Unraveled Wednesday 4/8/26

 Good Chilly Morning My Friends,

Yes, a chilly morning.  It is 26 degrees here and the heat is on in the house.  Freeze warnings and watches are popping up on my phone.  And it looks like this up and down weather will continue for some time.  Sigh...

But hey!  It's Wednesday, so let's link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers for Unraveled Wednesday.  We'll chat about making and reading - both very good things.

On the making or knitting side of things, here is my first Panning for Gold Sock:

The leg and foot - or rather most of the foot - are knit.  I'm at the spot where I will begin the toe decreases.  My plan was to finish this up last night, but a friend called to chat and then I watched some TV with Fletch.  (Is anyone else watching Drops of God on Apple TV?  We've watched 2 episodes and are pretty much hooked now.). Back to the sock - no rush to finish these.  It's not like I don't have any number of socks to choose from to wear.  I may end up giving these to Fletch, but again no rush.

It has been another good week for reading.  I listened to the last available Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion - Volume 8.  The author, Beth Brower, is planning many more volumes, but she is not writing quickly enough!  I thought Volume 8 had some surprises in it and now I can't wait to see where this goes.  Plus the narration is just perfect.

With my eyes I read This is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman.  After loving her earlier novel, "Isola," I had high hopes for this book but it didn't quite make it for me.  I found the story (stories) okay, but after a while a bit on the tedious or tiresome side...and a little trite at times.  The writing was good, but I wanted more.

I also read the debut novel by Nancy Foley I Am Agatha: A Novel which I really liked.  All about love, memory, art, secrets.  I was not expecting the ending at all!  The book was inspired by an artist in New Mexico - one I had not heard of (Agnes Martin).  Now I want to find out more about her and her art.  Georgia O'Keeffe is mentioned which was fun.

Having picked up two more books last night at the library, my nightstand still has a large stack of books on it.  One of the books I picked up is Everyday Sacred: A Woman's Journey Home by Sue Bender.  I saw this in one of Juliann's posts and remembered liking "Plain and Simple" by Sue Bender when it came out years ago.  I started "Everyday Sacred" last night when I went upstairs to bed, but only got through the introduction.

Wishing you all some delightful making and enjoyable reading on this chilly April day.  I will be caring for Iris, but perhaps will sneak in a little bit of reading when she naps.

Tiny Needle Tuesday 4/7/26

 Good Morning!

Our roller coaster weather continues.  It is not too cold this morning - in the forties, but my phone is showing a freeze warning for tomorrow.  Geeze....

Meanwhile, Colin is starting some seeds.  Yesterday he took a little break from work to get some pepper seeds into starter pots and Iris helped!  This, of course, gave me a little break which was nice.  I guess I'll have some pots and/or seedlings to tend to while they are away (they head to China and Taiwan on the 25th for two weeks and I'll be going over twice a day to feed Talbot and give him some love).

But now it is Tuesday and time for a TNT update.  I am happy to report that Adam is (finally) fully fleshed out!

The flesh was a bit of a slog (as it was for Eve as well).  And, a little more of the ground has been completed.  Still more creatures and another tree to be stitched, but it is moving along.  Here's a shot of the overall piece as of this morning.

My thought is that I should (theoretically of course) be able to get more done on this whilst the kids are away, but only time will tell.  I'm still hoping to wrap this up before the end of May.

I took NY strip steaks out of the freezer and tonight I will grill them on the new indoor grill we got.  Hoping they are good!  And, since it is grocery shopping day, I need to figure out what we will be having for the balance of the week.  The freezer is fairly full with an assortment of meat and fish, but as usual, we are in need of fresh produce.  Wednesday and Thursday I will be with Iris, so I'd like meals to be quick and easy those nights (plus yoga Thursday night). 

There are books to pick up at the library and some to drop off, so a visit there will most likely happen.  I'd best sip my coffee, wake up and get the day started.  Hope your Tuesday brings you some happiness.

Weekending 4/6/26

 Hello One and All,

Happy Easter Monday.  How are you?  And, how was your weekend?

It definitely was not the best Easter Sunday for a Sunrise Service!  It was breezy and chilly (cold at times) and rainy quite a bit.  My Dad and I used to go to a Sunrise Service North of here - above New Hope when a friend was the minister there.  He moved on after a bit and is now retired.

Anyway, on with the weekend.  I had yoga both Thursday and Friday.  Saturday was a gorgeous day.  And warm.  Capri leggings, a tee shirt and flip flops were the order of the day.  I baked the coconut pie

First I had trouble with the crust.  I think I processed mine too long...I could roll it out, but it was goopy and I could not get it into the pie plate.  I ended up running out to buy Pillsbury pie crusts.  The kids liked the pie ok, neither Fletch nor I really cared for it and the last of it went home with C&M last night.

By the time the kids arrived, the rain had pretty much stopped so Colin was able to help Fletch outside with some projects.  The meal pretty much sucked!!  Although everyone seemed to enjoy it.  I have always loved the 7 hour leg of lamb recipe. I've made it so many times.  Yesterday?  Not so much.  Even the smell was making me sick.  I joked that maybe I was pregnant.  LOL. The lamb was tender and falling off the bone (as it should be), but I found it dry and (again) the smell make me sick to my stomach.  The carrots, parsnips and onions all caramelized but so much they were hard to get out of the pan!  The tomatoes and potatoes were good though.  And the asparagus was tasty.

I enjoyed pulling out the china and silver (which I should have, but did not, polish).  Most importantly, the kids all loved the dinner.  Iris was particularly excited when six deer wandered into our yard.  She kept waving to them!  Too cute.

A little lamb and some veggies were saved for Fletch, but the balance went home with C&M&I.  

Today I'm looking forward to playing with Iris.  I hope your Monday is a good one!

Unraveled Wednesday 4/1/26

 Good Morning Everyone,

Welcome to April!  I feel like I'm running behind - after a less than ideal (meaning extremely restless) night of sleeping (or not), I fell asleep early this morning and then slept in longer than usual for a day when I'm scheduled to be with Iris.  I've showered and coffee has been poured, but that's about it!

Yesterday I was able to procure a leg of lamb for Easter dinner!  The 7 hour leg of lamb that I will be cooking (Patricia Wells' recipe) is cooked along with potatoes, onions, carrots and tomatoes and becomes so tender that it falls off the bone.  According to the recipe, you should be able to eat it with a spoon.  I never have, but it's a good recipe.  I need to get a couple of bottles of wine to pour in - most likely I'll use white this time (you can make it with either red or white).  I plan to also have asparagus, but I will pick that up later in the week.  And a coconut pie which I'll most likely make on Saturday.

I also accomplished quite a bit on my long to do list including rubbing all the cabinets in the kitchen with orange oil.  It smelled so good!  And the cabinet doors are no longer dusty!

Now it's time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk about making and reading.

My Panning for Gold sock has not seen any love since Monday, but it is further along than last week.

I'm roughly half way through the heel flap which this time is a simple slip stitch rather than eye of the partridge.  Maybe I can manage the balance of the heel flap and heel turn whilst at C&M's today (while Colin and Iris have lunch together).

Monday's mail included a bounty of new yarn stash!  First up is the April yarn for The Farmer's Daughter's 2026 Sock Squad.  Aptly named Morning Honey.  I love it!

And the yarn I ordered from Lisa at Fibernymph Dyeworks arrived.  Fast!!  First up the set up minis that I requested.  The color way is River Rocks and I couldn't resist it.  There's a bit of Stellina in the yarn, so sparkles!!

And then two full skeins from Lisa:

The skein on the right is her Pollinator Pi color way and the one on the left is Mountain House Winter.  Both are gorgeous!  I've knit with Lisa's yarn in the past and it does not disappoint.

I'm pretty sure that Pollinator will become socks for Colin (bright!!  cheerful!!) since he has talked of wanting to have bee hives.  And Mountain House Winter may become socks for Fletch.  Of course, I need to finish what's on my needles and there are so many other things I want to knit.  More hours in each day, please.

Reading has been good.  I finished listening to Blaze Me a Sun by Christoffer Carlsson about a crime in a Swedish town.  This is the book that Fletch and I had started listening to but stopped when Fletch got bored.  I decided to finish it.  It was good, but I wish I had paid more attention (meaning stayed awake) early on when Fletch and I were listening.  I'm not planning to jump out and find other books by this author, but I did enjoy it.

With my eyes I read Speak to Me of Home by Jeanine Cummins - a saga of family, home, identity, love.  It was good though in places it felt a bit long and drawn out.  Still, a good read.

Fletch and I are continuing to listen to The Long Ships by Frans Bengtsson after dinner.  There is much that I had forgotten about this story that we read out loud decades ago, including a lot of humor.  We are both really enjoying this one.

And that's a wrap for me.  Time to pour some more coffee and try to wake up.  Happy Wednesday!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 3/31/26

 Good Morning!

And whoosh!  Just like that we are at the last day of March 2026.  The last day of the first quarter of the year 2026.  That just does not seem possible.  Really!  (I know I say that all the time.)

Anyway, all that being true, it is Tuesday, so time for a TNT update on Appil.  Despite all my running around at the end of last week I did manage to find a little bit of time to stitch.  Adam is beginning to be fleshed out and a bit more of the Garden is appearing underneath him.

And here is the overall shape of how things look right now.

My plan is to work on Adam's flesh today, but my list of things to do is long (isn't it always?), so time will tell.

I'm happy to let you know that the kids (and Iris) loved the soup and muffins I had left for them.  Iris ate two bowls of the soup Sunday night!  They were too full for the crostata, so they probably had that last night.

It is cloudy out and I woke to heavy rain early this morning.  Today I'm off to hunt down a leg of lamb for Easter dinner on Sunday!  Here's hoping your Tuesday finds you having some kind of fun.

Weekending 3/30/26

 Hello Everyone and Good Morning!

How are you this morning and how was your weekend?  Mine was good, though filled.  Lots of errand running and lots of back and forth to C&M's to feed Talbot (and clean the litter boxes...).  The kids are back home again safely and they had a lovely time in Virginia.

After errand running Friday morning, I baked a strawberry crostata.  YUM!!

It was like a taste of summer!  Half of it ended up in C&M's refrigerator for them to enjoy.

Then on Saturday I made a new-to-me recipe for chicken and garbanzo bean soup,  I used dried chick peas (soaking them overnight).  The soup had chicken thigh meat, carrots, onions, fennel, celery and spinach.  It is a recipe my sister-in-law shared with me.  I didn't much care for the scent while it was cooking, but the soup was actually very good.

I also made Morning Glory muffins which have shredded carrots and shredded apples in them along with applesauce, white & whole wheat flour.  (I think I remember the recipe from long ago - the "hippie days" of eating brown rice and veggies for dinner - LOL). A large container of soup and half the muffins migrated over to C&M's on Sunday morning.  I wanted to be sure they had something to eat when they got home from their travels.

Despite all the errand running and back and forth to C&M's, time was found for some knitting, a little stitching and some reading as well.  All-in-all, a lovely weekend.  I even managed to do some chores (laundry - of course - as well as vacuuming and dusting).

Even though it cooled down over the weekend, I think temps are back on the rise.  And then a bit of rain is forecast over the next few days.  My expected yarn never showed up over the weekend, but it should arrive today!  I'm back to watching Iris today and I cannot wait to see her again!

Here's hoping your Monday is a good one.

Unraveled Wednesday 3/25/26

 Good Morning My Friends,

I hope this Wednesday finds you doing something fun and enjoyable.  Me?  I'll be with Iris again which is always enjoyable.  Mailing is in Richmond (VA) for work, and Colin and Iris will be joining her there tomorrow.  They plan to meet up with a few members of Fletcher's family.  Even though I won'[t be watching Iris for the balance of the week, I'll be heading over to their house twice a day to feed Talbot.  No rest for the weary and all that.  Honestly, though, I'm happy to do that.  Talbot is a sweet cat and they don't live that far away.  I also plan to do a little baking and leave some treats for the kids to find when they get back home Sunday evening.

Meanwhile, let's link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers for Unraveled Wednesday.  There is not a lot of knitting to share.  It seems I spent more time stitching than knitting, but sometimes that's how it goes.  My "panning for gold" sock has gotten a little longer.

I managed another 15 rows or so.  Quite a bit more to do.  I've yet to swatch for the sweater I want to make (Shakerag), but perhaps I will get to that this weekend.

More yarn is on the way from The Farmer's Daughter (should be here by Friday I think) and not like I need even more yarn,  but a sale is going on at Fibernymph Dye Works so I naturally ordered some.  Oy!  I will share a picture once it arrives.  I'm excited because one of the skeins I ordered is Lisa's Pollinator Pi Self-Striping yarn.  Colin has long expressed an interest in raising bees and C&M have ordered some pollinator flowers for their yard.  I'm thinking the skein will be perfect for a pair of socks for Colin!

Meanwhile, on to the reading.  Fletch and I started listening to a new book after dinner.  The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson is a book that we read out loud after dinner many, many moons ago.  It is an epic adventure and a wonderful tale.  It is also quite long so we will be listening for some time.  I'm listening to the balance of the other book we had started (that Fletch became tired of):  Blaze Me a Sun by Christoffer Carlsson which is ok...a bit longish at times, but I'd like to finish it.

With my eyes, I read Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May.  How appropriate that I finished this book on the very last day of Winter 2026.  I found the book enjoyable, but it did not quite live up to my hopes.  At times I found it to be bogged down and a bit off course.  Still a worthwhile read.

Thanks to Kat, I requested and got a book from my library:  Bright Scythe: Selected Poems by Tomas Tranströmer translated by Patty Crane.  These poems were just wonderful and I highly recommend reading some of his work.

Lastly I read Ursula K. LeGuin's Book of Cats.  What a fun book!  Colin had seen this and ordered it for me the other week.  It is a bunch of stuff:  poems, musings, sketches (including Cat Tai Chi - LOL), meditations, etc.  A quick book that was just a delight.

You all know that when it rains it pours.  I received an email the other day that there are five books waiting for me at the library!  I definitely need more hours in each day.  Oh well, it's certainly not a real problem to have a wealth of books.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!