Pumpkin Sunrise

  Hello! It's been some time hasn't it? My family is still here visiting but it's nap time and I'm quickly making this post a priority because when my family leaves on Saturday morning I will be putting away Christmas decorations and then I will need to recover physically from that. I hope to be back at this space sometime next week. I'm having a great time with the grandchildren, lots of playing (and crying, ha ha). We went to the museum the other day to look at the dinosaurs and that was a ton of fun. What wasn't fun is that my son arrived with some kind of stomach bug but luckily no one else got it from him. That is the Christmas miracle that warms my heart.  I still have my arthritis flare, I think it will stay with me until they leave and I can completely rest for three days. It's mostly my hands and wrists. It's not from knitting since I am barely knitting. The above project is a hat that is almost finished! I will start decreasing soon. I want it...

  Hello! How are you? How have you been?  I've been knee deep in knitting and enjoying the quiet after some busy days celebrating Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we went to my sister and brother in law's house for dinner and celebrated with her family. After dinner we attended Christmas Eve Mass. Christmas Day was by ourselves with lots and lots of phone calls to the kids, his mother and my dad.  I casted on a new hat before Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day. The striped hat below was the first hat started. I haven't snapped a photo of the second one. Apparently I am in a hat-knitting frame of mind.  My son and his family arrive tomorrow for an entire week. So you know what that means....I will be posting irregularly until they leave. So if I am not posting, it's because I am having fun with little ones who take all my attention (and my energy!). 

  Good morning! How are you? This weekend was one of the best weekends ever because we got snow and it was unpredicted which made it all the more special. I even took a walk during the squalls but decided to cut the walk short. Brr. Besides wintry weather, I am proud to announce I am ready for Christmas. We are going over to my sister's house for Christmas Eve dinner and do our exchanging with her family. It will be fun. Christmas day is just the two of us at home, plus lots of phone calls to family far away.  My son and his family arrive on Saturday for a whole week visit. I am excited about that. I am not ready for that, but I will be. (lists are my friend) The above photo is the morning moon winking at me. The very first photo is the odyssey shawl  I started before my car trip. I have ripped this back twice because I keep forgetting the pattern and keep knitting thinking I know the pattern.  I finished my husband's musselburgh hat , this will be in his Christmas S...

  Grab a cup of tea, this will take a while. How are you? How's your week been? I have been thoroughly enjoying this Advent season! I cannot believe we are near the end. Time does fly. We left on Sunday to help out with babysitting on Monday and Tuesday and arrived back home on Wednesday this past week. We had excellent driving weather both to and from Indiana. Sadly all my photos cannot be shared with the internet of the kids. I don't feel right doing so. So just imagine me and my husband being on the go from 8 am until 8 pm unless it was nap time. Our grandson is almost three years old and our granddaughter is 16 months old and both are fun. I have wiped my distant memory of taking care of little ones and wonder how I had the energy. I am now battling an arthritis flare (it is a small one so not a big deal) and I know it's from traveling and doing too much. I still knit a lot on the car rides and I started a new project but you'll have to wait for me to create a proje...

  Hello! How are you? I am doing fine on the super chilly day. Earlier this week, we went to the art museum to see the holiday displays that they do every year. I find routine comforting, I'm sure you already know that. It was a wet drippy start to the museum. We enjoyed their permanent art gallery and love to find the odd picture that was swapped in for another. They rotate some of the art to make it fun. Of course, I love seeing old friends hanging there like they always do. This was the day that started out as light rain and then it turned over to snow. That switch over was very very wet. And let me tell you there was SNOW.  The driving conditions were absolutely fine so that made the snowfall all the more beautiful. After the museum, we went out for lunch then walked around the city a bit. We ducked into the Cathedral of Learning to warm up before going back outside to walk some more.  I am lucky to live near a city and have opportunities to go to the museums. We try ...

  Hello! How are you? I am doing great! I have an ultra detailed list of what I want to do each day so I can be 'ready' for Christmas. I also do not want Advent to fly right by without enjoying the season of preparing. So during my busy 'to-doing', I have space to enjoy the the days leading up to Christmas. I've been missing Frodo, but not missing his round the clock medical care (and the endless worrying). I am so grateful we have Holly (the cat) who is thoroughly enjoying Frodo NOT being here. She loves being number one!! I am glad she can be number one now. It's been seven years since I found her as a little kitten on the side of the road (half dead, half alive) as I was driving home. We named her Holly because it was early December.  My sister bought me this beautiful wool mini bundle collection for my birthday which was a few weeks ago and I've had fun pouring over the hat pattern possibilities which are endless. I hope to start something soon but it wi...

  How was your weekend? Well, I decided to decorate the house on Saturday in one fell swoop. I am still sore but it is done! My calendar is going to be busy from here on out and I wanted this task done. My house feels like Christmas! Because I was decorating all day, we ate from the freezer for dinner and it was nice that Past Me froze the leftovers from our Fake Thanksgiving celebration two weeks ago. What a delicious dinner! On Friday night my sister and brother in law made dinner for us and we played board games. I also received my birthday gift from them. Holly had to intensely investigate the bag. I love her 'concerned' look when she is evaluating the degree of threat. Sunday I went to Mass and enjoyed some reading and knitting and being chill. Of course there was the laundry and some chores. How was your weekend?  ** Please note that I will not be posting this coming Friday as well as the following Monday. We have family visiting again and I know I will be busy with them...

  I celebrated my birthday this week! What a great time to be alive, I am so grateful. I received many calls from my family. While yesterday was not my birthday, it snowed! I felt like that was a gift from Mother Nature since I love winter so much. We went to see the holiday lights at the conservatory and they were lovely. I had a difficult time being thoroughly immersed in the displays because right before we walked into the foyer we were pummeled by high winds and drenching rains. My husband and I were soaked through and were so cold down to our bones. Glass houses are not heated, lol. All I thought about was getting home and changing my clothes and drinking hot tea. Yesterday was a delicious day at home. I got caught up on the computer with 'stuff' and did my readings for the week for two classes. Below is a photo of a hat for the my grandson. I am not sure I have enough yarn so I am winging it. My years of experience say there is enough yarn but the pattern I chose says the...

  Good morning! How are you doing?  As you know, I have scaled back on my holiday knitting and have implemented a slower pace of knitting gifts to protect my hands and wrists. Last year I had an arthritis flare up knitting gnomes which caused a self-imposed knitting ban until I recovered. Knitting is such a lovely way to handle stress and to relax for me. So I've been mindful of what I knit, how I knit and to rest more often all with the goal of always knitting and to not be in a self-imposed knitting ban.  I'm pleased with my progress! I found these little stars on Ravelry and decided they would be a wonderful little gifts for my family. They use up little bits of scrap yarn and you could go wild with the color combinations. I enjoyed knitting them and the pattern was easy to memorize after one little star. What are you working on this week?

  Good morning! How are you all doing on this fine Monday? Finally after weeks of no rain, we are in a rainy season. Yesterday we took a long walk in the drizzle while taking in the signs of fall. We were a little wet but it was worth the fresh air. We visited his mother earlier this week and yet again, I have no photos to share. However, once I was home I was back at the documenting my life. Whenever we are visiting people we eat out a lot and so when I get home I need to get back to healthy eating and living. There is nothing like a fresh salad except a fresh salad made by someone else. Also when we got back home I started to feed the birds with the 'winter' feeder. Word was spread within the hour and I had my birds back. I love them so. Also my hydrangea bush is heading into the fall season beautifully. Saturday morning I ran a bunch of errands and did some returning at a few stores. Once I was home, I wrote down a quote I stumbled across, then did some knitting. I'm wor...

  Hello! How are you? We made it to August - one month closer to Autumn and for some much needed cooler weather. I've had a rough week with the heat and the humidity. My body just doesn't like it. I've spent more time in the house than outside the house trying to keep myself cool, relaxed and feeling my best. As I sit here in my kitchen typing this up, it is raining (yay).  I started writing out my Christmas knitting list. After last year's epic arthritis flare from manic gnome knitting, I'm paring down the amount I knit and also triaging the list. I am ready to strike off knitted gifts if I just can't do it.  My mother (God rest her soul) would ask for a Christmas list by September 1st. I thought she was crazy when I was a kid, who is thinking about Christmas when it's hot outside! Now, here I am doing my thinking in August, I'm sure the crazy gene runs in the family. Although in my defense, I am not asking anyone for a Christmas list. Besides some simp...

  Good morning! How are you doing on this fine morning?  I've been happily knitting on two projects. I started a Christmas stocking for my grandson for my house a few days ago. It's wonderful to be knitting again without pain, but I am still limiting the amount of time I am knitting to make sure I don't return to any arthritis flare ups. The other project is a simple rib hat for me.  What are you working on this week?

  Yesterday we went to the art museum and then had lunch out. Above is the nativity the museum displays every holiday season - the arrangement of figurines changes year to year which makes it fun to see the differences with the aid of a photo of course.   Are you ready for the holidays or getting ready? I am trying to be ready. I continue to take it easy with knitting and barely do one hour a day. My hands are mostly recovered but I don't want to risk any repetitive injury. While my hands may be idle, my mind is active with what to knit next. My daughter wants a sweater (yay!) and I'm itching to knit something for myself. I'm creating lists and more lists as we inch closer to Christmas Day. My son and his family will be here almost a week. I have menus to consider and outings to plan out and to offer. Hopefully the grands will be healthy this time around which will help me sleep better. I'm still recovering from lack of sleep! Are you baking this year? What are you baki...

  Good morning! How are all of you doing on this fine Monday morning? I'm back after having family here for nine nights (!). Our little granddaughter went back to ER this past Thursday for some oxygen monitoring and was successfully discharged the same day. She sees her doctor this afternoon in her hometown, so far she is feeling better. The miracle is that no one else came down with the virus. (maybe her dad but it was barely 48 hours of a mild cough). It's all about me and I'm glad that I didn't catch it. Our company left Friday morning. My husband and I blitzed the house like madmen. We put away all the toys, playpens, the highchair and compressed our kitchen table down from seating six to seating four people. I completed four loads of laundry that day. (let me tell you that little baby and grandson generated a load of laundry per day - and both kids generated a bag of garbage daily - I do not remember any of this when my kids were little). We strategically went thro...

  Hello! Happy post Thanksgiving! I'm dropping in for a quick update. Our families arrived on Wednesday night as planned but sadly our little granddaughter wasn't feeling well Thursday morning and so her parents took her to ER and she was diagnosed with RSV but not admitted and sent home.  That diagnosis dispersed our big Thanksgiving family to two houses instead of everyone at my house. My sister and her family stayed at her house and my family stayed at my house. My dad visited both houses. My sister and I were swapping dishes to complete the meals. (We cooked the turkey she made the stuffing etc). It was quite the production but we made it work and we each had a good Thanksgiving. Our little granddaughter is slowly feeling better and so far no one else has any symptoms (yay!). Our days are filled with babies playing, napping, crying and eating. We are living our best life. To make things more exciting, our new furnace quit working yesterday and we had to have an emergency t...