Pumpkin Sunrise

  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

  Since my husband's bike fall last Sunday, the beginning of the week was busy. We had our furnace and AC replaced (by choice) and had workers here Monday and Tuesday. We also had appointments with specialists for my husband's forearm because there was still a tiny stone inside (!). For now they want to leave it in there, I guess it's more trouble to cut in again. They are the experts right? He's doing really well and we continue to keep a close eye on the stitches as it heals.  The little cross stitch birth sampler is 3/4ths of the way completed. I am so excited. We've got a month to go before our granddaughter is born near the end of August. Our grandson is growing fast as well, I can't wait to see him too. I continue to read most of the afternoons outside on the back patio. We have no big plans for the weekend which suits me after the bike fall weekend. Give me all the boring dull days please. I'm doing my best to not wish the summer away, it's my lea

  How was your weekend? My weekend was interesting. We celebrated my dad's 82nd birthday yesterday and it was wonderful to be all together with family and to see him healthy and living large after all those bleak ICU days.  Unfortunately my husband fell off of his bike on a state park trail near my dad's house before lunch. We ended up at urgent care for a deep cut on his elbow with some stitches. Today he sees a specialist to make sure all the 'foreign bodies' are out of the wound. I am grateful that my step-mom, sister and brother in law assessed the damages because I am not great at the sight of blood, ha ha ha. Today we get a new furnace and AC installed, I am so excited!!

  I had such a good time this weekend with our daughter and son in law. We drove a little north to a restaurant that has beautiful outdoor seating for our lunch on Saturday. Since moving to western PA, my husband and I rarely eat out and therefore do not have a list of great restaurants. I cannot remember which family member recommended this restaurant but it was nice and we would go again. After lunch, we shopped at a few stores before returning home to prepare for extended family to come visit and have dessert. I appreciate my aunt and my sister for making desserts and spending time with us on the back patio. The weather was perfect! Sunday morning, we said goodbye to our company and attended morning Mass. I did the laundry and cleaned the house. After lunch my husband and I went to yet another garden store to purchase this St. Francis statue. We've been on the lookout for this statue since last summer. We are picky and the the statues are rare to find. My cousin recommended this

  This is the third weekend in a row that we have family plans. This weekend, our daughter and son in law are visiting us from Massachusetts, we haven't seen them since last September. I've been busy planning a family gathering on Saturday night and meals to make while trying to keep it simple.  Finally! I snapped a photo of the birth sampler project for grand baby girl number two. I work on this an hour a day and really love how easy it is. First of all I can see it (big win) and second of all there's little to no backstitching. 

 Hello! How was your weekend? Mine was over the top busy and it's going to take a whole week to get over the busy. Our son and daughter in law and grandson left later this morning because of an unexpected oil leak. However a kind above-and-beyond local tire auto store took care of them within an hour and a half. We already give our business to them but gosh we'll be telling everyone how speedy they were to get them on their way. On Saturday, we had the family reunion which was lovely. It was so nice to see all of my cousins some that I haven't seen in 15 years. (I didn't recognize a few but they recognized me!). The food was delicious. Later that evening we went out to dinner. Sunday morning we went to Mass then we prepared for the baby shower party. Oh my. I was overwhelmed by how much my local family helped me out. We had about 34 people attend. After the party, two families stayed for dinner. I believe everyone had a great time. I thoroughly enjoyed my grandson, mayb

  How has your week been so far? I'm busy with the preparations for both a family reunion in town and a little baby shower here at my house. Each day this week I did something on my list to pace myself so that I wasn't doing everything all in one day. Sadly, those one day marathons are over. I remember cleaning my entire house in one day in my younger married years - what? Now I do bite sized pieces of cleaning so that I have time to rest. Am I ready? Yes I'm getting there. Our son and daughter in law and grandson arrive late tonight so I have most of the day to get my tasks done. I'm excited to see them, March was the last time we visited them and helped out with babysitting.  The Miss Holly photo is her sitting at the top of the stairs waiting for her nemesis (Frodo). She loves to taunt him and scamper away just as he is close to her. My husband gave our Mary statue a cosmetic redo. She had her cracks filled and sanded, then received a fresh coat of paint. She is look

  Hello friends! How are you doing? How was your weekend? My brother in law and sister in law from Ottawa, Ontario visited us from Wednesday afternoon through Sunday morning. We haven't seen them since September 2019 and we were grateful they drove down here to visit us after visiting my mother in law. On Thursday, we took them to the Phipps Conservatory . (I know I was there just last Sunday!) My husband and I enjoyed the second pass through the greenhouses.  On Friday morning we went to the Strip district  and walked around dropping into some stores then having lunch at a local pizza shop. On Saturday, we visited the Carnegie Science Center so they could see the miniature train display. Each day we went out for lunch and then I cooked dinner at home. The weather was spectacular so dinner was outside on the patio. We had the best time ever.  We did lots and lots of talking, laughing and catching up. I did little to no knitting!  How was your weekend?

  How was your weekend? Yesterday we went to the P hipps Conservatory with my sister and brother in law and had a fabulous time. This is our second year of having memberships and the displays are wonderful. We go right when it opens so that the plants are abundant and the people are few. I had a restorative weekend. Lots and lots of downtime while slowly taking care of tasks around the house. We have company coming and staying with us starting on Wednesday so every day I clean a little bit more of the house. I remember the days when I could clean the whole house in a single day with babies. I guess I could do it in a single day but I'm not motivated, where is the fun in that?! I'm feeling so much better now that I am home and resting after our trip. Today I'm starting up my strength training/yoga practice after a whole week off.  How was your weekend?

  Good morning! How is everyone this morning? I was away visiting my mother-in-law for most of the week with my husband and returned home yesterday afternoon. Oh my, the older I get the more I am a homebody thru and thru. This visit was challenging because I had some weird stomach bug the day I arrived and could barely function.  Thankfully it was short lived but the recovery phase was long and I still don't feel quite like myself. It was nice to see family but it was even nicer to be home. Sadly I did not take many photos. I did knit in the car though!  Believe it or not, the sun is out! I feel like a vampire squinting and shielding my eyes, ha ha. Later today after the BIG blog reading catch up and internet stuff catch up, I'll walk Frodo and soak in the sunshine. Maybe it'll be warm enough to sit on the back patio. Gratitudes: -my bed - my kitchen - my coffee mug - my coffee! - silence - Frodo snuggles - phone calls from the kids - mighty to do lists! - big salads - suns

  How was your weekend? Ours was upside down but overall nice.  Yesterday I had every intention to go to Mass but when I talked to my husband and heard how congested I was (allergies? cold?) I decided no one wanted to be near me and if I was contagious I didn't want to share my germs. With additional medicines, my husband is finally feeling a bit better. Fingers are crossed he has crossed over to good health after two weeks of symptoms. We cancelled going over to my sister and brother in law's house for Easter dinner. However, my sister kindly brought dinner to us! How sweet is that? I am beyond grateful and dinner was delicious. I managed to knit the second sock and have completed turning the heel and picking up the gusset. I am so close to the sock being finished now.

  Hello! How are you? I've missed visiting your spaces and hope to catch up with you all during the week.  My it's been such a long time since I wrote here. Before I get into what I've been up to this past week and weekend, I want to let you know that my dad went home on Saturday!! He will continue to receive therapies at home and he is so happy to be sleeping in his own bed (just like me!). Thank you for all the well wishes and prayers, they mean a lot to me. Anyways, last Sunday we drove to Indiana to visit our son, daughter-in-law and grandson and to help out with childcare for the week. Their babysitter was taking a vacation. What a delight! We spent so much time with him. Sadly, he had another ear infection but was quickly put on medication and improved. In their neighborhood they have a local park that we walked every single day. We bundled up our grandson and off we went. He loves to eat bagels and blueberries and goldfish. When I laughed, he would laugh. He is a hap

  How was your weekend? Mine was great! My dad was transferred to a rehab facility, we are excited he will be getting stronger to get back to being home. I hope he likes his new space, I know he is thrilled to not have a roomie. This week I am knee deep with a grandchild! I am enjoying being in the moment. I also am trying my best not to get his suspected cold (maybe it's allergies!). We are doing lots of walks and exploring parks.  I started a cowl for myself as well and am knitting it exclusively .... for now. I love the purple color! I've knit this pattern three other times but I only have two in my possession. I must have given the third one away. Whenever I like a pattern I tend to knit it over and over again. It's comfort knitting at its finest.  There's a chance I will not be blogging much as we enjoy family time, but I will try my best. Thanks for all the prayers, well-wishes and concerns for my dad.