Pumpkin Sunrise

  This week I've been working on 'being present' in what I do. When I'm on a walk with Frodo I notice what I see, hear and feel. The wind, the neighborhood dogs barking to say 'hello' to Frodo, the birds singing and feeling my cold hands and face while Mother Nature dips into wintry weather (I am not complaining!).  I've noticed that mornings are favorite times to notice the here and now.  I am a part-time dabbler in the 'what if' scenario thought process. "What if this happens?"  "What if that happens?" These thoughts are not being present. And so I work hard at my mindfulness techniques, a constant work in progress.  Guess what is NOT a constant work in progress...I finished that blanket! Oh boy what a labor of love. I hope to have some photos of the blanket for you next week. I'm excited that I can now do some casting on of short term projects while I mull about what long term project I want to do in the future (not a blank...

  Good morning! How are you? Well surprisingly, we are back into cold temperatures and I'm not complaining. This past weekend was too hot for me. So once more, I'm wearing some wool apparel and am at peace with that fact. Summer is around the corner and there will be plenty of time to be hot. For today's knitting, I'm sharing with you a shawl I casted on a week or so ago.  Nestled in that squishy garter stitch are lots of yarn overs that will not be visible until I block the daylights out of the shawl. Seriously the instructions say this is so and I'm trusting the directions. Blocking usually does wonders to any lace shawl. The pattern is repetitive and easy to memorize and I'm happy to have this in my knitting tote bag. I am confident (??) that I will be sharing with you my never ending blanket that is on the LAST skein. Stay tuned. What are you working on this week?

  Oh boy was it hot this weekend.  Saturday I was all 'yay, it feels so nice' and by Sunday afternoon I had to put the AC on due to my hands and wrists swelling and aching. (The arthritis symptoms I experience are terrible in hot weather). Isn't it crazy that it was so hot? Isn't it crazy that too much of a good thing could be wrong? The dogwood trees in our backyard are about to bloom, for that I am truly grateful. I had many at our old house and am quite pleased we have them here as well. I also have a resident Mr and Mrs brown headed cowbird couple that are adorable. Sometimes they eat at the bird feeder and sometimes they are standing on the ground eating stray seeds that have fallen down from the bird feeder. I did a bit of watercoloring and sketching over the weekend. It was good to be returning to art in some form or another. My husband did major gardening work on Saturday then was achy on Sunday! I did my weekly laundry chores and cleaning the house.  I'm re...

Good morning!  Yesterday, my husband and I went to the Carnegie Museum of Art for a few hours. One of the features we were excited about when we decided to relocate to live near my sister and my family was living near a city and taking advantage of what a city has to offer culturally. We planned on buying yearly passes for the museums so we could plan outings to see the exhibits. Our whole married life has been in small college towns so this city thing is new.  Today is looking to be a beautiful sun-shiny day and now I am re-inspired to dust off my art supplies and start creating something.   In non-art news, I am furiously working on the never ending blanket in the evenings and have less than two skeins left out of the ten skeins that I started with. I am so close to being done!

  Well I finished yet another baby cardigan this week. This one is another gift for a friend's baby-to-be. I believe I'm done with the baby gift knitting for now! The yarn is greener in real life and I'm pleased with the way this cardigan turned out. What have you been working on this week?

Good morning! How was your weekend? Mine was busy and wonderful. We had a small family gathering yesterday to celebrate Easter and I'm still recovering for the 'busy'. I had a wonderful time. My husband and I also zoomed/face-timed our kids over the weekend and it was nice to see them even though we are miles apart. I can't wait to see them all again, it's getting time to plan some trips. I managed to NOT take one photo over the weekend so here's some from this Monday morning. My dogwoods are about to bloom and I hope they can manage to survive the sleet and snow that is coming today and tomorrow. (Eep!!) I'm ignoring all wintry weather, in my heart it's springtime. How was your weekend?

  Good morning! Finally spring weather is here, well temporarily. I have the patio all set up and we had our first sit out two days ago. The patio is one of our favorite features of this house. In the photo above is our backyard and down the hill can you see the half buried swimming pool? We are trying to figure out how to completely bury it. No ideas so far, but I welcome yours. My husband is trying to figure out how to remove the coping around the edges of the pool. We also need a ton of dirt.  Our local family will be at our house for Easter Sunday dinner. I've been busy creating a menu and writing down all the 'to dos' that need to be done. I'm lucky my sister is helping with the cooking. I'll miss my kids but there is Zoom and that makes it nice! I have not done a single stitch of my cross stitch project in over a week. I snapped a photo to show you my progress and to visually remind me to work on it once again. I'm working on the second baby gift sweater a...

  Good morning! Today is going to be a beautiful day and hopefully I will be sitting outside this afternoon on the back patio making the most of it before the rain returns once more. Sigh.  I finished the baby sweater ! It's the same pattern I knit over and over again. I am starting another one for another friend's baby to be. After that I will be taking a break from baby making things until mid to late summer when I start knitting for my grandson. What are you working on this week?

  This weekend was a stay at home do nothing weekend and it was glorious. I will not talk about the snowflakes I witnessed yesterday morning, instead I will focus on all the daffodils blooming and the possible tulips that are trying their best to survive whatever is eating them (deer? rabbit?). Spring is arriving and I'm patient enough to wait for it. I managed to really really clean the house. The dusting and the vacuuming that I love to procrastinate on until it's unbearable is completed until the next time. The house looks so tidy!  I worked on the baby sweater and am nearly ready to cast on one more baby sweater for another gift. Also, I dusted off my paint set and did a little sketch. In between I marathon read some books and abandoned one book which was liberating! How was your weekend?

  I've been thinking about the word 'abundance' all week long. Specifically, in my daily life and where is the abundance. In nature, there is an abundance of spring time blossoms and birds singing away. On my walks I try to notice what I see and hear to ground myself and to be present. This noticing crowds out the to do tasks and what's on my mind. I have abundance in yarns, projects and all sorts of creative pursuits. I believe you all do as well. That's what we creators do. Most importantly I've been thinking of the people in my life. Family, extended family, friends, neighbors and all the other people I have yet to meet in my new town. I still keep in touch with my friends from my old town. All of you dear readers who are friends as well. The community we share here is quite abundant. In other news, they came and put up our awning! Now I know it's going to be warmer days. Of course there is snow in tomorrow's forecast but I'm ignoring that bit of ...

  Well well well. I finished this gift cowl over the weekend. I am thrilled with the color striping and the fact that I barely made it with the gray and white yarns. I used the same three skeins from the first cowl here  changing the order of the yarns used. There is nothing as exciting as winning at the yarn chicken game. If you look closely, I did have to stripe the lacy section to officially make the gray yarn last. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How was your weekend? My husband and I along with my sister and brother in law went to the Phipps Conservatory to see the spring garden show. Outside it was wintry cold but inside the views were springtime hopefulness. We had such a great time. My favorite space was the Japanese garden and I did not take a photograph. We hope to go there every time the exhibit changes. Hopefully the next time we venture over there the weather will be much better and we can stroll about the outside gardens. Yesterday was bitterly cold and I did not wear a winter coat but a spring jacket, I don't know what I was thinking. But it makes you feel alive! Spring is around the corner, right??

  As I sit here and write this post, there are teeny tiny snowflakes doing their best to say 'ha ha, springtime, winter can still be here'. I'm ignoring the flakes and celebrating the first day of April! Can you believe it's April? The daffodils are blooming and my lilac bush is sprouting.  Yesterday we went to the local park for a walk that we haven't done since late fall. The weather was warm but the winds were fierce. I don't mind being cold and/or damp down to my bones but I highly dislike windy days.  My very first time visiting this park was after the high blood pressure event in early August and my meds being adjusted. I then committed to walking over 150 minutes a week which I've kept up with except for extreme snowy weather conditions or that horrible stomach bug. I'm proud of my commitment. April beginnings remind me of new beginnings. I'm looking forward to more outings, day trips and exploring our new to us area. April means: fresh - new ...