Unraveled Wednesday 5/13/26

 Good Morning Everyone!

Once again we find ourselves at the mid-point of the week.  It's time to link up with Kat and her Band of Merry Unravelers to talk about making and reading.  Always a fun day for posts.

If you read my blog, you know that I finished the first "rugby sock" last week and I'm happy to say that sock #2 has been started.

Not only started, but halfway down the leg heading for the heel flap.  You all know that I am not a match-matchy person, but for those of you who are, the stripes on sock #2 line up with the stripes of sock #1.  

Voila!  Matchy-Matchy.

None of the swatching I had intended to do was done...but there is always tomorrow.

Only one book was finished last week.  A Good Animal by Sara Maurer is a coming of age story set in Sault Ste. Marie, MI on a sheep farm.  It was an ok read - not great, but good at the time I read it.  I found it to be a bit predictable and even a little "schmaltzy" but, as I already said, ok.

As I wait for some books to come in at my library, I'm back in the French countryside with Bruno, Chief of Police.  More deaths and plenty of wine and food - perfect!!

Today I'll be back with Iris and am looking forward to that.  I hope your Wednesday is a good one.

Tiny Needle Tuesday 5/12/26

 Good Tuesday Morning!

A chilly one here.  I actually got up in the night to put another blanket on the bed (I leave the back window wide open so that Mabel can jump into/onto the sill and look out...plus I like the fresh air).

It was wonderful to finally be with Iris again yesterday.  She, and C&M too are suffering from jet lag.  Combine that with more teeth coming in and she had some uncomfortable moments.  She slept for 2.5 hours in the morning - we finally woke her up so that she would not sleep ALL day.  But then she slept for another 1.5 hours in the afternoon.  Anyway, their trip was fun and it is good to know that little Iris is such a good traveler!

Colin said that last night she was awake from 10:30 - 1:00, so that is a little progress.  And, her hair is long enough now that sometimes Mailing puts it in pigtails!!

There is not much to show for Tiny Needle Tuesday this week.  I almost didn't bother to post, but here's the update.

Just a little more filling in of the grass in the Garden of Eden.  I hope to get a bunch of stitching in today.

Happy Birthday to my oldest brother who turns 79 today (I'm not sure how that happened!!).

Before I forget, I made THIS RECIPE for dinner last night and it did not disappoint.  Quick, easy and very, very tasty.  I did use 2 chicken breasts and we have so much leftover!  Naturally I didn't think to take a picture until we were finished...oh well.  Give it a try if you like chicken, mushrooms and asparagus!

Weekending 5/11/26

 Good Morning!

How are you and how was your weekend?  I'm happy to say that the kids got home safely Saturday evening.  And soon I will leave to go over and spend the day with Iris.  I cannot wait to see her!!  I'm betting she has not yet learned to say Gramma, but she will have fun teasing me when I ask her to say it.  

Saturday while driving over to C&M's to feed Talbot in the morning I almost had an accident...I was driving along and traffic was not bad and then I pulled something off my hair...or ear...and discovered it was a tick.  Violent words came out of my mouth!  You cannot blow those things off.  I rolled down the window and tried, but it held fast to my hand.  Luckily I had a box of tissues in the car.  I grabbed one and got the tick into it, rolled it up tight and held it until I reached the house (luckily not too far).  First thing I did was flush that tissue down the toilet!

Geeze...I felt itchy ALL day long and kept feeling as though "things" were crawling on me.  This morning I woke to Mabel right by my head and that freaked me out!  We did treat her the other day with NexGuard, but still...

Anyway, on to better things.  My herbs are all in pots at the edge of the patio now!

Basil, Rosemary and Thyme.  And, I used some of the Thyme and Rosemary last night!  I was cooking haddock and decided to do it in foil packs on the indoor grill.  That worked great, by the way - only took 8 minutes or so for the fish to cook.  Before I closed up the packets to cook, I spread a mixture of EVOO, fresh lemon juice, minced garlic, and fresh Thyme, Rosemary and Parsley all over the fish.  Delicious!

Mother's Day turned out to be a beautiful day.  I did spend some time doing chores that had recently been ignored (bathrooms were cleaned and kitchen floor scrubbed), but time was also found to stitch a little (very little) and knit just a tiny bit.  All in all, not a bad day.

Now I need to down a bit more coffee and then head out to see Iris!  Have a wonderful Monday.

TGIF

 Good Morning and Happy Friday!

Wishing the kids safe travels home tomorrow.  Hoping that Iris does well with the long (very long - like 14 hours+) flight back.  First class, reclining (fully) seats and good food should help.  They will be coming home to lots of blooms.  Just look at their peonies!

I love that deep, deep pink one.  Our peonies are still just buds.

Yesterday I finished up the first rugby sock!

I spent a little more time at their house waiting for the UPS man (in vain).  I found a sticker on their front door stating that UPS tried to deliver a package requiring a signature and that they would attempt again the next day.  No sign of the UPS truck, but the sock was finished!  And, I think Talbot enjoyed my company.  He spent a little time in the sunroom, but mostly was curled up at my side.

The second sock has not yet been started, but hopefully today.

Last night I baked some cookies (toffee pecan) and I have a container to leave at C&M's house today.  I also have a large container of vegetable beef soup that I will put in their frig.  I plan to get a bottle of wine for them and also flowers for Mailing for Mother's Day.  I'll probably pick up a loaf of crusty bread to go with the soup as well.  They should be set at least for one day!

It looks to be a beautiful day today.  The sun is shining brightly and I slept 9 hours last night!  Woo-Hoo.  Fletch is planning to grill sausages for dinner.  I'll sauté up some onions, peppers and mushrooms to go with that.

Happy Mother's Day to everyone!  Have a beautiful weekend.

Unraveled Wednesday 5/6/26

 Good Morning Fellow Makers,

Hoping this Wednesday morning finds you all doing well.  I'm doing well and looking forward to winding down my cat duties with Talbot.  Still a few days to go, but it is going well.  He's been fairly talkative this week and also a bit needy for affection.

How about we link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk about what we are making and reading.  The sock is progressing:

The foot is about halfway done, so it shouldn't be long now to wrap up this first sock.  The yarn is from Fibernymph Dyeworks and is Lisa's Mountain House Winter color way.  The stripes remind me of a rugby shirt, so I may just call them Rugby Socks.  Just plain vanilla socks, letting the stripes show all their glory.

Though I had hoped to do some swatching this past week, that did not happen.  The yarn is sitting patiently waiting to be caked and swatched.

On the left is Ito Kinu in the color way Cayenne Red (doesn't really look red to me, but...) which will (hopefully) become a Shakerag Top and on the right is a skein of Jane in the color way Caladium with which I intend to make Jacob's Hat by Norah Gaughan.  Or, I may opt to knit up some fingerless mitts with it.  As usual, I seem to have more plans and ideas than I have time!

Reading has been good.  This past week I finished 3 books.  First up, I listened to A Year of Marvellous Ways. by Sarah Winman.  Magical realism is not typically a genre that I enjoy, however I did like this book.  Filled with mermaids war, love, loss, and thoughts on aging.  Marvellous is a wonderful character.

With my eyes I read The Safekeep by Yale van Der Wouden.  I can't remember where I heard about this book.  It is set in the early sixties in a Dutch Province and deals with the aftermath of WWII.  The book is filled with desire, obsession and suspicion and is very atmospheric.

My last read was Under Water by Tara Menon.  This was fairly intense, dealing with the tsunami in Thailand and years later Hurricane Sandy in NYC.  Survival and guilt all wrapped up together.

Now I'm in the midst of a much less intense read!

And, finally, a picture of sweet Talbot who stayed by my side for an hour one day.

The yellow in the above photo is a blanket I knit for Colin several years ago!  Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Tiny Needle Tuesday 5/5/26

 Bonjour and Hello,

The sun is up and I'm attempting to wake up.  Mabel came into the room meowing loudly, so I knew it was time to rise.  The first sips of coffee have been had, but I still feel foggy.

But, it's Tuesday and time for an update on my stitching.  Yesterday morning I thought that I would not have anything to show you, but I managed to carve out an hour yesterday afternoon with my needle.  Lo and behold, another creature has appeared.  Only the outline, but clearly a rabbit!!

There is another larger creature that will be on the other side of the tree, but that is yet to be stitched.  I also managed to stitch a little more fill-in on the grass part, but that is all.  Here's an overall shot:

At this rate, I doubt I will finish by the end of the month, but c'est la vie.  I knew when I started this piece it would take a long time to finish.

Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to today - it is supposed to be around 85!  After that the temps will drop a bit and rain will once again come in.  Fletch got some snapdragons in the ground yesterday and all the plants came out of the back of my car.  Mabel was busy chomping on my thyme plant until I showed her the catnip.  Then she happily munched on that.  We need to get some potting soil today so that my herbs can go in some pots.  If I'm lucky, I will find some time for making.

My plan is to get over to C&M's early...feed Talbot and open up the sunroom for him and then get back here to go grocery shopping.  Since the end of the week will be cooler, I plan to make some soup Thursday or Friday.  A container of that will go into C&M's frig.  I'll also pick up some fruit for them.  I already left a large piece of cake in their frig.

Let's make this Tuesday a great one!  Have some fun.

Weekending 5/4/26

 Good Chilly Morning!

Yeah, it's on the chilly side here.  Fletch and I did get to the greenhouse on Saturday, but everything is still in the back of the car.  Our nights have been too cold to leave things out!  It should warm up a bit in a day or so.

Meanwhile, some flowers are beginning to open at C&M's

Talbot has been a good boy, though it is obvious he misses his family.  The other day as I sat on the couch reading he climbed up and into my lap and then onto my chest...drooling and trying to lick me.  Luckily there have been no more hairball messes to clean up.  I'll see later what today brings.

Yesterday I made a Dutch or German pancake for breakfast with blueberries and raspberries.  I wish you could smell it!

There has not been much time for stitching or knitting with all the back and forth to care for Talbot.  I have been reading some and I have been cooking.  But tonight is leftovers, so maybe I'll find some quiet moments later today to settle down with a needle (or 4).  I hope this Monday finds you well and doing something fun!