Pumpkin Sunrise

  Good morning! This week has been really nice. I was appointment-free all week long, a rarity. The weather is right back into the rainy season. Since I'm coming up to one year living here, I don't know if it always rains here or if this is unusually wet. Does it matter?  Since moving here, I've let my hair grow long and just let it be. Another freeing decision! Why fight humidity? Growing out my bangs was another-freeing decision made more than five years ago, I highly recommend it if you fight styling your hair and yet it does whatever it wants anyways. I love when Holly stuffs herself in the downstairs cat tower. She enjoys looking out the windows and watching the world go by. She's been playing with all of her stuffed mice and leaves them outside our bedroom meowing to us that she gave us a special gift in the middle of the night. Sweet! Yesterday while noodling around on Ravelry I came across a laceweight shawl  that inspired me to dig through my yarn stash, wind u...

  I finished this shawl last weekend and once it was off the needles I started another one because I loved the mindlessness of this simple pattern. I did not aggressively block the shawl but I probably could have to make the eyelets pop a bit more.  This pattern is so easy to memorize and it's the kind of pattern you can talk and knit (at the same time!) and not make a mistake.  The wool is MadelineTosh Merino Light, which is a lovely soft fingering weight, but lately I've not been a fan of single-ply because of the slight fuzz that appears and the increased chance of the yarn spitting while knitting with it (I used to be okay with this 5-10 years ago). This skein has been in deep stash for quite a while so I enjoyed knitting up the shawl and using every inch of the wool! Ravelry notes What are you working on this week?

  Thank you so very much for your kind words and encouraging comments. I called the office late Friday afternoon and was told 'no further treatment' is necessary from the coronary CT scan. I am feeling better and my body is adjusting to the new (three's a charm) blood pressure medicine. By mid June I will have a follow up appointment with a cardiologist closer to home and during that visit I will get the nitty-gritty of what all the cardio test results mean. I have a multitude of questions. Thank you again - I am humbled by our little blogging community and the space we share.  Did your SEE that first photo??? Like crazy grandparents we drove three hours (one way to Columbus Ohio) for a lunch date with our son and daughter in law to spend some short time with our grandson yesterday. Oh the happiness!! He is a joyful baby, how lucky am I??  On Saturday, I did lots of watercoloring, sketching, reading and basically chilling out.  How was your weekend?

  I've written about my morning routine many times but I thought why not touch upon it once more. I love to get up early in the morning, drink my tea and journal about the day before. Mostly it's about events, thoughts and feelings. Sometimes I rant but try not to very much. At the end of each entry I write my gratitude list. Frequently it's about family and friends, coffee and tea, quiet pockets in my day. The more ordinary the gratitude the more I feel peace. The past two to three weeks have been wonky here. I've been having health symptom issues that I thought were medication changes for my blood pressure. An EKG was slightly abnormal which referred me to a cardiologist. While waiting for that appointment I visited ER to make sure I wasn't having a heart attack (I was NOT). I met the cardiologist last week and he thought I was 'fine' but ordered a stress test anyways. I did the stress test on Monday and thought I passed! But then I got a call from the off...

  I cast off this beauty last night so today I will block and photo and share next week. I loved the pattern so much I cast on another shawl, just because I can. What are you working on this week?

  After 2 1/2 years we were able to go up to London Ontario to visit my husband's mother for the weekend. We had a busy long visit and lots of shopping. The weather was super sunny (too sunny?) and quite warm. We got back yesterday and right now a thunderstorm is brewing outside along with some rain. I have classical piano music playing in the family room right now to distract Frodo from the thunder. I wish I would have thought of this years ago. It feels weird traveling after not traveling for so long. As you know I am a homebody and just love being home. I was grateful to sleep in my own bed last night. Oh! and I miss Frodo and Holly too much as well. We are all reunited. How was your weekend?

  Around here I've been watching Spring do its thing. The trees are super leafy green, my walks are intoxicating with beauty. All those pesky rainy days seemed to have rewarded us with sunny pleasant weather. More rain is coming but I'm ignoring that for now. This week I witnessed my first hummingbird of the year at the feeder. So sweet!  Around here, my husband and I have been enjoying seeing what blossoms on this property. Mystery flowers and sometimes plants we are familiar with from our old house. I sometimes still miss living in a rural area but I'm slowly getting used to living outside of a big city.  Around here my creativity is overflowing with many ideas. I can't keep up with them all so I jot them down so I don't forget them. Maybe I need to start a nature journal? Do you have one?  Around here I am enjoying all of my knitting projects.  

  Buckle up! I've got lots of knitting to show you this week. First up are these quick and easy wash clothes I whipped up as a little gift. I used left over worsted weight cotton and enjoyed immensely how fast they knitted up. Wash clothes are the palate cleanser of knitting for when you finish a big project (the never ending blanket) and want something that is instant gratification. I stared a gift cowl in one left over skein from my sister's sweater. This is knitting up fast!! And finally a much better photo of the shawl I am currently knitting that has eyelet rows galore. I know when this is blocked this will look fantastic. I rather enjoy the knitting (reminds me of the hitchhiker pattern - addictive) and I have another skein of variegated wool wound up and ready to cast on maybe when I finish this one or maybe before I finish this one. I'm in a 'cast on' mood. What are you working on this week?

  How was your weekend?  Mine was quite restful and calming. On Saturday we went to a few shops and a garden center as an outing. For the entire week we have been having rainy cloudy days. On Saturday I was just tired of it all. Did I move to a different weather zone? Or it just an unusually wet spring? Based on my photos you can see I am adoring the dogwoods that continue to blossom and shine. The above water feature was in a business building that I had to capture, sitting in the rain seemed appropriate to reflect the never ending downpours in this town. Sunday, Mother's Day, the sun came out and it was the most cheerful day. The entire neighborhood came out to garden, ride bikes or walk their dog. We all gave a collective sigh of relief. This week looks like it will be a really nice week. My Mother's Day was quiet since both kids live out of town. My aunt and cousin came over for a chat which I just loved! One of the reasons we moved here. Of course I saw my sister and we e...

  As promised, here are the photos of the never-ending blanket that has ended! I need a ticker tape parade (hopefully you all know what that is). I enjoyed the beginning and the end of the blanket and the middle was taking forever. I am taking a break from blanket knitting until the fall. The yarn is wool-ease which is hard on my hands. The pattern is Old Faithful - feather and fan stitch which I've mentioned before reminds me of my mother who loved this pattern and made this as baby blankets for many babies in her lifetime. Ravelry notes What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How are you on this wonderful Monday morning? The weekend was pretty good. I didn't do anything super exciting which is fine by me. The weather was fabulous on Saturday and super drippy rainy on Sunday.  I am thoroughly loving the flowering dogwood trees in the back yard. I've shared with you one photo but gosh my phone has so many. All of a sudden everything is green! Trees, bushes and lawns, the beginnings of the month of May are simply the best.  I worked a tiny bit on the cross stitch project which is so challenging for me since it's on linen. I know some of you say to keep at it but at one point I wanted to scrap the whole project and start over on Aida cloth. I resisted and will keep going. Sunday was all day rain and some rumbly thunder. I put on some piano music for Frodo and it seemed he didn't hear the thundering (he is afraid of thunder!). I might be onto something good. How was your weekend?