Pumpkin Sunrise

We are celebrating 27 years of marriage this week.  (YAY) So I'm listing what I like about him: -he laughs at my jokes even if they aren't that funny -whatever I'm worried about he says it will be okay -we talk at the same time about the same stuff -we both have fitness trackers and compare how many steps we have (I'm nearly always behind) -he will ferret out unknown to me yarn shops for day trips and lunches, nearly every time there is also a used vinyl record shop as well for him -he likes most of my crazy ideas -he knows the difference between knitting and crocheting -we love long aimless car rides -I am directionally challenged and he knows where we are where ever we are -he makes the best pizza crust from scratch and delicious curry dinners -I still cannot read his writing but come close to the message when needed -he can calculate in his head, I'm a finger counting girl so it comes in handy after 10. Have a lovely weekend :)

My knitting has been great fun this past week.  As some of you may know, I started the hitofude cardigan and have joined Steph in a knitalong of sorts.  Care to join us?  We would love to have you! Still knitting my shawl , smiling when I get to do my short row shaping.  Lovely.  I'm nearing another section at the end.  I can easily see myself knitting this shawl again. I started a new book, a young adult novel, Eleanor and Park  which I've seen on fellow blogger's posts.  I only started but I'm happily wrapped in a love story. What are you knitting and reading this week? Joining Ginny and Frontier Dreams

Well, I cast on a sweater , sort of a shrug, that is all the rage on ravelry.  I love when peer pressure is all for creativity and goodness, I saw Steph's lacy beginnings and knew I was going to start one.  Steph over at woolythyme  and I are having a loosey goosey knit along and I'm going to post my progress of my sweater each Tuesday.  Care to join us?  You can report your progress at her blog or my blog or both in the comments section.  We have no rules that I know of and I think this will be fun :) I dug deep in my yarn stash and remembered this lovely yarn I bought while up in Portland Maine a few years ago.  I bought the discontinued yarn not knowing what its future held.  Well the future is today and the yarn will become a Hitofude !

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. My weekend was somewhat relaxing, slow and purposeful. -watched another two episodes of Dr. Who -started a new knitting project because of peer pressure ( steph !) -knitting and unknitting that project, making rookie mistakes -celebrating our daughter's boyfriend's birthday and yes there was cake involved -sinking into two walks a day once again with the weather cooperating -rainy days yielded to blue skies -catching the angle of the summer sun midday throughout the house -chatting with our son daily, listening to his days and the meals he's creating or not creating.  Loving that I was lucky to be there last weekend and can imagine him in his town, on his campus -Frodo was stung by a wasp and his yelp was heard around the yard.  Once he recovered,he went...

Every August the heron returns to the duck pond and every August I try to capture him with my camera.  As you can guess, I have just the phone on me whenever he's around.  He plays hide and seek, pretends to be a duck or goose and I enjoy his beauty.  He seems to enjoy the attention we give him when we stop to stare-he waits a few seconds right when the photo is about to be taken then flies off looking like a prehistoric animal. This groundhog was quite funny on our walk.  He saw us approaching and scrambled to jump into one of his many holes and missed.  Oh the grumbling, grunting, and low pitched squabbling sounds he made.  We were lucky to snap this photo and he was a little dazed after knocking himself in his head.  Silly little guy!  If we see any snake on the road, my husband gently escorts him off the road and saves a life.  He loves snakes and sees beauty.  I just stand aside and hand over the phone for him to sna...

My shawl is finished, off the needles, waiting to be wrapped around my neck when the brisk cool air returns once more.  Ah, I cannot wait.  I loved knitting this pattern, the charts were easy to follow and at times I could memorize a section.  The yarn was bliss! I was challenged on how to photograph this colorway.  Unfortunately I was wearing light colored clothes and was too lazy to change into something dark to wear the shawl.  So I leave the modeling up to your imagination :)

Do you love short row shaping?  If the answer is "yes" then you need to knit this shawl.  Seriously the pattern is absolutely entertaining as you knit each section and see the progress.  I've started the first of many short row shaping sections and I'm in love!  Ravelry notes are here . The knitting has been sparse once again this past week.  We've moved our son but now we are furniture shopping for our daughter's place.  The month of August has been a transitional one for us as parents and for them.  I look forward to sweet endless boredom in September, fingers crossed! I'm still reading my book from last week, One Hundred Names  and continue to enjoy the story. I'm nearly finished and I believe the plot will have a tidy happy ending.  This novel was perfect to read during these busy days.  Easy to pick up and put down and entertaining, really a great escape. What are you knitting and reading this week? (Oh and I did finish t...

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. My weekend consisted of: -moving our son completely into his new apartment outside of the Boston area -shopping at Ikea for the first time and LOVING it. -lots of bending, moving, walking and unpacking boxes -being amazed we fit all of his belongings in the Honda CRV -ordering pizza while moving in -being happy and sad at the same time for my son -picking up a happy Frodo from the kennel, he was extra wiggly happy :) -having a much needed salad for dinner after eating out all weekend long -car knitting!! How was your weekend?

Thank you all for loving the idea of the weekending post on Monday mornings.  I'm thrilled that this will work out for most of you.  My week has been here and there, happy and stressed.  All part of life and for that I'm glad I am breathing and finding tiny pockets of time for me.  My biggest habit that feeds my soul is my early morning alone time.....bliss!  I do a huge mind dump of lists of what need to be done before I forget. I never used to forget and I wonder did I have a fantastic memory or less to do when I was younger.  I'll never know.  Squeeze in some praying and journaling and then  -boom- I'm good to go. As you can see, Frodo has quite the toy collection.  If you've been reading for a few years, you know his favorite toy of all time is the flexible frisbee.  He will run, catch, return and repeat over and over. His energy is endless and so is his joy. Starting next week, I'm returning to my grocery budget.  You...

I'm excited to tell you I've cast on a new project this week!  Of course I'm still working on my shawl and my blanket but I needed something new on the needles to get me through the moving month of my two children.  Yes, the entire month...so whenever I have a tiny sliver of time, I sit and knit and feel all happy deep down inside!  I treated myself to this pattern that I've been admiring since it was released. My reading is the same and I'm quite happy with the story.  Nice and easy and amusing.  There is a bit of a mystery with the plot so that has me wondering what will happen next.  Delightful!! What are you knitting and reading? 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. This weekend was: -a scrabble weekend, close game but I won :) -lots of knitting -dinner out on Friday -dinner in Saturday, clearing out the left overs -walking twice daily once again -being in the moment -relaxing and unplugged most of the time Today is church, some laundry and visiting with some friends while knitting. How was your weekend? Announcement :  Starting next weekend I will be posting late Sunday or early Monday morning to maximize my unpluggedness (not a word but it should be!).  I will see how that goes for a bit.  I enjoy posting on Sunday morning but I am loving the thought of a whole weekend away from the computer. 

daughter's new digs! This week has been a little stressful for me.  I was frazzled and my patience wore thin with simple everyday happenings.  I found myself getting angry with others and myself, not liking how I was answering questions or my worried state of mind. a sign of fall I think we all get like that.  When events are overwhelming and you are just overflowing with many thoughts and feel, well, feel stressed.  So in the spirit of winning the battle of life's challenging moments, here is what I do to find my Happy Place. finding my happy place 1.  I decide to find my happy place.  I make a resolution and they usually start in the morning 2.  I talk a long walk-walking and moving my body releases physical and mental stress 3.  I opted to buy a pattern on Ravelry that I've been thinking about.  That instant purchase gave me joy! 4.  I quit saying "at the end of August, I will do ______" 5.  I spent ...

I've been sporadically knitting on two projects.  My sock blanket is showing more progress but now that it's almost lap size you cannot see the hours I've put in.  I love this project so!  Unfortunately my shawl has seen maybe four or five rows added this past week due to my life being busy with relocating one adult child. I finished my socks over the weekend and here's the post if your interested! My reading is the same, so far the book is good!  The plot is relaxing and slowly evolving.  I'm excited to read each night and visit with characters I care about. What are you knitting and reading this week? joining Ginny and Frontier Dreams

Over the weekend while moving our daughter from the old apartment to the new apartment, I finished my socks.  You know, the maleficent socks . Are you a matchy matchy sock knitter?  I am.  I take pride in how close the matching is and this pair I think I'm within a row of identical socks.  This is without counting rows, just using locking stitch marker clips and a measuring tape. I'm keeping this pair for me and I've tucked them away in my woolen sock drawer.  Waiting for those crisp fall days that will be here in three months.

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. This weekend, I am sharing with you the pretty phlox in my back garden.  This year the flowers have grown high and quite pretty!  I love the burst of color they give to my otherwise overly green view. My weekend thus far has been: -driving a few hours one way to move out our daughter.  Two cars, four people and a flurry of activity. -Subway sandwiches eaten on the floor of the empty apartment-reminding me of my earlier moving days -driving back home to dump off some laundry and clothes while she visits us -driving an hour in the opposite direction to move in all of the belongings in the cars -a lovely dinner out in her new to be town, burgers and fries. -driving home with two cars and four people.  We have yet to shop for some pieces of f...

Sometimes I wish I carried my camera, any camera around.  Yesterday when I went to get the mail, I decided I didn't need to carry a cell phone all the time....of course it's then I see many deer.  I calmly walked to the house and grabbed both cameras and came back. Only two stayed for the photo shoot.  I think they were on to me. This summer, there have been a pair of little fawns without a mother and a slightly older fawn without a mother walking about the area while I've been walking with Frodo.  Each time I'd see them, I'd rejoice that they were doing well.  We are surrounded by woods and spotting them is quite common.  I was thrilled when this older deer in the photo above adopted the three orphans and still has her own fawn to care for. A cobbled together family of sorts. Can you believe today is the first of August?  This month will be flying by since this is the Moving Children Month.  The shift has started ever so slightly to fall. ...