Pumpkin Sunrise

I am finding myself wishing away the summer already and it has only just begun.  If the temperature would stay in the high seventies all summer long, I don't think I would be having romantic notions of fall (and winter).  Staying in the present is best achieved by appreciating snippets of the season.   My summer appreciation list: sunny skies, bare feet, painted toes, cold drinks, AC (that's a cheat but I'm listing it), long days, grilling most of dinners, watermelon, blueberries, swinging on the swing, butterflies, capri pants, ice pops, ice cream, cicada sounds, cricket sounds, smell of cut grass even though it makes my nose runny,  kids are home for summer vacation and small knitting projects. I feel like such a positive thinking person now!! This photo was taken in the early morning while I went to get the newspaper.  Frodo even let me stop to snap!   Yesterday afternoon there was a bird chirping away on the grass, one that I did not recognize.  I think this

Last week both of the kids dropped by our local library at different times for the used book sale.  I decided not to go, I have so so many books and it would have been the only stop made that day.  I also am left with the car without working AC, you know I hate to be hot even for book shopping.  When they left I said "if you see anything I would like, buy it". My daughter was one of the first customers on her way to work.  The hard core book shoppers.  I'm sure they've been planning for weeks to be there when the library opened.  I cannot recall what she bought for herself.  But she did buy me something.  I've mentioned a couple times that I would like a book of Emily Dickinson poems.  I was NOT going to pay full price-that's just silliness. Have you noticed that when you want something or are in hot pursuit, it's never to be found! I have that problem with books and shoes.  So I quit looking.  Yet my daughter remembered that I wanted a poem collecti

I have a very big announcement.....I am on the ribbing of my cardigan !  Every day I try to work on this cardigan.  I have grand visions of what it will be like when it is done.  But it's taking forever to knit.  So getting to the ribbing is such an accomplishment.  I'm thinking about four inches of ribbing should do it.  All that's left are sleeves and the button bands.  I hope that I will have this cardigan done before the summer ends. My hat  is very near the stockinette section of the pattern.  This is the project that I've been knitting while reading at the same time.  The yarn is wool so I don't have to worry about stitches slipping off (like the cardigan).  My sister in law can knit so fast while reading and she was the one years and years ago that inspired me to practice. I cannot knit a complicated pattern.  Just ribbing or plain knitting. I finished The Weird Sisters  and overall a nice enjoyable read.  I did not like all the Shakespeare quotes thro

Last week I discussed my sock construction and some of you wanted to know the rest of the pattern.  So here is my feeble attempt to explain the heel flap and turning the heel.  This sock is for my husband and I knit about 8-8 1/2 inches from the cast on edge.  Remember that I am on five needles, four needles hold the sock stitches and the fifth needle is my knitting needle. When I begin my heel flap I just knit across the first two needles!  Yep-that is 34 stitches and that is half of the stitches I casted on (68 total).  I knit and purl back and forth NOT in the round until the flap measures about 2 1/2 inches which for me is 26 rows. End your flap so that the right side is showing.  Here comes the challenging part.  Some math is involved.  To construct the heel turning you have to divide your flap into thirds....I know!  My total number is 34 stitches so my division will be 11 stitches-12 stitches-11 stitches.  My middle third is ALWAYS an even number because I like it that w

A weekend filled with: -combining simple knitting and reading a book AT the same time :)   -maintaining reading comprehension -without any knitting mistakes -a graduation party of a dear friend's son -LOTS of cake (my downfall with staying on a "healthy" diet) -sunny skies -resuming walks now that the weather is pleasant -chocolate (my other downfall) -laundry -dare I say "donut"?  yep, one of those too (I only live once) -watching the season finale of Glee on the dvr and loving the plot twist -thinking all week and this weekend that life is good  How was your weekend? Joining Amanda

This week I did not accomplish all that I set out to do.  I think I am not as motivated when the weather is hot (excuse #1).  I also became lax in my to do list making (excuse #2).  This morning, I wrote out many tasks that I want to accomplish today and in the upcoming week.  I am amazed that it's almost near the end of June!  The older I get the faster each day and week whizzes by. In the photo, my son is sitting on his foot-hence the 2.5 feet on the ground :)  I hope you have a great weekend!!

It is HOT here.  Really really hot.  But I bet you already knew that. In April we received three tiny trees from my sister and brother in law to plant.  One did not make it because our gardening negligence.  The five gallon bucket the saplings arrived in collected too much water during a couple of rain storms.  We planted all three trees hoping for the best.  The hawthorn and the crab apple (?) have decided to continue living. This spot had a dogwood sapling and Frodo decided it was very dead and ripped it out of the ground.  He is an expert gardener!  He was so happy to have a twig (dead tree) to romp around the yard. Yesterday, we went out to fill in the empty spot.  After much deliberation, we chose a butterfly bush.  At our last house we owned, we had a screened-in porch surrounded by butterfly bushes. It was beautiful.  We loved how quickly they grew and enjoyed all the bees, butterflies, moths and hummingbirds that visited. Our little vegetable patch is growing nic