Pumpkin Sunrise

-We don't stop playing because we get old; we get old because we stop playing-                                                                                                                     Satchel Paige Five or so years ago, I wrote out some goals during the end of December for resolutions.  I focused on three areas:  spirituality, creativity and health.  My spirituality goal easily evolved into praying in the mornings and establishing a daily practice.  Creativity is evident with all the knitting I produce but I wanted to get back to writing in a journal and making that a daily habit.  With the help of expanding my morning alone time and creating an environment to sit and ponder, I am happy with my daily journal entries, participating in writing prompts. My health goal was the last aspect of my daily life that I procrastinated on.  I do not like to move unless I am getting more yarn for a knitting project.  I thrive sitting inside and cocooning myself away from the

I love starting new projects especially lace weight ones and yesterday was the day to cast one on.  This project was lined up for vacation beach knitting and as always, I never started the knit because I over pack for trips and have little time to sit and focus. Here is the ravelry page . Are you surprised that my reading is the same?  I'm not at all.  I have minimal time to read but since the house is settling down with busyness, I think I'll be able to sneak in a few hours more during the day.  The book continues to be okay, and so I will continue to read. I recently moved those shamrock plants to this table because I think the left one was getting too much direct lighting.  So now we'll see if they can recover and be happy.  Also the origami is a five sided tetrahedron , he gave this one to his dad for his office.  There is origami sprinkled everywhere in this house. joining Ginny and Frontier Dreams

I find that the more I check off my to do list the more I add to the list.  As you know, we found an apartment for our daughter after a two month search.  A huge weight off of my mind and instead of celebrating, I turn around and start the search for my son's apartment.  This one is challenging because he will be in Boston and that is not near here.  So more juggling of the logistics of seeing places.  Thankfully my husband is the adventurous city traveler and so I will create the checklist and send them on their merry way. Not sure when.... So while I am busy and living a full purposeful life, I am creating a happy list: -walking after six in the evening with my dog and my family -coffee in the early morning while I journal -knitting my blanket -planning a new knit! -sesame bagels -avocados with salt (I am a salt lover and I dread the day the dr says 'no') -AC -sticking to my walking and my yoga routines -love the feel of more flexibility and less aches and

Weekends are for memory making,  relaxing and enjoying quiet moments of our days.   If you would like, please share your weekend moments  in the comment section with a link to your blog. My weekend was busy with a full house since both kids were home.  In favor of the list making, here's the weekend summary: -corn on the cob with burgers and a spinach feta pasta salad -s'mores on the grill (while pretending the grill is a campfire) -thinking about the s'mores was a happy two day event for me -a beautiful cold front blew through the area and I enjoyed a jacket wearing walk -apartment searching for my daughter is over-once the application is filled out and a deposit is made -walking twice a day and stopping to pick raspberries because they are sweet -knitting -finishing a challenging sudoku that lasted three days Today will be the laundry, cleaning, menu planning for the week, and hopefully I will see my coffee table once more. How was your

Are you ready for a cute post filled with fluff? Before you all get excited, I did not adopt two adorable puppies, but my dear friend did!   Last week the big day arrived for my friend and her family to pick up their golden doodle puppies.  They have been dogless for about seven months and every couple of days I would receive a text about how many days were left for the big day. As you know, the saddest event in owning a pet is saying the 'goodbyes' if only they could live as long as we do.  However, the happiest event is saying the 'hellos'.  That new puppy smell brings so much joy!! Both of these sweeties just finished eating a meal so one was groggy and the other had a bit of spunk.  We sat in lawn chairs just watching them frolic and play.  Simple pleasures.  I was thankful to be included in their family joy. Today I have a full house and we are going to celebrate the Fourth with lots of food.  Have a lovely weekend everyone!

As promised, I cast on my new socks over the past weekend, still toying with the idea of keeping the ribbing going down the leg of the sock, or not...can't decide yet.  Love the color repetition!  I also finished my shawl  and posted yesterday. I am thrilled with how the shawl turned out :) I am reading The Interestings  by Meg Wolitzer and I needed two chapters read to get into the story line.  So far it's okay, I'm hoping that I will become more engaged with the characters and the plot.  Still early days though.  I also picked up the new issues of Vegetarian Time and the Yoga Journal for something to flip through while ignoring the heat wave we are having here in PA. What are you knitting and reading this week? Joining Ginny and Frontier Dreams

I finished the shawl  over the weekend and gosh, I wish it was cold outside so I could wear it!  I know, I know, all you summer loving people out there just groaned and grumbled a bit.  I'll be quiet and wait patiently for fall, but it won't be easy. This knit required focus, no talking and chatting while knitting.  The pattern  has both written directions and charted ones.  I loved the charted ones immensely, they were color coded and the symbols were easy to memorize. The wool is madelinetosh merino light , one of my favorite brands.  I was pleasantly surprised when soaking this shawl that the purple did not bleed into the gray.  An added bonus!

Weekends are for memory making,  relaxing and enjoying quiet moments of our days.   If you would like, please share your weekend moments  in the comment section with a link to your blog. These summer days have only just begun and I've decided to embrace the beauty that is local to my area.  I'd like to explore more of what could be a day trip.  This weekend was one of those days, however this stop was not planned.  We were driving yesterday in the country and I saw a covered bridge.  Lucky for me, my husband was just as eager to stop and look about. Unfortunately, I did not read and memorize the details of when the covered bridge was built.  I was all into that arced beam spanning the bridge wondering how they constructed it and assembled it.  I want to be a "stop and look" person instead of a "oh that is interesting, maybe one day I'll stop" person. My weekend also contained: -green bean buying, locally and organically grown -zucch

We are in summer mode full swing!  I'm still waking up early in the morning but there is a slow beat to the start of the day.  I love when the sun is out at 5:40 a.m., just glorious!  Frodo wakes and then proceeds to sleep some more on the couch.  He is not a morning person, err, dog.  He wakes up around 11 a.m.  So far we haven't seen a rabbit inside the fenced in area.  Phew! On Thursday I spent some time in my studio balling up my yarn winnings.  Not one single tangle, so that was impressive.  I still live my knitting life without a swift.  It's how I live on the edge of life.  This weekend will be the start of a simple sock cast on. I've found my rhythm for cooking for three people instead of two people.  I do miss the two people cooking because there are more leftovers and less cooking (that means more knitting).  Even though we are in the midst of summer living, I've started looking at the fall calendar and scheduling out some mini trips.  Checking t

I've been diligently working on the same two projects, the ten stitch blanket and the red rock canyon shawl .  To be honest, I haven't had much time to knit this past week.  I guess with summer in full swing I am doing other summery tasks.  I also think with my son home, my knitting is interrupted frequently--I'm  not complaining one single bit.  That soon will end when he moves to his new apartment to start a Phd program.  Changes! I finished Tinkers !!!  And I didn't like it very much....I think it echoed that stream of conscious writing that I'm not terribly fond of reading.  I did find the story about his dad's life interesting but the main character (who is in the process of dying) was not captivating for me at all.  In the photo is The Interestings  novel that I bought solely on the cover art.  This book was supposed to be my beach read but David Copperfield  horned in on that goal.  I am happy to say that I have started and look forward to t

I completed this lovely green beauty before the beach, and then forgot to share it all with you!  I loved how the scarf turned out.  Simple, easy and a somewhat quick knit.  Ravelry notes are here .