Pumpkin Sunrise

Today is the official start of my summer break!  Oh my goodness, I've been romanticizing about this day since mid February and through the end of the terrible twos and the beginning of a temper tantrum.  Wahoo!  It's all downhill from here on out. How are you?  Thank you for your well wishes with my RA mini flare.  I'm doing pretty good overall and keep hoping that the day will come when I am not thinking about a body part. I missed the gym for a one and half weeks and discovered two things: 1. I need someone to tell me what to do (personal trainer) because  left on my own I do nothing 2. Going to a climate controlled gym is wonderful and much better than the humidity or heat of summer which annoys my joints My son left today and I cleaned some of the house and it feels like it's almost back to the way it was prior to his arrival.  Holly will be thrilled he has left because she tolerates his presence.  I've announced that I am NOT cooking for many days

While my hands are feeling better, they are not perfect and so I've been easing into my knitting.  I try not to do long hours of knitting in the hopes that the break will speed my recovery from my arthritis flare.  I've been doing lots of walking and going to the gym which helps. My hitchhiker is coming along - I love how easy the pattern is and how satisfying it is to complete a repeat.  Ah, the pleasures of knitting at its finest. Yesterday I started the first of a series of three color cowl gifts for the holidays.  I'm scaling back who(m) I'm knitting for this winter.  I went overkill last winter and the gift knitting became stressful.  I'm casually and slowly making these cowls and my number one person to knit for will be my husband who didn't get a knitted gift last year from me. *** Thank you for the prayers for my son's Lasik surgery.  However, on Sunday night the hospital called and CANCELLED the procedure because the outpatient bu

I'm having technical issues and hope it's not contagious.  I've struggled with uploading my monthly back up of photos to Flickr.  They recently did a major overhaul with their hosting site so that might be the reason.  Google is having some hiccups too.  Ah, how we need the technology yet when it fails it's quite inconvenient.  Paper and pencils never fail. How is your weekend so far? clover is the main blooming flower on our property Our son is back for another week, tomorrow he has Lasik surgery and then there are a series of doctor rechecks to make sure all is well.  I've written a menu plan for the entire week.  This is huge since I usually decide what is for dinner the hour before dinner time (with the hopes of eating out instead). Every single day we've had rain.  To be honest I'd rather have rain than a drought, but golly it's wet around here!  I've been swaddling Frodo who trembles when it rains heavy.  It seems the s

Everyday lately is a thunderstorm day, sometimes Mother Nature switches it up and gives us a tornado watch or warning.  Daily rain yields flowers blooming (that's me focusing on the positive).  My weather app shows clouds every day for the next ten days.  I'm hoping that the sun will visit once in a while just for giggles. Next week is my LAST week of babysitting and then I'm on summer vacation for TEN whole weeks.  I'll miss the little preschooler but reclaiming two days a week will be decadent.  So far here is my summer bucket list (in no particular order): - walk with my husband and Frodo - weather permitting -watercolor daily and improve my skills -sketch daily -read a book a week at least (lofty goal because I do not read much during the day) -go to the gym five times a week (weight training stays at 3x/week) -improve my endurance on the never-ending step machine at the gym -knit holiday projects -go thru my yarn stash and pick projects to knit

I've discovered that when you are in a car for 8 hours, you can get a lot of knitting done.  I have to be honest, I typically do not knit that much in the car, I tend to window gaze and daydream while talking to my husband.  However, this trip I was focused on getting this shawl off the needles.  And I did. I enjoyed the shawl pattern, easy to remember after a few run throughs.  I did have a bit of trouble setting up the edging.  It was probably my fault and was too lazy to count those multitude stitches so I just fudged the edging in as best as I could.   I highly doubt anyone would be able to find that fudging so I'm pleased with my craftiness.   The wool is 6 Karat by Schoppel-Woole .  I liked it!  There is a bit of silk mixed in with the wool that makes the stitches glide on the needles.  Ravelry notes

Grab a beverage and sit back for the extended weekend recap.  On Thursday we drove up to London Ontario to visit family.  We stayed at my mother in law's house for three days and also visited with my brother in law and sister in law.  What a fun weekend and our son went with us! Friday we went to a few shops then stopped at the cemetery to visit my father in law's gravesite.  The day was beautiful, sunny and the air was perfect.  In the afternoon, I painted a picture for my mother in law that she requested.  She paints as well!  We took her to an art store so she could get some paints and other supplies. On Saturday we shopped at the attic book store and grooves record store .   I bought nothing but my husband found some treasures. We ate at some great restaurants as well as at my sister and brother in law's house.  I enjoyed seeing everyone again. Yesterday we came home (sweet wonderful home!).  I've been unpacking and catching up with all

On Monday we drove down to Newark Delaware to visit our daughter and spend the day with her.  We had lovely weather and a great time.  Instead of eating at a chain restaurant for lunch before meeting her we stopped at a small family diner to switch it up. The food was great, the service was fast and we were happy to eat somewhere new to us. I worked on the blanket for five hours knitting my little heart out.  I loved being in my element, just me and my knitting and a handy driver (husband).  He loves to drive, I love to ride --  a match made in heaven. My schedule has been full and I'm feeling the pressure with trying to keep up with everything.  There are tasks that have to be done and then there are tasks I want to do.  Striking a balance is the challenge.  How do I do it all?  Well as you know, I can't do it all. I'm  terrible at delegating duties.  I know I can do it faster and better and there lies the problem.  I need to delegate and let go. I know