What's Cooking? And a Poem!

 Good Morning!

Happy Spring and Happy Birthday to my Mom (who, if she were alive, would be 106 today!!).  It is the 20th of March and is the Spring Equinox.  Our day is a bit on the grey side.  We are expecting misty conditions most of the day and then rain maybe by dinnertime.  The past few days have been absolutely gorgeous with blue, blue skies and temps hovering around 70.  It's ok to have a slightly dimmer day once in awhile...just makes you appreciate those gorgeous days all the more.

Yesterday's weather was so wonderful that Fletch decided to grill.  I took some lamb chops out of the freezer.  Boy were they delicious!  Lamb is not something I want to eat on a regular basis, but when you have a really good lamb chop it is a wonderful thing.  Anyway, I decided to try a new (to me) recipe for Roasted Asparagus Potato Salad.

I will be making this salad again and again.  

The recipe calls for fingerling potatoes, but I used little red potatoes (having no fingerlings in the fridg).  They roasted perfectly and then asparagus was added to the pan.  What I like about this recipe is that it is best served warm or at room temperature.  Meaning, I could finish it before the chops were ready.  THIS is the recipe I used.

And now, with it being the third Thursday of the month, it's time to share a poem with everyone.  Like Kat I've been spending much time with Ted Kooser's poems.  I always find them soothing and calming.  This poem can be found in the volume of Kooser's poetry I recently read:  Delights and Shadows.

Turkey Vultures

 

Circling above us, their wing tips fanned

like fingers, it is as if they are smoothing

 

one of those tissue paper patterns

over the pale blue fabric of the air,

 

touching the heavens with leisurely pleasure, 

just a word or two called back and forth,

 

taking all the time in the world, even though

the sun is low and red in the west, and they

 

have fallen behind with the making of shrouds.

Bonny is hosting a link up for poems - be sure to check it out.

And that's it from me.  I need to review all the stuff I pulled together for taxes - my appointment is at 10 this morning.  Hoping for a favorable outcome!

Unraveled Wednesday 3/19/25

 Good Morning!

It's Wednesday - the most fun day of the week when we all link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk all about the making and all about the reading.  Always inspirational and fun!!

Before I get into the meat of the post, I wanted to let you know that yesterday ended up being GORGEOUS and after lunch I headed out to the trail by the canal.  It was a wonderful walk and on my way back I was rewarded when I just happened to glance to my left:

Magnificent!  And only a few feet away from me.  He/she kept her eye on me as I stopped to take a picture and then move on.  Blue Herons are just so regal looking.  (I love the building reflected in the water.). There were also some turtles to be seen:

Click to enlarge so you can see them all lined up!  And then this little guy:

(Look in the center of the photo.)  I would not have noticed him at the edge of the canal if two women ahead of me on the trail had not stopped to snap a picture.  This little guy is just learning the ropes of life in and on the canal!

On to the knitting!  I am so happy to tell you that Semplice is back in the house and growing!  You may (or may not) recall that I started this shawl last year.  I fell in love with the pattern - the geometric shapes - ordered my yarn and started.  Then I stopped.  I can't remember why.

I had stopped at row 85, but now am ready to begin row 106.  The pattern is easy to memorize, but it also grows by 4 stitches every other row.  It's a soothing knit and my plan is to just continue working on this.  I think I'm better as a single project girl...if I have more than one project going one (if not all) of them will suffer from neglect.  Anyway, we'll see how that goes.  The pattern calls for 200 rows, so I still have a way to go (especially with the 4 stitch increase every other row!).

Reading has been so good!  Thanks to Kat and her mention/review of it, I purchased Lights on a Ground of Darkness: An Evocation of a Place and Time by Ted Kooser.  First, this is the book that got Fletch and me back on track with reading together after dinner!  So, thank you Kat.  This is such a sweet little book (under 100 pages).  If I had been reading it on my own, I would have finished it in a single sitting, but reading it after dinner spread out the pleasure of this little volume (and Kooser's Mother's name was Vera!).

Next up I read Rodin's Lover by Heather Webb.  A novel about (duh) Auguste Rodin and his muse/love Camille Claudel.  I enjoyed the book - especially when it dove into what inspires/urges artists to create.  Claudel was a sculptor like Rodin, though suffered from being a woman and treated differently.  Theirs was not an easy relationship and Claudel had a lot of issues (maybe schizophrenic?), but the book was a fun diversion.

I also read (or rather re-read) Delights and Shadows by Ted Kooser.  Reading Lights on a Ground of Darkness prompted Fletch to ask me to pull out some Kooser poetry books for him to look at.  I pulled out Winter Morning Walks which I had recently read and then grabbed Delights and Shadows from the bookcase in our bedroom.  When I opened it I was surprised to see that my Dad had given it to us back in 2005!  That just makes this book even more special to me.  Anyway, Fletch thoroughly enjoyed it and once he was finished, I devoured the book!

Last night I finished Be Ready When the Luck Happens - Ina Garten's recent memoir.  I've always enjoyed Ina Garten - her shows, her recipes, the way she makes it all look so easy!!  I enjoyed the book, found parts of it interesting, though some of it was a bit of a slog.  Definitely a bunch of first world problems, but still it was a fun read.

And that's a wrap for me.  If you've stuck around for this lengthy post, I thank you.  Please be sure to check out what others are doing on this Unraveled Wednesday - you can find the links on Kat's blog.  Happy Wednesday, Happy Hump Day, may the sun shine on us all today!  Have a good one!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 3/18/25

 Good Morning One and All,

How are you this morning?  It is a cooler morning here (low 30's), but luckily no snow like I heard some areas had.  Come On Spring!!!

There was sweet news yesterday when I learned my college roommate Nina just became a Grandma!  Her daughter, Sarah, delivered a little girl (Ellie) last Thursday.  I love that Nina, Sarah and Ellie all share the same middle name - Tamar.  

Now it's time for a TNT update.  Kindness saw a bit of progress this past week.

The bottom left corner has been rounded.  Still an awful lot to stitch on this one, but it's fun and that's what counts.  I've been managing to get in at least an hour of stitching on this piece each day.  Slow but steady...

And now, I came across this cartoon in a recent New Yorker magazine and figured everyone would enjoy it:

Hahaha!  Happy Tuesday everyone - have a great day.

Weekending 3/17/25

 Hello and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

How was your weekend and what did you do?

First up, I discovered that my Christmas cactus (the older one - an offspring from my Grandmother's HUGE plant in Vermont) that bloomed at Christmas has yet another bud on it!!

No signs of other buds yet, but this is so cool since it was fully in bloom only several months ago.

Since Friday was Pi Day (and I realized too late to bake one myself), I picked up a peach pie for Fletch (one of his favorites).  It was awful!!  The filling was so sickly sweet syrupy and the pieces of peaches were hard as rocks!  Fletch had one piece and said unfortunately it was not good.  I took a bite and agreed.  The rest of the pie was cut up and put out for the deer.  They seemed to enjoy it!  LOL

I did walk for a bit (40 minutes or so) along the River Trail on Friday.  I realized that I need new sneakers.  I could feel every rock and piece of gravel under my foot on the trail.  Another thing I did was listen to an audio book while walking.  I did not like doing that!  My hope was that by listening to the book I would not be thinking about how my feet were uncomfortable and how my back was hurting.  That did not really work and I missed concentrating on birdsong.  I guess I just am not really a fan of audio books.  I'd rather have silence than listen to them while stitching or knitting and I definitely did not enjoy listening to one while walking.  Oh well - at least I did give it a try.

Saturday was a pretty grey and dismal day.  The morning found me running an errand or two, but otherwise it was an inside day.

Sunday was wonderful!  The temp got up to 70!  The winds also rose and it was a very gusty day.  We went over to Colin & Mailing's for a St. Patty's Day feast.  Colin fixed corned beef, potatoes, cabbage, carrots and he made home made Irish soda bread which was delicious.  For dessert he made a coconut custard pie.

Everything was delicious.  Iris is getting big (16 lbs now!!) and is so expressive and happy.  She smiles a lot.  They recently bought a high chair and Iris sat at the table with us for maybe 30 minutes before getting a little fussy and grumpy.  (In her defense, she was overly tired not having slept well the night before.). After digesting a bit and having an espresso, Colin, Mailing, Iris and I all set out for a little walk.  It was SO windy, but every time there would be a gust of wind, Iris would smile and laugh.  I spotted this sign in their neighborhood:

Isn't that great?

We had a very soothing rain late last night.  One clap of thunder was all I heard, otherwise it just sounded so nice.

Well, time for me to get moving and pour another cup of coffee.  I hope your Monday is off to a great start!

Signs of Spring!! 3/13/25

 Good Morning All,

I'm a bit late (again) today.  I had to go out early for a fasting blood test and then when I came back I HAD to have coffee immediately...and half a bagel and half a banana (you would think that I had not eaten in ages).

Anyway, yesterday was a beautiful day.  I walked again along the Perkiomen creek in the morning.  Lots of bird song (and crows), lots of robins and some Canadian geese on the water.  This morning is a bit chillier, so if I walk it will be in the afternoon.

Later in the day, Fletch was pruning our apple tree (lots of dead wood unfortunately) and I walked out to see if the peonies were popping up yet.  No sign of them, but there were other joys:

The bed at the edge of our driveway.

Smack dab in the middle of our front lawn - no idea about these...haven't seen them in the past.

Under my front office window...delicate crocus and daffodil buds!!!

Colin reported that his garlic is shooting up and Fletch says ours as well.  Good things to come.  Surprisingly, there is a bunch of spinach in the cold frame bed that was not damaged by the cooler temps or winds (the winds blew the sides and top off the cold frame!).  I may have to harvest that for a salad.

Well, time to get my day going (and get another cup of coffee).  I hope you all are seeing signs of Spring too!

Unraveled Wednesday 3/12/25

 Hello My Friends,

It's that fun day of the week - Wednesday - Hump Day - AKA Unraveled Wednesday.  Let's link up with Kat and talk about what we are making and reading.  Unraveled posts are filled with so much inspiration!

For my part, I am thrilled that my color block socks are finally (FINALLY) finished!!  Woo-Hoo

.

Naturally the photo doesn't show the true colors (the yarn is the November 2024 Sock Squad yarn from The Farmer's Daughter).  Cuffs and toes are actually purple.  The middle part (slightly above the heel and then down the foot part way) is like a mulberry color and the pale shade is more like a grey.

I think this pair of socks took me longer to knit than any pair I have ever knit!  Case in point:  one sock took just over a month to knit and the other just under a month.  And, this is my first knit finish for 2025.  Nothing is a race and I don't have a goal set for what I want to finish, but geeze!  

Nothing new has been cast on, rather my intention is to work on some things in progress (2 shawls and one cowl).  We shall see how that goes!

Reading has been pleasant.  I read The Garden by Nick Newman.  This is a book that is difficult to review or explain.  The copy I borrowed from my library has it labeled as science fiction.  I would not call it sci-fi.  Dystopian?  Yes.  The reader doesn't really know when or where this book is taking place.  Climate change factors in.  How old are the sisters?  Where did the boy come from?  What secret(s) are in the house?  Some questions will never be answered, yet I found the book very enjoyable.

It has been some time since Fletch and I shared a book after dinner, but thanks to Kat we are now doing so!  We are halfway through Lights on a Ground of Darkness by Ted Kooser and we are both loving it.  Kooser's writing is just so darn good!  In fact, this book has Fletch now interested in reading some of Kooser's poetry!  I just need to remember to pull out my books so he can peruse them.

I'm currently reading a novel about Auguste Rodin and his muse and lover, Camille Claudel which I am enjoying - more about that next week.

Last night I went to bed early (tired).  Before going upstairs I was complaining to Fletch that we had not heard an owl in ages.  Well...Fletch told me this morning that when he climbed the stairs to go to bed last night he heard an owl in the woods behind our house!  He said that owl "hooted" about 25 times while Fletch brushed his teeth!  I'm sorry to have missed that (the owl, not the brushing of teeth).

Have a wonderful Wednesday!!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 3/11/25

 Good Morning!

How are you?  I am loving our weather recently - warmer temps and most importantly, the gusty winds have subsided.  Whew!  But, no matter the weather, time marches onward and now it is Tuesday and time for a TNT update.  I'm happy to let you know that more stitching was accomplished this past week.  The sampler continues to grow.

I am really enjoying this sampler, but at the same time I am thankful that it is no larger - all that solid stitching!!  Glad I'm enjoying it because I certainly have a whole lot more to stitch!  LOL

Meanwhile, back to the weather for a moment.  Yesterday was gorgeous!  I did not get out to walk, instead I did four loads of wash and took it easy.  I guess the time change is impacting me because I felt pretty tired all day.  But, with the lovely weather, Fletch grilled hot and sweet sausages for us for dinner.  I sautéed some onions, bell peppers, mushrooms and zucchini to go with the sausage and then...drumroll...we had our first fire of the season last night!

It was a beautiful night with an almost full moon shining down on us.

There were lots of stars visible and Mabel was running around.  She never comes near the fire, but walks around the perimeter of the yard - checking her territory I guess.  We came in after about an hour (Mabel stayed out a little later, but still came in for the night).

Today it is forecast to hit 68!  We will do grocery shopping this morning, but I am hoping/planning to get in a walk after lunch.  I hope your Tuesday is a good one!