Thursday Musings

 Good Morning All!

This is what I saw yesterday after I posted on my blog and got up to get another cup of coffee:

A beautiful deer at the edge of our woods (and next to the backdrop for my archery target) taking a little rest.  She tucked her head down and stayed that way for a good 20-30 minutes.

The apples Fletch and I saw on our tree the other day are gone.  I found one on the ground near the patio and it is almost perfect.  Small, but it will be great cut up and added to hot cereal.  There is now just one apple that I can see on the tree.  I tried yesterday afternoon to snag it (too high to reach and pick), but I couldn't get it.

The fig tree produced two more large and ripe figs!!  There are still small green ones that need to grow and ripen.  I went out to the garden to gather up parsley and some onions to take to Colin.  I then picked the rip figs and a bunch of cherry tomatoes and then...to my surprise...I spotted some large ripe tomatoes!!

BLTs are on the menu for lunch today!  There are so many green tomatoes - I may make some fried green tomatoes one night but I'm excited to think about more ripening as well.

I had my annual physical yesterday (all is good!) and got a flu shot while I was there.  I'll get the new Covid Booster next month (we've never had any reactions to either the flu or Covid shots, but if I do have a reaction I'd like to know what it is from...plus my doctor recommends not getting them together anyway).  This morning it's a visit to the dentist (just routine cleaning).

As I mentioned above, I gathered up a few produce items from the garden to take to Colin.  Last night Fletch and I had dinner with him (Mailing had a work function).  Col made the most delicious pasta sauce and sautéed up some greens for us to have with it.  YUM!!  We sat out and enjoyed a fire in his pit for a little while and just as we were getting ready to leave, Mailing pulled in.  So, at least we got to see her briefly.

And there you have it - a miscellaneous Thursday posting.  Time for me to pour another cup of coffee and get motivated for the day.  Have a great Thursday!

Unraveled Wednesday 9/18/24

 Good Morning!

Is it just me?  Or is September simply flying by?  It's Wednesday and that means time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers.  

This past week saw me doing more stitching than knitting (see my post from yesterday), but I still managed to knit a few rows here and there.  My Semplice shawl had just 4 rows added, but you can tell it's a pattern change again.  I'm still loving this one a lot.  The geometric shapes just draw me in and the knitting is straight forward, no lace work or things to really mess me up.  LOL

And Fall sock #1 in the color way Tapped Maple is now past the halfway mark on the leg.  Fletch likes them, so they will most likely go to him.  He claims to already have enough socks, but really?  I don't think so.

I'm hoping to pick up the pace on these socks, but we shall see.  No rush and it's not a race.  But I do have other things in mind to knit and other things waiting to be picked up again (looking at you Hitch on the Move!).

Reading has been good.  I'm in the midst (about 2/3 of the way through) of Poor Man's Feast by Elissa Altman.  As I mentioned last week this is a memoir with the bonus of recipes!  So, I'll read a chapter and then look at a recipe and suddenly it has me thinking of other things and I'm looking through some of my cookbooks.  An hour or so later I might get back to reading the book.

Cookbooks on a shelf in my kitchen...there are many, many more in the office room.  Like some of you, I love to read cookbooks.

Fletch and I are continuing to listen after dinner (most nights, but not all) to In True Face by Jonna Mendez.  It's interesting, but just not all that compelling.  I keep hoping for it to get REALLY interesting, but that has not yet happened.

OK, time for me to get moving.  I have some stuff I want to do this morning (fortunately not cleaning - ha!).  Hope your Wednesday is a fine one!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 9/17/24

Good Morning!

It is rather grey out this morning and looking like it could rain, though rain is not in our forecast for a day or so (we could use it).  Of course, after mentioning not seeing hummingbirds yesterday, one showed up at the patio around 5 p.m. yesterday afternoon.  Fletch and I were sitting out and the hummer flew right up to the hanging basket we have only about 2-3 feet from us.  I'm still not setting up the feeder I already took down.  We do have another hummingbird feeder hanging in the apple tree.

Yesterday I did manage to finish cleaning the living room (mostly - there are still some "piles" that Fletch needs to go through and remove).  That cleaning just about did in my back!  I am not made for housework.  LOL.  I wish I could find a good, reliable cleaning person.

Meanwhile, here we are at TNT, or Tiny Needle Tuesday and it's time for a stitching update.  I managed to get quite a bit stitched this week!

There is still more to the right to be stitched as well as down, but the top of the roof of the house has been started.  I love the red squirrel and the bird on the chimneys.  And quite a few do-dads or motifs have been added across the top.  As a reminder, THIS is what it will look like when I am finished.  It's a fun stitch and the silk threads are so nice to use.

Not much else going on today.  We will do a little grocery shopping and I need/want to do some bedroom cleaning.  Nothing too exciting which is perfect for a grey day.

Weekending 9/16/24

 

Good Morning!

How are you this fine mid-September (gasp!!  already?) morning?  The days are flying by!  You can see from the picture above that I have planted a pinecone!  I'm hoping to get at least a few of the seeds it contains to sprout.  There are various on-line videos about this and I thought it would be fun.  The tree by our mailbox was our Christmas tree the first year we moved into the house and this year has turned out to be a banner year for pinecones.  There are tons of them!  Fingers crossed my little experiment works.

Thanks for your notes about Mabel.  She did (of course) show up after I posted looking for a bit of breakfast.  All weekend she pretty much stayed around the house, disappearing for short periods of time, but always coming back and meowing at the door.  This morning she wanted to go out at 5 a.m.  When I came downstairs at 7 she was ready to come in and since then she has been in and out several times.

Our weekend was nice, though filled with chores.  I did make it to Ikea on Friday morning.  I had not been there in maybe a year or longer.  Traffic was horrible and there was lots of road work, but I made it.  It is easy to get carried away in that store.  I found the wine glasses I wanted and a few other things including a couple of girlfriend gifts.  Then I almost got lost trying to find my way out of the store - LOL.  I'm sure they arrange the store the way they do on purpose.  Once I found all the plants (and successfully was NOT distracted), I knew I was on my way to the checkout point.  I made it home in time for lunch with Fletch.  Fun times and I will go back sooner than a year from now!

Friday night I made Carne en su Jugo for dinner.  Looking on line, I can't find the recipe I used, but it was delicious!!

Other than keeping thistle seed out for all the finches, we typically do not feed the birds during the summer.  But last week I noticed a chickadee kept coming to the window feeder (office room front window).  When it discovered the feeder was empty, that chickadee started pecking at the window!!  We bought some sunflower seeds and Fletch filled that feeder for me (well, for the birds).  Since then the chickadees, finches, cardinals and wrens have all been enjoying it.  I'm pretty sure the hummingbirds are gone now.  The hummingbird feeder that was hanging from the clothesline came down and there is another feeder hanging from a branch of the apple tree to come down.  It's time to put out the regular sunflower seed feeder as well as the peanut feeder.

Mundane chores seemed to fill Saturday and Sunday.  The kitchen floor was scrubbed (definitely needed), curtains in the bedroom, living room and office were taken down, washed and hung on the lines to dry.  Then put back up.  Definitely need new curtain rods!  A little cleaning in the living room was completed - that will be finished today.  Fletch washed a bunch of windows.  Whew!

Yesterday Colin was over and helped Fletch get 24 bags (40 lbs each!) of top soil into the garden area.  A few went into the raised bed with the rhubarb and the balance will be spread in the large raised bed at the back of the garden where Garlic will be planted in October.  Naturally, Mabel had to come into the garden to investigate what was going on.

As far as the garden goes:  we now have 2 sunflowers in bloom and the hibiscus continues to bloom.  We are picking cherry tomatoes and peppers and there are still some figs to ripen.  Last night we had a delicious salad with greens (red and green lettuce, chard and spinach) from the garden.  Fletch put the sets in a week or two ago and they have taken off!

Thankfully there was time for reading, stitching and knitting.  Planning more of those things today.  Hopefully your weekend was nice and cheers to the week ahead!!

TGIF 9/13/24

 Good Morning All,

Hope you are doing well this (finally) Friday morning.  And hey!  It's Friday the 13th!!  I'm waiting for the coffee to be ready.  I was up and out early to have bloodwork done and now am eagerly awaiting that first sip of java.

Yesterday afternoon I was worried about Mabel.  We had not seen her since the morning and usually she comes around several times during the day.  I had seen a fox sauntering by back around our garden, so of course I called and called for Mabel.  No response.  She finally showed up a late afternoon.  We both wondered if she had climbed a tree somewhere and was waiting for it to be safe to come down.  I'm just happy she was not on another "great adventure!"  LOL

And now I'm wondering where she is since she went out at 5:30 and I have not seen her yet since then.  Hopefully she will show up soon for breakfast.

Yesterday was fairly productive.  I got some cleaning done - wiping all the kitchen cabinets with orange oil - which was like giving a mouse a cookie.  I ended up taking stuff off the top of the frig and scrubbing that surface.  Then changed out things on the buffet, etc., etc.  The afternoon was mostly spent prepping and cooking.  

Chicken drumsticks are not my favorite, but Fletch had seen a recipe for coconut ginger drumsticks that he thought sounded good.  Basically you marinate drumsticks in coconut milk with minced ginger and garlic, some lemon juice and a minced chili pepper.  After several hours of marinating, you put it all in a Dutch oven and let it cook for several hours.  Adding some soy sauce and tomato paste.  It all cooks down and the meat begins to fall off the bones.  It was pretty good!

I also made a new-to-us salad of Brussels Sprouts sliced very thin and cooked in EVOO till brown and crispy.  Then tossed with some apple (I used one from our tree!), some bacon, a shallot and pecans.  The dressing was maple syrup, cider vinegar. lemon juice, some balsamic vinegar and dijon mustard.  It was great!

Finally, I made a peach galette for dessert!

The peaches I used came from the Farmer's Market last weekend.  I would definitely make this again.

Later this morning I plan to make a run to Ikea (I dropped and broke yet another wine glass the other day).  It's always fun to wander around that store.  After that I'm hoping for time to knit and/or stitch.

We have no plans for the weekend which is kind of the way I like it.  Hoping for a slow and easy one.  Hope your weekend is a good one too!

Unraveled Wednesday 9-11-24

 Good Morning Everyone!

First of all, thank you for the sweet birthday wishes.  I had a lovely day.  Mailing is still traveling (coming home today), but Colin, Fletch and I went out to dinner at Parc Bistro in Skippack.  It was a beautiful evening and we were able to sit outside for dinner.  The food was SO good...and so was my grapefruit martini!!  Fletch and I got home in time to tune into the debate which was just about exactly as I expected it to be.  Kamala Harris remained calm and well spoken and the opposing side just ranted on and on and didn't even answer the questions posed to him.  Ridiculous!  But we all know that.

Anyway, here we are back at mid-week and it is time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk all about making and reading.  I am happy to report that my color block socks are finished!!

As I knew would happen, there was not enough yarn left in the mini skein for make the second toe identical to the first...but who cares?  Not me.  Anyway, the toes will be inside shoes.  The yarn was the May selection from the Farmer's Daughter for her Sock Squad.  I will say that all of the yarn I have received has been a delight to play with and knit.

Instead of casting on a new pair of Sock Squad socks, I looked through my stash and pulled out a skein of souvenir yarn to start the next socks.  The yarn is some I picked up on one of Fletcher's and my camping trips when we were in Maine.  It is Pemaquid (80/20) from Maine Yarn & Fiber Supply.  The color way is "Tapped Maple" and I love the way is it knitting up.  Granted, I've only knit the cuff so far, but it is lovely.

It is also very Fall-like.  I'm pretty sure these socks will be plain vanilla and will go to Fletch.

My shawl (Semplice) looks just as it did last week, so I will spare you looking at the same picture.  Hopefully the shawl will get some love in this coming week.

Reading has been good.  I have under a hundred pages left in The Trackers by Charles Frazier.  I'm enjoying it, but it's not the "I can't put this book down" variety.  Still, entertaining.  I also started reading Poor Man's Feast by Elissa Altman and am really enjoying it.  I love books that are memoirs and the bonus with this one is there are recipes!

Fletch and I are continuing to listen to In True Face and after a slow start, it is getting increasingly interesting.  We should be able to get back to listening tonight.

That's a wrap for me.  I need to gulp down more coffee and wake up a bit.  Happy Hump Day!!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 9/10/24

 Hello and Good Morning!

Happy Birthday to me!  LOL. I'm finding it difficult to believe that I am now 71 years old.  There are days when I still feel and act like a 12 year old.  But, then my knees begin to bother me or my back will ache and I'll say "yup - you ARE that age!"

Meanwhile, back to today.  It is Tuesday and time for a Tiny Needle update.  I've started a new piece.  Here is the design - "The Blessing" by Vilma Becklin of Examplars From the Heart.  I'm sad to say Vilma is no longer designing.  Her pieces are always interesting and fun.  This one looks a bit like Fall, so I thought it would be a good piece to stitch now.

And here is what I have done so far.  I'm using 36 count linen in the color way "Winter Moon" and stitching with hand dyed silk threads from Vikki Clayton.

Both the linen and the threads are so lovely to work with, but my hands are so rough and chapped (despite lots and lots of hand cream), that the threads often catch on my skin and snag.  Still, I'm having a good time with this one.

I did manage to get the box of books out of my closet yesterday.  Geeze...I am no longer able to lift that box.  So I ended up emptying it and putting the books into some (six!!) of our reusable grocery bags.  It was fun to go through the books and see what was there:  Jamberry, Frog & Toad books, Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web, Winnie the Pooh.  There were some books I expected to find (Sheep in a Jeep) that were not there.  I wonder what happened to all of them?  We are taking these to Colin tonight.  And, yes, there will still be books here that we can read to our granddaughter.

Also discovered in the closet was a BIG bag of some of Colin's baby clothes.  Two sweaters I knit him, some clothes I made for him, lots of blankets including a hand loomed gorgeous one.  I have not gone through those things yet, so they will stay here for now (but out of the closet!!).

OK, time to pour another cup of coffee and Mabel is meowing that she wants to go back outside.  Have a great Tuesday!