Pumpkin Sunrise

  Good morning! Well, it's another Friday and here we are checking in with each other. I've quickly jumped back into my ordinary days enjoying my creative projects and it's been wonderful! Traveling does that to me, I am renewed in being grateful for the simplest of things: my favorite mug, sitting with Frodo, oh the list could go on. On my daily walks with Frodo, I am paying attention to the slightest changes of fall showing up. The mornings are chilly (yay) and I am all for it!  Besides knitting daily, I've been doing a small drawing challenge - The Inchie Challenge . My sister alerted me to the challenge and asked me to join her. We share our daily sketches via texting and compare our interpretations of the prompts. I've been using my graphitints by derwent . These pencils are water-soluble colored graphite and are fun to play with. I only have seven colors so I have to be creative with what I have. Yesterday, my husband with the help of a neighbor removed the fa

  Good morning! How was your weekend? Well mine was just fine! I have recovered from the whirlwind impulsive trip to Indiana and so far feel 'healthy' may it continue. Saturday and Sunday I hibernated inside my house only doing whatever was necessary. I pulled out my paints and paint-doodled and I also swatched all my graphite pencils in my pouch and sketched a bit. I am rusty but it felt so good to get lost in what I was doing. In the evenings I knit but I didn't photo any of that. I impulsively bought a bullet blender over the weekend and a smoothie recipe book because why not? There is a local smoothie place that I go to once in a while but wouldn't it be great to make your own? Now keep in mind that it will be some time before I get all the ingredients together. Plus the book has tons of info to read. How was your weekend?

  After two noisy days at the beginning of the week created by the insulating company, I basked in the silence of Wednesday and Thursday. Even the pets breathed a sigh of relief. Frodo did well and mostly ignored them. Holly hid under our bed for most of the first day but on the second day she put on her big girl pants and ran downstairs to be under the sofa that my husband (her beloved) was sitting. Of course that was the time the workers were propping open the front door for the blown in insulation.  Luckily, she has no desire to ever be outside and we fenced off the area just in case.  All of that strategizing exhausted me. (for those of you who are new here, we rescued Holly in the winter off the side of the road - she was close to death at 8 weeks old being abandoned by a not nice person). Around here, there was a heat wave that I skillfully ignored for two whole days. I walked as early as I could and briefly so Frodo and I didn't get too hot. My inflammatory arthritis does n

  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!

  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?

  We've been home for over a week and I just might be recovered from the travels. I am pleasantly back into the ordinary swing of things and doing the activities that bring me joy. Such as:   - walking daily, weather permitting - exercising - menu planning (not enjoyable but I do like to eat!) - knitting daily - easing in a bit of sketching and watercoloring - reading daily - trying my best to be PRESENT - journalling - connecting with family While it took me a week to get back into my daily groove, Frodo needed three days to recover from the kennel stay. He might have too much fun and bark more than he should. Thankfully he had a grooming appointment and looks dapper. I pulled out my little watercolor notebook and quickly sketched and painted some daffodils.  While the weather was spectacular these past few days, it looks like winter will edge back in and --gulp-- with it some snow showers. Oh March you do love to do this!! What  brings you joy?

  There is something about January days that are delightful. The Christmas gift giving, planning, knitting and wrapping is completed. The house is undecorated from the holidays and clean spaces are everywhere where I look. The days are getting a little more daylight each day, do you notice that?  I continue to love watching the birds at my back yard feeder. Winter is glorious. After nearly a week, I am recovered from our trip to Cambridge MA. We have another winter storm brewing this weekend but I do not have to be anywhere important through most of it. While up in Cambridge I started a pair of socks for my husband who was the only knit-worthy person who did not receive a Christmas hand knit. Better late than never, right? I am just making a plain pair that requires no thinking on my part. I am knitting on auto pilot. I have been reading the Sister of Auschwitz during the day when my mind is fresh, it's really good. The other book Amaryllis in Blueberry is a really weird book, can

  Finally I'm seeing some fall foliage around the new neighborhood. Phew! I thought I'd be missing the colors this year but thankfully I'm witnessing some beautiful maple trees doing their thing. I miss my old walk down my old dirt road that has a multitude of trees turning colors, mostly oaks, maples and walnut trees. I think this move will take an entire year of firsts to get acclimated to the relocation and the newness. Right now on walks, I'm enjoying the neighbor's trees and landscaping. We haven't been to the local park for a few weeks so maybe my husband and I need to squeeze one visit to walk with Frodo and see those fall colors as well. The above photo was taken super early in the morning, since then the awning has been taken down by the awning people for storage and repairs. My husband is sad that summer is over, I am not, I am ready for cold weather. Since we live in a house with a neighborhood, for the first time in sixteen years I will be having tri

  Tuesday morning I received the Xray results from my tumble last Thursday (I spilled a bit of water and forgot to clean it up then WHAMO) and mostly it's a REALLY bad sprain but I managed to pull off a teeny bit of ankle bone. I was so fortunate to get an orthopedic appointment on Wednesday and the doctor ordered this lovely (not) boot for ankle stability. I am so grateful! I can now zip around without any pain whatsoever. I just need to be careful not to re-injure my ankle.  I only have to go back to the doctor if I am not healing or having issues.  I am accident prone and feel like this could have been way worse. I'm thankful that it's an ugly boot and not a cast. Also what's really nice is that this ugly boot decreases pain and swelling. Sweet. Now that I'm new and improved and somewhat invincible, I  resumed the Great Declutter and tackled the dining room. Sadly my husband snatched up the lawn ornament I thought we were donating. I also did most of the hall clo

 My goodness did I just have a difficult time aligning these photos, so goes a Monday morning.  How are you? How was your weekend? Spring is here! Look at my dogwood trees, although the blossoms are a bit tiny this year, still they are beautiful. We started the Big Declutter this weekend. I went through all of my clothes and will donate what is in the photo below. My husband is half way through his clothing. The problem with big closets is that you can stuff them with tons of things you don't need. I probably could get rid of more clothes but for now I'm satisfied with the progress. Baby steps with letting go.  Even though we are busy with the decluttering, I am managing to sit and knit each evening on the same two projects. I also squeeze in some sketching time. How was your weekend?

  How was your weekend?   My weekend was uneventful which makes it a perfect weekend. The snow is still here and I guess in a few days it will be raining (boo). The bitter cold turned into a damp cold which feels chillier to me.   I completed the weekly household chores yesterday as well as went for a walk with my husband and Frodo. My weekend contained: -reading - knitting -  sketching -  watercoloring - menu planning - journaling - chatting with my sister - tracking some last minute packages - watching Lord of the Rings -  How was your weekend? PS:  I will not be posting on December 25th and January 1st, since they are both holidays and I want to be fully present on each of those days. I'll be thinking of you all!

  I posted the kids the Christmas presents from us and now I am ready. This is the first time I am ready for Christmas this early in December, I wanted my packages out before the week before Christmas because I worried that the mail/shipping companies would be overwhelmed. This Christmas is a simplified Christmas and we are ready to enjoy a different kind of celebration. While I'll be missing my kids, I will be joyful and thankful for all that we have.  Earlier this week we had some unexpected snow which was delightful to wake up and see. Most of the snow melted by mid afternoon and the snow didn't impact any plans. We are having a tiny warm up this weekend so I doubt there will be snow surprises.  I continue to do a daily sketch with some watercolors added. The paper is mixed media and sadly doesn't hold up well when lots of water is added. I knew this going in so I'm at peace with the warped paper.   Did you see my sweater in the top photo? I am giddy with excitement

  October!!!  I made it to the best of the first months of glorious brilliant fall foliage, cool breezes and the quietening of summer.  Phew.  Now the question I ponder upon is how do I savor this blessed month? I already keep a journal and I take photos.  I document so much of my days in more than one notebook even though they seem mundane and nothing changes day in day out. I guess I will try my very best to be mindful and in the moment.  This is a challenge since I'm thinking of the next thing I want to do or accomplish. Inktober started yesterday!  I do love pens and ink the best (besides watercoloring).  I'm eager to return to a daily sketching habit.  My husband mainly does pastels and is now dabbling in colored pencil.  Oh I am a wannabe when it comes to colored pencil and it just doesn't jive with me.  I like the permanence of ink and the sloppiness of watercolor.  I'm also not patient enough to layer colors like he is.   Thank you  Mary for a great book recom