Pumpkin Sunrise

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 had some really good mail!  Ine from a picture book mind blog  sent me some sock scraps and lots of little goodies.  Some tea, some photo cards and a lovely hand drawn card, thank you Ine!! Also our daughter and fiance came for the weekend for a reception food tasting.  My the tasting was more like a meal and we left with most of our decisions made.  The facility is lovely and I am confident that come July the wedding is going to be a beautiful event. There was some mindless bookstore perusing, book flipping and enjoying being with like minded people as they look and discuss.  I sort of ease drop and listen in on the discussions.  I sometimes agree and sometimes have no clue what they are talking about.  ...

I've been mulling over this quote I came across for the whole week and I thought I'd share it with you. Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.      -Lao Tzu     This week has been sort of busy and sort of quiet.  A mixture of the two and when the quiet times were strung together I felt quite relaxed.  My husband's work hours have been kind of crazy these past weeks, it's temporary, but both of us get caught up in being disappointed in the hectic schedule.  But then there are days that ordinary hours occur and we forget the crazy schedule. I've been looking ahead in the coming months, thinking and planning in my imagination, trips to take, visits to organize with our son and our daughter.  Oh yes, and the wedding.  Not much thoughts on the wedding details, but I do think of the household tasks I'd love to complete before the e...

I finished reading A Tale for the Time Being  by Ruth Ozeki, my oh my was it a good book.  I will warn you though, it's a sad-good-hopeful kind of book.  I love how it delved into teenage bullying, writer's block, nature and how we take care of it, generations, mind - body connection.  All good. I'm still savoring bits of what I'm thinking about. I started a new book, The Storied Life of A J Fikry , and since I am in the beginning, I have no opinions as of yet. I also finished Daddy Long Legs  on my Kindle and it's another novel from my youth.  Apparently I was really into reading about orphans.  This one was a nice walk down memory lane.  I started Pollyanna  on my Kindle, another orphan but I never read this one!  I'm sure I'll enjoy it just as much.  The Kindle reading is my knitting time when I'm knitting simple knits. This week I started another Citron Shawl , because I have been wearing this one religiously this wint...

I finished the baby cardigan for my nephew's soon to be baby.  While my sister was visiting, we popped into a big craft store and then I stood trying to decide the buttons.  Oh the buttons, the choices.  I could have had sports, cars, crayons-the list goes on and I was frozen with the possibilities.  I decided after a long thought on the elephants.  Can't say why, I guess I was in an elephant mood. Ravelry notes here

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 quite nice.  We spent the day with our daughter in her small town yesterday.  Our town is smaller and so there was an adjustment to the traffic, the sitting, the waiting.  Sometimes I wish I had those fancy stores in the "big" cities, but then I'd have to sit through a couple of lights to get where I'm going.  So I'll take the slow town where I'm creative where I shop and I arrive to places lightening fast. Today has been the same kind of Sunday as always.  We went to Mass-I cannot believe that Palm Sunday is next week! The laundry is half way done and I threw together some kind of dinner that turned out okay.  I stir fried asparagus and mushrooms in some oil and served it over left over buckwheat n...

I've been doing a bit of reading and research about meditation.  I've never dipped my toes into Zen meditation, maybe I will.  However, upon further reflections, I find that I do indeed embrace meditation but differently. When I pray my Catholic prayers, I enter a calmer sense of being.  The older I get the more I appreciate all of those Catholic school days and how they are valuable to me on so many levels. On my daily walks as I place one foot in front of the other, a cadence is developed and soon I let go of tiny worries.  Sometimes I think about the birds I hear or the deer I see and sometimes I'm not thinking about anything in particular. Those nothing moments are treasured. When I sit down and pick up my knitting!  My, I love how each and every stitch I create lulls me into a state of happiness, quietness deep down inside.  I have knit through joyous times and in trying times.  If I am actively worrying about something, I'll pick up my ...

I continue to read three books from last week.  I'm over half way done with Linking your Beads , a fantastic historical overview of how the rosary came to be as well as the meanings behind the prayers and rituals.  I grew up in Catholic schools and I love how I'm learning new facts.  I read a chapter every day or so, savoring the learning. I am still reading A Tale for the Time Being  which continues to be wonderful, I'm nearly finished and I'll be sad when I read the last page.   Right Ho, Jeeves  will definitely be done today as well, very entertaining, light and amusing. This week I've been focusing on this shawl , working on it a little bit each day.  Getting excited to when I arrive at the lace section! Also yesterday I wrote about the kindness of fellow bloggers and my never ending sock scrap blanket . What are you knitting and reading this week? Joining Ginny and Frontier Dreams

The blogging community is a wonderful place, don't you think so?  I love meeting all of you through comments, blog hopping and visiting, through exchanges of personal emails,  I love how supportive all of you are when someone is being challenged in health or life or maybe in knitting. All wonderful!   Stephanie over at woolythyme  blog sent me a lovely package of sock yarn scraps to make sure I keep knitting this blanket. Or wait, maybe I'm to finish this blanket ....I'm sure Steph will pick which one it is in the comments when she sees this. Anyways, yarn mail is the bestest mail in the whole wide world. So thank you Stephanie, with each stitch I'll be thinking of you :)  

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.  On Friday, my sister and my brother in law arrived and the camera, social media and the internet was set aside.  I relished the entire weekend!  I wish I had a photo to share but the apples will have to do and you'll have to conjure up in your imagination how lovely my weekend was. We had dinners at home along with a yellow cake with chocolate icing. Conversations overlapping with news of family and friends, ideas of projects for the spring (still on about the painting before the wedding).  Lunch out, driving in traffic with windshield wipers that have reached their end.  How do I know?  The rain was endless.  My sister and I talked about living life fully.   Do you? Do I?   I guess the question is, ...

Change is difficult for me.  I like, no I thrive, on the sameness of each day-same breakfast, same routine and yet I know that change is what makes life interesting.  Seasons change and I love how each one brings something special that I notice.  Year in and year out birds return to sing and herald in a new day.  Yet I listen with new ears and new awareness each March for the first time and appreciate their songs. As a mother, I faced changes throughout their growing up. Waving good bye as they boarded the bus for the first time wondering if those teachers know what they are doing (I think they did).  Watching my daughter go to orchestra festivals that were over night stays, same with my son.  Taking them to their undergraduate university dorms- another waving goodbye.  The same was repeated with the graduate programs. Throughout the stages, I wished them happiness and I adjusted to the new normal. I face aging with grace most of the time (ahem)...

Same book this week but different knitting.  Yesterday I posted about a possible shawl being cast on since I was shawless in my knitting projects.  I decided on the Eyeblink shawl  and so far I'm loving the easy back and forth knitting.  You can never ever have too many shawls on the needles, in your closet or to give as gifts.  This is my all time favorite item to knit up.  Ravelry project page is here . I continue to enjoy A Tale for the Time Being .  The characters are funny but in a sad funny kind of way.  I love cracking open the book and reading a few chapters here and there.  I'm also reading Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse on my Kindle.  A delightfully light and entertaining read, and fast! What are you knitting and reading this week? Joining Ginny and Frontier Dreams

The chicks are out, not real chicks!  The chicks my sister made for me.  I've lined them up on the window sill right where I can see them while I sit and knit.  Decorating my house for spring has slowly evolved into a fun activity.  Thanks to my sister, I have many new items to display here and there. Have you read Bella Grace ?  If not, maybe the next time you are in a Barnes and Noble you can flip through the magazine and see if it's for you.  I love the photography and the inspirational words that are held within the pages. My nephew is expecting a baby (you know what I mean, he and his girlfriend!).  I usually knit blankets, but I am leaning towards a baby sweater, the top down one from Elizabeth Zimmermann.  I've knit it before here and here .  I'll do a swatch...wait a minute...who am I kidding, I'll start the sweater with this blue yarn and see if I like the way it knits up.  If not, I'll dig through my stash once ag...

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.  Oh this weekend, my oh my, was it good.  Today the sun is shining away and we walked twice!  Yep, the snow is melting and for my second walk, I wore my light jacket.  I've heard robins singing to each other but haven't seen one as of yet.  But knowing they are here is quite thrilling.  A few trees are just about to sprout in our neighborhood.   While walking this afternoon, we saw an older couple sitting outside on their front steps wearing winter coats just absorbing the sun's rays.  Hello waves were exchanged and I think we communicated to each other "how nice the weather!". After an afternoon knitting with dear friends, I'm back home facing the laundry, some reading and sinking into an evening that will stay l...

Ever do slowly does this blanket grow.  One day I shall be finished with it.  When I started this blanket, first my son claimed ownership, then my daughter and my husband.  I declared "it's mine!" but really let's be honest, the blanket belongs to Frodo.  He sees me working on it and jumps up and sits beside me on the sofa. He gives me upside down spiderman glares (reference to the first spiderman movie where there is an upside down kiss) until I place the blanket on him.  If Frodo could speak he woulds say "ahh, finally she understood me".  He sleeps in his woolen cocoon until I leave the sofa. The vet called and Frodo does not have Lyme disease, phew.  He is just taking his time getting over his teeth cleaning.  Maybe he was a little disgruntled about the whole process.  I also think he is  tired of winter.  Whatever his reason, he has perked up and it will be quite a while before he needs to have his teeth cleaned again...

This past week, I've been making progress on my gray cowl (for me) and I started another pair of socks for me.  I'm having fun alternating between the two projects and hopefully I'll have one of the them finished next week, I hope. For reading, I'm thoroughly enjoying this book A Tale for the Time Being .  A ziplock bag containing a hello kitty lunch box and a diary written by a young girl washes up on shore and is found by Ruth who starts reading the diary.  The story so far is bittersweet and I'm pulled to each of the main characters, Ruth and Nao.  I simply savor a book that has a strong beginning and draws my interest and empathy right into the plot. What are you knitting and reading this week? Joining Ginny and Frontier Dreams

I find myself wanting more and more cowls to wear this winter.  They are warm and easy to loop for extra warmth.  Yet I only own a few compared to the endless shawls I own, I'm not complaining, I'm stating a fact.  I'm in a cowl wearing mood this winter. This pattern  is a delight to knit.  Just keep in mind you need about 320 yards, 300 yards is quite skimpy.  This is the second time I've knit this pattern.  I decided to go up one needle size and bought lots of yarn.  I love the way this cowl feels and drapes. Ravelry notes are here

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.  The snow has been falling all day long.  This is the snow that was supposed to start late afternoon early evening.  This is the snow that was to be one to three inches.  I woke up ready to go to Mass and when I took Frodo outside found the snow steadily falling and more than three inches is likely.  Plans were scrapped.  New plans formulated. I spent the day sitting, reading and changing out the laundry from washer to dryer.  Walking today was out (again).  Frodo had a dental cleaning last Thursday and I think he is still a little blah from it.  I worry that he has lyme again, but luckily I was smart enough to have the blood work drawn and will hear whether he needs some medicine early next week.  Since...