Catching Up 12/29/25

 Hello My Friends,

How are you?  I'm hoping that everyone is fine and recovering nicely from the holiday overload.  So.Much.Food.  But delicious!

We did have a lovely Christmas.  Iris was a delight.  We spent Christmas Eve at Colin & Mailing's and had a wonderful dinner and stocking stuffers. We were home early (before 9 p.m.) which was perfect.  Christmas morning found us at Bonnie & Zhongren's by 10 a.m.  Colin, Mailing and Iris showed up shortly after and then Anna and John.  We laughed and ate and unwrapped gifts and ate some more.  And...we were home by 2 p.m. in time for naps!  LOL

Our forecast was for a winter storm on Friday.  That did not occur until late in the day and then came in more as an ice storm than snow.  We ended up with roughly 3/4" of ice on the cars and driveway.  Luckily we had no where we had to go.  The only picture I took all during the past week was of the bird feeder outside my office window.  

Taken through a dirty window and screen, but if you click to enlarge, you may see the icicles hanging off the roof of the house.  The birds were happy to be fed.

I've been relaxing a ton!  Lots of reading, some cooking, a bit of knitting, some organization of things.  No stitching yet...but that should happen today.  Colin is off all week, so no babysitting Iris this week.  I miss her but my back is thankful.

I hope your days are unfolding in a relaxed and easy way.  I plan to be back tomorrow with a TNT update!

Monday Rolls Around Again

 Bonjour My Lovelies,

Well, as predicted, the weekend was beastly!  And buggy.  I woke in the night with my arms, legs and feet itching from mosquito bites.

Friday afternoon I left Colin's a little early.  He was finished work and a severe thunderstorm was forecast.  I wanted to get home before the sky opened up.  Part way down 363, I came upon barricades closing my road.  I skirted around on a detour like everyone else and the traffic got heavier and heavier.  Anyway, a few miles from home the sky did open up and the rain was so hard that it was difficult to even see the road.  But, by the time I drove those last couple of miles home the rain had stopped.  Nothing measurable in the rain gauge, but the wind had cooled things down a bit.  Enough that we could sit on the patio before dinner.

Saturday morning was filled with laundry and a few errands.  By Sunday I decided to skip cleaning the kitchen floor and the bathrooms.  I just didn't feel like it and it was too darn hot.  Really more humid than hot.  The temps were low, but it felt like 500% humidity.

I did walk out to the garden on Sunday afternoon though.  I wanted to pull some onions to use in Sunday's dinner.  And, to my surprise, I found that little figs are starting to appear!!

Such a great sight!  I had just about given up on figs this year.  Our tree was late to leaf out and it is still very low - not as tall as prior years.  But healthy and many figs.  Count me as a happy person.

This week I am watching Iris Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  It helps (my back) to have a day off in-between babysitting.  Thursday I see the dermatologist for my semi-annual full body check.  Other than that, no real plans.  Which is ok, it's too miserable weather-wise to have plans.

I hope this Monday finds your week off to a pleasant start.  Take care and stay hydrated.

YUM!! 5/29/25

 Hello My Friends,

I checked my fingers and toes this morning - not for ticks, but rather to be sure I'm not starting to grow webbing.  Gosh it is wet!  No sense discussing, we are all just tired of it.

Yesterday I ended up making something yummy (and new for us) for dinner, so I thought I would share.  I came across a recipe for grilled salmon with strawberry jalapeño salsa (This Recipe).  We did not grill (rain).  Rather I baked the salmon filets in the oven.  And then we topped them with the salsa.

It was a nice change of pace to have salmon this way.  Turns out that Fletch wasn't that fond of the salsa (cilantro is not his favorite) (and if you are not fond of cilantro, I'm betting fresh parsley would be a great substitute), so I will be taking the leftover salsa over to C&M today.

Not even 7:30 and it is noisy outside.  Our neighbor is having something done (not sure what) but there are big trucks in the street, ladders on the ground and men standing around talking (loudly) to each other.  Mabel is keeping an eye on things from her perch on the window shelf in my office.

Hope your Thursday is off to a more gentle start than mine!  Have a good one.

Weekending 2/17/25

Hello My Friends,

How are you?  Isn't that lily gorgeous?  That's from the bouquet Fletch gave me on Friday.  Just stunning in size, color, fragrance - glorious.

So, we did make it to Repperts on Friday and got Fletch his dark chocolate covered pretzels...and a few other candies as well.  The Flying Pig was not as good as we had hoped.  My drink - The Limerick Swine (what a great name - vodka, ginger beer, cranberry and lime juice) was just ok - really rather weak.  I had a turkey wrap with smashed avocado, tomatoes, red onion, etc. and it tasted like it had been made a week ago.  Fletch had chili which he said was just average and sweet potato fries which were not good.  Oh well, at least we know we don't need to rush back there!  And, it was still fun to do something different.

Saturday was a crazy day.  We ended up with snow in the afternoon.  I stayed in and actually did some cleaning and laundry.

Then Sunday came with heavy, heavy rains.  Torrential downpours...water in the basement...but somewhat warmer temps.  The kids stopped by with Iris in the afternoon - luckily during a lull in the rain.  After they left the rain picked up again and the winds!  Horrible winds.  Just as I started to cook some dinner our power went out.  Luckily it came back on in a few minutes.  I made baked mushroom quesadillas using this recipe.

They were good.  Really tasty and I think some beans would make a good addition in the filling.  I also made some fresh guacamole to go with them.  Dessert was some flourless chocolate cake which C&M had dropped off when they visited.  Yummy!!

And then we lost power again just after 10 last night.  Like earlier, it was only off for a few minutes.  Thankfully.  And those winds?  Still howling this morning.  I was up at 4 to pee and had trouble getting back to sleep because it sounded like the house would be torn apart!

The plan for today is to put a big pot of soup on the stove and let it simmer all day.  I do need to run out for a couple of things at the store and Fletch has to go out for a doctor's appointment.  Otherwise, I intend to stay in and out of the howling wind!!

How was your weekend?  Here's hoping that your Monday will be a gentle one to ease into the week.

Unraveled Wednesday 2/12/25

 Bonjour and Hello,

I'm posting a little later today.  We have a snowy winter wonderland outside and I decided to fix breakfast for my love and me (bacon & eggs, pastry for Fletch, English muffin for moi).  One load of wash is in the dryer and another in the washer, so it has been a productive morning.

A snowy feeder and Cardinals in the bushes.  (The pole keeps the feeder propped up high enough that Mabel cannot jump into it...)

Those are Mabel's footprints going out into the backyard.  There are deer tracks all over the place and the birds have been feeding (only a junco at my window feeder though).  Yesterday I ventured out the front door and poked around in the ice to find the piece of the feeder that Mr. Squirrel had removed.  I found it, almost slipped on the ice, and then re-filled that front feeder with the "hot seed."  While poking around, I saw buds on my lilac!!

They are small, but they are there.  And now they are covered in snow.  The "white stuff" in the picture is the ice that is still on the flower bed.

Of course, tomorrow it is forecast to be 50 degrees with rain...which will make a mess of everything.  Then the temps will drop in the evening into the 20s which means the mess will freeze...sigh.  And, Colin told me that one of his employees said they saw that we could have a MAJOR storm next Thursday with 15" of snow!  I'm not looking that far ahead and anyway, by the time that date rolls around the forecast will have changed.

So, it's Wednesday and time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk about making and reading.  On the making side of things, my Eye of the Partridge heel flap is finally finished.  Whew!  That sure took a long time.  I hope to turn the heel today and then rapidly progress down the foot.  That would be nice.  Time will tell...

This past week was another good one for reading.  I finished reading Braided Creek which is the collection of Haiku-like poems that Ted Kooser and Jim Harrison sent to each other.  It is a wonderful book.  Some are funny, many are poignant, and all tend to be soothing.  Highly recommend.

I also read Blue Light Hours by Bruna Dantas Lobato and loved it.  This is a book I learned about through Mary's blog.  Based on her review and recommendation, I requested it from my library.  It came in within a couple of days and I picked it up after lunch one day.  I read half the book in one sitting and would have finished it except that someone was hungry for dinner (not me and not Mabel).  A wonderful, beautiful book filled with love and yearning.  Again, highly recommend.

And, I am still plugging away on "The Secret History" for our RWU group.  I'm past the halfway mark and am still not fond of the characters or the story, but the writing is just so good!

And that does it for me!  Time to rinse out my coffee cup, check the laundry and do a few things.  I hope your Wednesday is a good one!

Weekending

 Good Morning!

It's a bit chilly in my office (remember, I try not to use heat in this room because of Christmas Cacti and other plants) and we had snow last night!  What???  We had heard that we could have a wintry mix, but Fletch said it didn't look like we would.  Then around 8:30 he looked out and our picnic table was covered, there was snow on the grass and the cars in the driveway had a dusting.  And...it is supposed to get into the 50's today!  Talk about a roller coaster.

How was your weekend?  Mine was relaxed in many ways.  We had dinner Saturday night at Mailing's parent's home to celebrate the Lunar New Year.  Dumplings, fish, green beans, etc., etc.  All was delicious.  I brought a beet salad to go with everything and there were cakes with red bean paste (which I LOVE) for dessert.

Iris had slept for 6 hours straight Friday night!!  But, she was cranky and fussy on Saturday.  Dinner was early as C&M wanted to get home in time to give Iris a bath and get her settled down for the night.  I'll have another chance for Iris snuggles next Saturday when we go to C&M's for brunch.

A pink Christmas Cactus is blooming again...maybe it's a Valentine's Cactus?  LOL

My fight with the squirrel continues.  Carole had suggested that I get some hot seed for the feeder since squirrels don't like that.  Well...I bought hot seed.  The bag specifically states "no squirrels, just birds" BUT after filling the feeder, who came to dine?  Mr. Squirrel.  He feasted for some time and then finally went away (he doesn't even move when I bang on the window now...grrrrr).  I thought ok, maybe he will get a tummy ache and not come back.  But, day two found him back at the feeder munching on the hot seed.  He has pretty much destroyed that feeder - ripping it apart.  I also found Mr. Squirrel sitting in the peanut feeder we have hanging on our patio.  

Time to have another cup of coffee and try to wake up.  I have errands to run this morning and, once it does warm up some, I am hoping to get out for a walk.  I hope your Monday is off to a great start!

Weekending 1/6/25

 Hello and Good Morning!

First of all, Happy Birthday to my friend Carol!  May this year be one of joy and good health for you.

Second of all, it's snowing!  Yup, we had a dusting (again) on Friday, but today more is expected.  They are forecasting 1-3" for us.  But, of course, they don't really know what they are talking about.  When I look at our radar map, it appears that it could snow through 1 p.m. - that is 6 plus hours of snow, so we shall see.  Meanwhile, it is cold and periodically the wind is still howling around.

Luckily, I have no pressing need to go out.  Saturday I spent ALL day inside.  I did manage to get dressed (just barely).  I found time to knit, stitch, read, nap and cook.  It was (for me) a perfect day.

Some unraveling occurred.  The entire cowl that had gotten to the 20th row or so was taken off the needles.  Apparently I cannot work on lace work when there are distractions (TV) in the background.  I'm back to where I need to start the lace work and cables, so wish me luck (and some peace and quiet).

Yesterday I did venture out.  We were low on sunflower seeds and with the storm predicted, wanted to be sure we had enough for our feathered friends.  And, since I was out I also picked up wine - it would be horrible to get snowed in without wine!  LOL

Yesterday I did more stitching and some knitting and also cleaned off my desk.  That took some time.  I have journals out that I will use for 1) books that I read or listen to in 2025 and 2) a journal to record my walking.  More things were pulled together for the donation bag.  I would like to pull things together to donate to our local food pantry - a bunch of "food stuffs" are on shelves in our basement, so if I can tolerate being in the basement (it's cold!!) I will do that.

Today the plan is to do more knitting and stitching, a bit of reading and maybe some more organizing of "things."  It is so easy for stuff to pile up and before you know it, it's overwhelming to deal with it all.  I also took Thanksgiving turkey out of the freezer so that I can make mini turkey pot pies for dinner.

How was your weekend?  Please stay warm and safe - especially if you are in the path of the storm.

Thursday Musings

 Good Morning!

What a difference a day can make.  Yesterday afternoon our temps started to drop and even though it was raining, the humidity dropped as well.  When Fletch and I sat on the patio at 4 p.m. with beverages, I needed to put a sweatshirt on over my tee shirt and Fletch actually brought a wrap out from the living room!  This morning it is still raining and the temp is 62.  It feels deliciously cool.

I'm thrilled with my new washer!  It was delivered yesterday afternoon, installed quickly, and I had a load of towels washing before dinner.  It is so quiet compared to my lemon Maytag too.

Today's agenda includes feeding these two:

Once I'm back from that I will get more laundry done (!!) and I plan to (finally) roast the tomatoes and peppers that have been sitting on the counter.  I did manage to make some bread and butter pickles the other day.  There are still a couple of cucumbers in the frig, so I should probably make some more.

I should do some cleaning.  Yesterday I was finally inspired to do the kitchen floor - you know it's bad when there are spots that feel sticky.  LOL. So, while Fletch was out of the house late morning, I moved chairs out of the kitchen, and throw rugs out and got down on my hands and knees and scrubbed the floor.  Major bonus:  no back issues!!  Now I need to tackle the bedroom.

Maybe later I can do some knitting or stitching.  I'm not a huge fan of housework, but it sure does feel good to get some done!

Weekending 1/15/24

 Hello and Good Morning!

How was your weekend?  Mine is actually still going on since today is MLK Day and is a holiday for my company (although I've already had to do some work - approving travel and some other stuff).  Our rain and wind Friday night did not match the forecast.  It was not bad at all.  In fact, when I left the house around 8 a.m. Saturday morning it was 60 degrees!!  

I met up with Dee for a delightful morning into the afternoon and when we got up to leave Manhattan Bagel the temp had started to drop.  This morning it is just 23 and by tomorrow or Wednesday it is supposed to be in the teens.  Meanwhile the wind picked up again yesterday and CRAZY - blew the sides and cap off of the cold frame in the garden.  Twice!  I can't tell yet if it held overnight (still dark out), but hopefully the cold frame survived.  Nothing in there right now, but before too long Fletch will be planting lettuce, chard, spinach, etc. for early Spring crops.

Colin & Mailing went to NYC on Friday, so we have been on cat duty - going over twice a day to feed and empty the litter boxes.  I'll go over in a bit for a final feeding this morning - the kids should be back by the afternoon.

Talbot in the office room

Marcel eyeing the toy basket

They will be happy to have C&M home again.  Their lives have been so disrupted lately with moving and then being in PA while C&M were back in TX for a few weeks, then everyone home again and the movers come with furniture and then C&M take off for NYC.  Whew!  The house looks so much better (and lived in) with their furniture back home; paintings on the wall; etc.

The balance of my weekend included some nice making time, a bit of reading and some cooking.  Last night I made Spicy Cuban Beef (which really isn't all that spicy) for dinner with basmati rice and THIS SALAD to go with it.  The salad is a winner!  I did skip the green olives because there were already some in the Spicy Cuban Beef and I used some mandarin oranges instead of cara cara, naval or blood because that's what I had.  I loved the combination of fennel and arugula and the vinaigrette was supurb!  I will definitely make this again.

There is a small possibility of some snow this morning and then we are forecast to get 1-3" on Tuesday.  We are planning to skip grocery shopping and just hunker down.  I am thinking I'll make a pot of soup and bake some bread for dinner on Tuesday.  Good soup weather!

There are a few errands I want/need to run today, but I will try to get them out of the way early - after I feed the cats.  Sending good wishes to all for a great start to the week.  If you are in the path of the storm, stay safe and warm!!

It's Getting Cold! 11/2/23

 Hello Everyone,

Just a quick pop-in before I dive into my usual Thursday reports for work.  My computer is saying 27 degrees out; my phone says 24.  Either way, it is chilly!

Mabel did, thankfully, show up in time for her appointment with the vet.  She only needed a feline leukemia vaccine which is annual.  I had forgotten that rabies and distemper are 3 year doses and she is good till 2025.  The vet pronounced her to be in good shape!  A nice, clean coat with no traces of fleas or ticks, clear ears and clear eyes.  He probed around a bit and found no lumps or bumps in her (whew!) and her heart and lungs sounded good and her temp was normal.  She weighs 8 lbs, 7.5 oz.  The last time I had taken her (March 2023) she weighed 9 lbs, so really no worse for her little adventure away from home.

After that, Fletch and I got our RSV vaccines and neither of us have had any issues or negative results from it - not even a sore arm!

Late in the afternoon we wandered out to the garden.  There were some things to harvest and things to do in anticipation of the cold temps overnight.  Fletch put the cap on the coldframe to protect the lettuce and chard.  And we harvested some things.  Figs!

Not as many as I had thought and hoped for, BUT a few have started to ripen.  So, they are on a plate on the counter where the sun will hit them and hopefully we will be able to use them.  I had thought of making preserved green figs, but there really are not enough.

And, we picked tomatoes.

Amazingly there are more out there, but it was so cold (major wind chill yesterday afternoon) that I pronounced this haul to be sufficient.  Looks like we will have some fried green tomatoes shortly!

Well, that's a wrap for me.  I've got a lot of reports to run and sort through.  Later this mornoing Fletch and I will head out to one of the local "drop stations" for ballots - we started doing mail in ballots in the first election during the pandemic and decided we would just keep with it.  Easy and no waiting in long lines!

Have a great Thursday!!

Tiny Needle Tuesday

 Good Morning,

Well...it's kind of cloudy out there again, but I doubt it will rain today and we didn't really get enough rain to mention yesterday.  Disappointing.  At one point, Fletch came into the office to tell me it was starting to sprinkle.  We ran out because I had two loads of wash on the line.  The wash had gotten pretty wet, so we just left it on the line.  The sprinkles stopped and within an hour and a half, the laundry was dry.  Yup - Fletch watered the garden last night.

Also noticed that the leaves of our eggplant plants on the patio are covered in some disease or fungus.  Fletch moved the pot back and away from the herbs so that the leaves would not touch them.  I plan to harvest the eggplants today or tomorrow.  Our neighbor Rob has a very large garden and he has discovered the many of his plants are getting moldy (he thinks he may have over-watered).  As Bonny wrote yesterday, everything around here is just so parched.

Enough of that same-old-same-old story.  It's Tuesday and time for a Tiny Needle update.  Not surprisingly with all my weekend activity and friends visiting, I did not get that much stitched on my sampler, but I did get a few motifs stitched.

The corner has been turned!!  There is more to this sampler though.  After I get the bottom motifs stitched, there is a border under them and then the full alphabet.  So, still a little bit of a way to go.  I've been going over options (in my head) for my next piece and I'm pretty sure it will be a BIG one.  I'll need to get moving and order some fabric though.  The look of this sampler on 40 count appeals to me so much that I will most likely go with a high count linen again.  Still TBD, but that's the way I'm leaning.

Yesterday wasn't too bad work-wise and I'm hoping for more of that today.  I'm working on the two meetings/events (Florida in late August and Arizona in September) and that is keeping me busy.  Fletch and I will do a quick grocery shopping today (if nothing else, we definitely need cat food - lol).  I'm at the point where I've started dreaming of soups and chilis and stews and winter comfort food...but we are not yet there temperature-wise.

Wishing you all a wonderful Tuesday - enjoy!!

Catching Up on a Friday Morning

 Hello and Good Morning!  TGIF!!!

Well, yesterday certainly got away from me...and was much busier in so many ways than I expected or wanted.  Such is life.

I did not sleep well Wednesday night.  Not at all.  Just one of "those" nights.  We had storms and the rain sounded nice.  The thunder was in the distance and it was a bit windy.  None of that really bothered me (I love hearing rain as I fall asleep), but I was just restless.  In the morning I first saw this visitor:

Sorry for the crap picture, but it was the best I could get before he ran off (assuming he is a he).  He was in our driveway and when I opened the door to our patio for Mabel to come in he came around to the back by the picnic table.  He has a very large head and reminds me of a feral cat we had on our property years ago.  That feral and his sister I named Cheech and Chong (LOL).  Cheech was never that friendly, but she did give birth (in our cellar window well) to 3 gorgeous kitties - one of which was Maestro, our calico.  Chong, however, was a love bug.  When the ferals disappeared, I missed them.  I'm curious to see if this guy above comes back and curious to find out if he has a home in the neighborhood (hoping).

The other thing I saw when I opened the patio door for Mabel was this:

Looking straight back (my target for archery is in the back).  And, looking from the back towards the neighbor's house:

A big chunk of our dead tree came down - thankfully in our yard and not the neighbor's.  This is the tree that my clothesline is tied to.  It has been dead for a number of years.  The greenery is all the massive trumpet vines encircling the tree (we joke that the vines are what are holding the tree upright).  Fletcher ended up having a different day than he thought he would have.  It took some time to cut up the limbs and cart stuff out to our woods.

All of this (the visitor and spotting the fallen tree limbs) was at 5 a.m.  By 5:30 I had poured a cup of coffee and was busy working on my Thursday financial reports for work.  I had to leave the house by 7:45 for a doctor's appointment and wanted to get the reports finished and emailed before I left.  success!!  And a good doctor's visit (my 6 month check up with the dermatologist - no spots of bother - yay!!).

The balance of the day was spent working (busy again) and fixing another vegan meal as Colin was coming for dinner.  Mailing was busy with her work-mates again.  It was very windy all day and still a little windy after dinner, but we managed to have another fire.

I was also surprisingly chilly - I wore a sweatshirt all evening!  Mabel of course was around and ran up the apple tree.  Once again the wrens were so busy scolding her and she talked right back to them!  Here she is as she started to come down the tree.  Such a pretty girl!

When we came inside, I saw this pretty moth on the kitchen wall.

I have no idea what kind it is, but the markings are so pretty.  He/She is still in the same spot on the kitchen wall this morning.

This ended up being a long-winded post.  I am so ready for the weekend (and Dim Sum tomorrow!!).  First I need to get through 2 conference calls (one at 10 and one at 12), then my weekend can begin.  Here's wishing everyone a lovely weekend - enjoy!!

Weekending 5/9/22

 Good Morning,

Finally!  The sun is out and it looks like the winds may have died down some.  Whew!  It was a very soggy, damp, chilly, windy weekend.  Overall we received around 2.5" of rain - thankfully spread over Friday and Saturday with a few drops on Sunday.  It had stopped raining by yesterday afternoon, but it was in the 40's with gusty winds, so not pleasant for sitting out at 4 p.m. with a beverage.  Oh well, another day.

My Friday sans conference calls was quite nice.  I got a little busy work-wise in the afternoon, but not too much.  Nice enough that I (finally) finished up the Hiking Trail socks!!

Here is another picture closer up so that the flecks of color in the yarn are more visible.  But, the angle is weird and the feet of the socks look enormous (well, they are sort of - 75 rows before the toe decreases to accommodate Colin's foot!).

I'm beyond thrilled to have these finished.  Though I enjoyed knitting them they did take forever - just about a month for each sock!  The pattern on the leg is just a simple K6 P2 across.  The feet are plain.  I used #2 needles and the yarn is some I purchased at one of the NJ Wool festivals (I think last year).  It is by Kim Dyes Yarn and is an 80/20 blend.  The colorway is "Hiking Trail."

Saturday morning as it poured rain, I met up with Dee for our usual Saturday morning therapy session - knitting, sipping coffee, chatting, laughing.  It is always a great time.  Since the socks were just finished, I spent my knitting time on the Guernsey Wrap and managed to get a number of rows knit.  Of course, I wasn't paying attention fully and had to tink back one row not once, but twice.  All is good now.

Mother's Day was a quiet one.  I came downstairs to a gorgeous flower arrangement from Fletch (I need to take a picture) and I made a German pancake (Dutch Baby) for breakfast using strawberries and blueberries - YUM.  Mailing texted me and Colin called, so I felt the love!

Today it is back to the grind.  However, I was able to book a massage for this afternoon, so I'm looking forward to that!  A massage should make a great start to the week!  

I hope everyone's weekend was a good one and here's to the week ahead.

Tiny Needle Tuesday 3/29/22

 Good Morning!

Still chilly here (22 degrees F this a.m.).  Thankfully the winds have died down a bit (though I occasionally still hear them howling and screaming.  I never went outside yesterday other than to put out some recycling and trash.  In fact, I never got dressed.  LOL  And then in the late afternoon the emergency signal on my phone went off and the warning was for major snow squalls with white out conditions and icy roads!  Sure enough soon after the squalls came in.  They were short lived, and didn't produce much (thankfully).

That is a small, sad pot of wilted pansies on the table.  Fletch had to go out to the garden because one of the windows popped out of the cold frame.  Luckily it didn't take him long to get that put back.

Hard to believe it's the last Tuesday in March.  There was a bit of progress on both samplers during the past week.  First up the never ending A&E sampler (still no sign of Adam and Eve).

I love the BIG number 6 (number 9 is the same upside down).  So, 9 and then 10, then a tiny mark and the same numbers all over again.  Then I can start the interesting stuff underneath the numbers!  I do need to pick up more green (2nd skein) and more red (think it will be the 4th skein).  I can get those at JoAnn's when I venture to the office (maybe tomorrow).

And here is A Visiting Bird:

I had thought there was potential for finishing this one yesterday, but obviously that did not happen.  More stuff that is not symmetrical!  But, I decided to keep it as it is.  The original pattern calls for initials in the middle "box" and the boxes on either side have a design.  I'm planning to put my initials in the middle box and 20 in the left box and 22 in the right box.  I expect (ha!!) this to be finished by next Tuesday.

Have any of you grown an avocado plant from seed?  We used to do that when I was growing up and Colin always gets magnificent plants.  Me?  Not so much.  But I was making guacamole to go with our dinner last night and came upon what I think is the smallest avocado seed I've ever seen!  And, it looked as though a tiny root was already coming out of it.  So, I've popped it into a shot glass and it is sitting on my kitchen windowsill.

Finally, another wine for you.  I've been hankering for whites which is unusual for me.  I must be jonesing for warm summer weather or something.  Anyway, another one bought for the label and it is not bad.

It's from South Africa and I've had some other interesting and quite good wines from South Africa lately.  Love the name and love the art work!

Nothing much on my agenda today.  Stopping at the library to return a book, a small grocery shopping and, hopefully, time for stitching, knitting and reading.  

Miscellaneous Things on a Foggy Friday Morning

 Good Morning!

Yup, it is another foggy morning here.  I'm sitting at my desk sipping cardamom black pepper coffee and the world outside is a bit hushed as can only happen on a foggy morning.  I like it!  Today's post just has a bunch of random stuff in it and then a sweet picture of Mabel.

First up, wine.  Another bottle I bought for the label:

Zinfandels are not my favorites, but "all profits donated to equal rights" caught my eye.  Here is the back of the bottle.

The wine is ok...not great...probably won't buy it again, but I just thought it was interesting.

A little bit ago I posted about an unusual flower I found at Trader Joe's.  I think Kat and Bonny are correct that it is a Protea.  It is still looking pretty much the same.

Click to enlarge.  I had hoped it would open a bit, but it is still just as it was when I bought it!  The scent (which wasn't all that strong to begin with) seems to have vanished.

Finally sweet Mabel.  She just loves to sit in Fletch's lap when he is on the couch.

She is such a love bug these days!

This morning I hope to do the domestic chores I avoided ALL week - LOL.  Fletch is running out for a bit this a.m. and I will have the place to myself.  I have a conference call at 11 and another one at 2 p.m. which is an insult to the start of my weekend.  Also, the afternoon call is a full division call and there could be upwards of 100 people on the call.  Not fun.  I may log on and then quickly get off.

Tomorrow morning Dee and I have plans to meet up for coffee, chatter and knitting.  A nice way to start my Saturday.  wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Glistening!

 Hello!

Well, quite a change from our Spring-like weather on Wednesday!  Here is what it looks like this morning (click to enlarge):

That is the lilac bush in front of my office window.  Grey, cold and icy outside.  Each branch is coated and even though it is grey and dismal out, everything is glistening.  I don't think it will last as the temp is now above freezing and it is raining.  Cars have been going up and down the street, so I assume driving is ok.  I'm not planning on going anywhere anyway, but I know Fletch is hoping to run a couple of errands this morning.  But, he's not even out of bed yet, so it will be some time before he ventures out.

Meanwhile, this sweet kitty wanted to go out at 2 a.m.!

She is not really sticking out her tongue at me - she was in the middle of grooming when I called her name.  Mabel continues to earn her keep - yesterday she caught and killed two voles!  Who knew we had so many voles on our property?

My back continues to improve and I did not use any muscle relaxers yesterday or today (so far).  I talked with my doctor yesterday and it is ok for me to do some MILD exercises.  I had hoped to book a massage, but she nixed that idea until after the MRI.

I only have one conference call today at 11 a.m. and I am thankful it is just one.  I plan to have a productive day stitching, knitting and reading.  I am more than ready for the weekend.  Take care and have a wonderful weekend!

Tiny Needle Tuesday, January 11, 2021

 A Chilly Good Morning to You!

According to my phone it is around 15 outside.  That is cold.  Mabel is already out there running around.  She woke me at 6, had a quick bite to eat and then wanted to go out.  She puffs herself up and gets fluffy and warm.  Yesterday (I don't think it made it out of the 20's) she was in and out about a million times.  Meowing loudly on either side of the door.  At one point I saw her run up the apple tree, so I went out with my phone to get a picture.

If you click to enlarge, you'll be able to see her little tufts at the tips of her ears.  So darn cute.

Yesterday was an easy work day.  Thank goodness!  I felt worn out and took a good 1.5 hour nap in the afternoon, sleeping so deeply it was difficult to get going when I woke up.  There was both stitching and reading that took place, as well as talking to a friend on the phone.  There will most likely be another nap this afternoon as last night I managed to be awake from 1 a.m. till 4 a.m.!  I hate when that happens!

Anyway, it is Tuesday, or Tiny Needle Tuesday, or TNT.  There has been progress made on both samplers.  First up is the red alphabet in the Adam and Eve sampler.

There are several more alphabets before I get to the interesting part at the bottom.  The next horizontal line across though contains some green...so a tiny change from straight red.

The Visiting Bird sampler is coming along nicely.  A lot of solid fill-in stitching, but I am loving the way it looks.

Where the break in the outline on the right occurs is where the legs and feet of the (visiting) bird will be.  I may stitch them today!

These are both on 32 count linen, using DMC threads doubled.  At times the thread seems a bit thick, but I think a single strand on 32 count is too little.  At this point I'm not going to change!

I'm not sure what work will be like today.  So far it is quiet.  I'm making eggs and biscuits and sausage gravy for breakfast - yum!  There are a couple of errands I need to run today and whether I walk or not depends on the weather.  The wind has been howling - all day yesterday and all night I could hear it.  If that calms down I may be able to venture out.  Time will tell.

Hoping everyone is having a great week!  Stay warm and safe!!

Weekending

 Good Morning!

WOW!  It has been HOT here.  Yesterday afternoon it was 94 on our patio.  A week ago it was in the 40's.  Crazy weather for sure.

Believe I have finally fixed the comment problem I was having.  It had been most recently that I would go into settings and email notification.  But...the issue was there was no email address there and I was not able to add an address.  Instead, now, you have to go to "invite more people to comment notification emails" and put your address in there.  Weird.  Anyway, we'll see if it works.  This is what I finally found:

Anyway, how was your weekend?  Mine was nice (in spite of the heat).  Saturday I drove up to Dee's and then she drove us up to Easton and Threebirds Coffeeshop.  The drive up 611 by the Delaware River is a gorgeous ride...and one I used to drive with my Dad when we would head up to Vermont.  Some cute and quaint little villages and some beautiful architecture.  Easton was crowded and busy and there was no parking to be found (except in spaces where the meters were broken and we didn't think that was a great idea), so we drove over the bridge to NJ and parked in a lot there and then walked back across the river and into Easton.  Thankfully there was a breeze to keep air moving and it had not quite gotten up to 90 at that time.  The coffee shop is just as cute s Dee's pictures have shown.  I tried to get a couple of shots of the birds, but those pictures did not turn out.  We sat and chatted and knit and then later drove to a great place in Hellertown (Braveheart) for lunch.

On the not so good side of things, Fletch and I were sitting on the patio before dinner and he found a deer tick on his leg, and it had managed to bite him.  He put some Neosporin cream on it and a call will be made to the doctor today to get him on an antibiotic treatment (or the same one dose, two pills that 
Colin had the other week).  

Yesterday was groceries and trying to stay cool.  Breakfast was a Dutch pancake but instead of apples I used a peach, an apricot and a bunch of raspberries.  So good!  I managed to do a little stitching and a little knitting.  I finished another dishcloth:

Love the HOT pink color!  A simple, easy pattern that requires almost no thought which is perfect for these sultry days.

I've got to head to the office in a little bit.  Last week my laptop got extremely hot to the touch on the way home one day (laptop turned off and stowed in my backpack), so Tom from IT is going to look at it.  The only thing I can think of is the battery...so maybe a new one should be ordered.  We'll see.  Meanwhile, work is still crazy busy (in that I was working Friday night and Saturday morning early before heading to Dee's and then Saturday evening too), but that should drop back down to a normal blur sometime this week.

Then at 12:30 I have an eye appointment with the doctor who will be doing my cataract surgery.  I believe that my first surgery will be scheduled when I see her today.  Hopefully SOON!!

And that's it for me today.  Hope you are all well and here's to a great start to the week!

March Winds

 Good Morning!

It appears as though March will be going out like a Lion...at least in Southeastern PA.  I was woken in the night by the wind howling and windows rattling!  My goodness what a racket.  Saturday was an absolutely gorgeous day and I even got some more archery in during the afternoon.  We also had a fire in the pit Saturday night - delightful sitting out.  But Sunday we woke to rain and then the winds picked up.  We'll be lucky if our daffodils survive the wind!

How was your weekend?  Ours was nice.  We wrapped up feeding Colin & Mailing's cats on Saturday night.  I think we should have gone over Sunday morning too, but Colin said no need...however, they did not get home from DC until late afternoon...I'm sure those cats were starving!

Over the weekend I managed to get some knitting accomplished and the Northern Lights socks are finished!

I do love the way they turned out.  The yarn is Stroll from KnitPicks and the colorway is Northern Lights.  The pattern is Twinkleberry (a free pattern that is no longer available).  I used Size 1 needle.  These are for a friend in Rhode Island, so into the gift bag/box they will go and one Christmas gift is finished!  I've picked out yarn for the next pair of socks which will be for Colin, but I have not yet caked it up.  Maybe by Unraveled Wednesday.

Nothing much on the agenda today.  Work is quiet so far which is just how I like it!  I doubt that I will walk given the wind, but I will do an inside work out.  Bathrooms need to be cleaned and there is laundry to do.  Even with that, there should be plenty of time for knitting, stitching, reading, whatever.  Should be a nice day.  Hope yours is off to a good start!

Unraveled Wednesday 3/17/21

 Good Morning Friends,

How are you on this St. Patrick's Day 2021?  I am doing well.  Last night was another one of those nights where it took me FOREVER to fall asleep.  I was tired...too tired to read any more so I turned out the light, but 2 hours later I was STILL tossing and turning.  Luckily I fell asleep shortly after that and, thanks to Tyg being outside all night and not being noisy on the patio roof, I slept until after 6:30.  

After I finished typing my post yesterday and hit the publish button, I stepped outside on the patio and this is  what I saw:

Gorgeous, huh?  It lasted about 2 minutes and then was gone.  And, of course, we all know the saying "red sky at night, sailor's delight...red sky at morning, sailor take warning."  True enough it turned grey and cold.  We actually had sleet in the afternoon!

My visit to the office was very quick - I was out of there before 10 a.m.!  I saw one other person in my office - she walked by my desk and said good morning and headed to her office at the opposite end of the building.  When I left, I saw one maintenance worker in the lobby downstairs.  Fully masked and keeping distant.  That was it!  Kind of weird.

Meanwhile it is Unraveled Wednesday and I'm happy to say I have a finish!

Pretty, pretty.  I am so pleased with the way this has turned out.  Now, of course, I must cast on for sock #2 today.  I don't want to tempt the 2nd sock syndrome gods.  The yarn is KnitPicks Stroll and the colorway is Northern Lights.  The pattern is Twinkleberry (which I don't believe is available any more) - a lace and cable pattern.  I just used the pattern on the leg and knit a plain foot.

On the reading front, I finished one book and started another.  I finished The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop by Fannie Flagg.  It was ok, not great literature, but one of those "feel good" books.  And sometimes that's exactly what you need to read.  Yesterday I started Miss Benson's Beetle by Rachel Joyce.  I read about this book on someone's blog...maybe Bonny's?  I can't remember.  But what a hoot this is.  At times I am laughing out loud as I read it.  I was on the hold list for months at the library and it finally came in the other day.  I almost didn't bother with it, but am so glad I did.  Fletch's and my after dinner reading is Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh and this is another laugh out loud book.  At first we both thought it was going to be just too silly, but now we are both enjoying it each evening.

As usual, I'm linking up with Kat for Unraveled Wednesday.  Head on over to her corner of blogland to see what she and others are making and reading.  Inspiration abounds!