Pumpkin Sunrise

  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

  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

  Hello! Happy post Thanksgiving! I'm dropping in for a quick update. Our families arrived on Wednesday night as planned but sadly our little granddaughter wasn't feeling well Thursday morning and so her parents took her to ER and she was diagnosed with RSV but not admitted and sent home.  That diagnosis dispersed our big Thanksgiving family to two houses instead of everyone at my house. My sister and her family stayed at her house and my family stayed at my house. My dad visited both houses. My sister and I were swapping dishes to complete the meals. (We cooked the turkey she made the stuffing etc). It was quite the production but we made it work and we each had a good Thanksgiving. Our little granddaughter is slowly feeling better and so far no one else has any symptoms (yay!). Our days are filled with babies playing, napping, crying and eating. We are living our best life. To make things more exciting, our new furnace quit working yesterday and we had to have an emergency te

  Good morning! How are all of you? Like my computer, I am slow this morning. I haven't been sleeping well (probably from waking up in the middle of the night thinking of everything I need to do even though it's written down...). Maybe tonight will be a good night, eventually some night will be. Our weekend was busy, I have been chipping away with the 'to do' list that I have written on pages and pages before all of my company arrives on Wednesday. The list is LONG.  Saturday, I thoroughly enjoyed working on a cowl and probably shouldn't have been knitting. Sunday was a no knit day for my hands to recover again. I am impatient! I have every intention on being here Wednesday, then I will take a break from this space to enjoy my company. Happy Thanksgiving to all of you in case I am not here on Wednesday. 

  The beginning of Christmas has entered my house along with the holiday cheer. We are exchanging presents with my dad and step mom at Thanksgiving (which I am hosting at my home) and my daughter and son in law have never seen Christmas at my house.  I have about four lists written up for the next two weeks and have another list in my head that needs to be put on paper. Besides hosting 15 family members on Thanksgiving day, my family (adult children and grands) will be staying between 3-10 days. So before I forget, I will be posting here intermittently from now until the beginning of December.  While I was down in the basement bringing up the Christmas decoration boxes, I discovered a water pipe leak, and so my day today is waiting for the plumber. A forced day at home.  Also before I forget, my hands are feeling so much better! I am nearly recovered from the gnome knitting abuse. 

  Good morning! How was your weekend? Mine was quite nice and full of socializing. On Saturday, I went out shopping with my sister at some craft stores and two yarn stores. Oh my, the yarn stores were heavenly and yes, I did buy some yarn but I need to take a group photo of what I bought. Hopefully I will remember. Saturday night my sister and brother in law came over for dinner and game board night. Super fun and I didn't have to cook because my husband did (score!). Sunday was 'recovery' mode since I abused my hands with all those gnomes. I took it easy and started a hat for myself (photo below). I am rethinking what I want to knit from here on out until Christmas. My hands and wrists have given me a stern warning. I am positive it is my autoimmune disorder that is flaring from overuse. I am thankful that circular knitting with wool doesn't affect my hands. (don't worry my hands feel fine right now as I type this) How was your weekend?

  Good morning! How was your weekend? How was the time change? I have a rough time with the time change no matter which time change it is. I am tired and hungry at the usual times that are now changed. This morning, both pets were confused with the morning routines. As I sit and type this up in the kitchen, the sun is shining! It's supposed to be partly-cloudy, but the sun didn't get the forecast yet. Let's hope the sun stays for a while. This weekend I gnomed myself out. I worked on them, inching closer to my goal of seven total. I finished number five yesterday and cast on number six. I have more to knitting projects for after the gnomes are completed for the holidays and gosh, I'm starting to dream of knitting for myself.  I also painted a birthday card for my mother in law who loves my artwork. She is a talented artist herself but has advanced macular degeneration and cannot see well enough to watercolor. With her vision aid, she can enjoy my handmade cards. Over th

  Good morning! How are you doing these days? So far I am enjoying autumn and the trees changing. Yesterday, we drove north, taking country back roads to a lovely restaurant  to meet my dad and my step mom for lunch. We had wonderful food and a lovely visit with them. We drove back a different way, again, using back country roads and the views were amazing. I don't think the trees are at peak colors but it's very close to peak.  I pulled out some scrap wools for my gnome-marathon knitting. Hopefully I will start today. We are hosting our families for Thanksgiving (12 adults and 3 children) and my list is long on what I want done around the house and what I need to purchase to stream-line this event. I'm happy to report that we did buy a new fridge and dishwasher this week and they will be here next week. That gives me one week to eat as much food as possible, ha ha ha. What a big purchase! I'm looking forward to our families gathering together.

  I had a busy weekend but a very good kind of busy. My sister had a fall craft show at her house and I was there keeping her company while her friends came and perused her items. I saw family members and had a great time all together.  Yesterday, we all went to the conservatory in Pittsburgh for the fall flower show. I love how creative they are in creating displays and arranging the flowers. We had such a great time! On a whim, my husband and I started shopping for a new fridge and dishwasher. All of the appliances that came with the house are VERY old. We will be hosting Thanksgiving and will have a full house with our kids and grandkids. A new dishwasher will help immensely because my current one can only do dishes (no pots, pans, trays etc...). Just the thought of running a dishwasher multiple times a day warms my heart (and to know they are CLEAN). I just plainly hate our current fridge. It's old and inefficient. How was your weekend?

  Good morning! How are you? We had a long weekend up in London, Ontario visiting family. This time we met up with our son and his family and shared a house rental while up there. I am grateful that I had extended time to spend with our grandchildren and be a part of their lives.  Our grandson is full of energy and is quite spunky. He is a lot of fun. Our granddaughter is wonderful and is starting to get into a routine of sorts. However when she is up crying in the middle of the night we are all up in the middle of the night, ha ha. We had fun visiting my husband's mother and brother and is family. Cousins and Cousin's children gathered for a lovely luncheon hosted by my brother in law and sister in law.  Of course I was in another basilica attending Sunday Mass. We sat in the back with all the other young families thoroughly enjoying the little ones wiggle and squirm. I'll be catching up with you in the coming days! How was your weekend?

  How was your weekend? Thank you so much for the well wishes, I am feeling much better. Modern medicine has yet to fail me.  My weekend was fun! On Saturday, we had my sister and brother in law over for dinner and dessert. I made chili, cornbread, salad and a pumpkin pie. I celebrated fall.  On Sunday, we drove to southeastern Ohio for the day for our granddaughter's baptism. Afterwards we attended a little luncheon. We had fun seeing everyone and being with family. Our grandson was great fun, full of smiles and hugs. Our ride home was slightly delayed due to a major accident on the highway, my family in another car was stuck in that traffic jam due to the highway being shut down for over four hours. I am grateful I was home by dinner time and felt awful for my aunt and cousins who didn't get home until 9:30 - 10:00 in the evening. I worked on my grandson's Christmas sweater  in the car and had a wonderful time knitting a short project.

  How are you doing? Around here autumn weather has been showing up. The nights are cold and daylight is dwindling away, I love it and I'm all in for the change of seasons. I'll be surprised if there is one more heat wave. Even if there is one, it will be the last one.  Yesterday my husband and I went out to lunch at a local restaurant that has outdoor seating overlooking a pond. We each ordered a salad and enjoyed our views. We did a little shopping as well. Earlier this week, I had an intense arthritis flare (ouch) that had me calling the doctor for medicine. I am so grateful that my doctor and her nurse responded quickly and I was able to pick up and take the medication by dinner time. I'm thrilled to report that I am feeling a bit better.  It's difficult for me to take it easy, but that is what I am doing.  I should be finishing up the sweater today! I'm excited to get it off the needles and blocked. I am already planning out the next knitting projects (holiday

  This week was fabulous, my husband and I traveled to Indiana to see our grandson and to meet our new granddaughter. Our grandson is at a wonderful age, he's beginning to talk ( A CAR!) and understands most of what we are saying to him or at least pretending to understand. He loves to tell stories that are unintelligible except for the occasional word here and there, delightful. My husband read many books over and over again. I marched around the house singing while he gleefully followed along laughing and giggling. We took long walks at the local park. Our little granddaughter is perfection. She loves to snuggle and be bundled up like a little burrito. She is using all the blankets I knit for her and for her little brother.  Our travels to and from Indiana were smooth and uneventful and now I am back home trying to catch up with all those pesky chores. Later this morning, I'll take Frodo for a walk and catch up with all of your blogs.

  I whipped up a pair of mitts for my daughter in law, super quick. I used acrylic yarn and after I bought the yarn I discovered that it was aran weight instead of worsted weight, rookie mistake on my part. So I dropped down 2 needle sizes to make the size that I wanted. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! I'm popping in here for a quick hello since the weekend is still going strong today because it's Labor Day. Yesterday, we had lunch at my dad and stepmom's house along with my sister and brother in law. The food was delicious and the flowers were beautiful!  On Saturday, my sister and I went shopping and had great fun. I bought more yarn even though I swore I would not buy more yarn and would faithfully knit from my never-ending stash. I swear the purchases were 'necessary'. I am hopefully finishing a Christmas stocking today for our newly minted granddaughter. The yarn is acrylic, so my hands are very sore. I cannot wait to return to my sweater knitting.  How was your weekend?

  Can you believe that we have arrived to the glorious month of September? I know that summer is still blazing away and fall is inching slowly towards us but flipping the calendar page to September brings me joy. My mom would demand a Christmas list by September first believing she could knit all the things and have them wrapped up for the holidays. She would start asking for the list in August. As a young adult, I thought she was crazy and a bit over reacting. September? Christmas? Jeez! And here I am, starting a Christmas stocking for our granddaughter. My mother is looking down from heaven with an 'I told you so' smirk on her face. However, I am smirking back at her and telling her that I have started knitting for the holidays at the start of this year.  I do not ask for a knitting wish list from my family. I knit what I want when I want and give the items freely away, if I don't meet my virtual 'to knit' demands, no one knows but me. My self-imposed timeline is

  How was your weekend? Mine was nice. Another weekend home doing my regular stuff. On Friday, I had a sister outing and in the morning we stopped to feed the chickens my sister is babysitting. They were all so cute! We picked up smoothies and shopped at a few stores before heading home. I'm having the tiniest arthritis flare, so I've been taking it easy and staying out of the sun, heat and humidity which makes it worse. I'm in a knitting mood so that just aligns with my values these days. I did some art journaling as well. The iris below has decided to bloom a few months late. We've had thunderstorms over the weekend that were intense but luckily Frodo cannot hear them and slept through the noise. Holly can hear them and she doesn't like them at all. How was our weekend?

  view from our hotel window Hello! How are you? Well, I've been a traveling woman. We drove (drove!) up to Cambridge Massachusetts on Friday. Ten and a half long hours in a car to visit our daughter and son in law. We had a great time. We stay at the same hotel in Porter Square which is about a mile from their apartment.  Besides eating lots of great food the entire weekend (sorry no photos), we went to the Museum of Fine Arts on Saturday. On Sunday after Mass and donuts, we hung out in Harvard Square doing lots of shopping then went to the Harvard art museum. I bought many notebooks, novels, washi tape and bars of chocolate, all necessities. My husband found a work planner that is set up the way he likes it with the week on the left page and notes on the right page. Yesterday we were up at 4 a.m. to leave so we could be at the dog kennel to pick up sweet Frodo before they closed for the day. We had a wonderful time but golly, I am feeling old these days. I'm sore from head to