Pumpkin Sunrise

  Good morning! How are you? I am doing well, I continue to ignore the summer weather. It hasn't been too hot this week. I had to buy some more items to repel the sun: sun block, sun hat, and another fishing shirt that blocks the sun. Even though I cover myself head to toe, the sun still finds a way to get me! (sun exposure activates my auto-immune disease). I am determined to win the battle. I saw a fallen leaf on the ground as well as an acorn. Delightful!! Promises from Mother Nature! Above is the sock I forgot to photo for the knitting post. I'm doing four rows of stockinette, a purl row, four rows of 1x1 ribbing, another purl row then repeat all of it. I need to do something to keep the knitting engaging.  I've been thinking about my priorities and how I am sometimes skipping out what is important to me on the days that I get a little busy. I started changing my exercising routines and incorporating more healthy meals as well as making sure I get my much needed down ti

  Hello! How was your celebrations yesterday? We had a quiet Fourth of July. Next weekend our children and grandchildren will be visiting and causing mayhem. I like the quiet days leading up to a family visit. My to do list is quite detailed although not quite finished. Yesterday my husband and I had burgers and fries at home then some ice cream.  Frodo is feeling better again. His vet followup appointment for repeat bloodwork is in two weeks. It's nice that he's acting like himself more, barking at everyone and no one in particular, he loves to look out the window and watch the neighborhood, like Mrs. Kravitz from Bewitched.  I've been reading Hello Beautiful  and The Secret Garden.  I'm enjoying both of them. I thought I've never read The Secret Garden but I have in my youth. The plot is so familiar and when she met the friendly robin I remembered. I just can't remember when I read it. Maybe my teen years... Summer days are reading days for me. I love sinking

  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

  Good morning! How was your weekend? Mine was pretty good! Whatever allergy thing I was was suffering with for almost a week seems to be almost over. However, when I take Frodo for a walk this morning, I'm sure it will start all over again. We didn't do much this weekend. He worked on the finishing touches of the deck flooring and I did a lot of laundry and started to clean the house. Today I'll finish up what I didn't get done yesterday. Even though it rained over the weekend, I rather enjoyed it. My sister and I went out to a farmer's market on Saturday morning. We bought 'salad turnips' which tasted really good! She's going to grow some in her garden this year because of our adventurous purchase. I do love new things to put in a salad. My knitting remains the same: a pair of socks for my husband and a lace scarf. Both are doing okay. Sunday morning we went to Mass and had taco salad for dinner. How was your weekend?

  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

  There has been so much rain this week. There are times when I am out on my daily walk with Frodo and I wonder why I'm happy, then decide it's because the sun is out. This week, I'm wondering why I feel blue, well - it's because of the endless gloomy skies. Sure the sun comes out at the end of the day and I do appreciate it but I like some sunshine sprinkled in with the rain, please. This week the trees have been sprouting and the green sheen can be seen wherever you go. I like this part of springtime - the newness and the green-ness, it pairs perfectly with Easter and rebirth. How are you? How's your week been?  I continue to work on his socks for no more than one hour at a time. This approach seems to be the sweet spot of knitting without any wrist pain. Earlier in the week, I pulled out my sketchbook and did some abstract sketching and painting. I really enjoyed myself. I mostly read when I'm not knitting. I have a shawl blocking in the laundry room and I pl

  Good morning! How are you doing? Life has been quite nice around here.  First of all, thank you for the well wishes, they worked! I am gingerly knitting and have minimal wrist pain. Slow and steady wins the race, so they say. I am learning to have patience. Yesterday, my husband and I went to the science museum early in the morning to see the titanic exhibit. The exhibit was nice and informative but the crowd was not nice. I am not a fan of crowds and I especially do not like being near people who are sneezing (and NOT covering their mouths....). Goodness! We toured the exhibit and quickly left. The science museum is our least favorite because of this reason. I did not have the patience I clearly needed. Once we were home, I snuggled with Frodo and did a few rows of knitting. I also enjoyed reading my book. I am on the 13th book (out of 15) of the Ruth Galloway mysteries by Elly Griffiths. I read number 14 first over a year ago and will probably read it again before the last book, ju

  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. 

  Around here, I've been going to my non-credit classes and keeping up with various appointments. Yesterday, we went to the Carnegie Museum of Art and walked around the galleries. We love going there every month or so. After a lunch out, we headed home so I could take Frodo out for his daily walk. We continue to have daily sunshine and now I'm focused on the singing birds on my daily walks. Sometimes I remember to pull out my merlin app to identify the birds but frequently I'm not fast enough to catch the recording. Tonight we might have some snow, we will see about that. Around here, I'm knee deep in baby blanket knitting mode, trying to make steady progress so I can finish the project. I've been reading a graphic novel, Grass by  Keum Suk Gendry-Kim. My non-fiction read is Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson. Both are really good, I'm sure the non-fiction book will take months to read. Holly has been quite social and says 'hi'.

  Good morning! How are you? Around here, we have had warmer weather that has melted the snow away and so we have a muddy backyard. It's nice to wear regular winter weather but damp weather sometimes feels colder. This week once again, I pulled out the paints and started on my Valentine cards. They are not finished but it was fun to sit and paint hearts in various pinks. I hope to work on them later on this afternoon. The baby blanket is so close to being finished! I'm already plotting away the future baby sweater to cast on. I usually use the Elizabeth Zimmermann pattern 'two needle baby sweater' which as you might guess is mostly memorized in my head. I'm excited for non-credit classes to start up once again. I'm taking more history classes (who am I? I didn't like history in high school.) and of course Tai Chi, which is my favorite class ever.

  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 are you?  I've had a full week with classes and yesterday our fridge and dishwasher arrived. Of course it was stressful, beginning with the fridge not fitting through the kitchen door. The team really wanted to call it quits but we pleaded that they try the back door which goes through the family room which doesn't have a doorway. Thankfully one of the men said yes and my husband was scrambling to remove the back door and unhook the screen door. Bless sweet Frodo, he cannot hear anything and just sleeps through it all. So the fridge was installed but then there was a water leak (of course), we have a plumber today coming to fix that. Apparently it's our end of the plumbing and not the fridge. Every single fridge we have bought and installed we have had waterline leaks for the water dispenser hookup, it must be a rite of passage. I am grateful that I saw it early and no permanent damage was done. The dishwasher installation needed a new shut off valve bec

  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.

  After being away last weekend, this whole week was kind of a catch-up week where I didn't quite catch-up but kept adding more to my to do list. I am behind in my holiday knitting but then does it matter? I don't think so, only I know of my arbitrary goals.  This week, I started my granddaughter's Christmas sweater and I have been thoroughly enjoying working on this little project in the evenings and even during the day. Maybe it's the wool maybe it's the pattern or maybe it's both at the same time. So far, I don't think I have any mistakes but then again you never know. My husband and I received our flu and covid shots on Wednesday late afternoon. Yesterday was a challenging day. Tylenol fixed everything, but golly,  I was dragging myself around.  I only have a sore arm this morning, I am grateful. Of course my husband had a minimal reaction, grr. Autumn is fully here, the leaves are changing and the mornings are quite cold. Frodo and I moved our early mo

  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 are you all doing? Today is a cooler weather day, you know the kind that feels like fall but isn't fall at all. There is nothing new around here which makes life perfect. I had a campus tour yesterday for my non-credit classes that start in two weeks. I think I know where I'm going, maybe. I definitely know where to park. I am excited for school to start. What an adventure for me! September is going to be a busy month for me, so my posting on this space might be less than usual. I don't want to say definitely, but I feel that skipping a post here and there might be the way to allow for wiggle room in life.  Did you see that acorn?? (Autumn is coming!).  While my heart pines for fall, I am enjoying the late summer days by reading on the back patio with Frodo who tolerates this 'outsideness' for about 30 minutes. I remember when he was a pup and I could not convince him to come inside. At soon to be 14 years old, he enjoys outside limitedly and then wants to go

  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