Tiny Needle Tuesday 5/5/26

 Bonjour and Hello,

The sun is up and I'm attempting to wake up.  Mabel came into the room meowing loudly, so I knew it was time to rise.  The first sips of coffee have been had, but I still feel foggy.

But, it's Tuesday and time for an update on my stitching.  Yesterday morning I thought that I would not have anything to show you, but I managed to carve out an hour yesterday afternoon with my needle.  Lo and behold, another creature has appeared.  Only the outline, but clearly a rabbit!!

There is another larger creature that will be on the other side of the tree, but that is yet to be stitched.  I also managed to stitch a little more fill-in on the grass part, but that is all.  Here's an overall shot:

At this rate, I doubt I will finish by the end of the month, but c'est la vie.  I knew when I started this piece it would take a long time to finish.

Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to today - it is supposed to be around 85!  After that the temps will drop a bit and rain will once again come in.  Fletch got some snapdragons in the ground yesterday and all the plants came out of the back of my car.  Mabel was busy chomping on my thyme plant until I showed her the catnip.  Then she happily munched on that.  We need to get some potting soil today so that my herbs can go in some pots.  If I'm lucky, I will find some time for making.

My plan is to get over to C&M's early...feed Talbot and open up the sunroom for him and then get back here to go grocery shopping.  Since the end of the week will be cooler, I plan to make some soup Thursday or Friday.  A container of that will go into C&M's frig.  I'll also pick up some fruit for them.  I already left a large piece of cake in their frig.

Let's make this Tuesday a great one!  Have some fun.

Weekending 5/4/26

 Good Chilly Morning!

Yeah, it's on the chilly side here.  Fletch and I did get to the greenhouse on Saturday, but everything is still in the back of the car.  Our nights have been too cold to leave things out!  It should warm up a bit in a day or so.

Meanwhile, some flowers are beginning to open at C&M's

Talbot has been a good boy, though it is obvious he misses his family.  The other day as I sat on the couch reading he climbed up and into my lap and then onto my chest...drooling and trying to lick me.  Luckily there have been no more hairball messes to clean up.  I'll see later what today brings.

Yesterday I made a Dutch or German pancake for breakfast with blueberries and raspberries.  I wish you could smell it!

There has not been much time for stitching or knitting with all the back and forth to care for Talbot.  I have been reading some and I have been cooking.  But tonight is leftovers, so maybe I'll find some quiet moments later today to settle down with a needle (or 4).  I hope this Monday finds you well and doing something fun!

Unaveled Wednesday 4/29/26

 Good Morning All,

It's a mild morning.  I woke up too warm this morning...thinking it would be cool overnight I lowered the back window in the bedroom and threw an extra blanket on the bed.  Oh well, at least I slept well.  We have rain in the forecast for later today and then, I think, heavy tonight.

Our Iris have started to bloom and they are gorgeous!

Even though Kat is taking a bit of a blogging break, I still want to post about knitting and reading for an Unraveled Wednesday post.  My first Mountain House Winter (Fibernymph Dyeworks) sock is progressing.

I'm a little over 2/3 of the way down the leg and should get to the heel flap soon.  This is what I knit when I go over to feed Talbot.  Yesterday I only got 5 rows completed, but some days I'm able to get 12 or 15 done.  

Yesterday was a little busy at the Wu-Lane house.  Talbot had a bit of an "issue" on the office room couch - not sure if it was a hairball or something (....) else.  But I cleaned that up and then scrubbed the cushion a bit.  I'm afraid the cushion might be a bit stained.  After that I checked on seedlings that Colin has started (cucumber, tomatillo, cantaloup and cherry tomato).  He has trays in the office room window and also in the upstairs bedroom window.  They all got a good spritzing.  I'll water house plants today.  I remembered to get the trash cans out for pick up today.  Anyway, all that left less time for knitting.

Reading has been a little slower.  I did finish The Patriarch by Martin Walker.  This is another Bruno, Chief of Police book.  This series is such a pleasure to read.  Yes, a murder, but plenty of talk about food and wine and life in the French countryside.  When I spoke with one of my brothers last week, it was ironic to discover that we were reading the same book!

Time for me to get moving.  I promised Fletch blueberry pancakes this morning, so I need to mix up the batter for those.  Wishing you all a lovely Wednesday!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 4/28/26

 Good Morning!

How are you on this Tuesday morning?  I am well, though I wish I had slept better.  Finally taking Advil at 3 a.m. helped (I need to remember to take some before going to bed).

Being Tuesday, let's have a TNT update.

There is a new critter between Adam and the yet-to-be-finished tree.  Another creepy crawly!  There is another one (creepy crawly) that will go on the other side of the sampler, but it's not yet time to stitch that one.  I know this is not the creature I have been promising.  That beast will come...eventually.  Not as much stitched this past week, but c'est la vie.  Obviously I am not in a race.  Here's a close up of the latest critter:

I'm going to focus on finishing the tree, but this week is ending up quite busy and I have not had time to pull out my stitching.  Maybe later on.

While I was with Talbot yesterday Fletch got out to the garden and planted our glad bulbs!  We will not have as many veggies in the garden this year, so he used part of the raised bed box that garlic plants (volunteers) are in for the glads.  And, he will fill in with zinnias.  Last year the deer chomped our glads as soon as they came up, but this year they won't be able to get to them since the garden is fenced.  Well, here's hoping anyway.

Hoping to get to the greenhouse we like this week.  I want more snapdragons to put in by the patio (the deer ignored them in that location last year) and more catnip to plant under the apple tree.  I also want some herbs to have on the patio...or maybe in the garden - rosemary (of course), French thyme which did really well last year, basil and parsley.  That should be enough.

This morning I'll head back to C&M's and open the sunroom door again for Talbot.  I know he spent time out there yesterday afternoon.  But when I left before lunch, he was sprawled on the back of the couch in the office room.  Soaking up the sun.

The kids are having fun.  They've been to the Great Wall (a mob scene according to Colin) and the Forbidden City.  Still to come is the Panda House at the zoo.  They have been sending lots of pictures which is a good thing since I'm missing Iris so much!  She's been introduced to third cousins and I guess is hearing lots and lots of Chinese!  She already knows many words in Chinese (ears, mouth, nose, etc.).

More errands later today since I did not get them all done yesterday.  I went to the food pantry to drop off a donation only to find out they had moved.  Luckily their new location is not that much further away, and I found it with no problem.  Then I went to Target for one thing...which I couldn't find...but ended up leaving there with three bags of stuff!  LOL. Today I will run to the grocery store after lunch.  As usual, we are in need of fresh produce.

Time for me to get moving.  Have a great Tuesday!

Weekending 4/27/26

 Good Morning!

How are you?  And how was your weekend?  We are well and the kids made it safely to Beijing where they have an apartment for their stay in China.  Colin reported that Iris did really great on both long flights.  YAY!!  The weather looks really great over there - blue skies and sunshine.

Our weather, on the other hand, has been chilly and grey.  It was a pretty cold weekend.  And there was rain.  I spent a couple of hours with Talbot on Saturday afternoon.  I had brought my knitting with me and initially he was trying to learn how to knit.  Ha!  But then he curled up next to me on the couch and we had some nice bonding time.

All curled up and keeping warm.  Today looks to be pretty nice with temps in the upper 60's, so when I go over this morning I will open the sunroom door so that Talbot can hang out there if he wishes.  That's where his cat tree is and he loves to sit at the very top and watch the birds and squirrels in the backyard.  And, of course, bask in the sunlight.

I ended up cutting one sprig of lilac even though I said I wouldn't.  I added a bit of Lily of the Valley to go with it.

I knew it would not last long (barely 24 hours), but the scent was heavenly.  The Lily of the Valley only lasted another day or so, but there is plenty for me to pick more if I want.

There is already wash in the dryer and more to be done today before I head over to see Talbot.  I plan to hang a bit with him this morning, but be home in time to have lunch with Fletch.  There are a few errands I would like to do after lunch before heading back for Talbot's afternoon feeding.  Target sells some wonderful sachets - lavender and bergamot - that I like to tuck in with winter sweaters and blankets when I put them away for the summer season.  

Now that I no longer work, I have way fewer clothes than I used to, but I still put away the heavy sweaters for the summer and pull out tank tops, etc. that I put away last Fall.  Of course, I still have plenty of things that I never wear anymore, but for some reason I can't seem to part with them...just yet...

Now it's time for a second cup of coffee.  I hope your Monday is off to a lovely start!

Almost the Weekend! 4/24/26

 Good Morning!

Once again (thanks to Mabel and the LOUD birds this morning) I got up early.  Actually, I like doing that.  As long as I feel fairly rested the early morning hours are some of my favorite.  It's quiet (except for bird song) and peaceful.  I consider it found time!

Speaking of found time...I did wind a skein of sock yarn and started another sock last night!

This is one of the skeins I recently bought from Lisa (Fibernymph Dyeworks).  It is Mountain House - Winter.  The yarn base is "Heavenly" and it is lovely - an 80-10-10 blend of SW Merino, Cashmere and Nylon.  It does feel heavenly!

Yesterday ended up being a longer day with Iris which is not a bad thing.  Colin had a conference call that went later than normal, so I was late getting home.  I was beginning to feel a bit rushed trying to get dinner going and doing a few other things, so I decided to skip yoga.  My shoulders were bothering me anyway.  So, instead, after dinner and listening for 20 minutes to "The Long Ships" with Fletch I cleaned up the kitchen and then pulled out the skein of yarn and caked it up.  I've only done about half the cuff so far, but it's a nice start.  Then Fletch and I started Season 2 of "Drops of God" - if you have Apple TV, I highly recommend this.  I don't knit while watching TV (we usually turn out the lights) and this show has subtitles anyway (it's in English, French and Japanese).  But so good!  About wine!

Does anyone know what this flower is?

It's blooming in one of Colin's front beds and I love it.  He doesn't know what it is - it was already there when he and Mailing bought the house.

Finally, I mentioned that I had picked up a few poetry books from the library.  These are two of them:

"The Beauty" by Jane Hirshfield and "The Unswept Room" by Sharon Olds.  After reading a volume of Ada Limon's poetry and not being won over, I mentioned that to both Leslie and Connie - two published poetry writers who are friends of mine.  Leslie said that one of her favorite poets is Sharon Olds.  Connie recommended Jane Hirshfield...and recommended staying away from Sharon Olds.  Ha!  Of course, I needed to get books by both.  I've only read a few poems from both books so far, but am enjoying each of them.  I know that some of you are familiar with Jane Hirshfield.  Has anyone read Sharon Olds?

The other poetry volume I checked out at my library is The Essential Haiku Versions of Basho, Buson & Issa.  This is great!  I love Haiku and am familiar with Basho and Issa, but not Buson.  Fun to explore.  Along with these 3 poetry books I have 8 (!!) other books checked out from my library.  I guess I'm set with reading for a little while.

Today is my last day of watching Iris for a bit.  They head to China tomorrow.  They will only be in China for 4 days or so (seeing some family, going to The Great Wall and the Panda House at the Beijing Zoo among other things) and then they fly to Taiwan for the balance of the two weeks they will be gone.  Iris has been such a love this week and I am going to miss being with her so much.  I will still be heading over to their house twice a day (starting tomorrow afternoon) to feed Talbot and show him a bit of love.  He will be missing his family.  That will give me more found time!  I plan to take a book (or two) and some knitting with me when I go over and that way I will have something to do while spending a bit of time keeping Talbot company.

This is the last Friday in April!  Let's make it a good one.

A Finish on Thursday! 4/23/26

 Good Morning my Friends!

It is a pretty and sunny morning here with temps forecast to get up to 74.  Ahhhh, this is the kind of Spring weather I really like.  Cool evenings - great for sleeping and then warm (but not HOT) days.  

The birds were quite noisy this morning and I woke up a little early.  So, as one does, I put the coffee on, fed Mabel and then pulled out my knitting.  And voila!  My Panning for Gold socks are now finished.

I love everything about these socks.  The yarn is from Twisted Owl Studios in Longview, TX (I don't believe they are in business now) and was bought at a fiber festival for only $11 per skein!  The color way is Gold Panning and the yarn is 75/25 SW Merino and Nylon.  There is still 27 grams of the yarn left - so plenty to use in a scrappy cowl or for heels and toes on another pair of socks.  They knit up quickly (for me) and now I need to figure out what yarn for my next pair of socks!

Most likely I won't figure out what sock yarn to knit with next until tomorrow night or over the weekend.  I have a yoga class tonight so will not have time to dive into the stash.  But, no rush.  I have a book I'm reading plus severeal volumes of poetry that will go into my bag when I drive to Colin's this morning.

Yesterday was a fun day with Iris.  Zhongren came over in the morning for a couple of hours to play with Iris.  Although I was right there, it gave me a bit of a break.  Plus, it was just nice to have time with Zhongren to chat (Colin was in the office room on a number of conference calls).

Now I'm in need of some more coffee and perhaps a clementine or two!  Have a wonderful Thursday.