Thursday, May 8, 2025

Random Thursday 5/8/25


 Hey Everyone - Good Morning!

Another blue sky morning and I am grateful for that.  I've been enjoying seeing our bluebird pair fly around.  Yesterday both of them flew right by the patio where Fletch and I were sitting and the sun hit them at just the right time.  The flash of blue was stunning.  I've also been seeing bluebirds while I'm at Colin's.  This morning he texted me that while he was having breakfast in the sun room he looked out and saw two fox kits frolicking in the back (just beyond his fence).  (Talbot doesn't go outside, so no need to worry about him.). And I've noticed that Mabel is quite cautious these days when she goes out.  She often will stand at the door and look intently into the back before stepping onto the patio.  Smart girl!

Today - or rather tonight - I have the pleasure (NOT) of doing the prep for my colonoscopy.  Ugh.  But necessary.  Luckily I confirmed that I do not have to mix the Miralax with GatorAde.  GatorAde alone makes me gag.  Crystal Light lemonade to the rescue.  And the prep has changed since I last had a colonoscopy.  Nothing to eat today, naturally, but I don't start the prep till 5 p.m.  And then, I have to finish the prep at 1 a.m.  My procedure is scheduled for 7 a.m. and we need to be at the outpatient center by 6:15 a.m.  Fletch is not happy...

Colin, Mailing and Iris will be over on Saturday for an early Mother's Day celebration.  It is easier for them to come for a noon meal, so we will do that.  (Easier to get Iris bathed and down for sleeping if they are already home in the evening.)  As of now I am planning on BBQ shrimp and a big salad (with greens from our garden!).  They will pick up a loaf of fresh bread at the Farmer's Market before they come over.  And, I will make a strawberry rhubarb crostata or strawberry rhubarb crisp for dessert.  

Meanwhile, I'll be back at their place today helping to care for Iris (who is now 19 lbs!!).  I'm taking the asparagus I cut from Rob's garden yesterday afternoon.

Our peonies are finally budded...and the buds are already covered in ants!  



Wishing you all a wonderful weekend and a Happy Mother's Day!

Wednesday, May 7, 2025

Unraveled Wednesday 5/7/25

 Good Morning All,

The sun is up and the sky is blue!  Time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to see what everyone is up to in the reading and making worlds.  There is always a wealth of inspiration, usually a few rabbit holes to investigate and always (ALWAYS) more books to add to your own TBR list.

Jumping right in, Semplice has seen a bit of love this past week.  It might not be obvious, but attention was given to this shawl.


As I said, difficult to see, but around 10 more rows were completed.  There is a definite rhythm to this pattern with the knits and purls and the geometric shapes.  Yet, when one is tired (ahem...all the time), it is easy to fall into a trance knitting on it...or knitting when you should be purling.  LOL. Luckily NO unraveling was needed.

I did finish my waffle weave dishcloth which is not so great to see.


The pattern is fine...the maker messed up.  See that line in the middle?  That's where I simply forgot a row.  Initially when I noticed it I was going to unravel and re-knit, but then I thought why?  It's a dishcloth for God's sake.  And once it's done being a dishcloth it will become a rag for washing my floors.  So, no need to correct a silly mistake (guess I was tired...again).

I did start another waffle weave dishcloth to see if I can do it correctly and to make sure I have something easy in my bag when I go over to care for Iris.


With only 12 rows completed (3 pattern repeats) it is a bit hard to see the pattern, but it is pretty.  Trust me!  The yarn is some I bought ages ago - I am pretty sure I picked it out of the sale bin years ago at The Vulcan's Rest - a yarn shop in Chesapeake City that has (sadly) closed.  The yarn is 100% Egyptian cotton (50 grams, 126 yards) and the tag says I paid $4 for it.  Not bad!  #6 needles and cotton can be bad/hard on my hands, but this is nicer than Sugar & Cream.  A little softer.

Reading was good.  I finished two books this past week.  First up is Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride, the first in the DCI Logan McRae series.  Kat had recommended this and Bonny read and reviewed it last week.  It was a little more gruesome than I usually read (murder and mutilation of children always gets me), but overall the writing was good (a little plodding in some parts).  I'll allow myself a little break before reading the next in the series.

After that I requested and got very quickly from my library The Anthropologists by Aysegul Savas.  I found this book to be a beautiful and quiet read.  Two post-university students are married and living somewhere - my guess is somewhere in Europe, but it is never said.  They are far from their families (both are immigrants).  There are friends and parties and they are figuring out who they are, what they want to be, what they want to have, etc., etc.  Nothing much happens, yet I found it to be a very satisfying read.

I'm in the middle of another book which I should finish fairly quickly and yesterday...drumroll... I picked up Nesting!!  I'm excited to start that.

I hope this Unraveled Wednesday finds you all doing well!

Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Tiny Needle Tuesday 5/6/25

 Hello and Good Morning,

It's kind of grey and drizzling here.  I heard a gentle rain in the early morning hours that sounded so nice.  And I woke up chilly!  That was a surprise.  First I got up and turned off the ceiling fan and then about 30 minutes later I got up again and lowered the back bedroom window that was wide open.

A couple of hours were carved out for stitching on Sunday and progress was made!


More brown (of course...so MUCH brown in this piece), but also the big flower at the top now has all the petals filled in and the word Kindness on the left was stitched.  Still a lot of brown (and a little green) to go, but this will be finished (slowly but surely).

Yesterday when I got home from caring for Iris I walked across the street to check on the asparagus.  One little stalk was all I cut!  (So obviously it does not need to be cut every day!)  There are 8-12 more stalks showing that should be ready in a couple of days.  Last night we did have the bunch that Rob brought over on Sunday and it was delicious.  I even munched some of it raw - very tasty.

Time for me to pour another cup of coffee, write a birthday card for my brother and pay the guy who mows our grass.  Tuesday is starting!  Hope your day is a good one.

Monday, May 5, 2025

Weekending 5/5/25

 Good Morning and Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Our Iris are blooming and they are gorgeous:


I brought some in but they only lasted a couple of days in a vase.

My weekend was good.  I managed to get the chores done that I wanted to do (cleaning bathrooms and doing laundry), but there was plenty of "me time" as well.  I managed to read quite a bit, knit some and stitched some!  Sunday was the perfect day to laze about.  It rained pretty much all day, but it was a steady and gentle rain.  It also brought the temps down a bit which was needed.  

Our friends and neighbors, Rob & Eva are going away for 10 days or so and have asked us to keep an eye on their garden.  I was wondering what at this time of year, but it turns out they have a lovely bed of asparagus which needs to be cut daily!!  That will not be a chore! LOL

For two seconds I thought about going to the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival...and then I thought better of it!  I went twice a decade or more ago and that was enough.  Too many people and major traffic jams are not my cup of tea.  Plus, Saturday was very hot and then rain on Sunday.  I was glad to skip it again.

How was your weekend?

Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Unraveled Wednesday 4/30/25

 Good Morning!

How are you?  I'm a bit weary this morning.  I've slept well, but am just so tired.  And I know why we are younger when we have children!  LOL. Poor Iris was not all that happy yesterday and when she napped it was not really very restful or peaceful.

Today is Unraveled Wednesday.  Usually we all link up with Kat, but Kat is on vacation so there is no official gathering.  Initially I wasn't going to bother to post, but I've decided to anyway.  The best I can say is that there was no unraveling this past week.  There was knitting, but only a tiny bit.  I actually managed 3 rows on Semplice (but no picture) and managed two pattern repeats on my waffle-weave dishcloth.


I take this over to C&M's each day (along with a book), but nothing gets done!

The only book I managed to finish this past week was another volume of poetry (not a bad thing, but still...).  During my last visit to the library I found Sailing Alone Around the Room by Billy Collins and enjoyed reading it over several mornings.  Not my favorite volume of poetry by Collins, but still an excellent book.

I've only 100 pages or so left in Cold Granite which was recommended by Kat.  Bonny read it and reviewed it on her blog today.  I'll be able to give my thoughts next week.

Good news on the lemon blueberry scones:  Colin liked them!  And, in fact, had 3 of them last night after dinner.  LOL

I hope this mid-week finds you all doing well and having some fun.

Tuesday, April 29, 2025

No TNT Today 4/29/25

 Hey Hey Everyone,

Good Morning!  Happy Tuesday.  Usually I would find myself writing a TNT post this morning, but honestly not one single stitch was made last week.  So, no TNT update on the Kindness sampler.  Sorry.

I did manage to make the lemon blueberry scones last night.


But, guess what?  I don't like them!  I found them to be on the bland side and just not real good.  So, they are packaged up for me to take over to C&M's later today.  If they don't like them, they can put them out for the birds!

Yesterday was a fun day with Iris.  Just in the last week she has changed a lot.  When I arrived yesterday morning Zhongren (Mailing's Dad) was holding her.  I walked in and Iris broke out into a wide smile.  Did my heart good for sure.  Zhongren had come over because there was no power at his house - some kind of line work or something was going on and he needed to get on line for work.  He handed Iris over to me and she babbled and smiled for over an hour before deciding to be a little cranky.  It was time for a nap.

Really nothing else to report.  I do hope your week is going well.

Monday, April 28, 2025

Weekending 4/28/25

 Good Morning Friends,

The sun is up and we have blue skies!  How was your weekend?  Ours was typical which is fine with me.  Saturday was a rainy day.  Nothing hard, just a gentle rain on and off all day long.  I did not sleep well Friday night and therefore didn't feel all that great on Saturday.  So other than a couple loads of laundry, paying bills and roasting a chicken for dinner, I did not do much.  

Sunday, however, I felt great and accomplished so many domestic chores.  LOL. Vacuuming and dusting were done along with more laundry and scrubbing of floors.  I had planned to bake some lemon blueberry scones, but someone (not me and not Mabel) had snacked on most of the blueberries.  I did go out and get more blueberries, but never got around to making the scones...perhaps tonight.

I did, however, make a delicious dinner!!  


While penne pasta was cooking, I sautéed some onion and garlic.  Then added some white wine, sun-dried tomatoes and marinated artichokes.  Let that cook a few minutes then added some asparagus, lemon juice and red pepper flakes.  Next up shrimp went into the pan and once they were cooked through the drained penne pasta was added to the pan.  It all was topped off with parsley from the garden!  So good and easy and leftovers!!

In between rain showers on Saturday I walked out and cut a sprig of lilac.  The whole house smelled lovely.


And I discovered that our Lily of the Valley are beginning to open, so I picked a few of them along with some grape hyacinths for a small vase.  More heavenly scents!


Today I'm heading back over to help care for Iris.  I need to get there a little bit earlier than sometimes because an electrician is coming at 11 to look at a few things the kids want done.  Whatever you have planned, make your Monday a great one!!