Pumpkin Sunrise

  How was your weekend? My weekend was blessedly calm and somewhat productive. I've been working on the grandson's first Christmas cross stitch ornament a little bit each day. I can see it so that makes the stitching all the more enjoyable. (14 count!) I also did the laundry and cleaning for the week. Fall is creeping in slowly, the leaves are changing, the days are shorter. I had my first cup of hot green tea in the afternoon yesterday. I'll be surprised if it gets super hot again, but then you never know with the weather. Frodo and Holly have been at it after weeks of keeping their distance from each other. Holly found a new snuggly sleeping place in the family room and Frodo found her. There was a ton of hissing and barking. I thought after that encounter Holly would be tired of Frodo and just stay out of the family room. No such luck!! The next two photos are Holly slinking in and staring at a sleeping Frodo! Then she decided to perch on the window sill and watch the ch

  Good morning! I'm hoping you have this day off like we do here in the states. It's Labor Day! How was your weekend? Well... because we saw our son, daughter in law and grandson earlier than planned, we decided to drive up to see my mother in law in London, Ontario this weekend since we had a kennel stay already booked and pre-paid.  It was a super quick trip leaving on Friday and coming home on Sunday. We had a lovely time seeing her and some other family members. Now we are home sweet blessed home.  Holly loves when Frodo is not here, so sad but true. I did a ton of knitting in the car and while sitting and talking on our trip, I finished the sweater body and am now on the first sleeve! I'm enjoying being home (a home body deep down inside) How was your weekend?

  There is nothing really going on around here - true blessings! It's hot and humid so we are all hiding in the air conditioning and only going outside if it's a must. Frodo and I walk daily in the early mornings and that's enough outside for me. I'm trying really hard not to romanticize about fall and all its goodness. The cicadas started up this week and joyfully I thought 'yay, one step closer to fall'. Next up will be the acorn drop in a couple of weeks. My husband is a summer lover so I keep all these thoughts bottled up. I also try not to complain about the weather. But you and I know, fall is coming and it's going to be glorious! I bought a humidifier for our bedroom after being gently told by the RA doctor numerous times (four visits?)  it would help with dry eye and dry mouth. (Sjogren's Syndrome). The photo below is Holly giving the humidifier the stink eye. She cracks me up. And if you are wondering, YES the humidifier helps. The tattered tan

  Good morning! Boy do I have a lot of catching up to do so grab your tea or coffee and let's begin! Last Wednesday our son, daughter in law and GRANDSON arrived for a three day visit! We haven't seen them since March and the visit was fantastic. Our little guy was friendly and full of smiles after a brief 'who the heck are you' look that was priceless. I fed him many bottles and changed very few diapers. (that is a great visit) They left on Saturday morning and I miss all of them already. I forgot how tiring babies can be and cannot remember where I had the energy to keep up with them. It took me 48 hours to recover from their stay. During their visit we went to the zoo and we had a family get together at our house. The other set of grandparents were able to attend and we had a grand time doting on the baby. Holly does NOT like babies. She hid under our bed until they were all asleep each day then came out begrudgingly.  Poor Holly!! Frodo thought the baby was here to

  How was your weekend? Mine was SNOWY. Goodness, just when I'm easing into springtime and blossoms and a feeling of renewal, Mother Nature gives her attitude adjustment. The views of beautiful! Frodo is back to shivering instead of strutting around with confidence knowing his coat-wearing days are over and I am begrudgingly wearing a winter coat.  My weekend wonderfully ordinary. Lots of knitting and reading, what could be better?  (BTW Holly is not really as angry as she appears in the photo. She is wondering why I am taking a photo of her!)

  Good morning! How was your weekend? Mine was really nice. Each day that comes and goes I feel more like myself. Thanks for all the well wishes on feeling better. Nothing like a virus bug to make you appreciate feeling as your regular self. This weekend was snow, then melting snow, then crazy winds. I managed to do a walk both on Saturday and Sunday. While winter keeps showing itself with snow dustings, the birds are singing away heralding in SPRING. Yesterday was the weekly chores which tired me out a bit. I love the result of a clean house so it was worth the physical exertion. My knitting continues to be minimal and I'm hoping now that I feel better I can start ramping up my knitting progress. How was your weekend?

  How was your weekend? Well over here we got, you guessed it, more snow. Our driveway is a big mess and that is with my husband snow blowing it several times. How are you? Before I begin with my weekend I wanted to say thank you for all the congratulatory messages over our sweet little grandson. We cannot wait to meet him in person. My weekend was pretty good. The days were mostly quiet with lots of reading. Miraculously my wrists stopped hurting so it was an arthritis flare, thank goodness. Now I am working on the blanket with less animosity towards it.  My new cross stitch project is over two threads of linen (32 count) and I CANNOT SEE IT clearly. I hope the new glasses help if and went they come in. I do not want to use a magnifying glass contraption (stubborn lady). If by the end of this project I'm still frustrated I will go back to Aida cloth for projects. This is my very first project over two threads and I'm hoping I hit a rhythm to the stitching over a period of time

  Gosh it seems like forever since I've talked to you and yet it's not even been five days. How are you? How was your Christmas if you celebrate Christmas? We had a quiet one, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I missed the kids but we managed to talk to them over the weekend. On Christmas Eve, we were invited to celebrate at my sister and brother in law's house with her son and son's family and our aunt and cousin. It was nice! We had lots and lots of good food and unwrapping of presents. Having my grand nephew who is almost one year old made the holiday more joyful. That evening my husband and I had a mini-miracle - Holly snuck in to snuggle up to my husband on his left side and then Frodo jumped up to snuggle on his right side. Look at Holly's dirty look!?! She is a hoot. I know you are wondering and NO Frodo did not realize that she is sitting there, if he did he would have chased her and barked at her and that is the Christmas miracle. I don't know what it is abo

How are you? Around here things are settling down in the daily schedule. All of my packages have been sent and I am officially done with holiday shopping! I'm looking forward to enjoying the lull between now and the New Year. I might do some Christmas baking, but then again, I might not.  These days what brings me comfort and joy are:  twinkle lights - slow and easy knitting -  talking with the kids - a crossed off to-do list -  sketching and doodling - knitting for myself for a change - knitting with really nice wool - simple dinners - bird watching through the kitchen window while I do some dishes - friendships in real life and on line - the kindness of others - outdoor holiday decorations - the colors red and green - fountain pens - journaling - aspirations for the new year - family living near by -  What brings you comfort and joy? Yesterday we went out for an early lunch at a cafe in a local town, it was nice to be out - we rarely are out anymore and I have to say it will be m

  How are you all doing? I'm doing great and am in the midst of the tail end of the Christmas knitting marathon. I might be down to one project.  I've been enjoying my bird feeder and identifying the birds that come to visit. And the new squirrel proof feeder does work! However it is not raccoon proof so we bring it in every single night. All I can say is at least it's not a BEAR. So far no bear sightings but never say never... The above photo is a snap of my Christmas junk journal that I whipped together with scrapbook paper and some Christmas cards. I'm joining in with Brie at Documented Journey on You Tube (she's on Instagram as well) with her Create December and daily prompts until the 25th.  The other evening, Miss Holly crept into the family room to sit by her beloved (aka not me) while Frodo was sleeping under the ottoman. Let me tell you this, she is one brave determined kitty. Luckily for us, Frodo is completely oblivious to her presence and it remained a

  Can you believe it will be Thanksgiving next week? I'm dazed. I have some Christmas gifts that have to be ready for that day so I'll be wrapping them and singing Christmas music. I continue to be on task for all of my knitting goals and what's even better, I'm enjoying all the knitting that I'm doing.  Around here I've been mulling over whether to put up one or two Christmas trees. Over the years I've simplified but lately 'going big' seems like a fun thing to do. Our big Christmas tree box was battered from the move so if I put up the tree then I can repair the box again. My big concern is Miss Holly and her investigative spirit. She is four years old, is she going to behave? She hasn't bothered with the cuckoo clock chains like I thought she would...but I just don't trust her! Around here my reading has been mostly about mindfulness for months and months. I plan to continue with that since being mindful keeps me happy.  However I've d

  Hello! How are you doing?  This past week I've been pondering about a mindfulness prompt in a book I'm reading throughout the year, A Year of Living Mindfully by Anna Black. It's a really nice book and I've enjoyed the prompts throughout this year. Anyways the prompt this week was to consider what you believe to be nourishing or draining. I've thought about this all week long. My obvious nourishing events are knitting and reading. But over the course of the week I've added some surprising concepts to the nourishing list and challenged my draining list. I had the opportunity to help my cousin at her house with her preparing for company this past week. I found helping her nourishing to me, an added bonus was making her very happy. I also initially considered walking 150 minutes draining because of the amount of time it takes to get that done and I'm not doing other 'things' but then I changed my mind because I am nourishing my physical health which i

  Good morning! How was your weekend? You know you are officially moved in when you hang your cuckoo clock. My husband's brother and sister in law gave us this clock from their time in Germany in the 1980's and it still runs perfectly. I love it! However, I'm afraid of Holly the cat being interested in it as well, so at night I stop the tick tocking, my husband thinks I'm ridiculous. Honestly, I'm thinking like a cat. After months of thinking about finding new salad dressings to make at home I ventured with a new tahini recipe, it was 'okay'. The garlic was a bit much and it was too thick to pour. So I'll be going back to the drawing board for some new ideas. I spent the majority of my weekend --- KNITTING. I started two new projects while still getting so close to the end of that never-ending shawl. I'm positive I'm on the last repeat but I've thought that many repeats ago. I snapped this photo of Holly looking at the world below from our be

  I love how Holly stuffs herself in this small cat perch. How are you? How was your weekend? I had a relaxing and restorative weekend. I did a lot of knitting on the never ending shawl  but with every single row I am one more row completed. I am thoroughly enjoying watching Autumn shove its way in while the remnants of Summer continue to cling desperately but unsuccessfully. My husband and I did a lot of walking and chose a different neighborhood route. I do appreciate all of my wooded secluded walks in my old town. It's been an adjustment living in a suburb with a lot of traffic. Twice a week we drive to a local park to walk where the traffic is scant, that is lovely. We are here almost three months and I am finally feeling like myself. It takes me a long time to adjust to change. Sunday I did all those pesky household chores and finished them in lightning speed so I could read my book and later do some more knitting. Dare I say my knitting mojo is back? I'd like to think so!