Pumpkin Sunrise

Summertime is in full effect this week.  Every day is hot and humid.  I am trying my best to not complain and to enjoy each day.  I am thankful for AC and for soft signs of the season to come.  Usually I am up around 5 a.m. and greeted by Holly the cat.  Lately the sunrise is an hour or so afterwards, so Miss Holly sleeps in a bit.  I eagerly await for her little meow 'hellos'. My mornings are restful and contemplative.  I usually journal about the previous day and do some religious readings and prayers while drinking my coffee.  I write a gratitude list daily which makes my day start with the best frame of mind. Acorns!!! In the beginning of the pandemic, I missed so much of my regular routines:  going to dinner at a restaurant a few times a week, aimlessly shopping and seeing my kids whenever I wanted to see them. Now I am content to not eat out, I have many recipes at my fingertips and ingredients in my fridge/freezer to pull off a dinner in a snap.  We do pick up a pizza ev

I keep working on this gradient shawl each and every single night.  It grows and grows and still have oodles of yarn yet to knit up! I am thoroughly enjoying every stitch. The golden wheat shawl also gets some knitting time every now and then.  The pattern is easy to follow but I cannot read and knit at the same time because most rows have something going on.  I love how this is knitting up! What are you working on this week?

How was your weekend?  Mine flew right by.  I had the best intentions to read all day every day and do some creative watercolor paintings.  Instead I made coleslaw (because my dad's coleslaw was so good and I knew I could make it as well).  I also made basil pesto for some pasta and a cold rice salad with veggies, feta cheese and olives (yum). Oh and I made two loaves of zucchini bread.  Our zucchini is producing and my dad gave me some as well.  I have to admit I am thrilled to be out of the banana bread phase.  Oh and the best nuts are pecans, just saying. the boulder wall with growing grass! Saturday I toodled about knitting and half heartedly reading a book on my Kindle.  I have 1 1/2 hours to go and I am determined to finish it today.  I swear! Sunday I you-tubed Mass and did all the laundry and cleaned the house.   My son and future daughter in law to be are settling in nicely up in Indiana.  I hope we can visit them soon and see the place in person.  Fingers crossed for that

dad's house Gosh, this week was crazy busy.  On Wednesday, we helped our son and future daughter in law for the first leg of the journey to relocate to Indiana.  My husband drove the moving van (no cruise control) and I followed him (I too wasn't able to use cruise control because of him).  The GPS took us through downtown Pittsburgh through both sets of tunnels.  I was stressed out.   Thankfully we safely arrived in southeastern Ohio to her parents house.  Yesterday her parents did the drive to Indiana and unloaded the truck.  I was lucky in that the truck was all packed and ready to go when we arrived at State College. dad's house Prior to helping them on Wednesday I had a tele-med visit with the kidney doctor.  She is changing my blood pressure medicine due to certain side effects that I mentioned. Already today I feel a bit better.  Hopefully I will see her in person in three months from now.  I guess it's all about protecting the kidneys based on what I have resear

Good morning!  I've got four projects going at the same time which is my knitting project maximum.  I'll be updating you on three and only two are photographed. I have been making steady progress on my plain socks .  I tend to work on these during Zoom meetings because I can talk and knit at the same time without making a mistake. The first shawl that I'm showcasing is the forever-on-my-needles Aisling shawl .  I finally arrived at the lace edging after miles of garter stitch.  Ordinarily, I love garter stitch but the combination of super-wash wool and silk makes it slippery and easy to drop off the needle.  I have to look at my knitting all the time! Next up, I started the wedding shawl over the weekend and I'm trying really hard not to obsessively knit it all up.  This yarn is fantastic to work with, also I love the clear beads that are placed delicately in the increasing section.  The color she chose matches a ribbon that will be in her hair, the ribbon might be in

How was your weekend? Mine was delightfully calm and serene, just the way I like them. I worked on some of my ongoing knitting projects.  I am finally on the second sock!  Sadly the color way while beautiful seems to be missing color in odd spots so I cannot give them as a gift (except to my husband).   We picked up Chinese food and that fed us for two days, you know what that means --  I didn't cook for two days.  We tried a new restaurant but we like our regular one better.   Yesterday we walked after about a two week hiatus.   I cannot stand humidity, so I hide inside the air conditioned house waiting and hoping for a non-humid day.  Yesterday morning was beautiful to be out, I'm glad we went when we did because the forecast is showing more of summer's oppressiveness.   The walk was filled with lush green vistas and wild raspberries are almost ready to be picked.  The daisies and the day lilies are still doing their thing.  Next up will be thistle, I love the purple bloo

Isn't Holly so cute the way she stuffs herself into the top of the tower?  She is one happy cat.  How are you?  We are in the midst of a heat wave and phew! It's hot and humid.  Yesterday seemed a little less intense but I can tell how my hair goes everywhere on how humid the days are.   As quickly as the landscapers came and disrupted the silence, they have been gone for over a week, our seeded grass is growing and life goes on.  They might have to come back and re-seed in certain places because the downpours go running into the woods taking some of the straw with it. By now the cicadas and locusts should be making their symphony appearance,  each day I listen wondering where they are.  Same with the tree frogs!  They should me adding to the music. I've been reading Michelle Obama's autobiography, Becoming.  We are around the same age and I'm enjoying her thought processes on motherhood and juggling work.  I am over half way through the book on the brink of his pre

I started a new project yesterday that is for me.  I have officially left the pink phase of knitting and am back to my kind of colors.  This yellow reminds me of golden wheat fields and sunshine.  I'm trying my best to not wish away summer and stay in the moment.   My future daughter in law picked out the lace weight wool for her wedding shawl and I'm excited to start that project.  The yarn should arrive over the weekend.  She loved my citron shawl, I'm super lucky I get to knit that pattern again.   Sometime this week I need to do a deep stash dive into my yarns for my nephew's baby to be.  Wedding knitting and baby knitting together is a double blessing. What are you working on this week?

How was your weekend?  On Saturday my daughter and son in law came for a day visit.  We haven't seen them since the first week of March and thought we should try a visit.  It was so nice to finally see them in person!  We had a lovely time in the backyard and had dinner together. Yesterday I did lots of chores before my son and future daughter in law came for a visit.  This is the last one before their move to Indiana next week.  Gulp!  We had a great time with them as well, lots of food and poolside chatting.    It was funny that this fourth of July, Frodo didn't even care about the fireworks.  I guess he can tell whether it's a thunderstorm or not.  He is so very brave.  I think Holly just hides no matter what the noise.   Just to note that I've watched Hamilton twice now (and counting).   I've got lots of laundry to catch up on today and I'm thinking of a new shawl to cast on! I bought this yarn at Cape May during our family vacation.  That holiday seems lik

The landscaper guys finished up their work yesterday afternoon.  Frodo and I are thrilled to have a bit of peace and quiet.  The backhoe would make a certain sound whenever it hit the ground and that made Frodo believe someone was knocking on the door.  He exhausted himself from his on again off again barking.  He exhausted me.  Whenever the equipment was humming and droning, Frodo thought there was a thunderstorm and shivered in fear sitting next to me looking at me with worry. Of course, whenever someone is working on your property you can't help but watch or catch a glance whenever you pass a window.  That is why nothing got done around here, I couldn't concentrate.  Yesterday I just gave into the fact that I would be distracted and went with the flow.  We are thrilled with our boulder wall, a little sad that it faces the woods and we cannot stare at it lovingly from our windows.  However the amount of fill and topsoil they added to the corner of our property should be the s

I finished this shawl over a week ago and it's officially the first holiday gift of 2020.  I love how this turned out!  I've knit many Helen Stewart patterns and enjoy how the directions are easy to follow.  There is nothing like steadily increasing stitches on every row watching the shawl take form. The yarn is from Apple Tree Knits  which I highly recommend.  The gradient color themes they create are fabulous and the wool blends are beautiful. I am officially done with my 'pink' phase of knitting (maybe!). Ravelry notes Joining Ginny