A Poem and a Bloom

Good Morning!

Thanks to Kym I know that today is "Poem in Your Pocket" day.  The poem I've chosen is by Ted Kooser and is actually in two books of poems by him that I have.  The first book is "Delights and Shadows" (2004) which my Dad gave to me some years ago.  This won the Pulitzer for Poetry.  I like this quote from the NY Times Review:  "....has a genius for making the ordinary sacred."  The second book of his poetry that I have is called "Valentines" (2008).  This book was also a gift from Janet one Sisters' Weekend. 

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.

Do you have a poem to share today?

Last night while waiting for dinner to cook, Fletch and I noticed that our Redbud has finally begun to open.  Our tree is young - Fletch put it in only a few years ago.  I remember the first year there was only one branch with a few buds, but each year the number of blooms increases and it is turning into a really nice tree.  It's not as far along as many I pass on my way to work,, but it's ours!

Well, this is my Friday of the work week, so wishing you all a lovely weekend.  We'll be heading over to Colin & Mailing's for dinner on Sunday.  Other than that, no real plans except start thinking of  - and maybe do a little - packing as we leave on vacation a week from Saturday!!  Maybe I can figure out what knitting to take.

Unraveled Wednesday - 4/17/19

Good Morning!

Now officially on the downside of the work week since Friday is a holiday for "Spring Observance."  We are not supposed to say Good Friday, but it is!

First of all, thank you all for your comments on my post yesterday and apologies for not replying back to you.  Somehow (a ghost??) settings on my blog were changed and I did not receive your comments by e-mail.  I rarely go onto my blog, but yesterday I did late morning when I hadn't received any comments via e-mail and found that there were comments.  I could have replied right there on my blog, but I don't like doing that - it would mean you'd have to come back to the blog to see my reply.  Once I leave a comment on another blog, I don't usually go back.  So...I just didn't respond.  I believe I have fixed the issue and all should be good now.

Thank you Kay T for your suggestion of a progress marker on the Hitchhiker.  My problem when I mess up is not that I don't know where I am, it's more that I zone out while knitting and forget a yarn over for the eyelets or skip a KFB.  I know now that when I'm tired I just can't knit on something that requires anything more than knitting round and round and round - lol.  Anyway, it's all ok now and I even worked on it a little bit last night.

There are 20 or 21 teeth now, so halfway finished.  Of course the further you go the longer the rows are, so the 2nd half will take a bit more time to knit than the first half.

The Southwest socks are coming along nicely too.  I worked on these Saturday when I met up with Dee and then did about 5 more rows this morning.  Plain vanilla and I'm loving the colors.

I still seem to be in a bit of a reading slump.  I'm enjoying the stories in Island but I need a break after reading one - they are pretty bleak and very intense.  The writing is gorgeous, but the stories can be heart wrenching.  Fletch and I have started reading The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas after dinner and are enjoying that.

On a Spring note, look at these:

A few days ago there were no visible buds on our wisteria.  Now it is loaded and they are growing so quickly.  There have to be hundreds of buds (one year I did count them, but not this year).

We are having a catered brunch today at work to celebrate Spring and Easter.  That should make the day go a little quicker.  I'm definitely looking forward to having Friday off.

Head on over to Kat's to see what's up with other unravelers!

Teeny Needle Tuesday

Good Morning!

The weather has finally calmed down a bit.  I did hear this morning that a tornado was confirmed the other night in Delaware.  We were lucky and didn't have anything come down (though I have not ventured out into our woods....).  Colin said he had a lot of branches and twigs to pick up and one of his fence rails came down.  Overall not bad considering the strength of the storms.  On my drive this morning I did notice a number of trees (some quite large) that had toppled over in the storm.  And the wind certainly brought in chilly weather!

After such a warm day on Saturday, I'm back to hand knit socks and even a shawl at work today!   My shawl pin is made out of birch wood and is one I bought (I think) several years ago at the Finger Lakes Fiber Festival.

Meanwhile it is TNT (Teeny Needle Tuesday) and here's a shot of Fox Forest from last night:

Another fox - pretty lean -- has joined in the fun.  There are still a few more to be put on the fabric along with a tree or two and some flowers.  And, of course, the alphabet sprinkled throughout the background.  I'm definitely not stitching as fast as I used to...and not as much as I used to either, but I'm pleased with the progress I've made so far.

On the knitting side of things I somehow managed to mess up the Hitchhiker again (and I didn't even take it on Saturday when I met up with Dee - I just knit on plain socks that day).  I think I managed to tink what I needed to last night an am (hopefully) back on track.  I brought the Hitchhiker to work today and am planning to knit some at lunch (maybe...).

How's your week going so far?

Weekending

Hello All,

Whew, another whirlwind Monday morning.  I had a doctor's appointment at 8 - another "spot of bother" removed (that is why I never hang out in the sun any more)...stopped for coffee at a new place near me (good coffee, a little slow on the service)...then at the office in time for a conference call.  Meanwhile the e-mails are flying from the CEO and a million and one things to do.  It's all good.  But really I want to talk about the weekend.

Saturday was the Allentown Fiber Festival.  Dee and I met up just before 10:00 and proceeded to shop!  Unlike other festivals, there are no animals at this one.  This really needs to change (in my opinion) - sheep and alpacas are needed!!  I didn't even see rabbits this year - usually there is a woman spinning angora with a bunny in her lap.  This was the 4th year for the Festival and each year it gets a little bit more crowded.  The venue (Merchant's Square Mall) is not the most attractive place and parking is at a premium.  Inside it was crammed with vendors (and some were in tents outside).  Anyhoo, here is what I got (I think I showed great restraint in my buying):

Some pretty yarn (the skein on the right was on sale for only $15!).  The cake is over 700 yards and I loved the shades of green.  There's a bit of sparkle to it as well.  I think it will make a gorgeous shawl.  I couldn't resist the DPN holder that has foxes on it.  And...a new project bag.  This one is quite sturdy and opens up and folds down so you can just keep your caked yarn in the bag and pull from there.  It has a drawstring closure and there is a sturdy handle too.  Love the kitties with the yarn.

The tiny object in front is a pair of the smallest scissors I've ever seen.  So light for my notions pouch and just cute!!  The only other thing I purchased were some individual little stitch markers.  And that's it!  See?  I really was conservative.

By the time we were done looking and shopping it had gotten pretty hot.  We drove over to Emmaus (only a few miles away) for lunch and a stop in at the new digs for Conversational Threads the local yarn shop.  Their new shop is gorgeous.  Lots of room for sitting and knitting and lots of natural light.  I didn't see anything to buy there, but there was plenty to tempt me.  Dee and I ended up at the local coffee/bike shop for some sipping and knitting.  A perfect day!

Sunday was spent doing chores and getting out some warm weather clothes.  Winter has definitely departed.  In fact, we had a very loud thunderstorm last night/early this morning - woke me up at 3:30!

Bad Kitty!

Hello,

Well this morning all hell broke loose in several places!  Let's begin at the beginning of things.

It's 6:30 a.m. and I am downstairs, dressed and ready to go to work.  I hear Tyg meowing outside at the patio door, so I let him in.  I go into the bathroom to put some gloss on my lips and hear a loud commotion on the kitchen counter.  I poke my head out of the bathroom and see Tyg squatting on the counter.  I yell, he jumps down and the next thing I know there is a bird in the house!  He takes it into the living room.  I yell (louder) for Fletch (who is still upstairs in bed).  He (Fletch) does get up.  I grab Tyg who has dropped the (stunned) bird.  Fletch is able to pick up the bird and he puts him on top of some boxes in the recycling bin right outside the kitchen door.  I rinse my coffee cup at the sink and Fletch washes his hands in the bathroom.  I open the door to leave and the bird is gone!  Hopefully he/she is ok.  But whew!  What a start to the morning.

The Bad Boy:

He's not really sleepy here...he's just squinting in his best bad boy pose. 

I start my drive to work and there are an abnormally large number of A--Hole drivers on the road this morning.  One passes me only to get stuck at a red light...he moves into the left turn only lane and proceeds to make a right turn from that lane.  Was he really in that big of a hurry to get to work?
Then I passed an accident and the day moves forward.

When I arrive at work the parking lot is already pretty full - turns out there are all kinds of meetings going on and some were over-booked and people are looking for places to meet.  A mad house.  Enter Bobby (CEO) who starts e-mailing me stuff he needs done yesterday.  There were some issues with a few folks that I won't bother going into - makes me think of Bridget and her tales from work.  All I can say is people are unbelievable!!

It was actually pretty comical and all has calmed down now.  And with so many meetings going on, there's bound to be a free lunch to be found somewhere in the building - lol.

Looking forward to Colin joining us for dinner tonight.  Either Fletch or Colin will be grilling ribs.  Not sure what else we'll be having as the frig is looking a little bare.  I'll figure something out.

And then Saturday is the Allentown Fiber Festival!!!  Dee and I will be meeting up for a fun-filled day.  I just wish there were animals like the NJ and MD festivals have.  There will be plenty of yarn and other goodies though, so I'm looking forward to it.

Unraveled Wednesday 4-10-19

Good Morning!

Just a little bit of progress on Mailing's Hitchhiker.  I haven't had a chance to knit at lunch (or a chance to "take a lunch time") the past few days and today does not look promising either.  But, the Hitchhiker now has 16 teeth:

(The floor obviously needs to be swept!! - LOL)

It is a gorgeous day outside and I wish I could just go out and take a walk.  But...instead, I am waiting for someone from Charlotte to call me.  My computer has been "sending dings" and they suspect it has some malware on it.  So, they (Big Brother) want to get on my computer remotely (why our IT department here can't do it, I don't know) and see what's up.

I have another conference call at 1 p.m. (which is my usual lunch time) and some other miscellaneous things going on.  I'll be glad to call it a day and get home this afternoon.

A quick post - gotta run.  hope you are all doing well and enjoying a great week.

Teeny Needle Tuesday

Good Morning!

Spring IS here.  Windows were wide open last night for sleeping and when I went to bed at 10:30 the back door was still open!  Plus, there is a good chance of a strong thunderstorm this afternoon between 3 an 5.  That's a sure sign of warmer weather.  Of course, I have an appointment at 3:00 which will probably involve walking through the rain.  Oh well.  I'll take it.

Meanwhile, it is TNT (Teeny Needle Tuesday) again and some more progress has been made on Fox Forest.

Here's hoping the borders meet up in the lower right hand corner!  There are, of  course, more foxes to stitch, some trees and some flowers and then the letters of the alphabet are scattered all over the sampler.

Mailing's Hitchhiker saw another 8 rows added last night.  Still not even halfway, but slow and steady progress is being made.  I will NOT be taking that with me when I meet up with Dee next time - lol.

I'm still reading "Island" by Alistair MacLeod which, as I said previously, is a collection of short stories (so far all pretty bleak), but the writing is just so fine.  Unsheltered by Kingsolver came through on Overdrive.  The reviews on this have been pretty mixed and overall not so good.  Her recent books have been such a disappointment compared to "Pigs in Heaven," "Animal Dreams," or "The Poisonwood Bible."  I've started "Unsheltered" but it already feels a bit like a lecture and I'm not sure I'll get through it.

Today should be a bit less busy than yesterday was...plus I have to leave by 2:15, so a short day at that!  Hope you all have a good one.