Pumpkin Sunrise

  Hello! How are you all doing? If you celebrate Easter, are you ready? My sister is hosting this year and it will be a very small gathering. This week has been relaunching my 'regular' life. After playing catchup with all that was left undone before we went to Indiana, I've been slowly re-entering my daily habits. My husband is still dealing with a nasty asthma flare up. These spring allergies are crazy! During an intense heat up in one day, we quickly assembled our back patio only to welcome back cold cold weather. Yesterday it rained all day and I drove up to my dad's house for a little visit. I haven't seen him since he was in the hospital. Frodo strained a shoulder muscle before our trip and is good as new after his kennel stay. He is back at 'patrolling' the neighborhood. (patrolling is code for barking). He loves when the kids get off the bus! I've been seeking inspiration in my life. Whenever I think of a meal that we both like and I haven't

  Yesterday my husband and I went to the Phipps Conservatory with my sister and brother in law. We are trying to visit every season. We had such a good time, the butterfly exhibit was open (yay).  This time around my favorite spaces were the children's garden and the Japanese garden, both outdoors.  We came home with some new ideas for what to do with our backyard and the abandoned in-ground filled with dirt pool which is the ultimate gardening challenge for us.  My weekend was calm, I did a lot of knitting and reading and avoiding the computer, tablet and phone. I dug deep into art journaling and watercoloring as well. I am perfecting my skills at frying tofu and the photo below is my first attempt. The texture turned out fantastically. Next up is seasoning the tofu without salt (such a sad state of affairs because I love salt.) How was your weekend?

  Good news! Our grandson, Blaise, was born earlier this week! All is well and good. We hope to see him in person within a month and fingers are crossed that the weather cooperates. Now I have to stitch his name and birthdate into that space and get this little sampler framed. We are beyond excited to be first time grandparents. He will be called Grandad and I will be called Grammy. I had a Gram who was formative in my life and so I hope to carry on her legacy. I continue to read a chapter a week out of Code Girls which is very interesting but dense information. I'm excited if I finish a chapter each day!  I decided to paint my Valentine cards and I enjoyed this process immensely. My watercoloring habits have slipped away with pursuing other creative pursuits so it was nice to sit at the kitchen table and be creative in a different way. My dinner below was an approximation of bibimbap. I was missing a few ingredients so I improvised to the best of my ability. All I can say is kimch

  How was your weekend? I helped my sister at her craft show both Friday and Saturday and in return for my help I received the above beautiful project bag! (she does not have a website currently but maybe someday she will). I started a sweater for her for her January birthday and you can see a tiny peek in the bag. I haven't made a Ravelry project page yet for the sweater. The craft show was outdoors and I was cold down to my spine, it was fantastic! I haven't been that cold in such a long time. I'd rather be cold than hot, but you already know that. Being in the fall elements I had a chance to wear my wool sweaters, hats and mitts. A knitter's dream come true. Also many family members that I haven't seen in years popped in and it was a fun family reunion of sorts for me. Over the weekend, I ventured into making a gluten free pie crust (sister has celiac disease) and after scouring the internet I chose this recipe . My only substitutions for the crust were to use ve

  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

lamby cake! Happy Easter!  How was your weekend?  My weekend:  -family gathering - lots of good food -  a sister outing - more desserts than I could eat - Easter Vigil -  lovely weather - seeing all the kids - car rides - little to no knitting because of the family gathering - How was your weekend? sisters!!!

How was your weekend?  My weekend was stuffed with walking!  We went to NYC for the day on a bus.  I'm not sure I'd do a bus again, but hey we got to NYC and back so there is that! We arrived in the city near Macy's Department store around 9:30 am and left around 8 pm.  We focused on walking the High Line, Chelsea and Greenwich Village.  It was bitterly windy and cold for most of the morning but that didn't stop us.  We had great fun until around 5 pm when our bodies betrayed us from all the walking.  We walked 10 miles yesterday (crazy!!).  I'm sore from head to toe today.  Sadly, whenever I over do it my joints go wacko---it's a RA thing.  After today's rest, I will be back to normal. I've linked websites the best I could to what we saw or did with the photos below.   highline Eduardo Kobra mural Dorothy Iannone mural Another Eduardo Kobra mural chelsea market Osgemeos hip hop mural E.A.K. Ramen  (high

my son washi taped his computer top Hello!  How was your first week of 2018?  I've been running around every day this week and sometimes I wish I was at home with miles of time to knit.  However, the gym three times a week is so good for me.  I haven't felt this great in a long time and I'm motivated to keep going back again and again.  What a wonderful state of mind. linens my mom made that have a tiny bit of red stain that I've been getting out  I've been reading so many blogs that have a word for the year.  I'm not a one word person, never was.  You'd think I would be since I like writing and talking non stop.  However, settling on one ONE theme word is hard for me.   I have enjoyed reading everyone's words and their meaning.  I have a few resolutions but they are completely doable so it doesn't feel like an overhaul of my life.  I plan to cultivate a better way to practice mindfulness and imagining the best case scenario instead of

cupcake bouquet!!!  First of all, I have an immense desire for a cupcake...  Aren't they beautiful? Last Sunday, my sister had a birthday party and invited family and friends to celebrate.  The day was sunny and perfect.  The buffet food was mostly supplied by my sister and some family members and was healthy with lots of salads to choose from.  She also served soups with gluten free cornbread muffins. I was surprised at how much work goes into hosting a party.  I guess I forgot when I had the Wedding Luncheon two summers ago.  Memories fade quickly when you get older.  I mostly did dishes in the morning while we prepped in the kitchen and then lots more dishes after we emptied the rented hall and returned back to my sister's house. Dishes are my thing.  I love to do them, I guess.  My sister and I easily slip into each other's kitchens and have a rhythm that only sisters can have.  I know where most things are in her kitchen and she knows my kitchen system.