Monday, July 30, 2018

How Can It Be Monday Already???

Good Morning!


I'm not sure how it happened, but I'm already back at my desk at work...and I feel as though I just left.  I know there was a weekend and I had fun, it's just hard to believe that it has already flown by...as has July (almost).


Last week was crazy/busy at work with Lame Duck antics and Successor to Lame Duck demanding a ton of attention. Oy!  Plus working with the CEO and my other boss as well.  BUT, I did escape by 12:30 on Friday and had a lovely afternoon.


Saturday Dee arrived at my house and we took off for a fun day.  First we walked one of my favorite trails - what I call the Canal Trail which is part of the Schuylkill River trail.  The temps were mild, but it was very humid.  The trail was busy with folks jogging, biking, walking.  There were even some out on the canal kayaking.  Lots of flowers blooming and a lot of turtles in the water.


After that we headed into Phoenixville for a bit of shopping (we behaved ourselves) and then hit the farmers' market.  Next stop was lunch - I can't remember the name of the place we ate, but my Firecracker Burger (buffalo dressing and jalapenos) was delicious!  Next stop was Purls of Wisdom, the local yarn shop in Kimberton, where this skein jumped into my hands:




Madeline Tosh sock yarn and the colorway is Electric Rainbow.  I love it.  We ended up the afternoon sitting in my backyard knitting.  Dee just missed getting smacked on the head by a falling apple!  Dee got a glance at Froggy (BTW, there are now 2 frogs!!!) and Tyg kept his distance from her.


All in all, such an enjoyable Saturday and just what I needed.


Sunday was the usual laundry and grocery shopping day.  Fletch and I did head over to Otts Nursery in Schwenksville late in the afternoon.  They do not have a web site, but this is a fabulous nursery.  Tons and tons and tons of stuff.  We bought some plants for the garden (will get a picture after Fletch plants them) and I finally got my little succulent pot:



I was going to buy a container and some plants, but it was much cheaper to get one already made. 

Because the humidity dropped some, I also soaked my Winter Sea Shawl and that is now blocking.  I was tempted to do that outside, but then remembered all the bugs and slugs (yuck) we have, not to mention birds flying overhead.....Hopefully it will dry soon.

I managed to knit very little this weekend.  perhaps another inch on my sweater and I started the heel flap on the dragonfly sock but didn't get too far.  I did finish The Essex Serpent and enjoyed it a lot.  I'm now reading White Houses by Amy Bloom.  I've only read about 15% (according to my Kindle), but so far it's good.

Meanwhile, it's another busy work week.  I'm finalizing plans (contract, rooming list, etc.) for a "meeting" on Hilton Head the last week of August.  This will be the Lame Duck's last get-together with his team.  And, there's a ton of other things going on too.

Wishing you all a great week!



Friday, July 27, 2018

Friday Felines and Carrots!!

Good Morning!


Whew!  this has been a week for sure.  I won't bore you with the details, but of course my week had Lame Duck dealings and dealings with the Successor-To-Lame-Duck.  I am exhausted (and the successor needs some major "training" if you know what I mean - lol).


There were very good parts to the week though - all of which revolve around food (of course!).  Mailing has been out of town for work, so Colin was over twice this week for dinner.  On Tuesday he grilled some chicken thighs and we had roasted root veggies to go with (onions, potatoes, turnips and beets). So good!


Wednesday night Fletch and I met up with Dee and Steve for dinner which was so nice!


Colin was back last night and he grilled lamb chops to perfection.  Meanwhile we had both green beans and carrots from the garden.  Here is Tyg trying to take credit for growing the produce!




The carrots were glazed in a honey/butter combination with a bunch of sliced garlic.  Oh my!


Meanwhile, I've got to get through today at work (hoping to get out by 1...but not sure) and looking forward to tomorrow when Dee and I are getting together for a morning walk followed by some lunch and shopping.  Sounds like a perfect day to me!


Enjoy your weekend...I've gotta run.

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Froggy

Hello!


Last night I was finally able to snap a picture of Mr. Frog who has been staying around (either in or nearby) our water feature:




Can you see him?  He is dark and the weather was (still is) dark, but he's in the middle of the circle in the photo.  Tyg keeps poking around hoping to catch him, but Froggy is too quick and too smart for Mr. Tyg (thank goodness).  There were also a ton of what I call leopard slugs around (they are spotted like leopards) which totally gross me out.  I did not take any pictures of them.  You're welcome!!


I booked my flights for Sisters' Weekend in September!  Bonus - I was able to use miles which is always a plus.  I'm excited.


This is quick...Bobby (CEO) just came over with a bunch of things he needs me to do, so I'd best get on with it.


Flood watches/warnings are posted for my area through tomorrow morning or afternoon!

Monday, July 23, 2018

The Sweater Start!!

Hello All,


Soon I will need to grow gills...or perhaps webbed feet.  It has rained almost all weekend and more rain is forecast for each day through Thursday!  The garden is drinking up.  And the yard will look unkempt the way it is growing!  We did manage to pick a bit of produce between the rain showers:




The peppers are "Carnival Peppers" and are billed as a mild hot pepper.  They definitely are not as hot as jalapenos or habaneros, but after cutting and seeding about 5 of these, my hands were tingling for hours!!  They were delicious added to some homemade sauce on Saturday night and Colin used a bunch on the pizza he made for us on Friday.  The cherry tomatoes are coming in like crazy.  We can pick about double the amount shown above every day!  The variety is "Sun Gold" and they are really more orange than red and extremely sweet.  Colin also used a bunch of them on the pizza and they were excellent.


The weekend was nice - primarily filled with errands and chores, but I did (finally) manage to cast on for my Juniper Top and did not twist the stitches!!




I'm in the midst of the mindless knitting in the round for about 11 - 12 inches (I may make it a little longer).  The yarn (Berroco Remix Light) is made completely from recycled materials and is some of the softest yarn I have ever used.  I also managed to do another 10 rows or so on my sock, but forgot to take a picture of that.  Those, too, I'm making a bit longer than the pattern states.


On the reading front, I'm about a third of the way through The Essex Serpent and am enjoying it.  Of course, per usual, about 4-5 books that I was in queue for on Overdrive have all suddenly become available.  I also picked up (again) a book Colin had given me at Christmas - What She Ate - and am enjoying that as well.  I finished the section on Eleanor Roosevelt and am now in the chapter on Eva Braun.  Very interesting.  Fletch and I are continuing to read Morning's on Horseback by David McCullough and are enjoying that a lot.


Meanwhile, it's back to work and a somewhat busy week for me.  Wishing you all the best of weeks!

Friday, July 20, 2018

TGIF 7-20-18

Good Morning!


Gosh, it's a beautiful morning in Eastern PA.  Actually a little chilly on my patio this morning.  I felt so badly - when I opened the patio door this morning to let Tyg in there was a doe under our apple tree nosing around.  The deer always feast on our apples each year and this year we have almost none!  The few on the tree (maybe a dozen?) are only golf ball size.  Usually we have enough that Fletch and I make a ton of applesauce and the deer dine on the rest.


We are, however, getting carrots from our garden!  Fletch picked these last night.




Nice and skinny!!  We tried one the other week and it was very sweet.  Hopefully these will be just as good.


Look at the size of this bean:





This is from Zhongren's garden (Mailing's Dad).  A monster bean - lol.


I had planned to cast on my sweater Wednesday night, but our power went off a little before 8 p.m. and didn't come back on till 9:30 or so.  Supposedly PECO was working on "infrastructure."


Finally I finished Enchantress of Numbers which I cannot recommend.  What a slog!  The story is interesting, but the book was just so slow and (in my opinion) focused for too long on Ada's early childhood.  Yesterday I started reading The Essex Serpent but haven't gotten far enough into it to make any judgement.


Today's plan is to get through my two conference calls this morning and leave work by Noon or 1 p.m.  I plan to stop and get my hair cut (trimmed) on the way home (and maybe I will have to stop in at Marshall's....) and then I have the afternoon to myself!  Fletch and Colin are spending the day together - taking a hike and watching a movie - and I plan to rendezvous with them for dinner at Colin & Mailing's (home-made pizza!!).  Perhaps I'll be able to cast on my sweater this afternoon?  Fingers crossed.


OK, my first call is in 20 minutes, so I need to get ready for that.  Wishing you all a great Friday and a wonderful weekend - Enjoy!!