Pumpkin Sunrise

How was your weekend?  I'm knee deep in a wonderful holiday lull.  Over the weekend our company left, I blitzed the house something fierce.  All of the scurrying was done so I could sit and enjoy my knitting, reading and painting.  Even though the weather was drippy, foggy and rainy, I continued to enjoy the weekend of leftover dinners and tons of cookies.  Supplies are running low for my no cooking streak so I guess I have to start menu planning.  I resurrected my purple sweater and started knitting it once more.  It's nice to not be knitting Christmas gifts and to have time to knit. How was your weekend?

Ho ho ho!  Did you have a good holiday?  This week was crazy busy for me since most of my days are slow and easy.  We had a full house all week with both kids here.  Yesterday my daughter and son in law went home and today my son and his girlfriend are going to her parent's house for more celebrating. Christmas Eve dinner was made by my daughter as seen in my photos.  She worked really hard all day and the dinner was delicious.  Between Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Day dinner, I have enough leftovers for over a week (no cooking!). I have never been so grateful for the new dishwasher which I ran twice a day and still managed to have pots and pans to do by hand.  The new fridge also didn't disappoint.  I stuffed it full and still had room. We sat around talking and watching Christmas movies, did a puzzle in ONE day, ate more cookies than we should have and did daily walks down the dirt road. Being the host...

How was your weekend? I have my daughter and son in law here and tonight my son and his girlfriend arrive.  Each day is plotting out meals, gleefully loading a new dishwasher.  I'm sure the novelty of a new appliance will end but for now, I am loving the clean dishes! Holly sat this morning watching the machine as it made new-to-her sounds.  My skeptical cat wasn't sure what to make of the new addition to the kitchen. Yesterday we went to Mass and then later in the early evening went out for dinner.  It's been nice having them here for the holidays.  Whenever I have a moment I sit and knit on the cowl that is almost done.  I'd love to wear it to Christmas Eve Mass if possible. The presents are wrapped and the baking is done.  I am ready for Christmas!!

this mini sock pattern is free on my site and on Ravelry All is calm....for now.  Tomorrow our daughter and son in law arrive as the first wave of family kick off the holiday season.  On Monday our son and his girlfriend arrive as the second wave.  I'm getting excited but I am embracing the calm days as we approach the BIG day.  Even though I am embracing the quiet, it's been a busy week.  I finished wrapping presents, I finished baking all the cookies on my list and my new fridge and dishwasher arrived on Wednesday.  A new fridge is a big deal.  I have more room than ever and every time I go in for something, I end up rearranging food.  We tried our best to eat as much from the freezer as possible - we are still working on that. The old dishwasher was original to the house and approximately 18 years old.  I was correct in that the dishwasher was not cleaning the way it should (yuck).  Just thinking of the filth swirling about g...

Ho ho ho! I have been knitting exclusively on the husband's socks .  Steady progress is being made and I have turned the second heel and started the gusset.  I have high hopes that the second sock will be done today and then I can get back to focusing on me. What are you working on this week?

Good morning!  How was your weekend?  My weekend was pretty nice overall.  I finished the gift wrapping on Saturday morning.  Then focused on knitting my husband's socks that I hope will be done before Christmas day.  Even though the photo I'm sharing from yesterday morning looks like it is not done, I did finish the first sock last night and cast on the second sock. We attended Saturday night Mass then picked up a pizza at our favorite pizza shop.  I've been playing Christmas tunes every morning and there is always one song stuck in my head for the rest of the day.  Sunday was laundry (and I still have to do more today).  In the afternoon, I met my knitting friends and had a wonderful time with them.  Dinner yesterday was left over pizza (no cooking!).  This is my week to get all the baking and cleaning done before my family starts arriving on Saturday and the following Monday.  Thank you to all the new readers ...

Another week has come and gone, time is flying by isn't it?  I've been comfortably busy with preparations for my holiday week.  Can you believe it will all commence next Saturday?  Eep!  Fall and winter months speed by and yet late summer months go at a snail's pace.  I wish I could reverse the perception.   I've been at the gym five times this week slowly building back up what I momentarily lost while being under the weather.  Let's hope I don't catch anything else!  If only there was a discrete way of spraying Lysol around everyone I meet.   Grant's biography is my company on the treadmill and never fails being a faithful companion while I walk.   For now the cat/dog antics have quieted down.  Every day earlier in the week, Holly would come out to our family room while Frodo was unaware, then he would spy her and the barking would start up.  Holly hates the barking.  I've been trying to ...

I've been knitting a little bit each day on all three of my current projects.  So the progress is minimal at best but I am adding rows! My first project is the pair of socks for my husband.  I'm using a sock pattern that is memorized in my brain and is my go to cuff down traditional sock with a heel gusset.  I think it's the best fitting sock all around.  For variety I am doing a little 2x2 ribbing for two rows in between four rows of stockinette.  This is so I don't bore myself to death with a plain sock. Next up is my sweater !  Oh I feel all the feels when knitting this one.  Is it too big? Is it too small?  Currently it's just right.  All the stockinette knitting curls under and makes the sweater look smallish.  I have one more row (or two) to go and then I do the body shaping.  I love the miles of plain knitting for reading my Kindle at the same time. Last up is this cowl .  The knitting is a treat so I a...

my dad and step mom made this snowman for us for Christmas!  How was your weekend?   I'd like to say that I achieved so much BUT I didn't.  I finished a book and started another one on my Kindle.  I'm now on the last Gamache book ( A Better Man ).  I could spend every single glorious day knee deep in Louise Penny's novels.  I didn't really read much of the Grant biography. I did spend hours and hours researching and on-line shopping for a new rosary from my husband.  He said to me 'don't you have a hundred of those?'.  Um, no, I do not.  I have three rosaries.  My first one is from my Holy Communion, my second one is from my Confirmation and my last one is a spectacular glow in the dark rosary I purchased while in a church in NYC.  This isn't even buying one rosary per decade that I am alive!  I narrowed down my choices to four and he picked THE one.  I'm excited for Christmas now. four deer in the safet...

Well a full week of Advent is almost done.  Each morning I place an ornament on the Advent calendar that my mom made me when I was pregnant with my first child and living FAR away in Texas.  I think about her and her generosity with her creative skills.  I also remember past Christmases when I would receive one gift that was a craft.  I loved spending Christmas day needlepointing something new, or sewing or beading.  I also remember bursting into tears when I became frustrated.  I set expectations high even as a child. My mom would try her best to knit all the gifts and usually not make all the deadlines.  She would wrap up works in progress, give them as gifts then ask for them back so she could finish them.  This usually happened with sweaters.  My cousin once just received all the yarn - it wasn't a work in progress at all... My mother was ambitious in her Christmas plans. This year I scaled back on knitting madly right before the h...