Tiny Needle Tuesday

 Good Morning!

Gosh I feel cold.  29 outside right now and I slept cold all night.  Time to put the winter comforter on the bed.

Not much stitching was accomplished this past week, but the owl finally has a full tree.

There is still an enormous amount to stitch on this sampler!  The sides will be longer and then, of course, the bottom border.  Plenty of critters still to occupy space and, as typical of Quaker samplers, letters in random order all over the sampler.  I was debating whether or not to stitch the letters, but I think I will.  They are all the same color, and I think I will do my initials in a different color.

As I mentioned yesterday, I started this book the other day.  I've now read roughly 75 pages or so and much of it is very familiar...like I've already read it.  Funny as I don't recall all of it, but bits and pieces.  I have enough books from the library that I will most likely abandon this one in favor of another.  No more browsing in the library though - they have gone back to curb side pick up only at least through the end of January.  Probably best, but it sure was nice to wander the aisles all by myself the other week.

I'm hoping work will be quiet today (yesterday was).  Pretty much everyone is in Thanksgiving mode so it should not be crazy.  I have laundry and some cleaning I'd like to get done.  Colin & Mailing invited us for dinner tomorrow night since we are not spending Thanksgiving together.  Looking forward to that and need to find out if we can bring any food or wine.  I did buy a very pretty cyclamen for them at Trader Joe's yesterday.  My Grandmother used to grow the most beautiful cyclamen and gloxinia which reminds me I need to look for some of them.

Time to throw a quilt over the clothesline to air out and then pour another cup of coffee.  Enjoy the day!

A Finish!

 Hello! 

It is grey here today - it looks like November.  But it is weirdly warm (like 53 with no sun out).  The wind is blowing and the trees are bare.

How was your weekend?  Mine was nice and easy going.  Friday I was able to finish the Antler Hat.  I knit the brim long enough that it can be folded up nicely.  I still have not washed and blocked it - perhaps today it will get a nice soak and then will fit over a mixing bowl or something.

Love the pattern!  And it's a free one from TinCan Knits.  The yarn is some that had been in my stash for ages:  Lamb's Pride Worsted (85% wool; 15% mohair) and the colorway is Bing Cherry.  My fingers and hands are thankful to have this project finished.  Worsted yarn and size 8 needles are hard on my hands.  But I love the finish and I've decided this will be a gift for Colin.  He walks a lot and this will be a nice, warm hat for him in the bleak mid winter!

Saturday Dee and I met up which was lovely as always.  We had some good Chatter Knitting and visited a yarn shop which was fun.  Sadly I did not find anything to come home with me.  They were fairly busy and were limiting the number of people in the store (a good thing) and I didn't want to take too much time wandering around.  As I said to Dee, "it's not like I NEED more yarn."  Dee kindly reminded me that NEED has nothing to do with it!  LOL  She is such a good friend!

That afternoon Fletch and I did some grocery shopping and were actually able to find a smallish (13 lbs) fresh turkey!  We had been planning to walk/hike in Valley Forge with Colin and Mailing on Sunday, but the grey skies moved in and it was a little raw outside.  We could feel the dampness coming in.  All four of us were lazy, so Col & Mailing stayed home and so did we.  I knit some and napped some and managed to finish The Patron Saint of Pregnant Girls by Ursula Hegi.  I'm sorry, but the book was just plain weird and never came together for me.  I kept thinking it would make sense, but it never really clicked with me.  A shame as I've enjoyed her other books so much.  Last night I started The Atomic Weight of Love and am enjoying it so far (40-50 pages into it).

In a little bit I will head to the office.  I have a few things I need to print in color.  I also want to stop at Trader Joe's and the pet store near the office - we are just about out of peanuts for the birds.  Knowing me, I'm sure I will stop at the State Store for some wine too!

Looking forward to a short week - only working today and tomorrow and have the balance of the week off.

Thursday Stuff

 Good Morning!

Gosh it is cold (20 this a.m. when I got up and it doesn't look like the temp has risen any yet).  But, I've managed to get all my Thursday financial reports completed and it's not even 9:30 yet!  Hopeful that I can find a bit of time to knit/stitch/read/avoid work...we will see.

The other day I mentioned that my friend Leslie has had a poem accepted for a "Poetry in Public" program in North Carolina.  Again, I cannot share that particular poem with you because it has not yet been published and sharing it would disqualify it.  But, I do have two poems of Leslie's that I can share with you.  I like them both.

And finally, a funny that my friend Carol shared with me this a.m.  I'm sure she saw it on Facebook or some social media avenue.

That's it for me!  Have a great day.

Unraveled Wednesday 11/18/20

 Good Chilly Morning!  

Our cooler temps are still hanging around, but it is November after all.  I think by the weekend though it is supposed to be in the 60's.  If that holds, I think we will be walking on Sunday in Valley Forge Park with Colin & Mailing.  Fingers crossed.  Saturday morning I have plans for Chatter Knitting with Dee...looking forward to that for sure.

On this Unraveled Wednesday, I'm linking up with Kat and friends to talk about what I'm knitting and reading.  First up, the second sock is at the halfway mark on the leg.

I should be able to finish the leg shortly and move on to the Eye of the Partridge heel and then down the foot.  Yesterday I put this aside and instead picked up this

That's my Antler Hat (freebie pattern from TinCan Knits) that I started a hundred years ago (September).  I had knit the ribbed brim and then promptly put it down and let it sit on top of a bookcase in my office.  With this much cooler weather, I had the urge to work on it.  The yarn is Lamb's Pride worsted (85%Wool and 15% Mohair) in the colorway "Bing Cherry."  I'm using a size 8 needle and between the needle and the worsted weight, my fingers and hands are feeling it!  Despite the aching fingers, this is moving along fairly quickly and I should be able to finish this up quickly as well.  This may be for Colin...I have not fully decided yet.

On the reading front I stopped at my library the other day and picked up the latest from one of my favorite authors - Ursula Hegi.  The book is "The Patron Saint of Pregnant Girls."  I will confess that I'm having a difficult time getting into it though.  It seems disjointed somehow.  Have any of you read this?  It may be that I've only picked it up right before bed when I am pretty tired.  Maybe I'll try to read some earlier in the day or evening today.

Hope you all have a wonderful day.  Be sure to check out Kat's blog to see what others are making and reading.

Tiny Needle Tuesday 11/17/20

 Hello and Good Morning!

Well, yesterday ended up being a longer day in the office than I've had in months!  LOL  Again a busy, busy, busy day.  But, a lot was accomplished and that's a good thing.  I may need to go in one more day this week, but if so, it will be just to print some stuff and then pull an overnight package together for Kevin.  We'll see.

I guess I spoke too soon about no damage at home from Sunday's storm.  Nothing major, but the end of an era!!  25+ years ago Fletch built a tree house in our woods for Colin.  It really was pretty and those two actually spent a night or two sleeping in the tree house.  Colin and his friends would play in it...until one time when they came inside covered (and I do mean covered) in ticks.  It wasn't used after that.  Over the years it had started to sag and tilt, but Sunday the entire tree came down!  

It's sad to see the empty spot in our woods now, but Fletch says too that it is nice not to view the tree house slowly succumbing to nature!

As I mentioned yesterday, my eyes were bothering me quite a bit last week, so not that much stitching was done, but I did manage to do a few things.

Another border section on the right and the start of an owl in a tree.  It's awfully wrinkled - sorry about that, but because I stitch in hand, the fabric gets bunched up while I stitch.

Oh, I have big news for my friend Leslie in NC.  Leslie and I have been the best of friends since we were 12...so 55 years!!!  Anyway, Leslie writes poetry and just had a poem accepted for publication/participation in a program called "Poetry in Plain Sight."  

Poetry in Plain Sight: A Statewide Poetry Initiative. Launched in Winston-Salem in 2013, Poetry in Plain Sight brings North Carolina poetry and poets to the public. Four poems are chosen monthly and displayed on posters in street-visible locations throughout arts districts and downtown areas in Winston-Salem and in our expansion cities. The goals are to bring poetry to a wider audience and to support North Carolina poets.

The displays will start next April (2021).  Unfortunately I cannot share her poem with you as that would automatically disqualify it.  Once it is displayed I'll be able to share it though.  Doesn't that sound like a neat program?

Time to pour another cup of coffee and get to work...I can see that emails have been flying in as I typed this post.  Have a wonderful day!

Weekending

 Hello There!

Whew!  It has been another busy morning.  I'm at the office and have been here 4 hours...still some more to go.  I'm not sure how or why it is still so busy, busy, busy for me, but it is.  Towards the end of last week I found that I couldn't stitch or even knit without my eyes burning and then tearing up...too much time on the computer looking at spreadsheets and the like I guess.  So, after shutting down my computer at 5 on Friday, I never turned it on again until this morning in the office.

The weekend was pleasant though!  Saturday Colin & Mailing came over.  Quoc's pork turned out well (Colin is pretty sure when we had it in TX it was ribs, but I can't remember).

I roasted a huge pan of veggies to go with the meal (carrots, parsnips, turnips, Brussels sprouts, a couple of sweet potatoes and a couple of regular potatoes).  I also made Fletcher's Mom's chutney recipe (and there is enough left for Thanksgiving!!).  After dinner we moved outside for a fire.  Fletch found some pinecones to throw on the blaze that had been treated with something (some chemical I'm sure) to send pretty colors our way.

It was pretty chilly (see the gloves on Fletch?), so the fire felt very, very good.  And it was nice to hang out with the kids a bit.

Mailing said we were invited to dinner Sunday at her parents for dumplings!!  You know I cannot pass that up.  LOL  So, we took a couple bottles of wine over and I made a cake for dessert:

A devil's food cake with raspberry buttercream frosting.  After putting the raspberries on it I decided to sprinkle on some silver sprinkles - hard to see unless you enlarge the picture.  Anyway it tasted good and making the dumplings was fun.

I think in the photo above Zhongren is pointing out a misshapen dumpling that yours truly made!  LOL  I don't have the experience of years and years of folding these things.  They sure did taste good though, and I brought home a rather large container of left overs.  YAY!

A very strong storm rolled through before we left their house.  We could hear hail hitting the roof and rain just pouring down.  On our way home later, Fletch and I had to detour as there was a huge tree that had come down across one of the roads we take.  No damage at home and the tree that was down haad been cleared by the time I drove down that road this morning.

I hope everyone had a good weekend.  I'll be back tomorrow with a TNT (emphasis on the tiny part) update.

TGIF

 Good Morning!

How are you on this Friday the 13th?  It is still grey here with a bit of drizzle, but tomorrow should be lovely (though much cooler).  Yesterday it rained on and off pretty much all day.  I ran out to get wine (necessity!!) and a few groceries and it was pretty miserable out there and the temp kept dropping.

Work was (again) busy (wonder when this will let up?) and I did not do any stitching.  I did knit a few rows on the sock after dinner while Fletch read, but that was it.  I did cook though.  Dinner was:

A quiche with asparagus, onions, red pepper, bacon and swiss cheese.  Yumsters!!  Plus there are leftovers.  And then last night I baked:

More cookies.  These have dried blueberries, candied ginger, a bit of chocolate and a bit of oatmeal in them.  Tasty!!

Colin and Mailing are coming for dinner Saturday so I thought we could have cookies for dessert along with homemade ice cream.  I'm going to make one of my favorite ice creams - maple walnut.  Dinner is going to be Quoc's Pork.  Years and years ago when one of my brothers lived in Nassau Bay (outside of Houston, TX), we were visiting him and he threw a party.  Quoc, a Vietnamese guy who worked with my brother, came and brought a pork loin to grill that had been marinating overnight.  Oh my - so good.  The recipe is easy.  It is just a combination of Chinese Five Spice, Garlic, Lemon Grass, Salt (or Fish Sauce) and Pepper.  You make slits in the meat and rub the spice mixture all over it and into the slits.  Then you let is sit in the frig overnight before grilling.  We have not made it in years, but all of us were thinking about it recently.  I need to think of what to have to go with the meat.  Maybe some grilled veggies.

Other than that, I have no plans for the weekend.  I'd like to get out walking if the weather cooperates.  And, of course, have time to knit and stitch.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend - enjoy!!