Unraveled Wednesday 5/28/25

 Good Morning My Friends,

The rain has started and, according to my phone, will continue into Saturday!  Oh joy.  Well, the gardens will be happy.  It sure does make for a lazy feeling day though.  I did have a rude awakening this morning.  When I was pulling my hair back to wash my face, I noticed something on my arm.  Yup...a tick.  Too big for a deer tick, but still...  I pulled it off with tweezers, swabbed the spot with rubbing alcohol and now have the spot covered with Neosporin and a bandaid.

On this last Wednesday in May (WHAT???), it's time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to chat about making and reading.  This week I don't have much to show.  There was no knitting accomplished in the past week at all.  Not even on the dishcloth!  I hope I can at least finish that this coming week and knit some rounds on Semplice.  Meanwhile, Fletch brought down one of his socks for repair the other day.  I dug through my sock yarn ends and found a match, so I will be darning this baby in a day or so.

Reading slowed down as well as knitting over the last week.  The only book I finished was one that Kat had recommended:  The Old Man by Thomas Perry.  Fletch had watched the show a few years back, but I had not seen it.  Initially I did not think I would like the book, but it picked up and I enjoyed this tale of an ex-Army intelligence guy living in Vermont and then going on the run.  A quick, action-packed read.

My library was closed over the weekend, so I picked up my copy of Braiding Sweetgrass from my nightstand and have been reading that.  Usually I would just read a few pages before bed, but I've had the time to read a chapter here and there.  So good!  

That's a wrap for me!  Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Tiny Needle Tuesday 5/27/25

 

Good Morning!

Our peonies are in bloom AND they did not get battered by our recent rains.  Even more surprising, I found several flowers with NO signs of ants!  I quickly snipped them and brought them inside.  Coming down the stairs this morning the first thing I noticed was the scent of peonies.  Lovely.

How was your long Memorial Day weekend?  Ours was nice and very laid back.  We were over at C&M's for a mid-day cookout on Saturday and other than that, we did nothing!  I did manage to get laundry done and put some time in stitching.  It was cooler than normal here - certainly did not feel like the (unofficial) start to summer.

Putting time in on my stitching paid off - The Kindness Sampler from Birds of a Feather is finished!!

I found the border around the picture to be tedious and a PITA to stitch (stitch two stitches and change a color, stitch one stitch and change a color, stitch two stitches and change a color, stitch three stitches and change a color, etc. all around the border), but I do like the way it looks.

The linen is 40 count Light Examplar linen and Weeks Dye threads were used.  Stitched over 2 linen threads, the finished piece is roughly 5" by 5".

Would anyone like the chart?  I'd be happy to send it out if there is any interest.  If not, it will go into the donation bag

Yesterday afternoon I dove into my stash of charts and linen and came up with what I will be stitching next.  I'll wait to share that with you all next week.

A Poem for Thursday 5/22/25

Good Morning Everyone,

The heat is back on in the house!  Brrrrr - only 43 or so this morning AND rainy.  So, quite chilly feeling.

I did not plan to post anything today, but I read this poem for the 3rd or 4th time and decided I really wanted to share it with all of you.  My hope is that you will enjoy it as much as I have.  Quite moving.

In a Village on the West Bank

By Naomi Shihab Nye

 

One little boy writing a book,
“making pictures for it too,” he said over Zoom,
proud face bright as an apple in my screen.
“It’s about a problem,” he smiled shyly 
in that occupied land where soldiers sneak around at night
breaking into houses, chopping olive trees, smashing lamps. 
“A problem between spiders and ants.” Well, this sounded 
refreshing, a problem not made by humans. He said 
spiders and ants each want to dominate their corners, 
not letting other species have space. I didn’t quite understand, 
since spiders spin high-up webs and ants tunnel in the ground, 
but he insisted on friction, something about vicinity. 
They want the whole space. I could see stone walls behind him. 
Hear his parents speaking Arabic in the background, 
a spoon clinking a bowl. I felt homesick for my whole life.

Now he was whispering, other kids listening in, 
scattered in villages around the West Bank where my grandma 
once lived. I knew exactly what their world looked and 
smelled like, and wished to be with them 
on that ground, stirring smoky coals in a taboon.
“But there’s something the ants can do,” he went on softly.
“So they don’t all get killed. The spiders are stronger
than the ants, you know. So the ants pretend to be spiders!”
What? How does an ant pretend to be a spider?
He showed reluctance to tell, being still immersed
in the making of his story, but gave a clue.
“It’s an expression on the face. An ant makes his face look like a
spider’s face. For safety. Then they won’t attack.
It’s not that hard.”

Hope your Thursday is a good one.

Unraveled Wednesday 5/21/25

Good Morning and Happy Mid-Week!

If you click on the image at the top and enlarge, you will see that the bird in it is one of our bluebirds!!  I took that photo yesterday afternoon (look at that amazing blue, blue sky!).  The male had been on the ground so close to Fletch and me on the patio, but my phone was inside so I could not get a picture.  I was hoping he would come back, but instead he was high up.

I walked around the yard yesterday afternoon and noticed that our Siberian Iris are budded (both the deep, deep blue/purple ones and the vibrant yellow ones).  Parsley and French thyme were picked to take over to C&M today.  And, a peony has opened!  What a heady fragrance!  I would love to cut one or two for the house, but ants.....

Another heady fragrance is honeysuckle and we have some of that already in bloom which might be the earliest time ever!

Let's talk knitting!  It's Unraveled Wednesday and time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to chat about what we are making and reading.  Even though I focused more on stitching this past week, I was able to do some knitting.  Semplice has grown a bit.

This is now at the point where I will start the last pattern change section.  There is still a bunch of knitting to be done as this last section has 44 rows.  Then it will be the garter stitch border which is 20 rows.  I can promise that it will not be finished this week - lol.  But, I am anxious to finish and block this one.

I even managed to do a few more pattern repeats on the dish cloth on my needles.

I think my days of dishcloth knitting will be over for a bit after this one.  Time to move on to a different easy/portable project for days spent with Iris.  Honestly I don't really get much (if any) time to knit while at C&M's, but I always bring something just in case.

Reading was good this past week.  I read The Summer Guests by Tess Gerritsen.  This is book #2 in the Martini Club series.  An enjoyable and easy read, and I liked this book better than the first.  When and if the author comes out with another in this series, I will most likely pick it up (from the library) to read.

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans was my next read (finished last night).  Wow!  What a wonderful book.  It gave me all the "feelies" if you know what I mean.  I just loved it and highly recommend it.

Fletch and I are continuing to enjoy One Man's Meat by E. B. White after dinner.  So enjoyable - even though this is most likely the fourth time we've read it together.  What a writer he was!  (I can't wait for Iris to be at the age where "Charlotte's Web" and "Stuart Little" will be fun to share with her.)

There are still 6 books I am currently in queue for at my library and though it looks like some long wait times, I've learned that often they come in more quickly than I thought.  And, I still have books piled on my nightstand to get through - no danger of running out of things to read!!

Tell me, what have you been making and reading this past week?

Tiny Needle Tuesday 5/20/25

 Hey Everyone!

Good Morning.  It is actually chilly here this morning (40's) and I put the heat on in the bathroom when I took my shower.  Temps are moderating (or really, falling) this week.  And, naturally, more rain is in the forecast for the next several days.  I had been looking forward to seeing my friend Carol on Wednesday, but with a 95% chance of rain forecast, she has decided she doesn't really want to drive on 95 in the rain to get here.  So, postponed for another week or so.  Yesterday was still quite windy, but I'm happy to see that seems to have gone away now.

It feels as though I could be closing in on a finish to the Kindness sampler!!  I managed to do quite a bit of stitching over the weekend.

The last of the green (Weeks Dye Works Kudzu) was stitched and I believe I am finished with the darkest brown (WDW Chestnut).  There is more of the paler brown (WDW Cocoa) and then the bottom center is (you can probably figure it out) a basket. I guess it will look woven since it is stitched in two colors.  Lastly there is a mix of colors all around - mostly the colors in the flowers and the four corners.  I started that some time ago (upper left).  Who knows?  Maybe I will be able to finish it up this week...

We've been sitting on the patio in the late afternoon before dinner and have been enjoying watching "our" bluebirds flit around.  They are nesting in our bluebird house (which was taken over by wrens last year).  We also have wrens nesting in another birdhouse.  I often see bluebirds at C&M's as well.  And, C&M have fox kits who come out and frolic in their back yard (just beyond their fence).  Yesterday Colin sent me a video of the kits and they just look so happy jumping up into the air!

That's a wrap for me.  Time to fetch another cup of coffee and get moving.  Have a great Tuesday!

Weekending 5/19/25

Hello Everyone,

How are you and how was your weekend?  Mine was simply lovely.

Friday, shortly after arriving at C&M's, the sky darkened and then we had a pretty loud and pretty long thunderstorm.  Really the first day-time one of the season.  Iris and I sat in the sunroom looking out at the pouring rain (and C&M's backyard quickly becoming a lake).  Water was gushing over the rain chimes Colin had installed and it was hypnotic to watch.  I think we rocked peacefully for a full 15 or 20 minutes and shortly after that Iris fell asleep in my arms.

Saturday was a bit overcast in the morning, but by 10:00 the sun was out and Fletch and I headed to our favorite local greenhouse and loaded up with some hanging baskets, plants for a kitchen window box, more flowers for under the apple tree and I got the eggplant, rosemary and basil that I wanted for pots by the patio.

Sunday was pretty busy.  Two loads of laundry were washed and hung on the lines to dry.  It was a very breezy and sunny day - perfect for drying clothes on the line.  I made a blueberry Dutch pancake for breakfast and then cooked eggs and potatoes for a potato salad for dinner.  A cucumber salad was also made.  Later in the day we drove out to Skippack to drop our ballots in the drop box (our primary is this week).  And then Fletch grilled some of the best hot wings ever for dinner!

Despite all the cooking and laundry and running around, I managed to find plenty of time for reading, stitching and knitting.  For me, a perfect weekend!  I hope yours was nice as well.

Lemon Raspberry Muffins and Poetry!

 Good Morning!

Last night I baked some lemon raspberry muffins.  I used a new-to-me recipe and I hope they are good...I have not yet tried one.

Our friends/neighbors Rob & Eva are back from their trip to Colorado and I wanted to bake something to welcome them home and to thank them for the multiple servings of asparagus we had from their garden.  I thought they were coming home today, but actually they came home last night, so I've texted that I will leave some on their porch later this morning when I head over to Colin & Mailing's (and I will take some to C&M as well).

Plummeting down rabbit holes this morning, I came across this poem and just love it.  I hope you do too.

THE WISDOM OF A MUFFIN

 

it is extreme heat

in a tight spot

that makes the muffin rise 

to show its purpose

to give delight

to be useful to others

 

then why is it

that when we feel the heat

and when we are in a tight spot

we show our weakness

we give complaints

and we become useless to others

 

it is perchance

that the wisdom of the muffin

that rises to the occasion

that stands up to be counted

trumps our own?

 

 

Daniel Human