Pumpkin Sunrise

black yarn = sad eyes  I am exhausted.  This weekend was packed with non-stop activity and I'm only just sitting down to write this blog post at 5:40 p.m. on Sunday, and I only just started the laundry.  My daughter and son in law arrived yesterday afternoon and we jammed the day with goodness. First there was swimming in the pool and having snacks by the pool as well.  All those cloudy rainy days gave was to a picture perfect weekend.  We were due for some nice weather after a week of rain. Later, I cooked dinner (coleslaw, homemade mac and cheese and hot dogs on the grill). After dinner we all drove the backroads to Knoebels  amusement park to have a lovely walk about and to have some desserts while we people watched.  This park is wonderful in that you do not need to buy an admission to gain admittance.  Sweet!  We were hoping the flooding the park received would be cleaned up by the weekend.  The workers must have labored around the clock to tidy up the place becau

Every day has been a rainy day this week.  The local streams have overflowed and caused all kinds of trouble for residents.  I will complain about the big hill I live on and have to walk up at the end of a walk but being on a big hill has its benefits.  As I sit in my kitchen typing, once again the clouds of doom are out and it feels like another stormy day. Along with the storms, I have a dog that is now afraid of thunder and sits on my lap until the thunder is gone.  My dog groomer/trainer/the lady I babysit for says it's because he is old and his eyesight is not as good and that makes him unsure of where the noise is coming from.  My babysitting schedule might be changing this fall.  Instead of two mornings a week, I will be doing one full day a week.  I'm excited about this change because when I work two mornings a week, nothing gets done in the afternoons, I'm exhausted.  One full day with a possible nap time (for her not me) would be appealing and free up

Oh the knitting, or should I say all the non-knitting that has been going on.  I continue to improve with how long I can sit without back pain, and I continue to knit more each day.  However, it is not up to my previous standards.  I'm still slow going. What is also an issue, is I've chosen some BIG projects that show little progress except for the hat.  When I have fast short projects on the needles, I wish for epic knits that take many skeins and hours.  So now I have all the epic knits and I'm wishing for a 200 yard project.  Sometimes I amaze myself at how I'm fickle I am with my knitting.  The Night Sky top is chugging along.  I love the endless stockinette and the feel of a cotton blend in my hands.  Right now this is the knit that I'm most obsessed about and spend the most time on. Ah, the cloverleaf shawl  sometimes it gets some loving but it's not often enough and when I do work on it the progress is hard to see.  I need to put marker clips

Hello!  I was gone again for the weekend.  If you know me well, you know that I am exhausted from two weekends in a row with traveling.  This time we went to celebrate my dad's birthday (Happy Birthday Dad!). We spent the day at his house for the afternoon in northern western Pennsylvania.  I walked about trying out all of my lenses with the Nikon.  I have a zoom lenses that is manually focused and apparently I need the auto function.  Oh well, the learning curve is always biggest when you begin something new. We had a delicious dinner together where everyone brought a dish to share.  My dad cooked chicken on the open fire after a long marinating brine (I think that is what he said).  babies! After saying our goodbyes once the festivities ended,  my husband and I spent Friday and Saturday night at my sister and brother in law's house.  Saturday, my sister and I shopped all morning long and had a lunch out.  My sister hosted the next dinner with more family co

Being home is wonderful, but you already know that.  I never get tired of my house, sitting at my kitchen table with my favorite mug filled with coffee writing in the early morning hours.  Such bliss.  Years ago, I started this morning routine and it has served me well.  I remember 'thinking' about starting a morning routine for a long time.  I wonder why I hesitated?  Didn't summer start off with crazy heat and humidity?  Yikes, I felt like I was wilting.  Yesterday and today was picture perfect with sunny skies and cool breezes while sitting in the shade.  I almost like this season.  While swinging on the back patio swing, I listened to the birds singing as I read a book.  This reminds me of all my teen summers of endless book reading on the front porch swing with a glass of iced tea.  Oh, my friends would get so frustrated with me because I would not budge unless I finished the book.  I cannot believe I will say this but I do love the gym.  (really!)  I

My knitting has solely been focused on this summer top.  I worked on this beauty the entire trip up to Boston getting the lace detail finished.  Now I'm on the stockinette stitching which to me is soothing and calming.  I find if I feel hectic on the inside, stockinette stitch gets me into a zen state of mind. My other projects have taken a back seat while I obsess over this current knit.  Ravelry notes are here .

Get ready, this post has a ton of photos, well ten photos.  However I took so many with my phone!  I'm trying to remember to take photos while having fun.  How was your weekend?  Mine was fantastic, we went to Cambridge to see our son this weekend and had such a good time. The ride up wasn't great - we hit the awful traffic of Connecticut.  While my back is slowing improving, riding in a car causes me pain that Tylenol barely touches.  (Remember, sitting is the hardest activity for me while I heal up).  used book store Friday night we were in Central Square and toodled about shopping and eating and talking.  Saturday morning was the BIG day.  We were all over the place.  After a subway ride into downtown Boston, we shopped a bit and ate at Quincy Market for lunch.  me trying not to squint.... my husband cannot walk and look at his phone at the same time We went to the aquarium and had a fun time, penguins were my favorite - runner up was the jellyfish an

Last weekend while I was knitting with my friends, I had yarn envy.  Serious yarn envy.   One of my friend's shared a current project on the needles and I fell in love with the soft cotton linen blend.  Three days later after a gym session, I drove to my LYS to purchase some of my own. The yarn is Nettle Grove by Plymouth yarn .  While waiting for Wednesday (yarn shopping day) to arrive, I spent tons of time on Ravelry checking out summer tops to knit, for me.   I chose Night Sky  as my summer top to knit.   The Dr Who hat is looking pretty good as I add the yarn in a semi purposeful way. The past week has been a fantastic gym week.  I challenged my body and feel stronger.  Of course my back is still sending me nasty messages but they are much quieter and I do get to knit now.  When knitting I can ignore a lot. Every time I strain my back I swear I will never take for granted my pain free days.  My pain free days arrive and - poof - gratitude goes out