Pumpkin Sunrise

Yesterday our son came home and along with him came the dorm stuff.  It wasn't as too bad, but boy oh boy it's amazing what they can collect.  He is only here for three weeks and then he's off to a summer research math program.  So we've tucked some boxes in the dining room, guest room and his room.  It would seem that most of the stuff will follow him. Today will be the epic laundry day.  I like to wash all the bedding whenever they move back, it needs to be fresh (and clean).  While we are talking about mundane to do lists, I'll be tackling our huge collection of cardboard boxes in the garage.  For some unknown reason I save them thinking I'll need them one day in the future.  For mailing items or for moving even though I haven't moved in years!  When I went out to get the paper this morning,  a pile of them fell on one on the cars, yep it needs to be addressed. Tomorrow our daughter will arrive and we'll be all together for the weekend. T

I'm excited to tell you all about a new sweater that I've cast on.  Remember my pink sweater ? I enjoyed knitting up that pattern so it was only natural to pick up some  Madeline Tosh Merino Light  and start another one.  I adore the top down construction and the intricate detail to the shoulder shaping.  What is not to love when there's ruching involved?  Exactly!  My colorway is "wicked" which makes me sing " defying gravity " (great musical by the way).  My love of madeline tosh yarn is overriding my slight concern that this yarn is a single ply.  So there is a bit of a worry that it will pill with wear.  For now I've thrown caution to the wind and I'm knitting on.  My fingers are crossed.  Maybe I'll walk without swinging my arms? While I was in a bookstore, I scoured the area looking for "Call the Midwife" memoir.  We only started watching this season and I knew I had to have a copy.  I could not locate the memoir, so I as

Last week I did something I rarely do (besides put car keys in the wrong car ignition, ahem).  I impulsively bought something from Etsy.  Now keep in mind, I've been daydreaming of THE perfect embroidery stamped patterns since I saw Steph's stitching .  I perused may shops online as well as box stores, always leaving empty handed.  I get discouraged when I have a certain idea of what I want and it doesn't exist. A dear blogging friend, Cory , has started an Etsy shop called  dreaming of pastures  and she listed the pattern of my dreams, see it does exist!  A lovely peacock that I can go wild with different flosses.  My package arrived yesterday, only five days after ordering-impressive! So this morning I dusted off the embroidery floss boxes from my long ago cross stitching days.  Sometime this afternoon I'll be starting a new project and hoping that my stitching skills return quickly. Thank you Cory for a lovely Embroidery Sampler

My weekend was book browsing, and book buying.  I never tire of that activity and flipping through pages and reading inner flaps is a past time that I've done for decades.  I had dinner out yesterday before saying goodbye to our daughter who is currently back at her apartment as I type.   Washing dishes and clothes, sweeping floors and slowly reading the paper-pulling out the puzzles for later.  Lilac gathering for the family room (knowing my allergies will suffer but visually it's worth it!).  Later today there will be knitting with friends and probably a walk after dinner.  Yesterday we heard the spring peepers  in the evening, I hope today will be the same.  Joining Amanda

Hello Beautiful. (Frodo says "hi") It's been a flustery kind of week.  On Wednesday, while rushing to go to work, I jammed the wrong car key into the ignition.  Well jammed means that I couldn't drive that car. My husband spent the morning prying the key out, calling a tow truck and well.....Let's say "haste makes waste" and it's going to be an expensive fix. So with that snafu looming about in my brain, I've been focusing on enjoying my daughter's visit!  We went shopping a few times this week and I've been cooking all my new meals for her to taste test.  Because she lives alone she's challenged by cooking for one.  As you know, I'm challenged by cooking for two!  It all comes down to flavor to make cooking exciting.  She leaves tomorrow. Our son arrives home on Thursday for three weeks before he leaves for a summer research program.  This will be the first summer without kids.  I think I'm okay with that.  It's

After knitting the quick and easy projects for the children's knitting classes, I've returned to my shawl .  I am at the fun part-lace edging!  Yesterday as I continued the lace pattern and all of my decrease stitches on the wrong side were mixed up.  Then I realized that I was not reading the chart correctly! That is what happens when you set something down and forget about it for a few days.  It was easy to correct the decreases without ripping out and now I am good to go on the shawl.  Phew! The Hundred Year Old Man  etc... is entertaining.  I must say it's a bit slow going for me but I am not an adventure reader of books.  I like psychological family drama (soap opera story lines in print).  I do like the humor that is in the book and as I read I frequently think that this is a book my son would love.  I am going to start reading it during the day as well.  I think a fresh mind would do wonders compared to a sleepy mind.  So if you like adventure, tongue in cheek

In one week my lilacs are nearly at full bloom.  The trees surrounding the property are all leafed out and these days have been the perfect weather conditions.  It's warm in the sun and cool in the shade with low humidity.  I could have an entire summer with the temperature never topping over 75 degrees.  A girl can dream! I had fun with my sister and we enjoy getting together without our children (who are now all adults).  We laugh a lot and are easily entertained by the simplest things.  My husband had a truck load of dirt delivered to our back yard and my brother in law helped disperse the dirt over our developing crater.  Our property was not graded properly so we are guessing the craters are fallen trees below the dirt, decaying (we are sticking to that theory!).  Now when he mows, our lawn tractor won't take a beating.  And how boring to be excited about a truck load of dirt. Our daughter is home for the week.  Yesterday we went to the outlets shopping and had a gr