Pumpkin Sunrise

My weekend was -having a full house-full of laughter, talking, sharing -having both kids home at the same time-that is when the house is the loudest -socializing with friends for their thirtieth wedding anniversary -gifting the biggest potted fall mum, I was sad it left my kitchen-so so pretty! -eating bagels -finishing another knitting project -strategically stepping over many pairs of shoes at the landing of the stairs (the dumping area) -watching Frodo be extra wiggly with a full house -knitting with friends -saying goodbyes-finding the landing area void of shoes-doing laundry and dishes-making beds-cleaning the house -a Sunday evening quiet after a walk and back to the two of us how was your weekend? Joining Amanda

Fall is officially here.  Everywhere I look I see signs of it.  The roads are lined with brown leaves, the evenings are cool and the sun feels different when it shines-less intense.  During the day, I have a window or door opened to let in the fresh air (or fall allergies).  Yesterday I drove to pick up our son up for the weekend.  Today our daughter and her boyfriend will arrive then we will have a full house. Frodo will be delighted to have extra playing and more snuggling.  I've cleaned the house, made beds, and I am as ready as I'll ever be.  Of course I have to make one more run to the grocery store, one day I hope to make "the List" that is comprehensive and inclusive to what I need. Yesterday's drive was beautiful.  When I was a girl, I thought living anywhere but Pennsylvania would be grand.  Currently I wonder how I missed Pennsylvania's beauty?  The mountains, trees, and rolling hills of farms is quite lovely. ...

My reading remains the same, Little Women,  and I'm reading a little speedier because I've added an hour or two during the daytime hours.  To switch things up a bit I've decided to photo the magazines I've been enjoying.  Over the past three years I've discontinued my subscriptions of magazines because they keep stacking up and I don't knit from them very often since Ravelry is my go to source.  However, whenever I see a knitting magazine at a bookstore, I give it a flip through.  Both of these magazines had more than one project that I could envision being on my needles. In the photo is a comfy cozy cowl on size 10 needles, yes! size 10!  I must say I do love how quickly the knit is going but I will always have a special place in my heart for the tiny needles.  It's where my loyalties lie.  The cowl is knit out of yarn that I received as a gift from a friend who shopped at a local to us alpaca farm.  This wool is soft!  and I love...

Another shawl has been completed and yet again, I'm thrilled with the results and can't wait to wear it.  There's something to be said about pairing garter stitch with short row shaping-the perfect combination like peas and carrots, or bread and butter. In my imagination I have another shawl planned in gray and purple.  Soon. The pattern is pendulum shawl and it's well written and fun to knit up.  It's an easy pattern for your very first time of dipping your toes in the water of short row shaping.  I did not block the shawl because I enjoyed the results once it was off the needles.  I'm sure it would be much bigger when blocked. Malabrigo sock yarn is a fantastic yarn for making a shawl, so very soft around your neck and I enjoy the colors!  Just for a bit of reality I've photoed the shawl with my jacket and the pile of papers, notebooks, and books that are continually on my kitchen table.

This weekend was super lazy, slow and kind.  Yesterday and today we were in no hurry to do much of anything.  I listened to podcasts and knit on my shawl.  I knit more on my shawl and read at the same time then bound off all those stitches.  Today I buried the threads and took some photos. I attacked the crossword puzzles and sudokus, read the local paper that tends to be more gossip than news-still I can't help but read it.  THE cold front arrived and this morning there was a chill in the air that was welcomed.  Even Frodo lifted his little nose and squinted his eyes to take it all in.  When you squint your eyes, you can smell better. I was successful in talking my husband into making a curry (read that I did not have to cook!) which we just ate, and we have leftovers for another day.  The kitchen is tidied up and I'm going back to my knitting in a bit.  Because of this meal my sore throat is almost gone. Hold onto your hats (or bri...

It will not come as a surprise that I love to be home.  This is the place that I feel most centered.  After our trip last weekend to Pittsburgh, we are settling down into our slow easy days.  After dinner, I quickly do the dishes so we can take a walk with Frodo and enjoy the mild weather.  The scenery is changing quickly and soon the clocks will be set back an hour and it'll be too dark for an after dinner walk. This week has seen a shift in our meals, summer meals are switching to fall comfort meals.  I made eggplant parmesan for the first time.  My husband hasn't stopped singing eggplant praises.  I said that if you dredge any vegetable in bread crumbs and fry it up it would taste good.  He said nope.  Carrots would still taste like carrots (he doesn't like cooked carrots only raw or roasted).  I guess he had a point.  The other under-loved vegetable, turnips, has been chopped and carefully roasted with potatoes, delicious. ...

I am savoring every stitch of this shawl !  I've discovered the magic and delight of short row shaping.  It's dead simple, mindless for me and quite fun.  While knitting this shawl I'm already thinking of a purple and gray one.  Who knew garter stitch could be so engaging? I also finished the pair of socks for my son, I was disappointed overall with the amount of yardage in each skein (skimpy!) and had to dig through my sock yarn stash to finish the toes.  I know he will not mind, but I sure did. Little Women  is still my major read and I do enjoy it so, but it's a book that cannot be skimmed.  So I'm slowly reading each evening.  I think I'll start reading an hour or so during the day when I'm awake and alert. Overall, I remember most of the story line, but their are bits and pieces that have skipped my memory, so it's nice to read through again as a seasoned (old) adult.  One attribute I did notice is the foreshadowing of poor Beth..t...

Someone said to me yesterday that I'm lucky I have a sister, and you know what?  I am!  Sure, in my youth I was mean to her (very mean).  I teased, I taunted, and even ignored her.  However mean I was to her,  she was willing to play any game I wanted when I needed a playmate. Once I grew up and we both had children of our own our sisterhood turned into friendship.  Our mother died in 1998 and since that time we have been sisters, friends and substitute mothers for each other. We talk daily sometimes multi-daily about the silliest of stuff. My sister is a better cook and a better gardener than me.  She sews amazing things and is generous with her time and talents.  Whenever I'm demanding she still lets me have my way (sometimes).  We love to knit.  She loves animals and has a little zoo in her house: birds, a fish, a guinea pig and two! dogs. I enjoyed our visit together and can't wait until the next visit.  Howeve...

My weekend involved traveling to see my sister and my family.  My husband had a presentation in downtown Pittsburgh on Friday morning so we planned a weekend to mix business with pleasure.  What fun we had.  I was able to spend quality time with my sister relaxing, knitting and talking. The weather was perfect and I wore my jean jacket which looked pretty good. I even wore one of my knit shawlettes with comfort-oh fall, I do love you so! From the weather forecast it appears that we will continue to see cooler temperatures this week. There was apple cake, corn on the cob, brussel sprouts, the best tossed salad ever, homemade mini pizzas, and smores. Besides my sister and brother in law, we visited my aunt and uncle, my dad and step mother AND stopped to see our son for lunch at his school.  The weekend was packed with hellos and goodbyes quickly catching up on snippets of news. Yesterday we arrived home, unpacked, picked up a very wiggly happy dog, took a w...

As far as I can remember, I've loved to walk anywhere.  When I was a girl growing up in Pittsburgh, I would walk with my mother and my sister down sidewalks made of red bricks in herringbone designs trying not to step on a crack and save my mother's back.  Eventually I would be reprimanded for dawdling-sadly my mom didn't know I was saving her back health.  Black patent leather shoes angling into brick outlines made a rhythm of hopping and hoping to land inside the lines. I grew up in the city and I recall one street that had many oak trees and a black cast iron fence edging a grand property.  In the fall my sister and I would walk through the fallen brown crunchy leaves kicking them high up in the air, laughing and giggling.  We also walked to school daily. five or six blocks passing crossing guards in blue and white uniforms. Near the end of fall, my mother would bundle me up in a hat and scarf and once around the bend when she couldn't see me-off would g...

Jingle bells, Jingle bells...... Here's a big announcement:  I have officially started my holiday knitting.  Yep, I was itching to cast on another project yesterday and knew it had better not be for me.  I chose Light and Up  shawl for its simplistic lines and lovely eyelets and paired the pattern with Shalimar sock yarn  from my stash.  I loved shopping the stash basket :) Did you see my finished shawl ? I am toe tapping impatient to wear it.  For some reason we have a heat wave occurring to snafu my plans. Patience is not one of my virtues.  I'm still knitting these  socks  and my other shawl . I recently watched the movie Little Women starring Winona Ryder and instantly had an urge to re read the classic.  The last time I've read this book was in my teens.  While reading, I'm transported to another time and place.  I was around 13-14 years old and just discovered how reading could be fun instead of drudgery. ...

As you might have guessed, we are the kind of people that hardly ever take serious photos and this is one of them.  I'd like to think it's because I'm pouting about my horrible hair, but I was being silly.  Pulling one of many faces.  The fact is my hair was awful up in Lake Placid because it was drizzly every day.  I pulled it back and ignored it for most of the time. Thank goodness there aren't mirrors in the wilderness. While we were at Lake Placid, we did a "touristy" outing, who can resist?  This place is High Falls Gorge  and it was worth the admittance price.  The trails and bridges and walkways were perfectly maintained and we had fun.  Stairs going up, stairs going down, lots of landing porches for photography and signs explaining the gorge making process and some botany lessons. All of the photos were taken by my husband.  He was using his iphone but I had a fear of him dropping his iphone in the falls (I know I have to ...

My weekend: -I walked daily, well almost daily-embracing the change in the air.  You can feel fall just around the corner -we (meaning he) closed the pool-you know what that means....heat wave is coming! -Frodo is happy to have the pool cover on so he can walk across water :) -I caught up on laundry and tidied up the pile of papers on the counter -I've flipped through magazines and cookbooks getting hungry from all the ideas I've found. -favorite tastes this weekend:  avocado with radishes and apple cake-not together. -knitting with friends and knitting in silence in the morning. -being unplugged for the weekend and finding it very therapeutic for my soul How was your weekend? Joining Amanda

I'm thinking that summer is at its end.  Brown leaves are abundant on the sides of the road and sprinkled in are red and golden yellow leaves.  The wind sounds different when it breezes through the trees, have you noticed?  The weatherman mentioned a five letter word- F R O S T.  Not for my area but boy, the weather is changing.  I wouldn't mind a wee bit of frost to kill the weed pollen. We walked yesterday just the three of us, lots of talking and sharing our daily events.  Frodo is quite happy leading us and exploring.  Our new rhythm is to eat dinner, walk and then have our dessert if there is one.  I promise you, there is one! I am slowly going through a few cookbooks, pulling different recipes out to try and hopefully incorporate into our weekly menus.  We both are committed to whole food plant based and it's a journey that ebbs and flows.  Since I participated in  Heather's 30 day vegan course  in the spring, I ha...

Finally, finally I am posting about this shawl.  I must say that I'm in love with it and it was worth the crazy stitch patterns.  I confess I wasn't a fan of the first stitch pattern because it was unreadable.  I find I dislike writing down which row I'm on so I don't do it, and my locking stitch marker system didn't help so it was guess work on my part.  I think I guessed correctly. I will wear the shawl like the above photo. Oh so cozy warm and so so soft :) The pattern is Laminaria , the yarn is Manos Lace  and my project page is here .  Modifications were six repeats of the star pattern and a full eight repeats of the blossom chart.  I squeaked by with enough yarn....barely-eliminating the last purl row before bind off. Oh and the knitting surgery went well.  It was a dropped stitch and I fixed it as best as I could.  Only I know where it is and I have a difficult time finding it.  It saddens me that it ex...

There is something with the change of seasons that inspires me to try new recipes.  I went grocery shopping yesterday and picked up a few magazines and now I want to cook some new dishes.  The fallish kind that warms your insides.  Anyways, I finished the Picoult book Sing You Home and it was okay.  That is all I'll say about the book.  Lamott's book never fails to make me laugh and think at the same time so she's all good reading for me. My knitting is coming along.  The socks for my son are going and I do believe I will run out of yarn, but no worries.  I'll just dig through that massive odds and ends of sock yarns in my basket to complete each sock.  This shawl  is my savoring knitting, I am enjoying each blessed stitch.  I love the short row shaping and the two colors paired together are growing on me! What are you knitting and reading this week?? Joining Ginny

Last Friday we left to have a long weekend getaway in Lake Placid, New York.  The ride was about seven hours with a few stops and a lunch.  Traffic was heavy until we past the exits for Lake George.  Then civilization was sparse, so was cell phone service and it was fantastic.  The views were incredible, majestic mountains, large boulders and not many people-so beautiful. The first two photos were taken from our balcony at the Golden Arrow Lakeside Resort , we had a lovely suite with a sitting area besides the bed and a lake view right about the private beach area.  I highly recommend the hotel.  We received a complimentary bottle of wine and a goody bag upon check in.  I love those sweet touches, seldom found while traveling. Our lake was Mirror Lake, adjacent to Lake Placid.  No motorized crafts are allowed on Mirror Lake so that means when you are swimming, or canoeing or boating or kayaking you will not be pummeled by a wake forme...

Hello! We were on a weekend adventure and just got back this afternoon.  This photo from my phone is a quick sneak peek at our getaway.  I'll give you much more details and photos tomorrow hopefully.  We drove to Lake Placid to celebrate our anniversary and to squeeze in a vacation. -I did not fix my knitting yet, that's tonight hopefully -I was unplugged from social media and many blogs that I've missed -I ate too much -I walked too much (hopefully that negated the "ate too much") -I am exhausted and yet renewed....a funny paradox but needed. -I bought another notebook and because I have a notebook buying addiction convinced my husband to buy one as well.  It worked! -I read but did not finish a book -I people watched-which is by far my favorite activity on vacation -almost every meal was with a lake view!- I could do that for every single meal for the rest of my life. See you tomorrow my friends with lots of photos to share. ...