Pumpkin Sunrise

  Since we arrived home on Tuesday, I've been marveling at the fall foliage trying to memorize the colors and pocket them for future reference. Each day gets better and better. Yesterday after a lunch out with family, we drove through the park just to take in the colors. October truly is a beautiful month.  I'm so glad to be home and back into my ordinary days. I have the week off from classes before the second session starts up next week. I'm still busy around here though. My sister is having a craft show and I go over to help her (I do not do much, but it's fun to be together and see family and friends). I've been pouring over cookbooks coming up with some new recipes.  My heart monitor results were normal, so that's a relief! I'm not sure why I had to do that test but it's done and now I can forget about doctors for a while. (fingers crossed). The less I see of them the happier I am. There's something about autumn and my creativity blossoming. I s

  And just like that, October shows up and gives us a breath of fresh air and a chance to wear woolens. How are you? How has your week been? I have been basking in this beautiful fall weather. Might I add chilly as well. My morning walks are quite brisk but a wonderful kind of brisk. Probably next week we will be peak fall colors. Maybe! I love being cold so I am happy and content. This week I finished a lot of my first session non-classes, phew! I signed up for a lot and I enjoyed the classes but I did not like how busy I was and how I forgot about  weekly grocery shopping. Silly! The next two weeks will be a much more manageable schedule for me and then I will start the second session of fall classes. My schedule will be easier, I won't have to gobble up a lunch in between two classes and I will have opportunities to grocery shop in the mornings once more.  Besides loving this weather, I've been working on my grandson's holiday sweater which is coming along nicely. Still

  Good morning! How are you? My past week was filled with classes and appointments. I am ready for a super boring weekend! In the above photo are the mums (chrysanthemums) I bought in memory of dear Frodo (who I miss so much!) and they are now blooming. So far the deer are leaving them alone. Sometimes you never know what the deer will eat up.  I love seeing my flowers and remembering our sweet boy! Holly the cat is getting ever so bold and brave now that her nemesis is gone. She still checks the loveseat where he slept which I find quite funny. She is very concerned that he might be there. She now lays in sunbeams in the kitchen and comes visit me briefly while I am knitting. Maybe one day she will snuggle. I had a cardiology appointment last week to discuss shortness of breath while exercising and he decided to discontinue one of my blood pressure meds (yay) thinking that is what was causing my symptoms. As a precaution he ordered an exercise stress test which I did yesterday. Of cou

  Yesterday was our 37th wedding anniversary, time does fly! We went out for a celebration lunch before my appointment with the ortho doctor to recheck my cracked elbow. I am so excited that I am medically cleared to live my life, return to my exercise routine and I have a clean bill of health. I've found that when I exercise, I feel so much better and the past two weeks of 'just walking' isn't enough. I am grateful. We are adjusting to our quiet house and our cat-only house. I drove to the kennel and the groomer to deliver cookies and thanked them for the way they loved Frodo. At home my husband and I continually are amazed at how much time we have gained without him. Such a weird state of existence. I have also gained a lot of brain space now that I am not worrying about him. He was declining in health since the end of May when he was hospitalized. We balanced hope and reality with each vet visit. My classes start up in two weeks and I will be BUSY. Gah! I am excited

  Good morning! How was your weekend? Mine was great! It's been fun ignoring the summer heat and sitting inside my home in AC knitting a wool sweater. I highly recommend this. Supposedly it's going to rain today.  Friday night, we went to my sister and brother in law's house for dinner and board games. We always have fun together and I love to not cook dinner. Saturday and Sunday were my 'chill' days. I read some of The Secret Garden and started The Princess Bride  which I have never read before and only recently seen the movie for the first time.  As you can see in the above photo, I worked on my sweater , adding inches to the body. I do love mindless stockinette knitting. My intention this week is to journal more, doodle more and show up more in my notebooks. This weekend I nailed that goal and I hope to continue this the rest of the week.

  Good morning! How are you?  I am valiantly ignoring the weather. I slipped and started to complain and then stopped myself. Complaining about how hot it is will not change how hot it is. I'm amused that in the middle of winter and the middle of summer (AC), Frodo needs a blanket because he is too cold after his grooming appointment for about a week. All I know is that I love being inside nice and cool. My weekend was calm, relaxing and wonderful. I finished reading Hello Beautiful  and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was entertained the whole way through. I am now in the middle of The Secret Garden and the way the author describes how miserable Mary is in the beginning of the book reminds me of my grumpy childhood, lol. The Power of Silence is good and is about hearing God in a noisy world. The world is noisy, loud and at times obnoxious. I find this read deep, profound and I read a little bit at a time. Besides cleaning the house and doing laundry, I did a bit of journalling. All in al

  How are you all doing? Over here, summer is showing off with all the flowers blooming. I cannot get enough of my hydrangea bush, gah. Our butterfly bushes are starting to bloom as well. I might not like the heat and humidity of summer but I do like the flowers. My first summer session classes have ended and I have a two week break before the second summer session starts. I'm loving the rhythm of my days during the in-between time. I'm reading a lot and getting little jobs done around the house. We will have a house full in a couple of weeks when all of my children come to visit. This time around, I am pacing the chores so I do not slam myself with doing everything the day before they arrive. Future me will thank past me for this. We had no electricity for one hour the other night and I sat and wondered why I am so committed to being tethered to the internet. I have no answers but I did question myself endlessly. The electricity came back on and I forgot about my reflections u

  I survived the heat wave. This morning is glorious! I cannot wait to walk Frodo and be comfortable while being outside. It's the simple things of life. How was your weekend? Mine was lusciously boring. I finished the Civil War book after marathon reading for three days. All I did was read. I enjoyed the book and yet I will not be starting another non fiction book that is nearly 900 pages of reading any time soon. Besides reading, I started on the second leg warmer and have made steady progress, it's my nighttime knitting where mistakes are minimal and the thinking is minimal as well. I also started a pair of mittens for me but I will talked about that project on Wednesday. I do not have any classes this week except Tai Chi. Next week is a week off from summer classes before the second summer session begins. I love having the time off. May you have cooler weather! How was your weekend?

  Since my husband's bike fall last Sunday, the beginning of the week was busy. We had our furnace and AC replaced (by choice) and had workers here Monday and Tuesday. We also had appointments with specialists for my husband's forearm because there was still a tiny stone inside (!). For now they want to leave it in there, I guess it's more trouble to cut in again. They are the experts right? He's doing really well and we continue to keep a close eye on the stitches as it heals.  The little cross stitch birth sampler is 3/4ths of the way completed. I am so excited. We've got a month to go before our granddaughter is born near the end of August. Our grandson is growing fast as well, I can't wait to see him too. I continue to read most of the afternoons outside on the back patio. We have no big plans for the weekend which suits me after the bike fall weekend. Give me all the boring dull days please. I'm doing my best to not wish the summer away, it's my lea

  How was your weekend? My weekend was restful and felt like a mini-vacation. I ate lunch every day out on the back patio, enjoying the nice weather in between the raindrops. I'm grateful that we are not super-super hot, just regular warm weather pushing humid. Frodo and I walked early each morning before the full sun and or heat was blaring down. The neighborhood is quiet except for the birds singing. More flowers are blooming in our yard, my husband did so much work last year and we are reaping the benefits this year. I mostly read this weekend for hours on end. The library ebook,  Spare,  became available Friday afternoon and I quickly started reading the memoir. I'm also trying to finish A Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths before the next ebook becomes available through the library. July might be a massive reading month for me. I work a little bit each day on the baby cross stitch sampler, I'm over half way done! How was your weekend?

  Good morning! How was your weekend? My weekend was restive and I'm ready for a brand new week to start. I am feeling much better and after a whole week of not exercising, I'm jumping back into my daily routine. I need to stretch and move. Did you get the ridiculous warm weather? Gosh it was beautiful which will make the cold days ahead that much more challenging tolerate. Poor Frodo has a 'summer' cut and is shivering. My entire weekend was huddled up at home and chilling out. I pulled out my paints to start some little loose floral pictures as gifts. I had fun! The photo above is the beginning process and not completed. I also read a bit and knitted a lot. I drank gallons of water or tea. The baby blanket is coming along. I enjoy adding rows and chilling out.

  How was your weekend? My weekend was relaxing overall. First of all, I tried really hard to ignore the wintry cold air blast as much as possible. It was bitterly cold and windy - Frodo and I don't like that kind of weather at all but I do not want to complain about it. Today is the first day of Spring and let's hope spring temperatures arrive soon. I found pockets of time to read and to knit at home even though I am still driving down to the hospital to visit dad who is now in a regular room. My family and I are hoping he can go to a rehab facility soon.  I continue to enjoy knitting my top down sweater . How was your weekend?

  Good morning! How was your weekend? After last week mentioning the endless rain, I'm happy to report our weather switched to snow. It's pretty to look at and it's a nice change.  My weekend was a socializing one. My husband and I attended our grand-nephew's second birthday. He was sweet to watch with a room full of people celebrating his big day. Of course there was cake and tons of family to catch up with.  Afterwards some family came to our house to continue the socializing. We had pizza and played a board game. Seeing family on a regular basis is one of the reasons I moved here. Sunday afternoon I had an art date with my sister and I started on some Valentine Cards. We drank tea and painted - these watercoloring sessions filled my creative heart.  During the entire weekend I feverishly read (but did not finish) Stephen King's book Fairytale . I'm over half way through and it's captivating. I also worked on the scarf that is getting closer and closer to

  Good morning! How are you all doing on this fine Monday morning? All is well here in the land of ordinary time. After all the festivities that Christmas and New Year's Day brings, I'm welcoming the ordinary. I'm basking in the ordinary. Overall my weekend was restive and restorative. On Saturday morning, my sister and I did a long walk in the neighborhood with our dogs. Sunday morning was Mass then laundry (not too much laundry since the grandson had me doing loads mid week).  The whole weekend was filled with lots and lots of knitting and reading. Below is a little stack of current reads. I'm also reading Fairytale by Stephen King on my kindle which is not in the photo. The Walden book is a long term reading project, I try to read a page or so a day. His writings are not easily breezed through and each sentence is dense. After weeks of dreary cloudy days the sun was out yesterday! Sunshine instantly makes me happy! 

  Hello! How was your weekend? Don't you love the look Holly is giving? She is half asleep and half alert to Frodo's rustlings. My weekend was great because I celebrated my birthday over the weekend! I had a lovely time with my family and received some really nice gifts. My husband bought me a new fountain pen (TWSBI ECO medium nib) and it's divine. I received some journaling supplies and of course more books to read. My sister made us dinner and a delicious apple cake for dessert. I'll be visiting a yarn store this week to supplement my knitting stash. I also decided to start decorating the house. Yesterday, I managed to put out all the knick knacks. Today I hope to do the little tree. Each year it takes me longer to do the task, but it's fun!  How was your weekend?

  Just when you think you've had it with the hot humid weather, Mother Nature just goes around and blows in cool crisp air. Heavenly! I opened a few windows and enjoyed the chill, refreshing and rejuvenating. I just might make it to the fall season without being overly grumpy. How was your weekend? Friday night we had dinner at my sister and brother in law's house (no cooking!). Afterwards, we sat on their back patio and enjoyed the evening. On Saturday after walking Frodo, I did a bit of cross stitching which is frustrating for me because it is white thread on off-white linen fabric, ugh. I also did a mini marathon reading session of the novel,  The Stand . I am closing in to the end of the book. (yay me) Sunday we went to Mass and I did the usual pesky household chores once we were home. Throughout the weekend I sat outside either at the patio table or on my gazebo swing (reading of course!). Oh and I started a pair of socks for my husband, just because. How was your weekend?

  Well hello! This week there hasn't been much knitting because what I thought was a terrible allergy attack over the weekend was really a nasty nasty cold (definitely not covid, I tested twice). I haven't had a cold since before the pandemic and was not really ready for it. However when are we ready to be ill? I am thankful to not be blowing my nose every second, sneezing my head off every second and being able to sit upright --  it's those little things we take for granted.  Since Sunday I have been marathon reading Stephen King's The Stand which is about a pandemic virus. I do love how he weaves a wonderful story line and his in depth character development. Also the tingly creepy feeling of doom. Above is the seashell shawl and below is the sweater I am working on. For the sweater I went down one size and really hope that was a good decision.  What are you working on this week?

  One year ago today, we moved to be closer to my sister and my family where I grew up. Can you believe it? I cannot. A friend asked me if I had adjusted and I said 'almost'. Moving during a pandemic has raised some challenges. I still haven't joined a gym nor do I seek to be with tons of people. If you remember, I wanted to have a 'bubble' and being with family has achieved that goal! I miss my friends and country dirt road walking but I do like this house and living in a neighborhood and having museums and shopping close by. (not the greatest sentence but it says what I want it to say) Right this very second, the roofers are here banging away, bless them, because it's going to be a hot day. Frodo yet again is sleeping on the loveseat completely oblivious. I'm sure Holly is hiding under our bed. I'm in the kitchen typing away.  Hot weather is back and I'm trying so hard not to hate it. Seriously, why can't we have 70-80 degree weather? Why does