Pumpkin Sunrise

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. Guess what?  I was in Old Montreal over the weekend! Originally we were planning ( I was planning) to go in August but our son expressed an interest so we moved the trip up to July so he could go with us. As you can imagine, I had lots of fun but I missed home more than usual.  Getting old? street performers! We left on Thursday and stayed two nights and took in the sights and sounds.  I loved the basilica and all the holiness inside of it.  That is when I love being a Catholic the most, the statues, the candles and the history - so so good! Friday we walked everywhere and I clocked over 21,000 steps walking towards downtown which is 12,000 more that I like to do with my RA but I survived (after complaining and pouting). Isn't that church magnificent? I think so!

For me when the string of ordinary days occur, I hit my blissful self.  There is nothing like the same old same old over and over that soothes my mind and brings contentment to my days. I've been like this since I was a child. I had anxiety whenever the school had a field trip and the schedule shifted. As soon as I was on my way, I was fine (sort of, when the tears stopped).  So when I'm faced with boring days, endless sameness over and over - I'm my happiest! I will admit that traveling makes appreciation my focus.  I do enjoy seeing new places doing new things (sort of..) but I shine brightly at home getting all my tasks completed.  Ordinary days gives room in my mind to center my intentions on myself and on others.  That focus helps me feel like I'm helping in small ways. Gratitude lists, praying for others helps me train my brain in mindfulness, a skill I've lacked growing up.  How lucky am I that I've found my way to this practice. 

Well, you must be thinking I'm someone else the week.  I am reading The Martian  which is completely out of my reading comfort zone.  I did love the opening sentence of the book which is R rated and kind of sarcastically funny.  You see, both my son and my nephew insisted this is my kind of book and the content isn't as important as the way the story is told.  So, I'm reading it and I'm liking it. I finished The Nest  and it was fantastic!!  Sure it's about a dysfunctional selfish family of middle aged siblings but I kind of liked them because it showed the "ugly" side of us, the petty, the unforgiving and the horrible stuff that might cross our minds when we are feeling vulnerable or sad (or selfish).  The characters were interesting and most of them had personal growth. My knitting!  Can you see it?   SOCKS .  I felt like if I cast on another shawl I was going to groan.  So I needed to do something else, and socks are the answer to knitting ennui.

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. me not doing anything important  My sister and her family were here this weekend and I was in the moment completely.  Now if you can read between the lines, that means I did not snap one single photo!  My company arrived Friday for dinner, she brought dessert (sweet!).  I fully appreciate all the work she does when I visit because I am exhausted from the prepping, cooking, cleaning and doing it all over again and again. shamrock plants worshiping the sun We had so much fun!  On Friday I served that salad  with green beans, grilled chicken and sausage and a tossed salad.  She lovingly brought brownies, with icing. Saturday we shopped in the morning and returned home to sit and knit, sit and read, or just sit and talk.  Everyone was in and out of the pool, the weather was perfec

I've spent too much time in the kitchen this past week.  You see, my son arrived on Wednesday afternoon and is staying a few weeks before he goes back to Boston to finish off the last weeks of his school work.  Then he'll be starting school at Penn State University mid August, we will be helping in the "big move".  His new apartment is on the third floor with no elevator... eep. As much as I love my boring life where every day could look exactly the same, I enjoy the busyness of having him home.  Making dinners that he loves and doesn't cook for himself.  Yesterday we had a winter meal of baked chicken thighs, mashed potatoes and gravy.  It felt weird to be eating with summer in full swing.  He was quite happy though.  I come from a long line of family members that show love through food.  Lots and lots of food.  I like that kind of tradition. Today my sister and her husband arrive for the holiday weekend and later tonight my nephew and his wife will arr

Well well well, I am on to another book!  I saw this novel displayed at the library and checked it out without knowing what the story is all about.  Goodreads gives an array of opinions from people either loving or hating it.  So I will let you know what I think.  Just started reading two days ago, so I'm opinion-less. I am casting off on my test knit .  I will be blocking this cowl sometime over the busy weekend, so I can achieve a bit more drape.  I think I knit on the snug side... That skein of purple loveliness will be my next project but I'm not sure yet what pattern.  I keep changing my mind.  I'm leaning towards a shawl but yet I wonder if that is what I really really want, first world problems of a dedicated knitter.  Stay tuned for the decision, if I make one today or tomorrow. What are you knitting and reading this week? Joining Ginny and Frontier dreams

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. Yesterday while slowly walking down my drive way, I spied these twin fawns!  How exciting! The closest on in the first photo was quite brave and stared me down while I inched my way closer and closer to snap a few photos. Ah, technology is wonderful -- I called my husband on the cell phone to tell him to look out the window.  They were beautiful to watch and I wanted someone else to witness the event. Yesterday I finished the window cleaning and mini blind replacing, in under a week. I had to take two hours of rest to recover. Just so you know, knitting was invented to encourage slowing down and resting.  I'm thrilled the window washing is over and now I can wait another 5-10 years to clean them again, ha ha ha....I'm sort of serious though. After attending Mass this

I set a goal earlier this week on tackling the filthy windows in my house (yes, you read that correctly).  I live by the golden rule, if the blinds are down then the dirt doesn't exist.  Simple really!  Day after day, I fixated on those windows and their dirt and those dusty miniblinds that are quite aged. The thought of that massive task depressed me, especially since I'm physically limited and knew I could not do that job in a single day.  Don't get me wrong, I'm doing great!  My wrist is the best ever and I'm still continuing to see daily progress.  So after a mild pouting session, I changed my thoughts and my expectations. I decided to replace all the miniblinds in the house - that eliminated washing all the miniblinds in the house (they were over 10 years old....).  My next stage in changing my thinking was to focus on what CAN I do!!  Well, I can work for one hour a day.  Seriously, I can do that. I set off to protect my wrist by wearing my spli

I know, you're thinking that my reading this week is exactly the same as last week.  You're correct!  But I'm so close to finishing After You, I only have three or four chapters left.  I am enjoying the book, her writing is compelling to read.  I haven't touched Tavern on Maple Street . My knitting is all about a test knit for Andrea .  I love this cowl so far and I'm enjoying the Madeline Tosh sock yarn immensely!  There is nothing like a plied yarn after using single ply two projects in a row.  And the wool, well it's squishy and soft and my hands itch to work on it.  Nothing could be better than that! What are you knitting and reading this week? Joining Ginny and Frontier Dreams

Over the weekend not only did I finish two gifts that have been in my knitting bag for a few weeks but I tagged them with their washing instructions, photographed them AND wrapped them up.  Ready to give.  I believe this gift giving is balm for the soul. My wurm hat  turned out nicely!  I only repeated the purl ridge seven times because of the drape of the cotton blend yarn.  I prefer knitting with wool but for the recipient who will be undergoing chemo treatments, I thought cotton would be much much more comfortable than wool. The baby  blanket is done and believe it or not, I still have left over yarn in that dye lot.  It's like the seven loaves and two fish(es) deal.  It just keeps meeting the needs of the many!  This yarn is a cotton blend as well and now that it's done, my hands can rest.  Cotton can be rough on the hands since it has little give. My wrist/hand keeps improving and I feel good overall.  I just need to slow down and listen more to my body

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. there might be a bug there and there might not be a bug there Another weekend upon us and around here it's hot hot hot.  I'm sure some of you have it hotter than me, I respect that.  All I can say is that I love my AC and cannot imagine what my life would be without it.  I don't know how Scarlett O'Hara survived the southern summers in those poofy dresses.  All the amount of fanning would not cool me off -  at all. ready to cast on a test knit :) Friday night we went out for pizza after a month long ban of not eating out for dinner, self imposed I guess.  I was sick and tired of eating out so much in Santa Barbara that I made a pointed effort to cook every day at home.  Even though I'd rather be knitting, I'm a good cook! We are back on the "don't