Weekending 6/1/26

 Good Morning and Whew!

There goes May!  I hope your weekend was a good one.  Unlike Memorial Day weekend, this past weekend was just perfection in the weather department.  Blue, blue skies with lots of sunshine and temps in the mid 70's.  For me that is perfection.  It did get a bit windy, but overall was just wonderful.  

Our weekend was filled with resting, catching up on chores, cooking...the usual.  Damon left on Thursday after being here for a week and what a lot of wonderful things he did for us.  In addition to all the pruning I mentioned last week, he repaired a crack in our basement floor and re-did the entire end of our patio (cement) where it had been peeling, cracking, crumbling.  What a job!

On Saturday I baked a strawberry-rhubarb-peach crostata.  This is definitely something I'll be making again and I think (so far) the peaches are wonderful this year!

I'll be taking half of it over to Colin & Mailing today.

I also made something really yummy for lunch.  Take some sliced Italian bread and brush it with EVOO.  Then put it in a hot oven (400 or so) to crisp up and start to brown.  Then add a layer of bruschetta and then a pile of sautéed spinach with shallots and top with a little bit of shredded sharp cheese.  Stick it back in the oven to melt the cheese.  YUM!!

I also made quesadillas using turkey taco meat, peppers, onions, and black beans.  I forgot to take a picture, but they were really good.  We do love to eat!!

While I was doing chores and cooking, Fletch managed to plant some seedlings and seeds in the garden.  Cuke and cantaloup seedlings are in the ground and yellow beans have been planted.  My parsley came back in the garden which was a nice surprise.

Yesterday was our anniversary (46 years!!).  Fletch and I sat on the patio in the late afternoon with glasses of Prosecco.  The scent of honeysuckle was very strong and we noticed the first apples in our tree!

I'm surprised to see red on the apples already!  It seems early.  And they are still so tiny.  And see that blue, blue sky!

Anyway, the weekend was full of good things (and chores).  I even snuck in some knitting and stitching and reading!  Now it's back to routine.  I'll be caring for Iris today and am anxious to see her again.

Happy June Everyone!

Weekending 5/18/26

 Good Morning My Friends,

Here's hoping that everyone had a nice weekend.  Mine was nice, but Monday morning finds me wishing for a bit more sleep.  And more time to get things done!

A good part of the weekend was spent cleaning our bedroom.  Not the guest room (as I should have done).  I re-discovered some books in a bookcase and also unearthed a couple of treasures for Iris!  The first is a doll.  My Mom and her friend, Jean, spent quite a few days meandering the back roads of Lancaster County.  They hiked and biked and visited Amish households (Jean made some quilts and then had the Amish do the actual quilting).  When I was in college (yep, no longer a kid), my Mom bought me an Amish doll.

A simple rag doll that had been sitting on top of a bookcase for years.  I dusted her off and now she is keeping Iris company.

And in Colin's old bedroom, on the loveseat, I found a pillow I had made for Colin when he was a youngster.  It was just gathering dust, so I cleaned it up and now it belongs to Iris.

A bee, a frog, a ladybug, etc.

So, the purging continues!  (A trip to the thrift store to drop off donations was made before I could change my mind about anything!!)  I just need to hurry up and clean the guest room as Damon arrives on Thursday.  I will be with Iris today, Wednesday and Thursday, so Tuesday is my only option for getting that room ready for a visitor.

Yesterday Colin and Iris came over in the afternoon and stayed for dinner.  (Mailing was off for a spa day with her Mom and sister.)  I made a (new to me) curried lentil dish with ground turkey that turned out well.  We had that with some brown rice.  Dessert was a blueberry gateau.  Iris loved it all.

Time for me to get moving and have another cup of coffee.  Sometimes it's difficult to wake up!  Here's to a good week for all of us.

Weekending 5/11/26

 Good Morning!

How are you and how was your weekend?  I'm happy to say that the kids got home safely Saturday evening.  And soon I will leave to go over and spend the day with Iris.  I cannot wait to see her!!  I'm betting she has not yet learned to say Gramma, but she will have fun teasing me when I ask her to say it.  

Saturday while driving over to C&M's to feed Talbot in the morning I almost had an accident...I was driving along and traffic was not bad and then I pulled something off my hair...or ear...and discovered it was a tick.  Violent words came out of my mouth!  You cannot blow those things off.  I rolled down the window and tried, but it held fast to my hand.  Luckily I had a box of tissues in the car.  I grabbed one and got the tick into it, rolled it up tight and held it until I reached the house (luckily not too far).  First thing I did was flush that tissue down the toilet!

Geeze...I felt itchy ALL day long and kept feeling as though "things" were crawling on me.  This morning I woke to Mabel right by my head and that freaked me out!  We did treat her the other day with NexGuard, but still...

Anyway, on to better things.  My herbs are all in pots at the edge of the patio now!

Basil, Rosemary and Thyme.  And, I used some of the Thyme and Rosemary last night!  I was cooking haddock and decided to do it in foil packs on the indoor grill.  That worked great, by the way - only took 8 minutes or so for the fish to cook.  Before I closed up the packets to cook, I spread a mixture of EVOO, fresh lemon juice, minced garlic, and fresh Thyme, Rosemary and Parsley all over the fish.  Delicious!

Mother's Day turned out to be a beautiful day.  I did spend some time doing chores that had recently been ignored (bathrooms were cleaned and kitchen floor scrubbed), but time was also found to stitch a little (very little) and knit just a tiny bit.  All in all, not a bad day.

Now I need to down a bit more coffee and then head out to see Iris!  Have a wonderful Monday.

Weekending 5/4/26

 Good Chilly Morning!

Yeah, it's on the chilly side here.  Fletch and I did get to the greenhouse on Saturday, but everything is still in the back of the car.  Our nights have been too cold to leave things out!  It should warm up a bit in a day or so.

Meanwhile, some flowers are beginning to open at C&M's

Talbot has been a good boy, though it is obvious he misses his family.  The other day as I sat on the couch reading he climbed up and into my lap and then onto my chest...drooling and trying to lick me.  Luckily there have been no more hairball messes to clean up.  I'll see later what today brings.

Yesterday I made a Dutch or German pancake for breakfast with blueberries and raspberries.  I wish you could smell it!

There has not been much time for stitching or knitting with all the back and forth to care for Talbot.  I have been reading some and I have been cooking.  But tonight is leftovers, so maybe I'll find some quiet moments later today to settle down with a needle (or 4).  I hope this Monday finds you well and doing something fun!

Weekending 4/27/26

 Good Morning!

How are you?  And how was your weekend?  We are well and the kids made it safely to Beijing where they have an apartment for their stay in China.  Colin reported that Iris did really great on both long flights.  YAY!!  The weather looks really great over there - blue skies and sunshine.

Our weather, on the other hand, has been chilly and grey.  It was a pretty cold weekend.  And there was rain.  I spent a couple of hours with Talbot on Saturday afternoon.  I had brought my knitting with me and initially he was trying to learn how to knit.  Ha!  But then he curled up next to me on the couch and we had some nice bonding time.

All curled up and keeping warm.  Today looks to be pretty nice with temps in the upper 60's, so when I go over this morning I will open the sunroom door so that Talbot can hang out there if he wishes.  That's where his cat tree is and he loves to sit at the very top and watch the birds and squirrels in the backyard.  And, of course, bask in the sunlight.

I ended up cutting one sprig of lilac even though I said I wouldn't.  I added a bit of Lily of the Valley to go with it.

I knew it would not last long (barely 24 hours), but the scent was heavenly.  The Lily of the Valley only lasted another day or so, but there is plenty for me to pick more if I want.

There is already wash in the dryer and more to be done today before I head over to see Talbot.  I plan to hang a bit with him this morning, but be home in time to have lunch with Fletch.  There are a few errands I would like to do after lunch before heading back for Talbot's afternoon feeding.  Target sells some wonderful sachets - lavender and bergamot - that I like to tuck in with winter sweaters and blankets when I put them away for the summer season.  

Now that I no longer work, I have way fewer clothes than I used to, but I still put away the heavy sweaters for the summer and pull out tank tops, etc. that I put away last Fall.  Of course, I still have plenty of things that I never wear anymore, but for some reason I can't seem to part with them...just yet...

Now it's time for a second cup of coffee.  I hope your Monday is off to a lovely start!

Weekending 4/20/26

 Good Morning All,

A bit of a change in the weather.  We have a freeze warning for tonight!  Yup, it's a chilly one and yesterday was a wet one in the morning.  I ran out to CVS (of course) and I nearly froze!  On the flip side, we had dinner at Colin & Mailing's on Saturday and were able to eat outside.  We also enjoyed a fire in the pit later that evening.

I noticed that our iris are now budded and the wisteria has begun to blossom.

Our lilac is finally beginning to open its buds.  I wish those would last longer when cut...they always droop within a day or so.  I most likely won't bother cutting any this year.

This week I'll be watching Iris every day.  Bonnie (Mailing's Mom) is in China.  The kids will fly over on Saturday, so I'm going to cherish this week and enjoy all the snuggling I can squeeze in!  They will be gone two weeks and I will miss them so much.

Not much else to report.  I was successful in avoiding most chores (I did do laundry) over the weekend.  A little cooking was done.  A delicious shredded raw beet and carrot salad was made and this will definitely be made again and again.  Wonderful!  (I did not put the walnuts in, though I may add them next time and I used Agave rather than date syrup).  One beet and two carrots made the perfect amount for the two of us.  I don't think I had ever had raw beets, but it was a very yummy dish.

There was time for some knitting and some stitching and a bit of reading.  Overall a great weekend.  I hope yours was just as nice.

Weekending 4/6/26

 Hello One and All,

Happy Easter Monday.  How are you?  And, how was your weekend?

It definitely was not the best Easter Sunday for a Sunrise Service!  It was breezy and chilly (cold at times) and rainy quite a bit.  My Dad and I used to go to a Sunrise Service North of here - above New Hope when a friend was the minister there.  He moved on after a bit and is now retired.

Anyway, on with the weekend.  I had yoga both Thursday and Friday.  Saturday was a gorgeous day.  And warm.  Capri leggings, a tee shirt and flip flops were the order of the day.  I baked the coconut pie

First I had trouble with the crust.  I think I processed mine too long...I could roll it out, but it was goopy and I could not get it into the pie plate.  I ended up running out to buy Pillsbury pie crusts.  The kids liked the pie ok, neither Fletch nor I really cared for it and the last of it went home with C&M last night.

By the time the kids arrived, the rain had pretty much stopped so Colin was able to help Fletch outside with some projects.  The meal pretty much sucked!!  Although everyone seemed to enjoy it.  I have always loved the 7 hour leg of lamb recipe. I've made it so many times.  Yesterday?  Not so much.  Even the smell was making me sick.  I joked that maybe I was pregnant.  LOL. The lamb was tender and falling off the bone (as it should be), but I found it dry and (again) the smell make me sick to my stomach.  The carrots, parsnips and onions all caramelized but so much they were hard to get out of the pan!  The tomatoes and potatoes were good though.  And the asparagus was tasty.

I enjoyed pulling out the china and silver (which I should have, but did not, polish).  Most importantly, the kids all loved the dinner.  Iris was particularly excited when six deer wandered into our yard.  She kept waving to them!  Too cute.

A little lamb and some veggies were saved for Fletch, but the balance went home with C&M&I.  

Today I'm looking forward to playing with Iris.  I hope your Monday is a good one!

Weekending 3/30/26

 Hello Everyone and Good Morning!

How are you this morning and how was your weekend?  Mine was good, though filled.  Lots of errand running and lots of back and forth to C&M's to feed Talbot (and clean the litter boxes...).  The kids are back home again safely and they had a lovely time in Virginia.

After errand running Friday morning, I baked a strawberry crostata.  YUM!!

It was like a taste of summer!  Half of it ended up in C&M's refrigerator for them to enjoy.

Then on Saturday I made a new-to-me recipe for chicken and garbanzo bean soup,  I used dried chick peas (soaking them overnight).  The soup had chicken thigh meat, carrots, onions, fennel, celery and spinach.  It is a recipe my sister-in-law shared with me.  I didn't much care for the scent while it was cooking, but the soup was actually very good.

I also made Morning Glory muffins which have shredded carrots and shredded apples in them along with applesauce, white & whole wheat flour.  (I think I remember the recipe from long ago - the "hippie days" of eating brown rice and veggies for dinner - LOL). A large container of soup and half the muffins migrated over to C&M's on Sunday morning.  I wanted to be sure they had something to eat when they got home from their travels.

Despite all the errand running and back and forth to C&M's, time was found for some knitting, a little stitching and some reading as well.  All-in-all, a lovely weekend.  I even managed to do some chores (laundry - of course - as well as vacuuming and dusting).

Even though it cooled down over the weekend, I think temps are back on the rise.  And then a bit of rain is forecast over the next few days.  My expected yarn never showed up over the weekend, but it should arrive today!  I'm back to watching Iris today and I cannot wait to see her again!

Here's hoping your Monday is a good one.

Weekending 3/9/26

 Good Morning!

We are back to dark mornings with the switch to Daylight Savings Time.  But, the temperature is mild!!  I washed sheets this weekend and retired the flannel sheets until next Fall/Winter.  I figured that was a sure way to have another cold snap, but so far we are good.  And, it felt great to get into a bed with crisp sheets and to have the window open for fresh air.

How was your weekend?  Ours was very nice and I failed to take any pictures!  The one picture I have I took this morning.  A blooming Christmas Cactus:

So pretty, and there are more buds.  This one did bloom around Christmas and now it is blooming again.

Anyway, as I said, our weekend was nice.  We had dinner with the kids on Saturday.  Burgers, crispy potatoes and coleslaw.  I made a blueberry gateau for dessert.  The family socks were well received and appreciated.  I hope they fit - no one tried them on.  It was mild enough that we had a fire outside after dinner.

Last night I made mushroom bourguignon for dinner.  It was wonderful!  And, plenty of leftovers for another meal.  Definitely a dish I will be fixing again.

I'm missing that hour of sleep that I lost Saturday night.  Hopefully I'll have an easy day with iris today.  Here's hoping your Monday is off to a great start.

Weekending 3/2/26

 Greetings my Friends,

And welcome to March!  How was your weekend.  Mine was just about perfect!  After taking a couple of weeks off from yoga due to my back bothering me as well as my arthritis acting up - particularly in my shoulders (thank you dampness and extreme cold), I finally went back to a couple of Yin Yoga classes.  It felt wonderful.  Yin is such a relaxing practice.

Saturday, the last day of February, dawned sunny and warmer.  In fact, it ended up feeling just like a Spring day!  For the first time in I don't know how long, I went out for a walk.  Due to all the snow melt, I opted to walk along the Perkiomen River Trail in Oaks which is paved.  The sky was a gorgeous blue.

There were plenty of walkers and joggers as well as folks on bikes.  I think everyone felt a tremendous relief to finally be outside in comfortable weather.  There was still plenty of ice along the banks of the river.

Big chunks and shelves of ice.  There was even a large amount of ice across the path at one point, but easy enough to get over it.

Scents were in the air.  It smelled like Spring - a bit mucky and almost swamp like.  No signs of wildlife yet (other than geese flying overhead), but it won't be long now.  This coming Saturday temps are supposed to reach 70+!!!

The weekend overall was a great balance of things.  I found plenty of time for knitting, stitching and reading as well as getting outside.  But I also managed to get some needed chores done (laundry, cleaning the bathrooms, etc.).

Meanwhile, today is a bit on the cooler side.  My phone tells me it is 23 out, but feels like 16.  My schedule is a bit different this week.  I'll be watching Iris on Tuesday and Thursday, so I will head to the grocery store today.  We are in desperate need of fresh produce.

Did you have a good weekend?  I certainly hope so.

A Winter Wonderland! 2/23/26

 Greetings from Eastern PA,

It's a beautiful Winter Wonderland outside.  We had some rain yesterday morning which turned into what I call "thick rain" - not really rain, but not quite snow, but not sleet either.  That eventually changed into all snow and it is still coming down this morning.  I took this picture when I came downstairs and stepped out onto our patio:

It's a lot.  Right now it is very pretty.  The street has not been plowed.  I was supposed to watch Iris today, but I'm not going anywhere!

At Thanksgiving I had gotten a free (8 lbs!!) turkey breast from one of our grocery stores and decided to cook that yesterday.  I made stuffing and a small green bean casserole.  Good food on a snowy day.  This morning I have the bones simmering on the stove for soup.  I think a turkey sandwich is on the menu for lunch!  I will freeze the soup for another day.

Some nice surprises over the weekend:  I discovered a new flower on my biggest Christmas cactus!

And then I discovered buds on another Christmas cactus!

I guess they really like living in my office room (where I never turn on the heat).  When I watered plants this morning I noticed even more buds on the one plant.  

So, a good day to stay in.  We don't even need to go grocery shopping tomorrow if we don't want to.  Plenty of food in the freezer.  I think today will be spent knitting and/or stitching, some reading and listening to the Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion and, perhaps, a little nap after lunch!

I hope everyone is warm and cozy and if you are in the midst of the storm or expecting it, stay safe!!

Weekending 2/16/26

 Good Morning All,

How are you and how was your weekend? Ours was very nice.  Fletch and I went out to breakfast on Saturday morning.  That was a great treat - I love going out to breakfast.  The rest of that day was spent on good things - books, knitting and stitching.  I cannot complain.

Sundy morning we met Colin, Mailing, Iris, Bonnie and Zhongren at the Colebrookdale Train Station in Boyertown.

Such a beautiful train station with elegant gingerbread trim.  It was mobbed!!  I think the train was full.  The cars were all beautiful.  White linen tablecloths, cloth napkins, fancy silverware and nice china.  There were fresh flowers and chocolate truffles on each table.  Wine and champagne and even a boy (teenager) strolling through the cars playing his violin.  I kept expecting to turn around and see Poirot!  LOL. It really was fun.  The food was surprisingly good - French toast, eggs and sausage for brunch.  And everyone received a long stemmed carnation as we stepped off the train.  The ride goes through what is known as the Hidden Valley.  It was pretty with snow still on the ground and I'm betting it would be gorgeous in the Fall with colorful leaves.

We got home around 1:30 and yours truly took a nice, long nap!  Then we went over to C&M's for dinner.  We had coq au vin with mashed potatoes - a perfect meal for a winter's night.  And chocolate mousse with whipped cream for dessert.  And, of course, wine.  We were all beyond stuffed at the end of the meal.

On our way over to C&M's we had a bit of rain, but as we left to come home, snow was falling.  This morning we woke to a few new inches of snow - the kind that coats all the tree branches.  Very pretty (but I am tired of snow).  We had been commenting that the snow has been sticking around for such a long, long time.  And then Fletch heard on the news that this is the longest a snowfall has stayed on the ground since 1963!  At least the new snow is still pretty and white and has covered up a lot of the grimy patches.

Nowhere I need to go today, so I will be staying in.  There are a few chores I should take care of - time will tell whether I do or not.  I hope your Monday is a nice one - enjoy!

Weekending 2/9/26

Hello My Friends,

The above picture tells the story.  It is still wicked cold...and more wicked than it has been!  That window is my front bedroom window.  As a child, I loved seeing the frost patterns on windows.  Now I still find them interesting and pretty.  They also make me feel cold.  On Saturday the temp never even made it to 10 degrees at our house, and the winds were so fierce.  I actually ventured out - there were two books to pick up at the library and I needed some peppers and mushrooms for the dinner I was going to fix.  At the library I almost couldn't open my car door because the wind was so strong!

I managed to warm up some by doing cleaning (that's one good thing about it...that and when it's done things are clean!).  I vacuumed and dusted and scrubbed the bathrooms.  It was chilly in the basement where I went to visit the washer, but it was cozy to remake the bed with sheets straight out of the dryer.

There was a visitor to my front office window on Saturday.

As I sat at my desk a motion caught my eye.  This guy was nibbling on a bush that's just off to the side of the window.  See his little tongue sticking out?  And on Sunday, I caught some deer laying down in our back yard.  I bet their butts were cold!

Sunday's temps were not much better and the wind picked up again just about the time I went out.  We were in need of wine, so I ventured out only to find my favorite liquor store was closed for inventory.  Grrrr. I ended up just picking up a couple of bottles at Wegman's (which was mobbed and I had to park what felt like a mile from the store!).

The days thankfully have been bright.  The sun is strong (and blinding with all the snow).  But when the temps are in the single digits with 25+ mph winds, the sun doesn't do much to warm things up.  We made it through the first week of February, so that's a success.

Other than cleaning and cooking, I did some reading, a little knitting and a little stitching.  Not much.  I cancelled my yoga classes due to my back issues...hopefully it will be better by Thursday so I can get back to some classes.

How was your weekend?

Weekending 2/2/26

 Hello, Hello!

Good Morning and Goodbye to January!  Happy Groundhog's Day.  It is probably still too dark for Phil to have come out of his cozy bed, but from where I am it seems like winter will be going on for some time.  I hope I can remember these frigid days when I start complaining about the heat and humidity this summer!

How was your weekend?  Ours was good.  There were the usual things:  yoga, reading, knitting and stitching.  We also ventured out Saturday for dinner at Colin & Mailing's.  We had a delicious bolognese with hearty pasta, a huge salad and a yummy olive oil cake with blueberry compote and whipped cream for dessert.  And wine, of course.  Iris loved it all (no wine for her though and no salad).  She is a whipped cream fanatic just like her Grandpa (Fletch).

We got home Saturday a bit after 8:00.  I was sitting at the table in the kitchen reading and I looked out and saw that we had a visitor:

Obviously taken through the screen and glass of our patio door.  Mr. Raccoon was on the shelf that is over our outdoor basement steps.  That's where we store birdseed and peanuts for the birds.  Once he saw me he jumped down and waddled down the shoveled path in the backyard that goes to the bird feeder.  We have not seen him since.

Sunday after breakfast I baked some peanut butter cookies with chocolate and peanut butter chips.  Yum!  Dinner was a chicken casserole that bakes in a low (275) oven for three hours.  It was nice to have the oven on in the afternoon to help warm the kitchen.

Plenty of food and making and reading over the weekend.  For me, that's pretty perfect!  I hope your weekend was just as nice.

Weekending 1/19/26

 Good Morning and Brrrrr!

It has been a snowy weekend here for sure.  The trees are so pretty and the roads are clear, so that's good.

The above picture was taken (I think - hard to remember) either Saturday early evening or Sunday early morning.  In any event, we ended up with 3-4" on Saturday and then another 3" or so yesterday.  Way more than what had been predicted (a dusting).

Last week I decided to take a little break from the computer and instead of getting online with my coffee I sat and worked on my knitting and stitching a bit.  It was lovely.  Kat mentions how she does her daily stitching in the morning and I decided to do some making early in the day.  I found it to be soothing, calming and just all together wonderful.  And so it continued for a number of days!  

My yoga classes were also wonderful.  The restorative yoga on Friday evening was excellent.  I will be taking that class again when it is offered.  The snow kept me from attending class on Saturday, but I had plenty to keep me occupied at home.  Colin, Mailing and Iris came over in the mid-afternoon.  Colin was doing a few things for Fletch (including shoveling the driveway!).  Iris enjoyed playing with the magnets on the refrigerator and also a rattle:

This wooden rattle usually sits on a shelf in the kitchen.  It was carved from a single piece of wood by my paternal grandfather - Iris' great-great grandfather!  Being wood, it's not very loud, but it gives a satisfying sound when you shake it.

Luckily the snow had stopped at that point.  I had booked dinner reservations for us at a local restaurant - Agua Bistro.  So we headed over there for an early dinner.  There were oysters and escargot for appetizers both of which Iris enjoyed.  I don't do oysters, so I stuck with the escargot.  Our meals were very good (I had sea trout, Fletch had scallops, Mailing had rigatoni with broccoli rabe and Colin had a steak).

When we got up Sunday the snow started again.  I made some breakfast quesadillas for us and we stayed put till the afternoon.  A trip to CVS was in order to pick up a prescription and then we dropped off one of our cars at the mechanics for an inspection appointment today.  Fingers crossed nothing needs to be done!

All in all, a very relaxing and enjoyable weekend.  Though I missed catching up with your blogs, I did not miss being on the computer.  I hope your weekend was just as nice and here's to a good week ahead!

Weekending 1/5/26

 Good Monday Morning!

Today seems to be the day that things go back to normal for most people.  Folks in my yoga class on Friday and Saturday were talking about how this Monday is really the start to the New Year - I guess so many folks were on vacation last week.  I will be back caring for Iris today which is a good thing...I've missed that little girl this past week.

How was your weekend?  Mine was good.  Cold, but good.  I think it should warm up a little bit this week, but already my forecast shows a lesser warm up than it had last week.  Anyway, my weekend included yoga, stitching, knitting, cooking and napping.  All good things.

Friday was a nice mail day - it brought my first 2026 Farmer's Daughter Sock Squad yarn.

A dark picture in the early morning hours.  The color way is "Deep Winter" which seems appropriate for January.  It's very pretty IRL.  The yarn is Highwood Sock which is 80% Merino and 20% nylon.  As I continue to (attempt to) focus on finishing what's already on my needles, I am squirreling this away for another day.  Yet to be seen how long that will be...

My plan is to be back tomorrow with a small TNT update and then I'm looking forward to seeing some of you tomorrow night for the book zoom discussion of "The Antidote" with the RWU group.  I'm hoping that my dryer repair is done this week too, or else I'll be washing stuff and hauling wet clothes to the laundromat!

May today find you gently easing in to a new week.  Enjoy!

Weekending 12/22/25

 Hello and Happy Winter!

Now our daylight hours will gradually begin to lengthen.  This morning though it's a tad dark (cloudy too).  And...our 8" of snow disappeared last Friday.  It was still on the ground Thursday night when I went to yoga but heavy rains and winds made it all disappear on Friday.  Now, of course, more snow is in our forecast for tonight into tomorrow.  It is proving to already be a snowier Winter than last year.

The kids - Colin, Mailing and Iris arrived home safely from Aruba prior to the rains and winds.  They had a great time and Iris did well on the plane flights.  She went to the mall to see Santa over the weekend...but that didn't go so well.  LOL. Lots of tears - she did not like some strange man holding her on his lap.

I hope everyone is doing well and had a good weekend.  Mine was filled with cooking and baking.  Dinner one night was home made pizza.  Another night we had mussels, salad and garlic bread.  Last night I made spicy Cuban beef.  And cookie baking was done.  This year I did cut back on the number of cookies - I made peanut butter, chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin and walnut crescents (like snowball cookies, but rolled into a log and then cut and shaped like crescents).  I also made a couple loaves of cranberry pumpkin pecan bread.  One of those went to our neighbors Rob & Eva and the other one Fletch will take (along with a lot of cookies) to one of his former clients.  Another two loaves of the bread will be made (one for us!! and one for C&M).

This is the only picture from the weekend!  Mushrooms sautéing for the pizza I made on Friday.  It was yummy (and there are leftovers in the fridge).

Today is my last day of watching Iris until January 5th!!  Tomorrow I have errands to run (CVS of course for prescriptions), gifts to wrap and assorted domestic chores I'd like to get done.  We are headed to C&M's on Christmas Eve for dinner and stocking stuffers.  Christmas Day will find us at Bonnie & Zhongren's for brunch and gifts.  After that:  RELAXATION!!!!

I'm not sure whether I will post again this week.  There has been no stitching for TNT and no knitting for Unraveled Wednesday though there has been reading, so I may post on Wednesday.

Hoping that today finds everyone resting and enjoying the final days leading up to Christmas.  Let there be no frantic running around!

Weekending 12/15/25

 Good Morning!

Well, I guess it really is winter!  On Saturday our forecast was for 2-4" of snow starting that evening.  I was at Collin & Mailing's feeding Talbot, so I put an extra bowl of food out for him...just in case.  Fletch and I watched the latest Knives Out movie and by the time I went to bed, the forecast was saying less than an inch of snow.  This is what I woke up to Sunday morning:

A little bit more than "less than an inch".  Of course there was also sleet involved.  I made some pear waffles for breakfast (really good - highly recommend) and by the time we were finished eating breakfast the snow had mostly stopped.  I took the leftover waffles out for the deer and measured the snow on the picnic bench:  8"!!  

My poor rosemary plant on the patio:

I've been using it regularly...but it may be done for now.

Our street had now been plowed, but I managed to get out and head over to C&M's by 10 a.m.  Their street had not been plowed either, but I managed fine and just pulled into their driveway a bit.  I don't think they got the 8" that we had, but it was still pretty.

Talbot was very happy to see me (and get more food).  I also went back over in the afternoon.  I was so surprised that Talbot actually spent some time in the sunroom (which is not heated and was icy cold).  Luckily he came back into the main part of the house before I had to leave.

We had a yummy shrimp stir fry for dinner (over jasmine rice).

C&M and Iris all arrived in Aruba safely.  Colin texted that Iris was great on the plane!  And, the hotel they are staying at (a Hilton) had overbooked, so they were upgraded to a lovely suite.

Today's plan is to get back over to feed Talbot this morning.  I will probably hang out there for a little while - I'll take my knitting and maybe have a hot cup of tea while keeping Talbot company.  Later I need/want to wrap gifts that I hope/plan to mail out tomorrow.  I'll be back to feed Talbot in the afternoon and then, perhaps, start baking some cookies.

Weekending 12/8/25

 Hello, Hello!

Whoosh!  Again the weekend sped by.  It was (too) busy and fast.

There was yoga

There was baking a cake for Iris.  (And both layers fell apart when they came out of the pan!  I wanted to cry but instead I cursed really loudly.  The frosting - whipped cream - luckily held everything sort of together.  And it did taste good.)

There was celebrating Iris' birthday with lots of presents and laughs and good times.

There was a trip to the laundromat (my washer is now scheduled for - hopefully the final - repair tomorrow).

There was helping Fletcher wash his hair!!  He had a spot of skin cancer on his nose that was removed on Friday.  He now has a honking LARGE bandage on his nose that cannot get wet.  Luckily he goes back today for a bandage change and for the doctor to have a look-see.  Hopefully a small bandage will be in place.

There was ordering a new TV.  On Friday the volume on our TV quit.  Just like that!  We finally got around to ordering one late yesterday afternoon.  Last night before I went to bed the volume inexplicably came back on!  I need to quickly cancel the order!!

And now I'm thinking about the holidays fast approaching.  I have not thought about cards at all.  I have not bought more than a couple of gifts. I'm having a difficult time coming up with ideas for anyone!  The problem is that we all don't NEED anything and when we want something we just buy it.  BUT, I'd like to have something for folks to unwrap on Christmas.

Finally there was waking at 3 a.m. and not getting back to sleep.  Ugh.  And today I'm on Iris duty - hopefully I can stay awake.

OK, that's more than enough.  I hope your weekends were lovely and cheers to the week ahead.  May it be filled with happiness and relaxation.

Weekending 12/1/25

 Good Morning My Friends,

How are you?  How was your weekend?  How was your Thanksgiving?  I am well and both Thanksgiving and the weekend were lovely.

One Thursday, Fletch and I headed over to Bonnie & Zhongren's in the late afternoon.  Mailing was cooking and everything was so delicious!  We had roast turkey (from the farm) and gravy, mashed potatoes with caramelized onions, stuffing and roasted broccolini (one of Iris' favorite veggies).  Zhongren had baked some naan, Anna made an apple pie and I made a praline pumpkin pie along with both cranberry orange relish and cranberry orange chutney.  I don't think anyone was hungry after that meal!

The weekend included two yoga classes as well as a trip to the laundromat...my washer has yet to be repaired.  The repair person who was scheduled to show on Wednesday ended up being a no-call/no-show.  I tried calling the business on Friday, but of course they were closed for the holiday.  Oh well, in the grand scheme of things it's not all that important.  Yes it is annoying and frustrating.  But I try not to hold on to those negative thoughts.  I'm lucky to have a laundromat close by (that was not crowded).  I'm hoping for an appointment tomorrow since I will be watching Iris today.

Sunday ended up being full of beautiful surprises!  I made some multi-grain pancakes for breakfast with blueberries.  While cooking I looked out and saw a bluebird.  Such a brilliant blue!  He (definitely a male) had come to our picnic table where we have a large saucer filled with water (and a heater to keep it from freezing).  Then, during breakfast, I looked out and noticed it was snowing.  So pretty.  It didn't stick really (except on the pumpkin which is still on the picnic table) but it was just so nice to see it coming down.  Then I noticed that our snapdragons are still blooming.  What a surprise!

We also have a petunia that refuses to stop blooming in our kitchen window box.

Continuing with the cooking theme, last night I made Shrimp in Thai Coconut Curry Sauce that was wonderful.  We had it over basmati rice.

I only used 1 TBS of fish sauce (that stuff is STRONG!!) and next time I would add more of the red curry paste.  Very yummy though.

Most likely there will be no TNT post from me tomorrow.  To date, I have not put in a single stitch since I last posted an update on my sampler.  I doubt I will have time or the energy to stitch tonight.

Also, we watched a great movie last night:  Train Dreams.  Available on Netflix and we highly recommend.

Welcome to December!!