Pumpkin Sunrise

  Good afternoon! How are you? How was your weekend? Ta Da! I pulled out some paints and I painted a tiny picture over the weekend - I felt creative and Frodo approves of my skills. Also this weekend I worked on the lace shawl and am so close to the end.  We didn't do much this weekend, at Mass I nearly passed out because it doesn't have AC (this is my childhood church that is very old) so I guess we are going to an AC Church until the fall. No one else looked hot, even the priest with all of his garb. So it's me and my autoimmune condition. Heat and/or sun are just awful for me.  I've been enjoying sitting on the back patio and some quiet time there. 

  How are you all doing? Over here, summer is showing off with all the flowers blooming. I cannot get enough of my hydrangea bush, gah. Our butterfly bushes are starting to bloom as well. I might not like the heat and humidity of summer but I do like the flowers. My first summer session classes have ended and I have a two week break before the second summer session starts. I'm loving the rhythm of my days during the in-between time. I'm reading a lot and getting little jobs done around the house. We will have a house full in a couple of weeks when all of my children come to visit. This time around, I am pacing the chores so I do not slam myself with doing everything the day before they arrive. Future me will thank past me for this. We had no electricity for one hour the other night and I sat and wondered why I am so committed to being tethered to the internet. I have no answers but I did question myself endlessly. The electricity came back on and I forgot about my reflections u

  How are you?  I am doing well and so is dear Frodo. Everyday I believe he is back to himself and then the next day I see more improvements. He's on two antibiotics until the end of the weekend so I imagine coming Monday he will be the fully restored and rebooted Frodo.  Thank you all for the well wishes and prayers, they meant a lot to me and they worked! Every day is a bonus day with him, and I take each day as it comes. He will be 15 years old in October. Yesterday we went out for lunch at our favorite outdoor restaurant near a pond in a local park. The ambience is fantastic. Over the fence by our table, we watched a bird sitting on a nest built amongst the reeds. The best kind of lunch entertainment. I have slowly eased back into ordinary life. I knit a bit, read a bit and journal a bit. It's a wonderful existence. I am enjoying my non-credit classes and as you know, I am once again in Tai Chi, if you ever have a chance to take a class, I highly recommend it.  Below is a p

  Hello! Good morning! How are you? After arriving home from our little getaway to see the grands, I caught up on rest and sleep within 48 hours. There is nothing like your own bed to help ease back into 'ordinary' time. I am doing all the boring things and missing the grandchildren.  All of a sudden, spring is here. The trees are mostly leafed out and so many flowers are blooming in the neighborhood. Of course, the weather became hot, hinting at summer days ahead. For now I'm enjoying the spring. The month of May reminds me of my paternal grandmother who absolutely loved this month and all of the flowers her children would buy her on Mother's Day and then again on her birthday. Her yard was teeming with spring bulb plants.  My husband is mostly done with replacing the deck flooring. He enjoyed the project and wants to get back to regular job tasks. We have done a lot in updating this house. We have more to do but the list gets easier. I wrote a gratitude list in my art

  Good morning! How are you doing?  Right now I am sitting at my kitchen table in the morning writing this post. Yesterday the rain came all day long, today we are in for some more rain. Our backyard is a mud pit and I try to walk Frodo from one tuft of grass to the other trying my best to avoid mud - the success is intermittent, but my determination is strong. On my daily walk yesterday, I snapped that tulip photo from a neighbor's garden. We cannot grow tulips in our yard because the deer eat them up but I guess where she lives the deer are respectful. My daffodils continue to bloom and are wonderful to look at. I came across these two gratitude quotes and decided to write them down to remember them.  Today I am grateful for: - my healing wrists - being finished with an antibiotic - my raincoat and umbrella - leftovers - a captivating novel on a rainy day - easy peasy sock knitting - Frodo and Holly - phone calls from the kids - silence - the kindness of others What are you grate

  Good morning! This week has been busy with classes and routine doctor appointments. The arthritis doctor has a few tricks up her sleeve for some of my dry mouth issues (from my autoimmune disease - Sjorgren's Syndrome) that make me feel hopeful. What was the most important thing during that doctor visit is that I felt seen and heard. I am thankful for her and her team. Speaking of hopefulness, look at my daffodils sprouting up! Some of the daffodils are just starting and some already have a head start. I love winter, but I'm looking forward to spring. The crocuses seem to be taking their time this year, as well as the snowdrops (unless those pesky deer have eaten them, grr). Even though I am still knitting my baby blanket, I have gathered four skeins of potential socks to be and am dreaming of a wonderful sock frenzy cast on. 

  Good morning! How are you doing on this fine January day? Can you believe we are closing in on mid January? Sadly, we are expecting rain later today after a crazy amount of rain on Tuesday. I'm hoping to get out and walk with Frodo before the rain shows up. I started a new creative journal for 2024 and it will last for two years like the previous one. I do memory keeping and some journaling prompts and whatever sparks my interest. There is something about a new notebook or journal that just inspires me. Many of my journaling prompts come from whatever I see on the internet while I'm toodling about. I like to write about what I am noticing on my walks, what I am looking forward to doing in the coming weeks. There is always a gratitude page and sometimes just write about what I did during the day. Whenever we are gathered with family, I will print some photos of the grands and document the visit. Of course I write about our museum outings as well and any other day trips or week

This past week my creativity has rebounded. Phew! I tend to go in waves on what exactly inspires me to knit, read and/or sketch. I've learned through the years to just chill and see what inspires me and when inspiration strikes, run with it. Currently, I'm knitting gnomes and the gnome knitting obsession initially was slow and somewhat of a chore. Yesterday, after I completed the fourth one, I was officially in the gnome zen of knitting. What helps my creativity is being out in nature. My daily walk is good for me physically and mentally. I see color combinations that would be great in a hat or a mitten. May there always be days where I have more ideas to knit and the projects are overflowing in my notebook. I have been thoroughly enjoying the dip in the temperatures and wearing wool on my walks. Frodo would disagree, since he is 14 (!!) he will be outside for a little walk if it is above freezing, he just cannot take cold weather like when he was a younger pup.   Of course, th

  How delightful to see the oak leaves falling. On my daily walks with Frodo, I've been soaking in the changes of the seasons. Entering into Autumn never disappoints and this time of year is when I think about new knitting projects and writing projects. All the books I want to read stare me down and I rethink my priorities of what I really want to focus on.  Surprisingly I picked up my paints yesterday and dabbled a tiny bit in my creative journal. Weeks have gone by since I created anything remotely related to art. Just like knitting, my interests hop around and one form of creativity over takes another form of creativity.  The older I get the more I allow grace and ease in my days. I have goals, but the goals are fluid and open-ended in a specific time frame. (I always do what I HAVE to do). My holiday knitting goals are lofty and maybe delusional but I know what I can do, what I might do and what can wait til next year.  My non-credit classes have been such fun. I enter them wit

  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?

  Good morning! How are all of you? I'm doing well and continue to play catch up after our trip last weekend to Cambridge, MA. The unpacking is the easy part, it's the internet catch up - bill paying and visiting blogs. Also buying groceries while not having a menu plan. I should just give up having a menu plan since I seem to do fairly well winging the meals.  I've been holding off saying this but I'm just about to burst because I am ready for FALL. I'm doing my best to enjoy the summer season especially since this is my husband's favorite season. As of today, we have 50 more days until the first day of Autumn.  I went out shopping with my sister yesterday morning and I bought some new charms from Joann Fabrics to add to my traveller's notebook. They are so cute. The tidy Buddha was from the beach vacation last year.  This fall, I will be taking some classes at the local university for people over 50 years old. I'm excited to go back to school but it

  Good morning to all of you on this rainy Friday morning. This past week I enjoyed lots of sunny days and so I must let them go and welcome the rain. I'm reminding myself that the flowers will grow and the green will become greener, if that is a word, okay, maybe 'more green'. How are you doing?  I have been enjoying my knitting nearly every single day. And as always creative pursuits are coming along as well. Most of March was a minimally creative experience because of my dad in the hospital. This past Tuesday we drove up to visit him and my step mom and it was wonderful to see him up and about talking and planning out all he wants to do around his property as he continues to feel better. I feel the maximum amount of gratitude. In my creativeness the first thing to disappear during stress is consistent artwork sessions. For some reason, showing up and sketching or painting is the last thing I want to do. I tend to read a bunch or knit a bunch. The knitting is simple and t

  Can you believe the crazy weather these days? Yesterday was 80 degrees and today is going to be higher than that. It's too soon! My dogwoods are starting to bloom and it feels a bit early to me.  I've been thinking about how I give myself grace. Sure it's easy to give grace to others and it comes easily.  I wonder why I'm so hard on myself especially if I am not feeling well. Living with a chronic autoimmune disorder (Sjogren's Syndrome) and trying to come up with the best ways to manage my symptoms and eliminate triggers, I lose sight on accepting my reality and just giving myself grace. After battling sinus issues for most of this week and a runny nose for three weeks, I saw my doctor and now have some medicines to get me back to feeling healthy. Phew! I'm doing my best! So how do I give myself grace? Being mindful in each moment is helpful. Journaling my thoughts, feelings and pouring my heart out onto the paper with a favorite fountain pen, the best free t

  Good morning! How was your weekend? Mine was eventful as opposed to uneventful. On Saturday my sister and I picked up some smoothies and went to a local yarn store. Of course I bought more yarn - life is short. However I am very specific in what I buy and have a plan for the yarn. In my younger years I bought yarn because I liked it but didn't have a plan for it. I'm trying to be mindful in my purchasing. Sunday we all went to the conservatory to see their Orchid show and soak in all the greenery during the February brown days. I loved it and it was toasty warm in the conservatory.  Sunday afternoon I did a bit of sketching and relaxed.  How was your weekend?

  Yesterday I had a creative burst of energy. Where did it come from? Who knows but I love when it happens and I gleefully go along with it. As I've mentioned before I've had ennui when it comes to watercoloring or sketching. I do a lot of thinking about it but not actually picking up my art supplies and doing it. At the end of January I contemplated about how I enjoy writing haikus and then painting something that pairs with the words. So February first I started that art challenge. Will I do it every single day? I cannot say but I was excited to get started. The notebook I'm using is one that my sister handmade for me as a Christmas present. Isn't it beautiful? The regular evening journal (there are many journals in my life) I've been decorating with the millions of stickers I've accumulated in the past few years. I vow to not buy anymore stickers then I buy more stickers. I could say the same for yarn as well. Speaking of yarn, tomorrow I'll be at a local

  This weekend was slow and easy. I'm still not feeling the best which makes canceling our travel plans to visit our grandson in Indiana the right decision. Our son face-timed me when our grandson had his first birthday cake. I was happy to witness his messy messy eating!! I am grateful for modern technology and being connected to those who live far away. Over the weekend, I did some mixed media art that is in the first photo and I did some watercoloring in the bottom photo. I've had weeks where I don't 'feel' like creating art. I've just accepted that it was a phase and I would want to get back to it eventually. Well this weekend was the weekend to feel excitement sitting with my papers and paints.  We did drop in a local art store as well on Saturday and I snapped that street art. My husband and I bought a few things then headed home. Over all the weekend was lots of resting and recovering. How was your weekend?