Pumpkin Sunrise

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

During the week I created the bestest soup recipe and thought you might like to try it.  Honestly, it is pretty good.  Now the problem is that my measurements are guesses and there is wiggle room for creativity. Chicken Rice Cabbage Soup: Chop one onion and three stalks of celery and saute in olive oil (guessing 1/8 cup??) once soft add 8 cups of chicken broth and one cup of frozen green beans.  Simmer for 20-30 minutes.  Add 1 cup of cooked rice, 1 cup of chopped cooked chicken, and 1/2 a head of chopped napa cabbage.  Stir and return to a simmer (you want to wilt the cabbage and not boil it to death). Serves 4 very hungry people. Then eat it all up!  My daughter coined it "Charlie Bucket Cabbage Soup" since cabbage soup was a staple in his household ( Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl).  My husband loved it only because the carrots were absent, he hates carrots in soup. The house is quiet now that it's just the two of us again, well there is F

I've been focusing on my only two projects this week.  The first project is the pi shawl in the photo.  I am less than 20 rows away from the last section of lace.  Once that is complete I'll be doing the lace edging.  Getting to the lace edging is motivation enough for me, so exciting!  This project is knit during the day without many distractions.  Once evening hits, I set it aside.  It is not fun to fix knitting errors in laceweight yarn.  Trust me. My other project is the tea leaves cardigan for me!  I've just completed the yoke and started the body of the sweater.  Love all that stockinette and mindless knitting.  If you're contemplating a sweater for yourself this one is a great one to knit up.  It's with worsted weight and the directions are written clearly. Still reading the same books and enjoying each one.  In Wuthering Heights,  Cathy Sr. is just starting to be a bit of a brat.  Heathcliff is always moody and Hindley is going to get what's comi

The battery to my camera needed charging this morning so a cell phone photo will have to do.  I am on the body of the tea leaves cardigan and I'm thoroughly loving the stockinette for the body of the sweater.  Easy, mindless and nearly mistake proof. Yesterday was a busy day with errands and miscellaneous routine appointments in all directions.  From nine in the morning until three in the afternoon I was in the car.  I did get a lot done, crossed off many items on my list and had a fabulous lunch out with my daughter.  Today I'm doing paperwork in the morning, catching the noon news for the last check of the weather.  Tomorrow morning is my scheduled time to take our daughter back to her apartment-I want to make sure it is snow free!  So far so good.  If the plan needs to change she'll go back this evening.  Oh winter I love you so but not to drive in. My husband had a great birthday, in all of those gift bags were CDs, DVDs, a video game and a racketball glove.  Th

This weekend was filled with: -celebrating my husband's birthday -German chocolate cake-his favorite -dinner out to our favorite restaurant -watching The King's Speech  and loving it -seeing five deer casually hanging out in our front yard -pizza, of course! -seeing those snowflakes that seem suspended in mid air, tiny and beautiful -knitting a lot How was your weekend? Joining Amanda

I finished my cowl earlier this week and have worn it twice.  It's lovely to have something new in the wardrobe.  Ravelry notes are here .  Also during the week I was lucky to receive a giveaway sponsored by Donna over at Knit1Spin2 blog.  I have to admit I love to receive gifts in the mail especially the 'yarny' kind.  Thank you Donna, you've made this knitter quite happy!! Yesterday while getting dinner ready, Frodo was out back surveying his lands and barking.  I told him to be quiet and left the door ajar to be sure he listened to me.  I continued to peel potatoes and became lost in thought.  It must have been within 15 minutes when I thought it smelled like spring in the house.  The fresh air from the door being ajar did wonders to my mood and how the weather felt.  It looks like winter and feels like winter but you know what? It is sounding and smelling like spring!  I hope you all have a lovely weekend :)

With great delight I am knitting another tea leaves cardigan .  I'm quite confident I can knit this up and wear it before summer arrives, at least that is my plan.  The wool is Cascade 220  in a lovely bluish purple or purplish blue. Here is a blog post about my original tea leaves cardigan .  I have worn this sweater many times this winter which lead to another being cast on.  If you haven't knit this cardigan up, you should because the instructions are very clear and it knits up quickly.  I am enjoying the "chunky" yarn in my hands since most of the time I'm knitting with lace or fingering weight wool. I am reading two books but only photographed one.  As you can see I'm reading Wuthering Heights.   One day I thought about how I was in the mood for some well written angst, turmoil and characters you love to hate.  (Cathy senior to be exact, she is such a brat).  I dusted off my 1985 copy given to me from my mom for Christmas and started.  Oh, it's l

Today I wanted to post about another finished knitting project but it just didn't happen.  I did not finish anything this week.  Now that I've admitted it to myself and you I feel a bit better.  Yesterday I cleaned and apparently by the above photo missed some dust on the floor :)  Over all the house is clean, trust me.  On Friday, my daughter will be home and that piano in the photo will be covered in sheet music, so will the dining room table. Yesterday we took a walk down the dirt road which we haven't visited since winter started.  The sun was shining and the air felt slightly less frigid on our outing.  It's too early yet to search for signs of spring, but soon (three weeks?) the buds will start.  This winter lover could be ready. The yarn in the above basket is Mad tosh (purple) , then some alpaca from a knitting friend, and cascade 220 in a purple/blue .  The basket was my mother's and she kept her knitting in it as well.  She sewed the basket

This weekend saw me choosing a new cell phone (finally) and watching my husband not choose one.  He's like that and it's amusing.  We picked up Chinese food and donuts which has now lead to a healthy Sunday dinner to promote detoxing of the salt.  I think just looking at Chinese food can add 6 lbs.  You know I firmly believe donuts are inherently good for you-they come in the colors of fruit?? Saturday was a lazy day.    I knit, read, puzzled and did almost nothing.  It was fun.  Have you been hearing the birds singing early in the morning?  I've been enjoying that when Frodo and I get the newspaper.  After the silence of winter, their singing is quite noticeable.  We resumed watching some Star Trek episodes, season one from the original series, always entertaining that my husband knows each and every single episode. Today we went to church, I caught up on some correspondence with friends via snail mail, paid bills, and am running some laundry.  Later I'll chat w

I had the pleasure of meeting a friend for lunch and had a fun time.  We try to get together just the two of us but as you know it's crazy to pin down a day to catch up.  For two hours we laughed, talked and relayed all the events that deemed important to share.  While we met, the weather quickly changed from snow, to rain, to a gray cold day. I've been thoroughly enjoying the knitting classes.  Every single person I've met has been a pleasure to teach.  More classes are being scheduled and my "to do" knitting is slowly increasing.  Sometimes life falls gently into place, my gram would say "it was meant to be".  She was a smart lady full of deep reflections. My gram also believed what goes around comes around....who knew a catholic woman would believe in karma?? Next weekend, my daughter is coming home for half of her spring break.  We are sandwiching in what we want to do among routine appointments.  You know there will be shopping involved, ju

I was knitting on this pi shawl last night and quickly discovered a teeny tiny mistake (knitting the wrong row of the directions).  When I mentioned this to my husband he replied jokingly "well apparently you aren't as good of a knitter as you think you are".  I'm still chuckling about that.  The pi shawl is NOT for television viewing, I'm still an expert ;)  I've had this shawl on the needles for quite some time.  Currently there are 588 glorious stitches on the needles and it is slow going.  It's a perfect winter knitting project.  I'll pick it up and do a row or two and then I'm off to knit on something else. I finished my spring green colored cowl and posted about it here .  I've never met a more cheerful green! I'm nearing the end of my book,  Traveling Mercies .  I've thoroughly enjoyed her reflections and her journey of faith.  She injects humor while she weaves a tale but it's done respectfully.  I admire her faith a