A Poem. 1/16/25

Good Morning!

I was not intending to post today, but then I saw Bonny's Post and was reminded that it is the third Thursday of the month (already!!) and time for A Gathering of Poetry.  Today I am sharing one of my favorite Ted Kooser poems.  It can be found in his book "Valentines."

Screech Owl

All night each reedy whinny

from a bird no bigger than a heart

flies out of a tall black pine

and, in a breath, is taken away

by the stars.  Yet, with small hope

from the center of darkness

it calls out again and again.

Unraveled Wednesday 1/15/25

 Good Morning Friends, 

I hope this Wednesday morning finds you doing well.  Mabel allowed me to sleep a little later this morning, but I was awake in the night (from roughly 2 a.m. through 4 a.m.) and listened to the wind once again howling around outside.  I've never been one to be bothered by the wind.  I don't like being in it (sensitive ears), but it hasn't "bothered" me per se.  This year?  I am bothered.  It just feels like it is incessant and unrelenting.  I say enough already!

And, I can't seem to warm up.  Yesterday I was cold all day long.  (I was wearing wool socks and slippers, leggings, a turtleneck and sweatshirt and had a shawl wrapped around me.). I took a nap under a heavy wool Pendleton blanket and woke up shivering!  What's up with that?  I'm trying to remember the sweltering heat of the summer and how I longed at the time for cooler temps, but that is not working.

OK, enough complaining.  Time to get on with the day.  It's Wednesday which means Unraveled Wednesday and time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk all about the making and reading.

I haven't yet started back on the Heart Warmer Cowl.  I had also hoped to cast on a hat, but that hasn't happened yet.  I did, however, start a new sock so that I would have something easy and simple to knit while Fletch and I listen to a book after dinner.

 (My cute little sheepy stitch marker is from a visit to the Finger Lakes Fiber Festival years and years ago.). The yarn is some of my 2024 Sock Squad yarn from The Farmer's Daughter.  No pattern - just a plain vanilla sock.

Several books were finished this past week.  First there was The Secret Life of Sunflowers by Marta Molnar.  This is a novel based on the life of van Gogh's sister-in-law, Johanna Bonger.  Of course there is a modern day story to go along with Johanna's story and that was a little bit of "chick-lit," but overall I enjoyed the book.

Next up was A Single Thread by Marie Bostwick.  Definitely "chick-lit."  There was divorce, cancer, new friends, opening a quilt shop, etc., etc.  A very quick read that was not all that inspiring, but apparently what I needed at the time.

Lastly, there was Here by Richard McGuire.  Graphic novels are not my typical genre, but Kat had recommended this book last week.  And you know what?  I enjoyed it!!  I requested it from my library, picked it up Saturday morning and read it Saturday night.  Really, there is not a lot to read, but the art work is very interesting and parts of this look at a corner of a room over hundreds of thousands of years was pretty humorous as well.  I'm sure I did not catch a lot of things since I did not look again (and again and again) at the book.  I also saw that it is a movie (which I'm having a hard time understanding...but...I may look for it).

Finally, Fletch and I are continuing to listen to The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson after dinner and are continuing to enjoy it.  This will be going on for some time as we have at least 22 hours left to listen!!

I'm headed to the library later to pick up another book or two and we also need more peanuts for the birds.  Hope your Wednesday is a good one!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 1/14/25

 Hello and Good Morning,

I was up early this morning - like 5 a.m.  Someone (that would be Mabel) was crowding me a little bit...nudging up heavily against my legs.  Sigh.  But, that's fine.  I got up, showered and am now having coffee and feeling pretty awake!

It is Tuesday and time for a check in on my stitching.  I have some wonderful news:  the house has finally been completely painted!  Yup!  It took some time (if it had been my house I would have fired the painter and gotten a new one...so long...), but now that part is complete.

The lady still needs the bottom part of her dress, but the outlining is done on her.  Whew!  I really dislike doing outlining.  It adds a lot, but I find it to be a PITA.

What else?  It stayed pretty gloomy looking yesterday until late in the afternoon when the sun finally decided to shine.  I made a big pot of soup for dinner along with some biscuits - a perfect day for that.  I'm not sure what today will be like weather-wise (it is still very dark outside).  But shrimp is on the menu for dinner, so that will be good!

Fletch has an appointment this morning, so I will be on my own for groceries.  We are desperately in need of fresh produce - I think we are down to broccoli and radishes in the frig and two apples in the fruit bowl.  Time to replenish!

Whatever you are up to, I hope your day is an enjoyable one!  Stay warm (or cold if that is your preference).

Weekending 1/13/25

 Greetings from Grey PA,

It's certainly not very inspiring outside this morning.  It's all grey and overcast, though (thankfully) no precipitation in today's forecast.

How was your weekend?  Ours was relaxed and pretty lazy.  There was time for reading, knitting and stitching!  I did venture out to the State Store on Saturday to get wine and also to the library to pick up books.  Fletch was good enough to clean off my car before I ventured out (we had more snow overnight Friday night).

Yesterday we ventured over to Colin & Mailing's for brunch.  It was Iris' 1 month birthday!!  Colin fixed pineapple mimosas (Yum) and delicious chicken and waffles.  We had some greens on the side.  Everything was delicious.  We only stayed through brunch.  It was pretty obvious that C&M were both tired.  And, truth be told, we were tired too. I took a 1.5 hour nap once we got home!

This morning has been a bit on the busy side.  I got up a little late (for me) (7 a.m.), came down and got the coffee perking and then dove in to some chores.  I put a clean tablecloth on the table, took the Christmas things off the buffet and put a new runner down.  Brought back my fairy light tree and the little house that Zhongren built.  Put some more things in the donation bag and got the first load of wash going.

I also watered all the house plants and my largest Christmas Cactus is still blooming.  Lots of blossoms and more buds.

Well, time to get the first load of wash into the dryer and get the second load started.  And, time for another cup of coffee!  Hope your Monday is off to a great start!

Unraveled Wednesday 1/8/25

 Good Morning!

Mabel was kind enough to not wake me up until almost 7 this morning!  That was wonderful and enabled me to get 8.5 hours of sleep.  Bliss!  It is a crisp 23 degrees outside and the birds are coming to the feeder at my office window.  Mabel is somewhere else in the house - she is not on her ledge where she can bat against the window.

Last night's Book Zoom meet-up was good.  Even though I had not read the book.  And even though the discussions did not led me to want to read the book.  LOL.  It was nice to see everyone again.

Now it's Wednesday.  Hump Day.  Mid-Week.  Time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk all about making and reading.  Two of my favorite subjects.  As I mentioned the other day on my blog, there was a bit of unraveling that went on.  In fact all that I had knit on the Heart Warmer Cowl was ripped back to the very beginning (meaning cast on).  I had gotten through the first round of lace work and was starting on the second round when (somehow) I was distracted and really messed it up.  I tried for over an hour to un-knit or tink back what I had done but honestly I could not make sense out of any of it.  Finally I realized it would be faster to rip it out and start over.  So, that is what I did.

This is how it looks now.  Ten rows of ribbing (1x1) are completed and the first two rounds of the cable and lace pattern have been knit.  Yesterday I did no knitting thanks to being busy and my finger bothering me.  Today I am hoping for some quiet time when I can get back to work on this (no distractions and no irritating background noise!! - wish me luck...).

Reading has been good.  I finished The Return of the Light - Twelve Tales From Around the World for the Winter Solstice which I enjoyed.  This is a book I had suggested to Fletch that we read after dinner, but he did not enjoy it.  The tales are short and easy to read and they are all about light (sun).  Easy to read a tale before turning out the light to go to sleep.

I also read The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd - another book that I enjoyed.  At first I thought it was one I had already read, but as it moved along, I realized I had not.  (I guess I may have read a number of books like it - slavery in the South in the early 1800's.)  The book was a good read for me - easy to read and not too taxing on my brain.  Exactly the kind of book I like to read in early January.

I'm happy to say that Fletch and I have agreed on a book that we are listening to after dinner:  The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson.  The narration, so far, is wonderful.  This book has been on my TRB list for quite some time and Sunday the post from MDK was about it which was the reminder I needed!  For those of you who have already read the book, and for those interested in it, I had a newsletter from our local PBS station and it mentioned that Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (of "Finding Your Roots" fame) has made a documentary titled "The Great Migration."  The four part series will start airing on PBS at the end of January.

And that's a wrap for me.  Today is a day where I have absolutely no plans and that suits me just fine!  I hope everyone has a wonderful day and remember to check out Kat's blog to see what everyone else is up to in the making and reading worlds.

Tiny Needle Tuesday 1/7/25

 Hey Everyone,

Good Morning!  Man is it cold here in Eastern PA.  It snowed all morning yesterday!  Despite that, we only got about 2" or so of snow.  Which is fine with me.  Then it snowed again last night for a couple of hours, but just a dusting.  And the wind!  Still howling around outside.  It's hard to remember back to those sweltering summer days when I was wishing for winter!  LOL

Finally, finally, I got back to stitching a little over the weekend.  It felt like years since I had picked up a needle.

Another sunflower was added to the left of the house as well as a third black cat and another red squirrel.  So many critters!!  A little more of the woman's dress was stitched, but there is still a long way to go on that.

Winter has taken a toll on my hands.  Or, more specifically, my right hand.  I have a crack that has formed at the top of my thumb.  My right index finger is covered in eczema (at least that's what I think it is).  It's a wonder how something can itch and hurt at the same time!  At any rate, this has made stitching a little difficult and also knitting.  I have a dermatologist appointment at the end of the month and I'll be happy to have my doctor take a look at my hand.

Looking forward to seeing some of you tonight for our Zoom book discussion with Kym, Carole and Bonny!

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.