Pumpkin Sunrise

  I love how Holly stuffs herself in this small cat perch. How are you? How was your weekend? I had a relaxing and restorative weekend. I did a lot of knitting on the never ending shawl  but with every single row I am one more row completed. I am thoroughly enjoying watching Autumn shove its way in while the remnants of Summer continue to cling desperately but unsuccessfully. My husband and I did a lot of walking and chose a different neighborhood route. I do appreciate all of my wooded secluded walks in my old town. It's been an adjustment living in a suburb with a lot of traffic. Twice a week we drive to a local park to walk where the traffic is scant, that is lovely. We are here almost three months and I am finally feeling like myself. It takes me a long time to adjust to change. Sunday I did all those pesky household chores and finished them in lightning speed so I could read my book and later do some more knitting. Dare I say my knitting mojo is back? I'd like to think so!

  I've been reading a lot this week. I started 10% Happier by Dan Harris and it is really good. He writes about his personal journal into mindfulness and meditation, I've been captivated and squeezing in reading here and there during my day to gobble up the book. I highly recommend! I've been also reading a chapter a day/or every other day of Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn (revised edition), also a good book but jammed packed with lots of science and data so the reading is slow going - almost like a textbook but worth the read. The Madness of the Crowds by Louise Penny became available on my e-library loan request so I've set aside all the other novels to read this one in 21 days. Nothing like a deadline to make you rejigger your reading priorities. I love her writing and have read all of her books. I convinced myself that I did NOT need a Hobonichi Weeks planner until March 2022, then broke down and ordered the January start Hobonichi Weeks planner for 2022.

Good morning! I finished the baby sweater ! Somehow finishing a project and sewing the buttons on feels like such an accomplishment since we moved. I continually feel like I'm not getting much knitting done and then boom I have a lovely sweater off the needles for a dear friend's daughter who is expecting at the end of December. The yarn is from the baby blanket stash that I over bought. The pattern is my tried and true Elizabeth Zimmermann two needle baby sweater . You know very well that I'll be casting on another baby sweater for the new grandbaby-to-be shortly. What are you working on?

  Our daughter and son in law came for a weekend visit and we had a great time. Boy was it busy! We drove to the south of Pittsburgh to go to an art store and a book/greeting card store on Saturday afternoon. Then we drove all the way back up north to another town to toodle about - that's were they grabbed some coffee and croissants (I had iced green tea). In the evening we had my sister, brother in law and aunt over for a family dinner. I keep forgetting how much work is involved with hosting - and navigating the small kitchen, but I was successful at both. The key is to keep cleaning as you go. Yesterday was saying goodbye to them and putting the house back together again. I was thrilled to finish all the laundry by dinner time and the best part is we have tons of leftovers so I did not have to cook. Thanks for all the comments about how you drink your tea/coffee and your morning habits. I have done the 'tea in the morning' for about four days and I'm going back to co

  Hello! How are you on this fine Friday morning? Can you believe that fall is around the corner (finally.). I'm excited about that. I know and you know that there will be hot days but they are just not sustainable this time of the year. I'm sitting in my kitchen watching my bird feeders and currently a chickadee is visiting. I do love having the bird feeders. The above photo is my new coffee/tea station set up. As you know, I've been improving my lifestyle for that past month. I have been a serious morning coffee drinker for 40 years. I drink it black with sugar. I have tried to cut down the sugar and can only go so far. I do not like the taste of artificial sweeteners. Added to that I'm probably caffeine sensitive and feel edgy with 1/2 decaf coffee. With green tea I do not use any sugar and it has way less caffeine unless I drink the decaf version. So I cleaned the coffee maker and put it away. I brought out my beloved electric tea kettle and bought some green teas t

  I never thought that this poncho would be finished after knitting what seemed like miles of stockinette stitch which I wanted to do and then after 12 inches wondered what was in my mind. However this turned out so beautiful! Of course I was having camera issues. My SD card would not unlock and I had to find a different one to use. Then on my Mac the image resizer program that I've used faithfully for years quit working and I had to find another app to replace it. So I'm not sure why the photos are a teeny bit blurry (could have been me and my excitement in photographing...). I'm also trying to figure out where is the best place for photographing at this house. So much to learn! This poncho is for my daughter in law for her birthday and I am sure she will love it since she picked the pattern and the wool.  This finished project makes so much more mental room for my upcoming Christmas knitting projects. Ravelry notes

  Good morning! How was your weekend? Mine was filled with: -getting so close to finishing the poncho! - lunches on the back patio - watching Holly successfully hunt and kill a dried green pea in the kitchen - daily walks - saying goodbye to cool breezes and resisting the hot humid weather that is returning - cleaning - laundering - menu planning - reading - more knitting! - homemade pizza - Mass on Youtube  What did you do this weekend?