Pumpkin Sunrise

My good friend (who happens to knit!) gave me the book Tuesdays with Morrie  by Mitch Albom.  She loves to thrift and when she sees a must read book she buys them to give away.  Lucky me!  I'm nearly through reading.  My only wish is that I was reading this thought provoking book on life and death and it's meaning during the summer.  Winter is not the time for me to read about death.  It just isn't. My daughter was reading The Story of My Life by Helen Keller while on break, I decided to revisit an old friend.  I read this book when I was thirteen years old. This book along with a few others started the burning desire to read instead of socializing in my free time.  I thought this was a good habit but my best friend did not.  This book also started a list making habit of "books read" during the summer.  I wish I had the list! I'm still reading Blowing on Dandelions by Miralee Ferrell-nearly done!  I hope I can finish before it has to be returned to the

I finished moving stuff about on the main floor.  The process took all day long and I'm sore from carrying piles of papers and folders up and down stairs.  I keep way too much "stuff" but at least I'm tidy and neat about it.  Now my studio is a mess but that's another day.  Along with rearranging comes moving little visual corners about in my home. The kitchen pantry has been reorganized as well and lucky for me I have found some items that will definitely be on the menu rotation.  Speaking of menus, since we are down to two people instead of four it occurs to me that our diet will be healthier and cleaner.  Goodbye cookies, cakes, and candies.  Hello, fruits, vegetables and various grains! Today I'll be starting a new knitting project.  Of course it will be lace weight yarn made lovingly by a dear real life knitting friend.  She used plant dyes to create her yarns.  Mine is beets :)  LOVE this!! Do you see the sweet little paper clips in t

On Thursday we left for a long weekend at my sister's house.  My husband had work on Friday at a hospital in downtown Pittsburgh so we mixed a family trip in with the business.  Many times we are in the city and mostly we get together with family.  This trip we squeezed in a visit to the Carnegie Natural History Museum and the Art Museum .  I have been to these museums as a child, teenager, young adult, young mother and etc.  I vaguely remember having lunches in the cafeteria on field trips. A few facts about my weekend: -I did not take many photos with the iphone, and I did not take any at all with the Nikon.  I was living in the moment and being a little lazy. -I did not go yarn shopping!  Sadly when January rolls around I am done in with the shopping and acquiring of objects this includes yarn.  I promise though I shall recover :) -I had home made meals, meals at restaurants but my favorite meal was taking my sister out for lunch on her birthday-just the two of us!

I am in the midst of some family gatherings filled with laughter and good food. After this weekend, I will be saying goodbye to the kids and hello to my house.  This winter break has been a good one. The days were slow and mindful with a few excursions. Have I ever told you that we all are avid book readers? Our tastes differ widely but the fervent excitement to share a plot is the same with each one of us.  So I wave goodbye to the book piles, the pens-so many of them.  Along with opinions of books we each have an opinion of favorite pens and notebooks. I've been daydreaming of sorts each morning about what I'd like to do to the house.  My imaginations take me furniture shopping for a shelf for the foyer or more than likely,  rearranging what I already own and save a bit of money. I'm itching to freshen up the family room and kitchen.  I get like this every January-a new year and a new to me looking space.  Have a good weekend! (The photo was during the d

This week I have been feverishly knitting away on a shawl  that is addictive.  The design is simple and easy to memorize and the construction allows a knitter to knit until the yarn runs out.  That kind of shawl knitting is the best.  One more row has been my mantra and still there is yarn galore!  The wool was bought at a fiber festival many years ago and originally intended for a pair of socks for my husband.  I changed my mind because he is hard on socks so now I only knit with dedicated sock yarn with a nylon blend for maximum life span.  Speaking of socks, he needs more pairs....soon after the shawl, right? Currently I'm reading two books, the one in the photo- The Orphan Train  by Christina Baker Kline is excellent.  The ending is not far for me and the story has me savoring every single word.  It is a must read book and I haven't finished reading it!  My other book is on my ipad and is borrowed from the elibrary.   Blowing on Dandelions  by Miralee Ferrell is a gen

I've finished another fair isle hat  this past week.  I've been calling this knit doodling because I'm just flying by the seat of my pants with creating a design to use up all the odds and ends of left over alpaca wool that was saved for this very purpose. Cardinal rule number one of a knitter-save all of your scraps and half skeins! Compared to this hat , I went up a needle size and only had one fair isle design element.  There are five colors in the recent hat:  black, white, maroon, burnt orange and a dark gray.  Lucky for me, I've used up the scraps. Now I'm thinking of digging into my worsted wool pile that is buried in a closet to cast on some more hats.  The creating is addicting and you know me, I love the thrill of not knowing if I have enough yarn and what will I do to solve the dilemma. For now, I'm back to shawl knitting.  What is your favorite hat pattern these days?

As I sit here and type this morning all of this beautiful snow has disappeared because it's raining.  Never fear though, we are returning to winter weather and possibly more snow.  Phew.  Winter is my favorite season, although I am partial to autumn.  January snow for me is ideal, the cold temperatures create light fluffy flakes that swirl around.  When you step onto new fallen snow, it squeaks from the chilly weather.  Perfection.  We have gained almost 15 minutes of daylight since the winter solstice, can you see the difference? I like how the days stretch out with having both kids home for break.  If I'm honest, I could tell you all about the messy book piles that are everywhere-game controllers and all sorts of pens, notebooks and computers with their cords lying about in the corners of my family room.  However, since the holiday decorations have been packed up and put away, I've felt better with my lived in house.  The care free days of school breaks are coming

As promised, here is a photo of the "sponge", you know the one I posted about over here .  This post it note creation beauty is an origami menger sponge .  I just don't know what my son will be doing with all of his free time now that the construction is finished. Did you know we have snow?  I hope to snap some photos later today, but yesterday it was so pretty to watch.  Even though wet snows are the best for snowman making, dry snows are the prettiest to watch. January first, on a brand new day of a brand new year found me early in the morning attempting to make coffee and crack open a journal with a new pen.  Unfortunately, very very unfortunately, we had NO water.  No water from our well system because the well pump decided to die.  Yesterday the well pump was replaced and water was restored by mid afternoon. So I bring you my gratitude list: -for the company that answered my desperate call and came out on New Year's day to assess -for the company tha

Oh I've got lots to share with you.  First up is my big old pile of books that I received as gifts.  I am looking forward to starting the new year with some reading and more reading.  I'm not making a resolution to read a certain number of books in 2014. I'm toying with reading three or four books before purchasing another one.  I have so many books in my personal library that need my attention. I started this shawl some time before Christmas day. I've named it Tea and Jam  since I was watching Sound of Music with Julie Andrews (there can be no other).  It's a simple knit and quite addictive.  The yarn is from deep stash, I think three or four years old.  I bought it from a fiber festival and let's say the wool is rustic in it's feel.  I love the springiness but boy I sure do hope it softens up when it's soaked. I finished this hat before Christmas and so far I think my husband will be wearing it. The design is my own and it was fun creat

My weekend days between holidays was full of: -sunrises captured with the big camera, oh how Frodo leaps when I grab the camera! -slowness and mindfulness as we near the end of the year -some lists created for the upcoming days -the thinning out of sweets, my waist is thanking me :) -rain, rain, rain -wistful longing of decluttering and organizing but having to wait -a curry dinner made by my husband giving me a wee bit more of knitting time -finishing a book and starting two, yes two books.  So decadent :) -knitting a hat, socks, and a shawl but mainly the shawl how was your weekend? Joining Amanda

Good morning!  Have you all survived the holiday?  We are still in the midst of celebrating, tonight we have good friends coming to our house to share a meal together.  I'm looking forward to the evening.  However, there is more kitchen work to be done.  I feel like I've been away from this space for weeks and it's only been a few days.  I'm hoping to catch up with all of your posts in the next few days. Christmas Eve dinner is usually appetizers because Mass is at 5 p.m. and the thought of not eating until 8 p.m. is just crazy.  Don't forget I'm on the senior citizen eating schedule (even though I'm not a senior yet!).  So appetizers fit the necessity and for after Mass we had pumpkin pie with whipped cream piled high.  Yum! My son received this board game Go!  I played on Christmas day, and I lost.  I have to be honest but I am fantastic at games with words.  This game was like connect the dots but more complex and for some reason it wasn'