Pumpkin Sunrise

This weekend was full of fun, my kids all came in and we attended a nearby fair.  Every year I look forward to going and every year my body gives out in some fashion.  Getting old is for the birds!  I prefer to go on a rainy day (less people) but the kids can only come on a Saturday.  Of course it was over 80 degrees! There is not much 'heathy food' at the fair but I managed to each food I didn't regret.  I always get some french fries and a slice of pizza.  Instead of the evil funnel cake, I opted for an apple dumpling.  There is apple in the apple dumpling so it's sort of healthy, right? Our son was agreeable for an impromptu photo shoot!  If he moves far away I'll be sad (but I will manage like I always do). Sunday morning the kids left after lunch in stages.  I cleaned the bathrooms, stripped the beds and did more laundry.  The house is back to being tidy until the next visit. We are still in the 80s but all too soon the temps will be dropping.

I've been content this week - I'd like to coin it as 'happiness' but happiness is a noisy word, one with overflowing joy or exuberance.  My contentment is quiet and still, it's drinking coffee in the same mug every morning while I write in my daily journal.  It's the same old same old, day in and day out boring stuff. Many times while I'm here writing to you on this blog, I'll tap upon something I'm worried about or something that is crowding out my inner joy.  Today I'm writing about nothing in particular and that is something. I'm a homebody, I love being home doing the same thing over and over especially after a trip.  I envy the travelers, the explorers and the wild abandon they experience while doing new things.  If I change eating my daily bowl of cheerios for breakfast that would be a crazy kind of adventure.  Don't get me wrong, I love to go away, see new places and do new things.  But coming home  is the bestest feeli

On our way to Lake Placid I knit about fourteen rows of the banana leaf shawl that needed to be ripped out because of a foolish mistake.  So all of my car knitting didn't account for much progress.  However, despite the temporary setback, I'm ready to do the last section of this shawl. Maybe next week I will be done with this lace weight project? I love knitting the Jewel Box shawl  and watching the gradient colors slowly change from one to another.  This is a simple knit that is perfect for my babysitting day or for reading and knitting at the same time.  Part of me wants to savor the knitting time I spend adding rows, the yarn is that decadent. What are you working on this week?

On Thursday morning my husband and I left to drive up to Lake Placid, New York to spend a long weekend with his brother and sister in law.  We had so much fun!  It was nice to be together and explore the area that my husband and I visited seven years ago. The hotel made a hot mess of our reservations.  We were to have adjoining rooms for three nights but sadly my husband and I had to spend one night in a regular room then switch over to the adjoining room.  The problem was the pricing changes (repeated ones).  An attendant then adjusted our bill on Friday night for two nights instead of three but this morning at check out, I had another battle over the price.  Then another battle on the phone with the manager, every single time I had to explain the situation. Honestly, it was stressful but luckily that was the only problem. On Friday morning we headed over the High Falls Gorge .  Super super fun! Then we headed over the White Face Mountain .  We drove up one mile above

Last weekend my husband and I drove north to the Endless Mountain fiber festival for the day.  I was unable to attend last year due to his dad passing and our trip up to Canada for a gravesite service. I was excited to once again return to this small but exciting event. Two years ago when I attended my sister and brother in law were with us and we had so much fun.  This year, I focused on enhancing my stash with what was lacking.  I steered away from alpaca (for no particular reason, I have it in stash).  I was interested in natural unprocessed fibers or unusual fiber blends. This is what I bought: yakity-yak wool by Skirted Fleece Mill summer breeze by Gurdy Run Woolen Mill two skeins of mohair blends by Holly Road Fiber Farm I hope to have these entered into my Ravelry stash soon. Of course, I'm itching to start something new, but I need to finish a few projects already started.   We had a quick packed lunch on a bench (I wasn't feeling too

Last but not least is the scrappiest of cowls.  I finished knitting this cowl over the weekend, delighted to soak, block and photograph.  I'm ready to move onto something else to knit now that this last cowl is finished.  This cowl has the most odds and ends of various skeins, yet I made it all 'go' together.  I was at my most creative self! There are three maroon, two green and three purple left over skeins of yarn in the cowl.  My scrap fingering weight yarn bag is at the lowest level ever, that means casting on something new, right? Ravelry notes

We visited our son over the weekend in State College.  He'll be applying for academic jobs during this fall for next fall if he lands a position.  Who knows where he will be (!!) so I'm taking advantage to his proximity to us while we can.  I dislike uncertainty and change with a passion, but if he is happy then I will be happy. I told him to accept the job that has the MOST yarn stores near him... I have priorities. On the drive in to seeing him I started these mitts in a size small, knitting about 2-3 inches then deciding that a large would be a better fit so I ripped all that out and casted on again.  I ended up changing my mind on the mitt pattern for this yarn because the previous pattern I selected did not have charts and there were a lot of words to read... Charts are the way to go for my brain, I glance and boom, I'm off and knitting! Yesterday I knitted with my friends and came home to a lovely home cooked curry dinner.  I love when my husband coo