Unraveled Wednesday August 21, 2019

Hello!

Still pretty HHH (Hazy, Hot, Humid) here.  Truly the Dog Days of August.  I think we will get a break in a couple of days.  Meanwhile, there was a very pretty sunrise this morning.

It is so dark in the mornings now when I get up.  I have to put lights on inside and outside when I come down to the kitchen to make coffee.

The leaves on the left in the picture above are from our morning glory vine which has done nothing this year.  Not one single bud!  And now it looks like some disease has set upon it (and my eggplant which is on the patio).

On the knitting front, very little has happened.  That means no unraveling which is a good thing.  The first watermelon non-wool sock is progressing slowly.  The heel has been turned and the gusset decreases have been completed.  The balance of the foot should be smooth sailing.

The yarn is fun!  But this weather doesn't inspire me to pick up my needles.  I just feel sticky when I start to knit.  Oh well, that will change eventually.

I did manage to get more reading done and finished The Day The World Came To Town which I enjoyed.  A quick read that makes you realize there really are some good, caring people in the world.  I've also read a few excerpts from Late Migrations which is also enjoyable.  On my nightstand I have Before We Were Yours which looks very good.  I'm happy that my reading slump seems to be over.

Joining in with Kat on this Unraveled Wednesday.  Head on over to her place to see what others are making and reading.

Monday Miscellaneous

Hello!

It is pretty stupid hot and humid here.  Heat index is supposed to be 101 or above today.  It is hard to get motivated to do anything.  I don't even feel like knitting at work today!  Last night my hands felt sticky while I was knitting.  It's just not comfortable.  Oh well, nothing I can do about it.  It should break by Wednesday, I think.

Dee and I did get together for a few hours on Saturday which was nice - tea and knitting and lots of chatting.  It was perfect!

The frogs continue to multiply! 

There are three visible in the picture above (all on the stone part - the third is at the very top left of the photo) and a fourth one had jumped in the water just as I snapped this picture.

We are finally going to have a fig on our tree!!

I love figs.  Several years ago Fletch bought me a fig plant that was supposed to produce fruit by the time it was a foot high.  That never happened.  And the fig got bigger and bigger and out of control.  It is now over at Colin's home.  Fletch bought another fig this year - one that is winter hardy for our area!  He planted it in front of our vegetable garden and it has done very well.  Last Friday Fletch spotted the beginning of a fig!

Finally, the first of our potatoes from the garden:

We did not plant many and we won't get a lot, but boy were these tasty!  I just boiled them yesterday while a roast was in the oven.  There is something about tasting a potato that you dig out of the earth.  So delicious!

That's all I've got for today.  I hope to do some knitting tonight, but we'll see how that goes.

Pretty Things

Hello,

The weekend is here!  Still summer, so I am hoping to leave work by Noon or so.  I have one or two stops to make on my way home, but not really much.

Yesterday afternoon Fletch and I were enjoying our beverages on the patio and we noticed that at the edge of our property we have honeysuckle blooming again!

It's right in the midst of a Rose of Sharon tree - so nice to see as the Rose of Sharon blooms are beginning to dwindle.

Then we were gazing at the vegetable garden (which is looking pretty spent these days) and noticed that the hibiscus had a lot of blooms (after looking like it was finished):

We did see a hummingbird, but he/she did not go for the hibiscus.  There are a few late blooms on our trumpet vine that were attracting him/her.  We have a lot of cat birds around this year and there are still brilliant goldfinches coming to our thistle feeder.

Yesterday I managed to finish "The Dakota Winters" at lunch.  Despite it taking me longer than it should have, I did enjoy this read.  A good look back at NYC.  Last night I started reading The Day The World Came to Town and also Late Migrations and am enjoying both.

Weekend plans include meeting up with Dee tomorrow for some coffee and knitting.  This weekend is the 58th Philly Folk Festival which is not too far from us.  Often Fletch and I have either walked or biked on a rails-to-trails path that goes right behind the Old Pool Farm where the Festival is held.  But, the weather forecast is for pretty hot and very humid weather, so I'm thinking we will skip that.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.  Summer is winding down - enjoy the last of it!

Unraveled Wednesday August 14, 2019

Good Morning!

It is foggy and very damp outside.  I woke up around 4 this morning to the sound of rain which was lovely.  But we are at about 95% humidity which is fairly uncomfortable.  It's the type of weather that when I leave my office (highly air conditioned), my glasses fog up as soon as I walk outside.  LOL

At any rate, time is marching on.  How are we already at mid-August?  It seems like just yesterday we were greeting the start of the month.

Fortunately there has been no unraveling this week.  There also hasn't been a whole lot of knitting, but here is where the first watermelon sock is:

I'm loving the way this yarn is knitting up down to the dark grey/black specs that look like seeds.  The yarn is Regia Cotton Tutti Frutti Color.  72% cotton, 18% polyamid and 10% polyester bought specifically with my friend Leslie in mind (since she is allergic to wool - can you imagine???).  The yarn feels better than I expected and is knitting up nicely.  Since the yarn is so colorful, I am just knitting a plain vanilla sock.

On the reading front, I am still working my way through The Dakota Winters and enjoying it (though it seems to be a bit heavy on the John Lennon side of things).  I'm more than three quarters of the way through and will hopefully finish soon (it was due back on Overdrive last Friday, but oops, it is still on my Kindle).  Meanwhile, I stopped at my library on my way home yesterday to pick up this book which I had requested - it looks really good!

Fletch and I watched another movie (!! - me!!) last night:  The Hundred Foot Journey with Helen Mirren.  It's free on Netflix.  I really like Helen Mirren and it was about food, so what's not to like?

Head on over to Kat's to see what others are up to making these days.

YinYang Kitty Socks...With Whiskers!!!

Hello All,

Thank you for your kind comments on the YinYang Kitty socks.  Nance reminded me (as did Fletch) about the Whiskers!  How could I have forgotten?  I think I was just happy to have them off the needles.  Well, last night I re-did the eyes on the dark kitty - much improved.  And I added whiskers to both:

Now I love them!  The yellow eyes are just a duplicate stitch over the green (knitted) eyes that did not show up very well.  For anyone considering knitting this pattern I recommend that you do the eyes and nose as duplicate stitches rather than intarsia.  If/when I make these again that is how I will do them.  I was thinking these would make cute slipper socks in a heavier yarn.  Just an idea.

I mentioned that Fletch and I are planning our Fall camping trip.  That will be at the beginning of October - heading up to New England and going along the coast of NH and ME, then back down to CT and the Woodstock area of NY.  And, my annual Sisters' Weekend is now set for the 24-27 of October.  Yesterday I booked my flights.  Excited!!!  We will be back in Providence, RI so we can see Mom (my friend Leslie's Mom).  I've already bought some "for coming" gifts...need/want to get a couple more things for Mom.

We are expecting some heavy rain later today - I've been receiving texts and email alerts about possible flooding.  Hoping I can escape the workplace before the deluge happens!  Wishing you all a wonderful day.

Another Monday

Good Morning!

The past few mornings have been beautiful - temps in the upper 50's and no humidity.  I think that humidity will creep in today though and temps are to rise.  The weekend was absolutely gorgeous weather-wise.

I'm happy to say that I did accomplish so much this weekend (and also managed to relax a bit).  The bathrooms are once again safe to enter - lol - and the kitchen floor has been scrubbed.  I'm not clear on how just two people can create so much dust and dirt, but it is what it is.  All clean for a day or two anyway.

The YinYang Kitty socks are finished.

Yes, the eyes and nose on the dark kitty are difficult to see (a little better in person).  I will probably go over the eyes with more green and use an embroidery stitch...but that is for another day.  Right now I am just happy to have finished these.  And, yes, one of the ears looks a bit wonky.  But that's real life folks!  I'm a relatively new knitter, so I'm just proud that I was able to get these finished (and ALL the ends woven in).

To celebrate that finish, I have some new starts:

On the right is the start of the first sleeve for my sweater that was started a year ago.  On the left is a new pair of socks for my friend Leslie.  She is allergic to wool, so this yarn is cotton and nylon.  The stripes look like watermelon!  I want to get these knit and finished before Sisters' Weekend at the end of October.

We had some visitors in our yard yesterday.  Early in the morning I saw:

Later in the afternoon 4 showed up to eat the apples that have fallen from our tree.  They also nibbled ALL the hostas and were beginning to consume one of our burning bushes!

Yesterday I looked and there are once again two frogs in our little water feature:

So cute!  They are multiplying like rabbits - lol.  There had been two a few weeks ago and then one of them was dead in the water (Tyg's doing??).  Now there are two again.  Hopefully they will remain safe, because this guy...:

He is so anxious to *play* with Froggy and Froggy Jr.  They need to keep a sharp eye out for Mr. Tyg.

Wishing you all a wonderful week!

TGIF August 9, 2019

Hello!

Another work week winding down - thank God!  I feel as though I have been groggy ALL week.  hopefully the cobwebs will disappear over the weekend.

Colin was over for dinner (he grilled ribs that were delicious) last night and snapped a couple of pictures of Froggy.

A little hard to see with the glare of sun, but we enjoy having him around.  Tyg particularly is fond of him!  Luckily Froggy is quite quick and has not come under Tyg's *influence.*

So...last weekend was tres busy for moi - so much running around.  I only have a few errands to run this weekend, but I desperately need to catch up on chores which have been neglected (I'm looking at you bathrooms and kitchen floor).  I'm hoping that I can leave work by Noon today and get a lot accomplished this afternoon.  I'd really like to be able to just relax over the weekend and do some knitting.  I need/want to get back to the shawl - Odyssey I was working on (but seem to have abandoned) and I re-discovered the sweater I started last summer - Juniper - AND I have so many other patterns that I want to cast on NOW.  I need to calm down and finish some things first.  Hopefully the YinYang Kitty socks will be finished this weekend.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend - enjoy!