't do anything exciting. However 3-4 more inches of snow fell on Sunday and the new snow has whitened up the landscape. I believe we are in for a snowy week ahead. It's a good thing I like to sit inside and knit. I did some art journaling and continued to do my daily haiku challenge. Of course there was knitting, isn't there always?  I baked cookies and wished I hadn't because now I eat them and sleep terribly at night. Today is a new day to resist. I might put them in the freezer (but my husband might want them on the counter...). I started reading Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown. I've had this book on my Kindle for years and thought it was about time I read the Indian history of the American west. It is a must read if you ask me. Last year I read Grant

  We are getting pounded by a double snow event and I, for one, am super excited. Right now we have about 5 inches with yet a whole day to go for snowfall. The vistas are beautiful. This weekend I fell down the rabbit hole of thinking what kind of challenge I would like to do during February. I decided that I would write a haiku a day. When I told my sister about the challenge, she said she would join me in crafting haikus. One of my Christmas presents from her was a handmade notebook. (I forgot to photo it..) So in the above crafted planner with a myriad of stickers I purchased from Michaels, I will jot down my poems then transfer them NEATLY into the notebook and do some kind of illustration. I'm not sure if the paper can hold paint, I need to ask her so maybe it will be inking only. My knitting has been wonderful, slow and easy with this heartwarmer cowl . I love spending time on this project. Yesterday my husband made a curry dinner and so I had the luxury of not cooking dinner