Pumpkin Sunrise

This in not my pond, the one that I walk by every single day.  This is the town's pond and yesterday my son and I walked the path that winds around fields and trees.  The geese and their little goslings were abundant and so relaxed when we walk by them.  No hissing just a look at us and maybe a herding of their children. I love how the Canada goose  mates for life.  Both mother and father were together with their little goslings.  Family groups.  Big families and little families all together in a goose community.  I was lucky to be there to witness nature at its very best. We stood there and watched, drinking in the summer like air and lived in the moment. Thanks for all the kind words on the last post.  I am back to feeling fine, it's amazing what a non bleacher sitting day can do for my joints!  I am lucky that my aches and pains come and go and all I need to do is wait. Yesterday in the midst of errand running, mulch buying, and grass seed planting (n

My weekend was spent celebrating our son's graduation with a bachelor of science degree in math.  What a day!  I will say the event was challenging because the school held the ceremony in a gym....on bleachers.....with no air conditioning.  I'm truly thankful that I did not pass out.  However I'm having issues with my RA and I'm hoping in a day or two that my pains will disappear. This body does not do bleachers anymore. I find it funny while raising him, I could never find him in a crowd.  When he was four years old, other friends or family would point him out for me.  I never remembered what he was wearing and frankly he looked like every other boy on the playground.  So holding true to my lacking mothering skills, his girl friend spot him in the line up before me then pointed him out. In my defense, his hair is very short and I was looking for a different looking son (doesn't help that everyone is dressed the same in robes!!)  Anyways, we took some quick p

I think spring is here to stay, really!  This past week I've enjoyed watching the dogwoods bloom and although they are not as big and bountiful as last year, I'm glad they survived the harsh winter and are celebrating spring for me.  I'm hoping the butterfly bush will show life soon, but I fear that the winter and mounds of snow were too much. This spring has been a daily habit of looking at beds and watching and waiting for signs of new life.  So far, the rabbits are nibbling away any new bulb that sprouts. Frodo is getting a bit older and wiser.  He tends to only bark a bit at the deer and sometimes he doesn't see the rabbits! What?  That is unheard of....I know when I push publish on the post, I will find a rabbit in his mouth....that is what happens when you document life so boldly. The spring days have a rhythm to them that I have enjoyed and snuggled into gleefully.  I shop at a vegetable market once a week picking up tons of lettuce heads and salad i

Ha!  I've started another shawl , since finishing this cowl .  This shawl is a challenging one and I love that the directions are all charts!  I'm in chart heaven :) I believe my knitting love will always be with shawls-knitting and watching each row grow is satisfying. I finished Tell the Wolves I'm Home  and enjoyed the book immensely.  I was sad when I read the very last page then spent the rest of the day mulling over the whole book.  As I said last week, the book is about a girl who is 14 years old and she is grieving for her beloved Uncle, and the series of events that unfold as she learns of her uncle's  true life.  The story is about compassion and family secrets. I continue to read about David Copperfield and have chuckled at his life at boarding school, his quirky acquaintance that he meets along the way.  I love how I hate a character that I'm supposed to hate, and love the ones I'm to love.  A good read indeed! What are you knitting and rea

  This cowl , the sister knit a long cowl, was a challenge.  I knew after the first ball of yarn that I was running desperately short of yardage.  Yep.  I substituted the yarn for what the designer recommended and sometimes that is what happens.  My sister is going to order another skein from the lys that sells the yarn and hopefully will get a dye lot match. Me.....I wanted to alter the pattern to make the two skeins work, so I ripped out the first try and restarted the cowl.  My alterations are on the Ravelry project page.  I love how this turned out and the yarn is so very dreamy!!  It's light, and squooshy and so so soft. For now I'm not blocking the cowl because I love the texture the pattern provides. I'm definitely going to knit this again, maybe with some silk content?  That would be wonderful.  When my sister finishes her cowl, I'll share her photo with you all.

The past two days have been quite restorative.  I spent many hours outdoors with my camera in hand, taking photos of the emerging blossoms that welcome the month of May.  The days alternated between dreary and cloudy, to sunny and bright.  The weather is slowly changing to spring, finally. Saturday for a few hours I delved into my David Copperfield book and knit at the same time, enjoying the dual tasking and the suspense of the plot.  We had chicken on the grill paired with a pea risotto. I'm running low on the "good" chocolate and am now hitting the "back up" chocolate--it's just not the same, but when in a pinch you just have to make do. Sunday we went to Mass then had more lazy hours of reading the paper, talking to the kids and making a little grocery list.  Dinner was homemade pizza, I create the sauce, he creates the dough.  The best part was having the pizza all to ourselves :) Included also was: -listening to the woodpecker but not findi

A few days ago I started to wind up this lovely wool, bamboo nylon blend from Pagewood Farm .  As I was winding the yarn and wishing I owned a swift, the coolness of the bamboo and nylon between my fingers was lovely.  I seem to have tangles every single time I wind, and I feel that the universe wants me to buy a swift.  We'll see... I can be stubborn.  Once I'm done my memory erases the tangle and the frustration from my mind. I haven't decided yet what I'll be casting on but I have a few ideas, I know that this yarn will be a shawl.  Stay tuned for more details when I settle on a pattern. We had two days of rain and clouds so my walking came to a halt.  I enjoyed some time in my studio, untangling yarn (ha) and playing around with paper and washi tape.  Each time I am in my space, I'm grateful I moved up there and enjoy the calm peaceful hours.  How lucky am I! Graduation ceremonies are looming in the near future for both of my kids.  First one will be

I've been knitting away on a new project that I started on Easter Sunday with my sister.  You see, we were yarn shopping during a Thanksgiving visit and bought the same yarn Juniper Moon Tenzing  with the grand idea of doing a sisterly knitalong.  We only just started our projects a mere two weeks ago.  We are having fun asking "what row are you on?". My other knit that has had some attention is this striped scarf .  I have every intention of gifting this to my husband who loves greens.  I hope I have enough yarn or I might just be blocking this aggressively once I'm finished. I love that feeling of not knowing :) Check out yesterday's post about my gloves and scarf !! My reading is the same as last week-  Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt is a compelling read and each character is someone you empathize with deeply.  The main character is a 14 year old girl who is grieving over the loss of her beloved Uncle Finn, who died of AIDS.  Sh

As you can see, I finished a few projects and I am thrilled to have them completed and out of my knitting bag.  The gloves  are tucked away for when the fall cool weather arrives-just think I have something new to wear! This scarf was truly a labor of love.  The knitting was a bit fiddly because of the sleek yarn.  The entire time I was knitting, I was thinking and worrying about whether I would have enough yarn.  Oh my, what a waste of time.  Once again, the magic of blocking cured all of the worries!!  This knit blocked out beautifully and you know, I have one other skein in a light gray and might subject myself to more knitting torture to have another scarf :)

The weekend was wonderful but not exactly as planned.  I was lucky to see both kids last Easter weekend and on Tuesday our son called to report his computer screen on his laptop stopped.  So plans were adjusted and rearranged for all of us and he came home. He now has a new computer that works and over the summer we will repair the computer screen-my husband is talented in resurrecting computers from the dead.  He has replaced many keyboards and screens. So my plans of attending a street fair were cancelled for spending time with my husband and son.  I soaked in the sunshine and even knit on the swing-so refreshing!  They had steak and I had salmon on the grill with roasted vegetables and a salad.  We chatted, walked the dog, and yes, spent many hours talking tech stuff. The weekend was full and good! How was your weekend? Joining Amanda

I chuckle to myself that the first photo is always the best photo when I go through the series of shots.  Above is my dad's pond.  I wish I could capture the quiet and peace that goes along with the still waters. The rest of the photos are at my sister's house.  I am recovered from the sweets and treats that goes along with Easter.  The sugar detox takes a few days, oh how I remember in my twenties eating anything and not a pound was gained.  Where are those days?? Yesterday I was thinking about how I motivate myself with my various knitting projects and completing them in a "timely" manner.  I'm sure we all have one that is just difficult to knit through.  When that happens, I think WHY.  Why is it difficult? Why am I not thrilled with the project? I am currently working on a lace weight scarf and the wool is an alpaca silk blend.  I'm finding it quite tiresome.  If I ask myself the questions my answers would be--the yarn is slippery and fidget