Pumpkin Sunrise

  Good morning! How are you??  We are into another heat wave, ugh. I am hiding in my house, enjoying the AC and the coolness. Thank goodness for that. Yesterday, I went to the local yarn shop and bought all the yarn for holiday sweaters for the three grandkids (one is yet to be born in September). I loved it! I love supporting a local business and I love to buy yarn.  I am amazed that I have a closet full of yarn and yet nothing matched up with the patterns I chose to knit this year. Hm... I believe it's because two of the grands wear super-wash wool or a wool acrylic blend for ease and I have very little to none of that in the stash. For the baby to be, I didn't have any red wool! It was all spoken for because I knit Christmas stockings for each grandchild. I can honestly say this revelation is a joy. Who doesn't like to shop for yarn?? Late last week, we went to the conservatory to see their summer flower show before it ends. (Yay fall!). I enjoyed this exhibit, they ar...

  How are you? Over here, I've been enjoying the cooler weather even though it's short lived. I went for a walk outside with a zip hoodie (gasp!) in the early morning. As you know, I quit walking outside in March due to allergies (I can't take allergy meds due to dry mouth and when my nose stuffs up I get dry mouth...ugh!) then when the allergies finally settled it was too hot for me (also heat intolerant, ugh). So my walk was nice! I am used to exercising in my art/office room now so that is the new normal for me.  In other news, I am nearly finished with the cross stitch baby sampler! Of course I will have to wait to see what the baby's name and birth date are but that's easy peasy. I enjoy the hour I spend each day on it and will miss this simple project. I finished the knitting portion of the baby sweater but I have to bury threads and sew on buttons. The weekend was 'busy' with the grandkids and I completely forgot when I had time to sit. It's on my...

  Hello! How are you doing? I am starting to feel better again, I'm hoping it lasts for a while now. This year has been 'whack-a-mole' with various symptoms and I'm so ready for a break from it all. Even while having symptoms, I'm still exercising when I can. And as you know I spend time with the grands as much as possible. They make me happy.  I continue to work on the small baby blanket , I think I am half way done. I haven't been doing much knitting on anything else physically. But mentally I'm planning and plotting the next project. I think knitters love to do that. We moved here in 2021 and the flower beds have really taken off this year! I love to walk around and see what's going on. My husband did all of the work. Our neighbor gave us plants and so did my sister. Whenever there is a flower the deer do not eat, I rejoice! I heard the cicadas for the first time last week. Now I know we are into the summer season. They don't seem as loud as they...

  Good morning! How are you?  Around here, the over 90 degree heat has left but it's still high 80's which I'm not fond of either. I've been hiding in my house ignoring it except to get the mail and to walk about looking at our flower beds. I've been knitting some, but mostly reading my books. I'm over half way reading The Great Gatsby, overall I've been enjoying the book. I'd love to be as idle as the characters are in the story. The other book I'm reading is Burnout which is interesting. I should finish reading that book today. I finished Red Bones by Ann Cleeves. I read her books on my kindle before I go to sleep. My comprehension is sometimes murky but overall it's a nice bedtime read and I remember enough to continue reading without re-reading paragraphs.  Sadly I am having a crazy flare up with my ever so lovely autoimmune disease (Sjogren's syndrome). It's the gift that keeps on giving. Currently I am having salivary gland swellin...

  How have you been? Over here in western PA the heat is back. I switched to exercising in my house in the spring and now more so than ever, I'm glad I did. The older I get the more my body dislikes hot weather. I've been busy helping with the grandkids and of course our son and his wife. My days are full and fun! If I'm not with them I am chilling out getting my energy levels back to normal. I am pleased to report that I'm knitting something else instead of the christening blanket (more about that on Wednesday). I am thrilled to be knitting something different not to mention mindless. Also, I went out of my reading comfort zone and picked up 'Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries' by Heather Fawcett and am thoroughly enjoying the story. It's light, entertaining and amusing. If I like the ending, I'll read the next in the series. We went to my sister's house for dinner last night and was lucky to spy this little fawn chilling out in the late aft...

  Hello! How are you doing? This past week the temperatures dropped and it felt like early spring. I loved it because I do not like to be hot. All the early summer flowers are blooming in my yard, the views are spectacular. I babysat the kids on Friday night with the help of my aunt. We had a fun time and they were good. I also went to their house on Saturday afternoon and sat while they napped so that their parents could run some errands. It's been a rough time the past three-four days because the antibiotic I was on (which I have finished on Saturday morning, thank goodness) caused severe nausea. I haven't felt that queasy since pregnancy. It was absolutely awful. In between bouts of nausea I managed to knit a little bit and get some laundry done. I think I'm better now, I am definitely not worse! Yesterday I took a walk, first time in months and I snapped these photos. I enjoyed being in the fresh air and seeing the neighborhood. I might just go for another walk today. ...

  Hello! How are you doing? I've been really busy. We went to Indiana for the last time (unless someone else moves there that we visit) to help our son and his family relocate to our area. The ride home with the kids was the longest ride ever, ha ha. They have been unpacking and trying to get settled while the kids stay with us at our house. Hopefully they will be sleeping in their new home in a day or two. I haven't knit a single stitch since Wednesday.  The contact learning curve is getting better and faster but I still have a few tries getting them in no matter what. I get less irritated though. These contacts hold preservative free saline on my corneas all day long. It has helped with the eye pain I was experiencing from severe dry eye.  Sadly I ended up with a salivary gland infection over the weekend and am currently on antibiotics, I am feeling better though. Hopefully I will be knitting this afternoon during naptime!

  Good morning! How are you doing?  Oh my, I've been busy. I saw the eye doctor on Friday and I see her again today. She is getting close to the final fittings of the custom made contact lenses to protect my severe dry eye due to Sjogren's Syndrome. I am getting used to putting them in and taking out, better than I thought I would! We went to the art museum a few days ago and then went out to lunch for our 'first' outdoor patio eating of the season. It was wonderful to be outside and to look at the pond. I wish I could photograph the frogs singing, but I guess you'll have to imagine that. They were delightful. I've been spending all my free time working on the christening blanket and have added the second skein yesterday. I've quit timing myself because the rows get longer and longer. I have 90 rows to go! If I run out of this yarn I have yet another 500 yards of a third back up yarn for the edging. I love the not knowing. I also love to knit with small siz...

  Good morning! How are you doing?  I have been busy these past few weeks learning how to insert and remove scleral lenses for the treatment of my severe dry eye caused by Sjogren's syndrome . These contacts are considered medically necessary for the health of my eye. I just started to learn how to use them when the electricity went out over a week ago. I guess I am learning and getting better but it takes a few tries to insert them as well as a steady hand. I see the eye doctor weekly and she keeps tweaking the fit and the vision correction. I still have to use reading glasses while wearing them. I see the eye doctor weekly as she changes the fit and the vision correction. I'm on my second pair right now with a third pair coming this week hopefully. This past six months have been challenging for me with the dry eye and the dry mouth symptoms. I am grateful that there are medicines and treatments for the symptoms but I really wish there was a cure. The inflammatory arthritis ...

  Good morning! How are you doing? We lost our electricity on Tuesday at around 5:15 pm from a mighty thunderstorm with winds up to 80 mph and it came on yesterday in the afternoon.  Our whole entire area was without power and it took the electric company a long time to plug everyone back in. There are some people who still have no power and have to wait until Sunday. So nearly 48 hours of me being ultra SAD but grateful this morning. We have some trees down but they are in our wooded area and luckily they're not near the house, thank goodness. I was fortunate that I could move some of our food from the refrigerator to my sister's house and only lost one large bag of food. We are in the process of tidying up the house and putting everything back to where it's supposed to go. I really didn't knit much so the photo is one I took a few days ago of a cowl I am working on. I am planning to cut back on posting here three times a week. I hope to be posting 1-2 times a week fro...

  In a month (!) our son, daughter in law and grandchildren will be moving here from Indiana. We have the countdown and I have 'things' I need to get done before that time. They will live 12 minutes from us and we are looking forward to our lives changing for the better.  I have some permanent baby proofing to do. Once their house is packed up, they will live in our house until the moving van arrives at their new home. They will frequently be here so I want to put away the items I do not want them to play with - they love to gravitate to that which is forbidden. I am trying to squeeze in all the things I want to get done before they move. I have knitting goals and reading goals. Currently I'm reading Homecoming and White Nights, both are good and entertaining.  It's okay if I do not achieve these goals, but I like to have something to work towards. My classes have mostly ended for the spring semester. Our summer classes (non-credit older adult classes at a local univers...

  How are you doing today? I'm doing pretty good. It's been a busy week and today is a day where I don't have to be anywhere pressing. Of course I might go out but it will be because I want to go out. Before I forget, Happy Easter if you are celebrating! My sister's hosting Easter this year so I get to kick back and relax and enjoy the food. I will see family too! Around here, it will be getting warm and the tree pollen will be at an all time high. I have quit walking outside because of allergies since I can't take anything because of my health issues. I am enjoying doing you-tube exercise videos in my office. They are more challenging than my daily walks! I'm enjoying my lace knitting project that I talked about on Wednesday. It is a fun knit. Also, I had my first contact lens fitting for my 'medically necessary' contacts that will help protect and heal my extremely dry eyes. Once the lenses are made and in their office, I go back and get another fittin...

  How was your weekend? My weekend was spent casting on new projects. I'm happy to share that our daughter and son in law are expecting their first child at the end of September. So of course I started a baby blanket and a lace Christening blanket over the weekend.  The Christening Blanket is challenging because the chart symbols are not the universal symbols that I am used to knitting. I am frequently flipping back and forth to the symbol chart to make sure I am doing the right stitches. I have already unknit 3 rows because I didn't even follow the chart correctly. I started another baby blanket (same pattern, forest green yarn). That is my TV knitting at the end of the day, I don't need to think about much when I am knitting that pattern. I hope to have updated project pages on Ravelry soon.  The weather is getting nicer, but the seasonal allergies are absolutely awful. So I've been doing indoor exercising hoping for some rain to tamp down the tree pollen. How as your...

  How are you?  I am enjoying the spring flowers outside but not the cold temperatures, I guess it could be much much colder and I shouldn't complain. Our patio awning was installed for the summer season and I wondered about those people working in 30 degree weather! I cannot wait to be able to sit out there and it will be soon. I had a knitting project that I started ages ago, a shawl, and recently pulled it out. I remember that I found multiple errors in the pattern (or I made a mistake which I highly doubt). So I fixed the mistakes as I knitted then set the shawl project aside for some baby knitting. Anyways, I returned to knitting this shawl yesterday morning and decided that I didn't like it and ripped out about 300 yards of knitting. I loved it! I loved letting go of a project that just wasn't sparking joy. I'm now knitting simple cowls instead with the yarn. In the past, I have ripped out entire sweaters because I didn't like the fit or style. I usually put a...

  Yesterday, my husband and I went to the Phipps Conservatory to see their spring flower show. The traffic was insane and it took us quite some time to get there because of heavy construction and possibly a traffic accident (we will never know). Once there, we had so much fun seeing the flowers. I wish I could photograph the scents! I believe this year's spring show was better than last year's show. We have a membership and go four or five times a year whenever they change the exhibits. I snapped so many photos and maybe I will paint some of them. I felt the creative urge to do so. Spring is filled with hopefulness and new beginnings, I like early spring but do not like late spring when the weather gets too hot. However, I don't have to think about hot weather right now, the forecast is saying snow next week, I hope it is incorrect. Afterwards, we went out for lunch at a ramen noodle restaurant. It was so good and I love the noodles! I have yet to come across a recipe that...