Unraveled Wednesday 7/24/24

 Good Morning My Friends,

We find ourselves on a Wednesday nearing the end of July which just does not seem possible.  Where did the month go?  Anyway, it IS Wednesday when we usually link up with  Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk all about what we are making and what we are reading.  But, I just saw that Sherman crossed the Rainbow Bridge last night and Kat is taking a break.  Please keep her and Steve in your thoughts.

Despite Summer Ennui continuing, I did manage to finish the pair of Shortie Socks!!

These were made using the January Sock Squad yarn I received from The Farmer's Daughter.  You may recall this was the yarn I used to make a crescent moon sock and then it would not go over my foot.  Oh well.  No worries, I now have a lovely pair of shortie socks.  One thing:  shortie socks are FAST.

I mentioned a bit back seeing a pattern for Semplice and immediately being drawn to it.  I love how there are triangles, rectangles and squares within the pattern.  I didn't find the necessary yarn in my stash so I ordered some!  It has yet to arrive, but what I ordered is KnitPicks Gloss (70 wool, 30 silk) in the beautiful color way named Jacaranda which is a lovely lavender shade.  You sure can't beat the prices of KnitPicks yarn!  I successfully resisted temptation and did not order any other yarn.

Of course, I still need to get back to work on my Hitch on the Move which has seen no love for several months.  And the Shakerag Skirt!  I'm now at the point where all I need to do is knit the waistband.  Maybe I'll get to that while waiting for my yarn order to arrive.

Reading has been good (though Summer Ennui is creeping in there too).  Right now I'm in the middle of The God of the Woods which I am thoroughly enjoying.  I have roughly 150 pages to go.  I also picked up  James from the library on Monday.  I'll start that as soon as I finish The God of the Woods.

Our afternoon visitor has been Steve the Beav (our groundhog) who comes out daily to forage in the grass.  He is pretty skitterish and will book it back to under our shed if he hears our back door opening, so this picture was taken through the door.

You may need to click to enlarge.  We love his white cheeks!

Have a wonderful Wednesday.

No TNT This Tuesday. 7/223/24

 Good Morning My Friends,

I have no TNT pictures to show you today.  I have not done a single stitch since last week!  I believe that summer ennui has set in.  I don't feel like stitching, don't really feel like knitting (though I did order yarn for a new shawl...and bought the pattern), even reading doesn't seem to be what I want to do.  Mostly I just sit and stare!  LOL

We started looking at washers over the weekend.  I have been encouraged to be in touch with Maytag...one guy said they may do something for me even though the machine is out of warranty.  I guess a call can't hurt.  I will try to do that later.  I want a top loader and so far I'm leaning towards a Speed Queen (the only machine made without a locking lid).  The Speed Queen is around twice the price of others, but it does have a 5 year warranty compared to other models that only offer a one year warranty.  I still have a little looking to do.

In other news, four new gladiola shoots came up and yesterday they started to bloom!  Different colors than the red...some pink and some an orange color.  Very pretty.  A glance out the door this morning shows that once again, all the stalks have been bitten off by deer.  Grrrrrr.

On a positive note, we did receive just under half an inch of rain last night!  It sounded so good at 2:30 a.m.  LOL. It's been 5 weeks since we've needed to have our lawn mowed, but I'm guessing we will have it done next week.

We had a delicious dinner at Colin's last night.  Mailing is back in Texas for the week, so we missed her, but Colin cooked a wonderful meal with a lot of fresh produce from their CSA  - beautiful heirloom tomatoes, lots of greens (dandelion, chard and carrot greens!).  All was yummy and bonus - I got a load of towels washed and dried while we were there!

I hope everyone is doing well and I hope to be back to a regular TNT post next week.  I will be back tomorrow for unraveled Wednesday.  See you then!

Friday Felines

 Good Morning!

I'm almost afraid to say this (or write this), but it kind of feels chilly this morning!  The temp when I got up at 6 was just 60 degrees.  Quite a difference from a few days ago.  No AC running and I haven't even put on the ceiling fans yet.  Delightful!

Mabel has stayed out the past two nights.  I guess she is acting like a teenager...disobeying curfews, etc.  During the day she pretty much hangs around and yesterday I caught her very relaxed as she sprawled on one of the picnic benches.

We did go to Colin & Mailing's on Wednesday night for dinner.  Colin grilled burgers and we had a ton of fresh veggies from the CSA share they had picked up on the previous Saturday.  Roasted carrots and beets, fresh pickles, lettuce and tomatoes and onion for the burgers, etc.  I made a crostata for dessert using rhubarb from our garden, some blueberries and strawberries.

The first shortie sock has been finished and the second one started!  I'm also seriously contemplating a new start - a shawl!  Time will tell.  I have plenty on the needles that I could and should finish up.  But the temptation is strong.....

First I have some running around (errands) to do this morning.  Here's hoping the weekend is a relaxing and enjoyable one for all.  Have some fun!

A Gathering of Poetry 7/18/24

 On this third Thursday of July, I am going in with Bonny and others to share some poetry.  I don't always join in, but thought of this poem since last night was a bit of a restless one.

3:00 AM

Only my hand

is asleep

but it’s a start

 

 From Musical Tables by Billy Collins.  I just love his short poems!

Enjoy your Thursday!!

Unraveled Wednesday 7/17/24

Good Morning!

It is HOT, still.  But, last night a thunderstorm blew through.  Not enough measurable rain in the gauge, but the temp dropped to a very comfortable 79 degrees.  In fact, I slept with the AC off last night and the bedroom windows open.  Mabel loves that because she likes to lie in the back windowsill where she can look out over the backyard and keep her eye on the deer and any foxes that might wander into the yard.

Here we are mid-week and it's time once again to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk making and reading.  It's really been uncomfortable to knit or stitch much due to the weather.  I did not bother taking yet another picture of my Shakerag skirt which still needs a couple off rows added before I start the waistband.  The shortie sock has had a few rows added though.

You can see I am cruising down the foot.  I think I have 20 or 25 rows left to go to the toe decreases.  I'm meeting up with Dee this morning, so perhaps that will get completed (or not...no worries).

Like the sock, I am almost finished reading The Glassmaker by Tracy Chevalier which I am enjoying quite a bit.  I still think her book "Remarkable Creatures" is my favorite of hers, followed by "The Girl with the Pearl Earring," but this novel is enjoyable.  As Bonny mentioned to me the timelines are a little weird, but still I'm liking it.  I need to finish it up, because waiting on my night stand is The God of the Woods and I just received an email that James is being held for me at the library.  When it rains it pours!

Hoping everyone has a pleasant Wednesday.  We are headed to C&M's for dinner tonight and I promised to make a strawberry-rhubarb crostata, so I will be tackling that this afternoon.  Stay cool everyone!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 7/16/24

 Hello All,

Greetings from the furnace!  Yup, Eastern PA is back to the VERY hot and sultry weather.  Yesterday was close to 100 on our patio.  Mabel goes out and collapses on the patio.  We do go out and bring her inside when we see her panting with her mouth open.  Sometimes that girl has no sense!  It has now been 4 weeks since we've had our lawn mowed.  There is no need!  No rain = no growth.  The brief shower we had Sunday that cooled things down to 80 wasn't even enough to be measured in our rain gauge.

The deer have consumed ALL of our gladiolas which had started to bloom.  Yesterday I spied one small dahlia that had opened, so I picked it and brought it inside before any creature would get it!

All of the other dahlia buds turned brown.  It is still only one dahlia plant that has produced buds (or even come up out of the ground).

The garden is not doing so well.  The eggplant has some kind of scale insect that is destroying the blooms, so no fruit.  The yellow squash plants have died.  Beans are FINALLY growing well and I picked one tiny pepper the other day.  Tomatoes are puny and not really ripening.  Fortunately Leslie brought us tomatoes from Bob's (her husband) garden:

I sliced one of the larger ones last night to go with our dinner and it was so yummy!

Meanwhile, it is Tuesday which means it's time for a Tiny Needle update.  I have a new piece that I am stitching.  It is from the book A Schoolgirl's Work by Blackbird Designs.  The design is called "Ann's Sewing Tray" (but I will not be making it into a tray).  Here is my start:

It is a soothing piece to stitch and I am enjoying it.  I'm using 40 count linen and DMC threads (1 thread over two linen threads).  Hopefully there will be more progress to show you next week.

I will see you back here tomorrow for Unraveled Wednesday!

Weekending 7/15/24

 Good Morning!

How was your weekend?  Mine was so very full...in a very good way.

Saturday morning saw me on the road early to drive to Easton, PA.  It was raining lightly when I left home, but by the time I got on the PA Turnpike, the rain had stopped.  My destination was Three Birds Cafe where I met up not only with Dee and Bonny, but also Sarah and her daughter Mo!  What a delight!!

Sarah and Mo are both wearing sweaters they made!!  We spent a delightful couple of hours chatting, sipping and working on various projects.

All too soon it was time to say goodbye and get back on the road.

And then on Sunday my friend Leslie arrived!!  Leslie's daughter Jaimie and her granddaughter Emory were with her, but they didn't hang with us...they went to a hotel to hang instead.  Jaimie is fighting bronchitis and Emory had just gotten over pneumonia and they did not want to chance getting any of us sick.  

Colin and Mailing came over in time for dinner.  After a pretty hard rain storm, it was actually pleasant enough to be outside.

All too soon C&M went home and I took Leslie back to the hotel.  

This morning will find me at the laundromat catching up on the laundry that has piled up.  We've decided to just cut our losses and buy a new washing machine.  The one we have is (obviously) a lemon and it's not worth having a repair person come out.  In the meantime, I'll be hanging at the local laundromat.