Unraveled Wednesday 4/2/25

 Hello My Friends,

The heat is back on in our house.  Yup.  It's a chilly morning here - right around 32 degrees.  And, it's Wednesday which means time for an Unraveled Wednesday post.  The first one of April 2025.  Let's link up with Kat and see what fun everyone is up to this week.

I'm happy to report that Semplice saw a bit of love this past week.  Another 12-15 rows have been added and I'm loving the way it is looking (not loving how long the rows are becoming...but that's life and that's the pattern).

You may recall that I said I would be true to Semplice and work only on that until it was finished.  Well...since I participated in the MedKNITation class last Friday I needed a mindless/easy thing to knit.  No counting involved.  I decided on a dishcloth.  It's not finished yet, but I am on the decrease rows.

A very simple pattern:  cast on 3 stitches.  Slip the first stitch (with yarn in front), knit next stitch through the front and back loops and then knit across.  Repeat till it is large enough for you (I went to 75 stitches).  The decrease rows are:  slip the first stitch (with yarn in front), knit two together and knit across.  So easy and so soothing - especially with yarn as soft as this - Dragon Tale Yarn.  It is 100% cotton, but oh so soft.  I have no idea where it came from, but the original skein was 1,600 yards and the price tag says $4.50!!  A bargain for sure.

The other thing we always talk about on Wednesdays are what we have read.  Unfortunately, I have no finished books to report on.  So, instead I will share a very easy, very quick and quite tasty cookie recipe that I tried last night.  What I like is that it is super easy and fast AND it does not make a whole bunch.  I managed to get 8 cookies from the batter (and plan to take 4 over to the kids today).  Fletch, who loves a hard, crisp cookie, was not in love with them - too moist for his taste.  I tried a piece of one and thought it was good.

Here's the recipe:

Mix together one mashed banana, 1/4 Cup peanut butter and 1 TBS maple syrup.  Then mix in 1 Cup of oatmeal.  Fold in 1/3 cup of chocolate chips and 1/3 cup of ground peanuts.  Scoop onto a prepped cookie sheet and bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.  I'm thinking that dried fruit and other nuts would be good subs for the chocolate chips and peanuts.  I may need to experiment!

Be sure to head over to Kat's to see what everyone else is up to in the making and reading worlds.  Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 4/1/25

Hello!

April 1st - no kidding!  How did that happen so fast?

We had a loud and long thunderstorm last night.  It sounded wonderful.  By the time I went up to bed the thunder had ceased, but the rain continued.  The sound of rain hitting the roof was the perfect lullaby for falling asleep.  This morning the sun is shining brightly and I need to wake up.  I stayed in bed longer than usual and was tempted to stay there till lunch!  Now I am slowly sipping coffee and attempting to wake up. 

Time for a Tiny Needle update.  Last week found me able to squeeze in a little bit of stitching.  Not a lot, but some.

More green, more brown and a couple of petals were stitched in the orangey color.  I'm definitely not moving quickly on this one, but I am enjoying it.

Yesterday ended up being a pretty nice day and it got a little warm.  I decided to make a pasta primavera with shrimp for dinner.

I sautéed some broccoli, sugar snap peas, red peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes and threw in Kalamata olives (why not?).  Then added the shrimp and once that was cooked added some white wine and tossed in the linguini I had cooked.  So easy and so good plus plenty of leftovers!

Still sunny out, but the winds have picked up to howling level!  I hope everyone has a wonderful Tuesday - enjoy!

Weekending 3/31/25

 Good Morning!

We are having a quiet, lazy rain in Eastern PA.  Saturday it got up to 80 degrees!!  Yesterday was a bit cooler, but still nice.  How was your weekend?  Mine was nice.

Friday afternoon I took the MDK workshop MedKNITation which I thoroughly enjoyed.  Did I learn anything new?  Not necessarily, but the class was very relaxing...so much so that I ended up taking a 2 hour nap after the class!  Suzan Colón, who led the class and who wrote the book MedKNITation, is a lovely person.  Her speech is so soothing and calming.  Have I meditated since taking the class?  No.  But I do plan to try to get into a regular habit of meditating.  We shall see.

Speaking of MDK, I received two copies of the latest Field Guide:  Mosaic.  I only need one, so if anyone would like the extra copy, please let me know.

Once I woke up from my long nap, it was time to pull it together and head over to Colin & Mailing's for dinner.  Iris is growing by leaps and bounds!  She is a very happy baby and sits at the table while we all have our meal.  It won't be too long before she is eating food!  While we were having dinner, Talbot was hanging out in the office room.  

We skipped having a fire after dinner as it had started to rain, but it was still a lovely evening.  Colin is now officially on paternity leave for two months.  Mailing is going back to work tomorrow.

Saturday was a gorgeous day.  So warm, but also very breezy.  I walked around the garden and saw that the garlic is coming up nicely and spinach and cabbage are thriving in the cold frame.  Our fig tree has buds!  I'm excited for that.  And, the French Thyme that I planted last year has come back!  That was a nice surprise.

Fletcher scored a planter for the garden at a local Goodwill store.  It should be interesting to see how things grow in it.  I have a card imbedded with basil, parsley and chive seeds that I am going to bury in one of the "bins."  Fletch has other things planned for the remaining bins.

Sunday was noticeably cooler.  The sun did come out, but not till late afternoon.  Zhongren (Mailing's Dad) came over in the morning to pick up some books we were getting rid of.  He also wandered out to the back of our property where our bamboo is.  He was looking for bamboo shoots to harvest, but it was too early...he said probably another few weeks.

Dinner was a new-to-us dish of ground beef with Brussels sprouts.  I followed THIS RECIPE and it was delicious!  We had garlic bread to go with it.

Plenty of leftovers for another meal or several lunches.  YUM!!

All in all, a pretty full weekend filled with good things!  I hope your weekend was equally nice.

TGIF

 Hey Hey and Good Morning!

Happy Friday!  Happy Weekend!  The sun is out and it is not quite as chilly as was forecast.  It's around 40 this morning.

Mabel has been waking me early, but I've gotten into a routine where I go downstairs with her and let her out and then I crawl back into my bed.  I can usually catch an additional 45 minutes or so of sleep.  Bliss!

Yesterday I walked around to the North side of the house to cut some more daffodils.  I now have a vase on the table and one on my kitchen windowsill.  So bright and cheerful.

On the table

On my windowsill

Some of the stalks have multiple blooms!

Two blooms on one stalk!

Three blooms on one stalk!!

Pretty cool, huh?

Today I am taking the virtual workshop MedKNITation offered through MDK.  Is anyone else participating?  Since I needed some EASY knitting for the class, I started a dish cloth the other night.  Pretty straight forward, just garter stitch with a slipped stitch edge.

And, we are heading over to C&M's for dinner tonight.  I cannot wait to see them - especially Iris!!  It's going to be a nice enough day we will most likely have a fire outside after dinner.  Colin texted me a picture of Iris the other day wearing one of his Baby Gap cardigans.  I think that cardigan was passed on to us from Ema, my SIL in Boulder, CO which would make the cardigan probably 40 years old!!  

Time for me to have another cup of coffee, dry my hair and get on with my day.  I hope you have something fun planned for the day!

Unraveled Wednesday 3/26/25

 Hello Again!

It's that FUN day of the week:  Wednesday, AKA Unraveled Wednesday.  Everyone links up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk making and reading.

You already know from my post yesterday (if you read it) that there has not been much time in the past week for knitting or stitching.  I'll spare you another picture of Semplice spread out because it basically looks the same.  A few rows were added, but not a whole lot.

A "springy" look - purple yarn and a yellow yarn bowl with a bird on it!

On the other hand, reading has once again been quite good!  I finished Devotions a volume of Mary Oliver's poetry.  How beautiful!  This is a book that had lived on my nightstand for many, many moons.  I would periodically pick it up and read a poem or two and then put it down.  Last week I brought it downstairs for my morning poetry reading and I quickly finished it.  I even read a few poems out loud to Fletch (mostly about snakes which I don't like, but Fletch is fond of them).

Thanks to Jane mentioning a book she was reading, I ended up buying it and Fletch and I read it after dinner.  Those of the Gray Wind The Sandhill Cranes by Paul A. Johnsgard follows the migration of the Sandhill Cranes from the Southwest up into Alaska.  We both enjoyed the book quite a bit.

And then, thanks to Bonny I requested The History of Sound by Ben Shattuck from my library.  Fortunately there was no wait and I picked it up rather quickly.  I finished this last night after our Zoom RWU discussion.  What a miraculous, wonderful book.  It is composed of 12 interconnected short stories (each one is paired with another).  Short stories are not typically my chosen or favorite genre, but this book is exquisite.  Highly, highly recommend this one.

Having finished the book on Sandhill Cranes, Fletch and I are now reading Six Walks. In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau which is also by Ben Shattuck.  This is a nonfiction book where the author retraces some of Thoreau's walks.  Interspersed on the pages are sketches by the author.  Very enjoyable!

The other week I showed you a single bud on my large Christmas cactus (which had already bloomed in the winter).  Well, after a week plus of remaining tightly closed, the bud finally opened.

So pretty!  No other buds have appeared, but I will enjoy this bloom as long as it lasts.

Happy Hump Day!  May you find time today to do something you love!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 3/25/25

 Hello Everyone,

And another Tuesday rolls around.  When I first woke this morning and looked out our back bedroom window I saw the most beautiful crescent moon.  I was also hearing the beginning of bird chatter for the day.  What a lovely way to wake up.  Then Mabel came up and started clawing the rug...time to get up!

Tuesday means time for a TNT update.  I had no time for stitching last week.  In fact the first time since last Tuesday that I sat down with The Kindness sampler was yesterday afternoon.

You can see that not much was added...BUT, a new color (green) was introduced.  I would have gotten a bit further along, but apparently I was having a difficult time counting yesterday afternoon.  I had to "unstitch" some of the "progress" (not so much) I had made.  Hopefully more will be stitched this coming week.

Meanwhile, I made a very tasty dinner last night.  It's one I used to make and then sort of fell out of the habit of cooking it.  It is easy and very delicious!  

S&P some boneless, skinless chicken breasts and then sauté them in oil.  Just get them a little brown.  You could use boneless skinless thighs if you prefer.

Then to the pan I added sliced onion, sliced bell pepper, sliced mushrooms, a bunch of Kalamata olives and some sun dried tomatoes (I used sliced, in oil).  Pour in about a cup of broth, toss in fresh basil and parsley, cover and let it simmer till done (30-40 minutes or so).  YUM!!!

I cooked some noodles to go with it and voila! dinner was ready!

I'm looking forward to seeing some of you tonight for our RWU Zoom discussion.  Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Weekending 3/24/25

 Good Morning!

Or, good Sleepy morning from Eastern PA.  We had light rain overnight (it sounded so nice when I woke...several times...) and it is continuing now.  It is grey and a perfect day for staying in and doing some knitting or stitching or reading.  Unfortunately, I have a dentist appointment (just routine check and cleaning) at 10:30.  I guess that means I will have to get dressed....

How was your weekend?  Ours was good.  The last week was busy with appointments and other stuff.  We are (FINALLY) getting rid of some things!!  Years ago (30+) we bought benches/shelves from Ikea.  They are benches, but can stack on top of one another to be shelves.  Many moons ago they migrated into Colin's room where they started collecting stuff.  Books we didn't look at.  Old papers, etc., etc.  C&M were in need of some shelves so I said you can have them!  Of course that meant unloading all the stuff on them.

The shelves/benches are now at C&M's house and we have a number of boxes filled with books to go through - I'm thinking many can be donated, but we will see what Fletch thinks.  (I'm happy to say he has already gotten rid of a lot of the papers and other things that were on those shelves.)

On Saturday I also picked up our finished taxes.  So good to have that out of the way!  I have to mail the local return (state and federal will be e-filed).  This will be my last local return now that I am fully retired.  YAY!!!

Sunday I cooked some sticky sesame tofu for my lunch.

I had it over brown rice with some steamed broccoli and carrots.  Pretty tasty!  Next time I will try cooking the tofu in my air fryer rather than the oven.

We had some sunflowers in a vase on the table, but they were looking a bit ratty (and they really did not last long - not even a week!).  Yesterday afternoon I walked around to the North side of the house and our mini daffodils are finally blooming.  They are always the first to bloom.

Well my friends, time to pour another cup of coffee and maybe have a little breakfast.  I hope your Monday finds you doing something you love.