Pumpkin Sunrise

  Merry Christmas! I hope you had a wonderful weekend with people who bring you joy and happiness. I've been filling my days with visiting family and day outings. Yesterday, my husband and I enjoyed a quiet day at home. The day was sprinkled with phone calls to and from family who live far away. Thank goodness for the person who invented cell phones and unlimited calling. I remember when we were first married and having phone bills up to $400 dollars (yikes!). Last Thursday, my husband and I went to the art museum to see the nativity scene and some exhibits then headed off to lunch. I love the museum outings immensely - they spark inspiration and creativity. Santa Claus gifted me new paints! How did he know? I also received yarn and books. He is just a good gift giver. And my 2023 is going to be a wonderful year. Our son, daughter in law and grandson  are arriving later this week. I'm looking forward to seeing them and being with them. We will do another round of visiting famil

  What a delight to wake up to some snow on Sunday morning! Sadly they are calling for rain later this week and all of the snow will disappear. How are you? How was your weekend? I wrapped Christmas gifts yesterday and I am mostly done. I even tidied up the wrapping area. There's a few more presents left but those can be tucked into a gift bag. I'm in the process of moving away from using wrapping paper which is not recyclable and using gift bags instead.  I have yet to write and plot out the menu this week, it's on my 'to do' list. How was your weekend?

  How was your weekend? Mines was fabulous, we went to the Phipps Conservatory  on Friday night to see their holiday lights. The display was fabulous!! We were cold but not that cold.  Sunday in between attending Mass, doing some laundry and light cleaning, I painted and doodled about at the kitchen table. Of course there was some knitting and reading as well. I enjoy weekends when they have a dabble of everything I wish to do!

  How was your weekend? Mine was a good one. Thanksgiving morning we zoomed with our daughter which was delightful. The day after Thanksgiving at my sister's house with my family, my husband and I drove over to Ohio for the day to see our son, daughter in law and our grandson at the other grandparent's house. Oh the joy!!  Our little grandson wasn't feeling well and was a bit cranky but we did get to hold him as long as he could see his parents. He is growing up so fast! He's nine months old now. Saturday morning was for both of us a recovery day from being in the car most of the Friday. I did decorate the 'big' tree in the living room. The above photo is the 'little' tree in the family room. My house is officially decorated.  Yesterday I dabbled in paints, did the laundry, knitted and wrote that mighty to do list for the week.  How was your weekend?

  And just like that, it's wintry cold out there. Frodo is sporting his lovely plaid dog coat that keeps him toasty warm on our walks. I'm wearing lots of wool and loving it. The newspaper today indicated that this chilliness will remain well after Thanksgiving. Bundle up! How was your weekend? I did massive amounts of knitting and finishing both Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday I invited myself over to my sister's house for an 'art date'. We think we created something good. I packed up what I some of my supplies and we painted together while listening to Christmas music. Oh and she made biscotti! yum. It was a lot of fun. Last night we had a fire in the fireplace. The room looks cosy and warm! In other news, my dry eyes are feeling a bit better, thanks for all the well wishes. I've got quite the to-to list this Monday morning as I start another week.  

  Good morning! How was your weekend? Mine was boring and you know how I love the simple everyday comings and goings of ordinary living. I pulled out my watercolor paints because Kat  and my sister have both been painting up a storm. It was nice to get back into dabbling. Thanks for the inspiration you two! Saturday I started a blanket with 'vintage' wool and on Sunday I ripped it all out. It was TOO rustic for my taste. I was hoping the drape of the fabric would win out but the scratchiness was just unforgiving. My husband's sock is coming along and I've put many more rows on my blue sweater. On Sunday was had a fantastic rainstorm with thundering. All the plants got watered for free.

  Thank you so very much for your kind words and encouraging comments. I called the office late Friday afternoon and was told 'no further treatment' is necessary from the coronary CT scan. I am feeling better and my body is adjusting to the new (three's a charm) blood pressure medicine. By mid June I will have a follow up appointment with a cardiologist closer to home and during that visit I will get the nitty-gritty of what all the cardio test results mean. I have a multitude of questions. Thank you again - I am humbled by our little blogging community and the space we share.  Did your SEE that first photo??? Like crazy grandparents we drove three hours (one way to Columbus Ohio) for a lunch date with our son and daughter in law to spend some short time with our grandson yesterday. Oh the happiness!! He is a joyful baby, how lucky am I??  On Saturday, I did lots of watercoloring, sketching, reading and basically chilling out.  How was your weekend?

  I've written about my morning routine many times but I thought why not touch upon it once more. I love to get up early in the morning, drink my tea and journal about the day before. Mostly it's about events, thoughts and feelings. Sometimes I rant but try not to very much. At the end of each entry I write my gratitude list. Frequently it's about family and friends, coffee and tea, quiet pockets in my day. The more ordinary the gratitude the more I feel peace. The past two to three weeks have been wonky here. I've been having health symptom issues that I thought were medication changes for my blood pressure. An EKG was slightly abnormal which referred me to a cardiologist. While waiting for that appointment I visited ER to make sure I wasn't having a heart attack (I was NOT). I met the cardiologist last week and he thought I was 'fine' but ordered a stress test anyways. I did the stress test on Monday and thought I passed! But then I got a call from the off

  This week I've been working on 'being present' in what I do. When I'm on a walk with Frodo I notice what I see, hear and feel. The wind, the neighborhood dogs barking to say 'hello' to Frodo, the birds singing and feeling my cold hands and face while Mother Nature dips into wintry weather (I am not complaining!).  I've noticed that mornings are favorite times to notice the here and now.  I am a part-time dabbler in the 'what if' scenario thought process. "What if this happens?"  "What if that happens?" These thoughts are not being present. And so I work hard at my mindfulness techniques, a constant work in progress.  Guess what is NOT a constant work in progress...I finished that blanket! Oh boy what a labor of love. I hope to have some photos of the blanket for you next week. I'm excited that I can now do some casting on of short term projects while I mull about what long term project I want to do in the future (not a blank

  Oh boy was it hot this weekend.  Saturday I was all 'yay, it feels so nice' and by Sunday afternoon I had to put the AC on due to my hands and wrists swelling and aching. (The arthritis symptoms I experience are terrible in hot weather). Isn't it crazy that it was so hot? Isn't it crazy that too much of a good thing could be wrong? The dogwood trees in our backyard are about to bloom, for that I am truly grateful. I had many at our old house and am quite pleased we have them here as well. I also have a resident Mr and Mrs brown headed cowbird couple that are adorable. Sometimes they eat at the bird feeder and sometimes they are standing on the ground eating stray seeds that have fallen down from the bird feeder. I did a bit of watercoloring and sketching over the weekend. It was good to be returning to art in some form or another. My husband did major gardening work on Saturday then was achy on Sunday! I did my weekly laundry chores and cleaning the house.  I'm re

  This weekend was a stay at home do nothing weekend and it was glorious. I will not talk about the snowflakes I witnessed yesterday morning, instead I will focus on all the daffodils blooming and the possible tulips that are trying their best to survive whatever is eating them (deer? rabbit?). Spring is arriving and I'm patient enough to wait for it. I managed to really really clean the house. The dusting and the vacuuming that I love to procrastinate on until it's unbearable is completed until the next time. The house looks so tidy!  I worked on the baby sweater and am nearly ready to cast on one more baby sweater for another gift. Also, I dusted off my paint set and did a little sketch. In between I marathon read some books and abandoned one book which was liberating! How was your weekend?

  We've been home for over a week and I just might be recovered from the travels. I am pleasantly back into the ordinary swing of things and doing the activities that bring me joy. Such as:   - walking daily, weather permitting - exercising - menu planning (not enjoyable but I do like to eat!) - knitting daily - easing in a bit of sketching and watercoloring - reading daily - trying my best to be PRESENT - journalling - connecting with family While it took me a week to get back into my daily groove, Frodo needed three days to recover from the kennel stay. He might have too much fun and bark more than he should. Thankfully he had a grooming appointment and looks dapper. I pulled out my little watercolor notebook and quickly sketched and painted some daffodils.  While the weather was spectacular these past few days, it looks like winter will edge back in and --gulp-- with it some snow showers. Oh March you do love to do this!! What  brings you joy?

  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

  There is something about January days that are delightful. The Christmas gift giving, planning, knitting and wrapping is completed. The house is undecorated from the holidays and clean spaces are everywhere where I look. The days are getting a little more daylight each day, do you notice that?  I continue to love watching the birds at my back yard feeder. Winter is glorious. After nearly a week, I am recovered from our trip to Cambridge MA. We have another winter storm brewing this weekend but I do not have to be anywhere important through most of it. While up in Cambridge I started a pair of socks for my husband who was the only knit-worthy person who did not receive a Christmas hand knit. Better late than never, right? I am just making a plain pair that requires no thinking on my part. I am knitting on auto pilot. I have been reading the Sister of Auschwitz during the day when my mind is fresh, it's really good. The other book Amaryllis in Blueberry is a really weird book, can

  Hello! How is your first week of January? Mine has been delightful. I thought I'd share with you some of the new books and journalling stuff I received over the holidays. The above book pile is what I'll be reading in the next few weeks. My kindle has a ton of books and I like to have one of those always going so it's light in my purse when I'm out - I can guarantee you if I don't take a book with me I am waiting somewhere for a very long time so I try to keep it with me. (Emergency reading?) Last March, I switched to a Hobonichi Weeks planner and loved it so much. So I bought one for 2022. I use this for personal planning and keeping appointments. I also track my health, exercise, knitting ideas or projects, and all sorts of thoughts. This planner is a thought catcher. For my birthday, my daughter gave me the above pencil pouch that is delightful! She purchased it from JetPens   and along with the pouch,  there were lavender pens and markers and washi tape. Swoon