Pumpkin Sunrise

A few days ago it rained and rained and when it was over I decided to walk Frodo around the property.  Of course I did not take my camera the first time around so I did that same walk again.  Anyways it is very hard to photograph and hold a dog on a leash...a skill I lack. I was amazed at all of the mushrooms that popped up out of nowhere near the woods.  They have since been mowed over but I thought they looked quite pretty.  We lost this tree to a storm 3-4 years ago.  My husband still has the stump removal on the "to do" list.  I am in no hurry because it looks so nice adorned with moss, lichen and more fungi.  Maybe by the time we get to cutting it down it will just fall over from rotting???  Okay, maybe not. Our daughter is now at her school and it sure has been awfully quiet around here.  We did have a nice summer break with her.  It was also fun seeing her get more excited about starting law school and making new friends.  On Saturday, my husband and I are lo

Shamefully I am still on Anne of Windy Poplars  for my reading this week.  Can I blame it on a busy schedule?  Maybe.  I have slacked off with reading more during the day and we did take our daughter to her university on Monday.  We still have to take all of her stuff on Saturday when she moves into her apartment.  So I predict my reading will continue to be slow this week.  I am enjoying the Anne series.  This book is all about her three years teaching in another town, so lots of new characters are introduced and many drama scenes occur in the town.  It seems that quite frequently Anne is able to solve a dilemma or at least twist around another happy ending for the townspeople.  Last night she said "people are delicious and life is delicious"  How true!!! My knitting is very exciting this week (to make up for the lack of reading, of course!).  I am plugging away on the shawl for my mother in law.  I am so close to the lace edging-which is the best part of a lace shawl.  I

I did it.  I started another cardigan....for me!  This is my mustard seed cardigan  and if you look closely you can see that it is the Tea Leaves Cardigan pattern.  I have had this pattern in my basket since Christmas.  When I was in the LYS I immediately fell in love with this heathered shade of yellow and knew instantly what it would become.  I just get a big kick out of how everything falls into place.  The yarn is Ella Rae Classic  and feels wonderful~ just enough spring.  It is a little bit scratchy but I think a soak in wool wash will fix that right up. What makes this a fab purchase is that even my husband loves the color.  I tend to buy too many neutrals for his liking (like gray!)  Believe me I was looking at gray in the store but I have that color in my yarn stash. Right beside my beautiful yarn is a lovely bag my sister gave me over the weekend.  Tucked inside is my featherweight cardigan project.  It matches my knitting bag perfectly!!   So with all of

My weekend started off with getting ready for my sister and her family to arrive.  Potato salad (yum) was made, rice salad was made and chicken was marinating in Newman's Lime salad dressing for the grill.  Everyone arrived safely and the visiting commenced!!  We ran to the LYS and of course I bought yarn and of course I started ANOTHER knitting project and of course the sweater is for me.    We had such a good time being out :)   Saturday we shopped for new purses, you know the basic necessities.  I found a great basic black bag that my camera can fit inside so the next time I am out I will not be wishing I had my camera.  It happens more and more.  For dinner we had baked potatoes, corn on the cob, steak and shrimp on the grill with a tossed salad.   Before you knew it, Sunday arrived and we where saying goodbye to each other.   All day Sunday my daughter packed for school and I occasionally mentioned "do you have _______?"  (I am an excellent supervisor or a back s

Split Pea Soup 1 onion chopped 1/2 cup chopped carrots 2 stalks of celery chopped 1 tbs of olive oil 4 cups of vegetable broth 1 1/4 cups of yellow split peas 1 tsp thyme Saute the first four ingredients for 10 minutes then add the rest.  Simmer for 1 1/2 hours.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. (loosely based on a recipe from  1001 Low Fat Vegetarian Recipes by Sue Spitler) Linking with Amanda at Soulemama

This weekend my sister and her family are coming for a visit.  I cannot wait!  I have been planning the menu yesterday and today.  I have errands to run and of course I need to clean the house.  They were here for the graduation party but it was too busy to truly enjoy her company.  She was a big help in setting the food out and cleaning up the kitchen....sisters are the best! On Saturday we are going to the yarn store (of course), the quilt store and the health food store.  Let's see if I can resist spending any money...I need more yarn like I need a hole in my head (Gram's saying not mine).  The excuse in my head is that I am keeping the economy going, pretty good huh? I hope I can remember to take some photos during the weekend.  But when my mouth is yakking, preserving memories flies out the window.

Can you believe it is Wednesday already?  Time is just whizzing by for me.  As you can see I am now on the fourth book Anne of Windy Poplars .  I finished Anne of the Island  and guess what?  Anne finally figures out who she loves.....duh!  Throughout the whole book everyone knew but her. The best part of the book was when she was contemplating being with a romantic man who says beautiful things, or with a man who has a sense of humor, one she could share a laugh with.  I think if you are laughing through life you might just live longer and have fun along the way!  Thank goodness for Anne, humor won out.  How sad if your partner doesn't get your jokes. My knitting is a new project.  This is a shawl for my mother in law's birthday.  Now I really hope I give it to her because I am LOVING it very much for myself.  Here is the ravelry page .  Sometimes it is hard to be generous. Joining Ginny at Small Things

Did you know that Frodo, our trusty miniature schnauzer, is a rescue dog?  Well apparently he is!  Every morning he first checks to see if he can get out through or under the fence....so far so good.  We have thwarted him :)  Then he walks around the pool looking for poor drowning/or swimming creatures.  Frodo stands and stares until we come outside to scoop whatever he thinks is important.  Bugs do not count in the rescue.  The above toad made it. This poor little frog did not jump but rolled to safety, so I am guessing he swam a little too much. I swear this is the same turtle (I think he is a box turtle ) that is hanging out in our yard.  He is extremely shy and will NOT come out for a photo.  Believe me I try and try.  Frodo does not like the turtle and barks at it.  Even though it does not move.  Maybe he just creeps Frodo out.  (the turtle is never in the pool, just near the woods) This little critter is a milk snake (according to my husband) and he was rescued from the p

It is official, I have finished one, count it-ONE-knitted gift!  I feel so very accomplished.  We will not go into how many more I would love to do for the year.  If I begin to think I have to make all of the gifts this year then I feel stressed.  So one project at a time. This scarf was my own creation.  I casted on 36 stitches on size 7 needles.  I then knitted the double moss stitch until I ran out of yarn.  I am guessing I had about 400 yards of this beautiful alpaca sport weight yarn that I purchased at the Endless Mountain Fiber Festival two years ago.  Stash yarn knitting at its finest! Double Moss Stitch: Row 1 (rs):  K2, P2 across. Row 2 and 4 (ws):  knit the knits and purl the purls in whatever order they appear. Row 3: P2, K2 across.

Saturday was spent watching   I Love Lucy  reruns and lots and lots of knitting.  My mother loved to watch this show and it seems my daughter finds it quite hilarious.  Could this be genetic?  Who knows, but it was funny to watch.  Ethyl was wearing a lovely shrug that happens to be back in style. Some time ago (sorry cannot remember when) my husband and I watched Act I of Fiddler on the Roof   but never finished the musical.  You can guess what we viewed Saturday night.  For some reason I do not recall the musical being so sad.  Keep in mind, I got the pleasure of hearing "Tradition" being sung by my husband the rest of the evening.  Always entertaining and a mood lifter! Sunday was church then the never ending laundry chores.  In a couple of weeks (gasp!) I will only be washing clothes for two.  It boggles my mind and I wonder if I will adjust to less laundering. Time will tell, I guess.  Joining Amanda at Habit of Being

Joining Amanda at Soulemama .