Pumpkin Sunrise

  Good morning! Boy do I have a lot of catching up to do so grab your tea or coffee and let's begin! Last Wednesday our son, daughter in law and GRANDSON arrived for a three day visit! We haven't seen them since March and the visit was fantastic. Our little guy was friendly and full of smiles after a brief 'who the heck are you' look that was priceless. I fed him many bottles and changed very few diapers. (that is a great visit) They left on Saturday morning and I miss all of them already. I forgot how tiring babies can be and cannot remember where I had the energy to keep up with them. It took me 48 hours to recover from their stay. During their visit we went to the zoo and we had a family get together at our house. The other set of grandparents were able to attend and we had a grand time doting on the baby. Holly does NOT like babies. She hid under our bed until they were all asleep each day then came out begrudgingly.  Poor Holly!! Frodo thought the baby was here to

  How was your weekend?  Mine was picture perfect - there was abundant sunshine and endless blue skies and slightly warmer weather. Today is going to be better than yesterday. I adore when Mother Nature gifts us with hints of things to come. I know you are thinking 'but Karen, you love winter'. I do love winter but this season I'm ready for a change and to be outside more. Saturday and Sunday we walked down the dirt road that isn't a dirt road anymore but it was for a long time so the name has stuck. There are no signs of green but the creek is flowing and skunk cabbage is sprouting. The earliest beginnings of springtime. Saturday, I read my Stephen King novel, The Outsider , in the afternoon. He is such a gifted writer! I wish I could read this at bedtime but I can't see the print with my junky cheapo readers that I use (I won't use my progressive prescription eyewear because I don't want to bend the frames from accidentally falling asleep - which I do ever

  How was your weekend? Mine was quiet and steady, just the way I like it. We walked both days getting our fresh air and stretching our legs. I did art journaling on Saturday as well as hot glued some ornaments then stitched them together.  Let's just say I have respect for hot glueing - it is a mess and it's painful when you touch it! On Sunday I started a new baby blanket but I'm waffling on whether I like it or not. The yarn is pooling a bit. I could accept it and say it's artistic expression and leave it be.  I will just keep adding rows and thinking about it.  I like the yarn since it's 100% cotton and the baby is a California baby to be.   I worked on my sweater as well this weekend and really need to check gauge...eep.  If I'm off by an inch I know I can block the daylights out of it.  The yarn is 100% wool and I do not have the grace that super wash gives when it relaxes and grows which is a minor concern. It's wonderful that these are my pressing th

  Overall my weekend was nice. My weekend was filled with: -reorganizing art and journaling supplies - playing Christmas music -  journaling - thinking of family - walks - knitting (always knitting) - reading Fred Roger's biography - eating all the leftovers from Thursday - daydreaming - wishing for snow - finally witnessing the first hard frost (my fall allergies are thankful) - contemplating new knitting projects - online Christmas shopping How was your weekend?

  This week before the daily rainy days, we were walking our usual daily route. Most of the leaves have fallen but there are some trees that are resisting, mainly the catalpa trees. Maybe we are on our third rainy day, I've lost count. Rainy dreary days are perfect for knitting endlessly. My new planner arrived on Monday afternoon as well as a new fountain pen and new ink. I've been setting it up so that I start in November. This planner is replacing two to four notebooks or loose pages. I am focusing on daily tasks, menu planning, exercising, budgeting and my schedule. Migrating information from one location to another has been fun. Nothing motivates me more than a new system. I'll keep you updated with my progress. The fountain pen is a TWSBI Eco pen  and my new ink is 54th Massachusetts Noodler's ink  which is a blue/black ink - I love it. (I purchased through JetPens this is not an affiliate link) I continue to use my creativity planner as well. That holds my knit

Hello!  How are you all doing?  Here in PA we are in the midst of a statewide shutdown of all non essential businesses.  Earlier this week my husband starting working remotely after a scramble of setting up the remote duties.  I know that Frodo and Holly love having us home so much.  We are walking daily taking in the soft signs of spring as it emerges.  There is a faint green sheen on the bushes and some trees.  The daily walks also help manage the doom and gloom feeling of the 'new normal'. So far my kids are safe at their places and we have tons of food even though people keep panic buying and making shelves bare.  You would think I have been super busy with knitting and creating but I am struggling to focus.  I am consuming the news too much, mostly because the news changes so quickly.  I've made a list of what I want to get down.  I need to make an exercise routine so I quit wasting time deciding what I will do.  I'll be dusting off the yoga mat as w

I find that the more I check off my to do list the more I add to the list.  As you know, we found an apartment for our daughter after a two month search.  A huge weight off of my mind and instead of celebrating, I turn around and start the search for my son's apartment.  This one is challenging because he will be in Boston and that is not near here.  So more juggling of the logistics of seeing places.  Thankfully my husband is the adventurous city traveler and so I will create the checklist and send them on their merry way. Not sure when.... So while I am busy and living a full purposeful life, I am creating a happy list: -walking after six in the evening with my dog and my family -coffee in the early morning while I journal -knitting my blanket -planning a new knit! -sesame bagels -avocados with salt (I am a salt lover and I dread the day the dr says 'no') -AC -sticking to my walking and my yoga routines -love the feel of more flexibility and less aches and

Noticing this week: -birds singing and singing, the woodpecker busy in the woods-two days ago, I saw his silhouette. -did not have a camera for that moment, so I've memorized the photo -warmer days-short sleeve wearing-and shorts! -freshly mulched beds that have that earthy smell and look beautiful -eating a perfect watermelon    -and avocado    -but not together -the sun rising early and the nights taking longer to arrive -daily walks occurring early or late, never midday -friendly neighbors and passerby people who give a wave -Frodo with a new haircut :) -wild raspberries, strawberries and roses blooming along the roadside with the phlox What have you noticed? Have a lovely weekend :)

I find myself amazed at how quickly the weather switches to never ending breezy cold and light jacket wearing to sandals, humidity and greenness.  Spring has arrived, flowers are blooming, trees are mostly leafed out.  And yes, I'm grumbling about the humidity. This week we had a truckload of mulch delivered and our few beds will be getting a bit of a sprucing up.  We haven't mulched in years and the beds are begging for some moisture retention from the sun.  Many of our bulbs are sprouting up and are promptly eaten by the rabbits.  Each day I check to see if there be a blossom....fingers crossed! Our dirt road is all green now.  The forest floor is covered in   skunk cabbage  and may apples , both beautiful in their own ways.  The wild ducks love weaving in among the leaves as they scurry away to hide from me. Can you see that fish?  He is huge!  He and his friends who are equally large live in the duck pond down the road from us.

This weekend I walked daily and noticed some green in my surroundings.  Sure it's algae and moss and weeds but it's green and beautiful to behold!  Also some stray spring bulbs are blooming on the hillside, crocuses to be exact, but too far to photo. My weekend was uneventful and yet full.  Yesterday we had homemade wings for dinner and what made them special was not sharing them with others.  Sounds silly but it was fun just the two of us digging in.  To offset the wings, we had a healthy vegetable platter.  Oh and sugar cookies :) Today after Mass and lunch at home, we headed out for another walkabout.  Dinner is "breakfast for dinner" theme.  Eggs, asparagus and toast and if I'm lucky in my freezer search some turkey breakfast sausages. Oh and some more sugar cookies :) There was: knitting, reading, writing, talking, laughing, playing with Frodo, list making and goal setting. How was your weekend? Joining Amanda

The weather was warm enough over the weekend to resume walking the dirt road that is near my house. This walk is a restive walk, quietness descends with each step and you hear trees rustling and birds singing.  I love this walk because of the solitude. As you can see, brown brown brown is everywhere you look.  However in a mere few weeks we will be witnessing some fresh spring green sprouting.  In my youth, I rarely appreciated early spring but now I do.  I love the anticipate early spring provides.  I know that one day I will set out for a walk and see signs everywhere I turn that spring has arrived. P.S.  The three inches of snow from yesterday morning is nearly melted and today will be almost 60 degrees!

We had dear friends over for dinner and company on Friday night, the first dinner of many without a single child between us!  As much as I was sadden by the lack of children, I embraced the quick and easy clean up and the abundance of desserts on the tray.  We had a good time, with every intention to knit while together but we ended up with knitting in our bags at the ready untouched. Saturday afternoon I resumed walking with my husband and Frodo, gingerly-I'm happy to report that the ankle is doing much much better and as long as I watch where I'm going I should be fine.  Those dastardly shoes have been safely tucked to the side. I feel incredibly lucky to be recovering so quickly. The time change offered me a chance to knit a tiny bit more on the Thanksgiving sweater.  "I think I can, I think I can", is the mantra in my head. Positive thinking and all that stuff.  Besides the conversations with my two kids, I had a lovely chat with my favorite Aunt and Uncle.

This is the road more traveled, I've seen this road five times this week because I've been trying to walk almost every day as long as the weather cooperates.  My aim for the weekend was to do "nothing" and by that I mean enjoy staying in town without travel plans.  This plan worked and I was renewed by my "nothingness".  So my weekend was: -a dinner out with my husband, talking, laughing and eating -a dinner out with a dear friend, talking, laughing and eating -some knitting, reading and a wee bit of laundering -a date with my camera about the property -having phone chats with both of the kids throughout the weekend -doing crossword puzzles and sudokus, successfully! -knitting on my socks, getting close to the heel flap construction how was your weekend? Joining Amanda

As far as I can remember, I've loved to walk anywhere.  When I was a girl growing up in Pittsburgh, I would walk with my mother and my sister down sidewalks made of red bricks in herringbone designs trying not to step on a crack and save my mother's back.  Eventually I would be reprimanded for dawdling-sadly my mom didn't know I was saving her back health.  Black patent leather shoes angling into brick outlines made a rhythm of hopping and hoping to land inside the lines. I grew up in the city and I recall one street that had many oak trees and a black cast iron fence edging a grand property.  In the fall my sister and I would walk through the fallen brown crunchy leaves kicking them high up in the air, laughing and giggling.  We also walked to school daily. five or six blocks passing crossing guards in blue and white uniforms. Near the end of fall, my mother would bundle me up in a hat and scarf and once around the bend when she couldn't see me-off would go the ha

I thought I'd dazzle you with a bright blue sky that hasn't been seen since last weekend.  Pretty huh? I miss it so.  Every day this week has been over cast, sure the sun will peek out but it's brief and not enough.  Yesterday we walked our dirt road searching for signs of spring.  Runny noses are the only sign for now.  Allergy season! I've resumed my lace knitting and am happy to announce that the edging pattern is cemented into my memory.  One less thing to slow me down-reading directions.  When I first started the edging, I thought it was not very pretty.  Now that I'm a 1/3 done I think it's beautiful.  I used to think garter stitch was very ugly now I love it.  Funny how tastes change.  Garter stitch lovingly showcases a hand painted yarn to it's best advantage, in my opinion. Now that spring is approaching (it will arrive, promise) smaller projects are flitting through my mind.  Hats and socks.  Also I would love to do a beaded lace knit. I hav

We were out for a walk yesterday and even though it's still cold like winter, I'm seeing signs of spring. Down by the pond the ducks are active and chasing each other.  Seems to me they are swimming more instead of hiding.  Frodo would love to catch one, I'm not sure what he would do with it when he caught it.  Some of our bushes and trees are slowly budding-another sign.  I will admit that I'm looking forward to some milder weather.  Just not hot weather. Yesterday Frodo was barking in the back yard, he's vocal that way.  I decided to see what was the fuss.  I couldn't believe it!!  He was barking at my elusive woodpecker that I've been trying to find in the mornings.  He's a beautiful bird, and I quickly ran to get the "good" camera.  Now I have two drawbacks.  First off, I do not own a zoom lens....yet.  It's on the list of purchases.  Secondly, I am not a stealth person which means I would fail ninja training.  So when I ran outsi

My weekend summary: - YAWN -time change is very tiring... -we walked the three of us in full sunshine yesterday on dry (not muddy) dirt roads.  Birds sang and spring gently whispered in our ears.  Sure there will be more snow and cold weather but it will be brief.  Trees are budding! -with spring comes the craving of tossed salads.  My current favorite is assorted lettuce and vegetables with chickpeas and sunflower seeds sprinkled on top-yum! -Knitting the lace edging of my pi shawl, I believe it's going to take forever.  Lucky for me, I like to knit. -phone calls from the kids-our son will be home next weekend for his spring break!! -hiding the winter boots and woolen socks (for now), washing winter coats, matching up mitts and folding up scarves.  Still at the ready, just in case.  And I know I'm tempting fate. -afternoons of reading novels attacking crossword puzzles and snuggling with Frodo. How was your weekend? Joining Amanda