The Last Friday in June 2019

Good Morning!

How did it get to be the end of June already??  And next week will be the 4th of July!!

I did manage to knit at lunch yesterday finishing up the heel flap and heel turn on my first Rabbit Hole sock.

Such pretty colors in this yarn, I'm really enjoying knitting with it.  I brought the sock to work today, but since it's Friday I plan to leave by Noon or 1 at the latest, so I most likely won't get anything done on it until tonight.  I'm hoping to get some cleaning and some grocery shopping accomplished this afternoon.

So many things to look forward to:  tomorrow I'm meeting up with Dee at the Lansdale Farmer's Market and then we'll head over to the local coffee shop for some knitting and catching up time.

Next week will be a quick one.  I'm taking Friday off and most likely will only work a half day on Wednesday.  We'll head over to Colin & Mailing's for a cookout on the 4th and then on the 6th (Saturday), my friend (for 50+ years) Leslie will be back in the area with her daughter and granddaughter and will crash at our place.  Excited to see them!  Fletch and I are also on cat duty at Colin & Mailing's the 5th - 7th as those two will be in NYC for the weekend.

Meanwhile, it's time to make a cup of tea and try to do a little work.  It's Friday and breakfast is being catered!!

Enjoy the weekend.

Thursday Brings a Finish

Well Hello There,

My intention was to post yesterday, but I wanted to wait until Fletcher's socks were completed and that finally happened at lunch yesterday.  After that the day kind of got away from me.  But here they are in all their glory:

I really like them.  The Madeline Tosh yarn in the colorway Tart is wonderful.  Such a nice yarn and the color is so rich.  I also really like the top of the sock where I used the Gladys Sock Pattern - just the top part.  I don't really like the pattern on the balance of the leg.  Anyhoo, a freebie on Ravelry, and a good one!  I'm glad to have them off the needles.  The Rabbit Hole traveled to work with me this morning.  I'm finished the pattern part of the first sock and am on the heel flap.  Hopefully I'll finish the flap and turn the heel today at lunch.

There are a number of walking trails in the corporate center where my office is.  I walked on one of them yesterday for the first time!  It really was lovely, meandering through a wooded area and I could hear a creek in the distance (and kids laughing).  I went out around 9:30 (obviously a slow morning) and only walked for 20 minutes or so, but what a nice break!  I'm going to try to get out today as well.  I prefer the early morning before the heat (and humidity) of the day (plus, my lunch time is devoted to knitting...and we all know I have to watch where I walk, so I cannot knit and walk at the same time - lol).

Did anyone draw/play with a Spirograph growing up?  I sure did and I loved it - especially when I had brand new colored pencils or pens to use.  Yesterday when I got home, I was looking at the sunflower and it reminded me of a Spirograph drawing so much.

Click on the image to see what I mean.  And, a close up shot that I don't really like, but it shows tiny bits of blue!! in the center which surprised me.

Interesting.  Also, our Trumpet vine is now blooming and the hummingbirds have arrived - going to the vine as well as our feeders.

The shots are a little fuzzy - using my phone and the blooms are high up in one of our trees.

Last night Fletch and I were sitting on the patio around 8:30 and noticed really pretty clouds.

Only unusual because this is the Eastern sky.  Normally we just have color in the West.  Our Western sky was just drab last night, but the East was lovely.  And then we noticed our friend was back.

Tyg is always on the lookout for him...he tries to sneak up on poor little froggy, but Mr. Frog is smart.

We also saw The Fantastic Mr. Fox trot by in the early evening, but he is too quick for me to get a picture.

OK, that's the nature wrap for today.  The weekend is almost here and I am SO ready!!

Progress is Evident

Good Morning!

We had a bit of rain overnight and it sounded wonderful!  Fletch is in the midst of putting a metal roof on our patio roof and there is something very comforting to me to hear rain hitting a metal roof.  It should also make the patio a bit more comfortable in that the metal roof is white (it has been black shingles), so will cut down on the heat we feel.

Things are progressing garden-wise.  More color in the coneflowers each day!  And the sunflower is opening wider.

We are once again growing eggplants in a pot rather than in the garden.  And the first one is growing!!

I love to slice and broil eggplant and then add to pizza.  Yum!!

I did try the pickled jalapenos last night and they are very HOT!  A recipe I have used in the past calls for simmering the pepper slices in vinegar, sugar & water.  The recipe I tried this time eliminated that step - just warming the vinegar, water and sugar and then pouring over the peppers.  They are good, but I could not eat many of them.

On the knitting front, I worked last night on the Rabbit Hole Sock putting in a few rows.  I'm on the 5th repeat of the pattern and once done that I will knit the heel flap and turn the heel.  This one sock has been on the needles for far too long!  Of course, there is another one to do when this is finished.

These are a bit fiddly (for me) with doing two cable stitches on each needle, so I left this sock at home and brought the red one (for Fletch) to work on today.  I'm about half done the foot and hope to get to the toe decrease at lunch today.

Well, I'm off to make some Turmeric Ginger tea and try to get a little work done.  Hope everyone is having a good week!

Monday and Back to Work

Hello Everyone,

How was your weekend?  Mine was good.  I did manage to accomplish some of the things I wanted to do...definitely not all, but I'm ok with that.  It was busy with lots of running around, but what a gorgeous weekend weather-wise.  Now I feel the heat and humidity creeping back in.

Today is shaping up to be a very busy one at work, but I wanted to show a few things from the weekend. 

Our first cherry tomatoes ripened!!

So good.  We shared these last night (along with grilled steaks and corn on the cob).  I also managed to make some pickled jalapenos.  I found a recipe that was faster than what I normally do...now to see if they are as good...

Our coneflowers came back and have grown incredibly fast.  On Saturday one bloom was just beginning to show some color:

So pretty.  We have a sunflower right next to this plant that is about to open as well.

A little knitting was done - not much, but that's ok.  We watched this movie on Saturday, but it wasn't very good (personal opinion).  However, the new season of Endeavour continues to please.

Gotta run - hope you all had great weekends and I'll try to get to your blogs a bit later to find out what's been going on.

Random Stuff on a Friday

Hi All,

Tis the Summer Solstice!  Not sure we will be able to tell that it is the day with the most amount of daylight as it's pretty grey outside (still).  I see the sun coming through the clouds occasionally and I think the weekend is supposed to be pleasant.

Like Bridget Summer is not my favorite season.  I don't like the heat and humidity (especially since I no longer "sunbathe" as I did in my foolish youth - losing half a nose will convince you to not do that - lol).  But, I do like the light and I do like the flowers and the garden produce.  I do like the little frogs and toads that show up (not so much the slugs).  And I absolutely LOVE listening to the rain in the summer (so I haven't really minded all the rain we've had this past week).

Good news!  I took a walk after dinner last night with Colin and did not stumble or fall!!  Woo-Hoo.  We walked about 3 miles on a paved trail along the Perkiomen - a trail that Colin walks morning and noon on days when he goes into his office.  The water was very high and, in places, ran over the trail.  It was pretty humid and sticky... boy did it feel good to walk.  Hopefully I can get some more walking in this weekend.

Fletch and I have a memorial service to attend Saturday afternoon and we plan to car shop Saturday morning (hopefully coming to a decision on what to buy).  Sunday looks pretty open, but I'm thinking that I really need to do some cleaning (major) and grocery shopping (after PLANNING - what a concept - some meals for next week).  Laundry, of course, always needs to be done.

This week has also brought me 3 new postcards from Postcrossing!  I'm so glad I signed up for this - it has been a lot of fun.  I requested a couple more addresses this morning, so will be writing some postcards over the weekend.

I'm not a big TV person at all, but I've written down some movies/shows I'd like to check out, so maybe Saturday night?  And, Endeavour will be back on PBS for the next episode in the new season.  YAY.

My Kindle has been acting up again...or rather books are just not downloading to it that I check out on Overdrive.  I believe I've figured it out, we'll see.  A book I checked out today is This One which looks like it could be good.  It also happens to be the current Big Library Read - is anyone else reading it?

That's all I've got for now.  It's almost 1 p.m. and I'm hoping to leave my office pronto (wish me luck).  Hoping you all have wonderful weekends!

Unraveled Wednesday 06/19/19

Good Morning!

Pardon me while I check out my feet - just making sure I haven't developed webbing between my toes!  Gosh it is wet...and 96% humidity this a.m.  More of the same through Thursday and then I think Friday is supposed to be sunny and 79 or so. 

The garden has been exploding with sugar snap peas.  Fletch is picking gallon bags daily!  The other night we had our first strawberry (yes, singular - it was large enough that we could split it) and cherry tomatoes should be ready to pick any day.  Onions and potatoes are growing quickly as well.

I've also noticed some weird things garden-wise.  First up one of our burning bushes (we have 3) is already turning red!  Second, our trumpet vine is already blooming...and there are a lot of blooms.  Usually that doesn't happen till July.  Hopefully we will see the hummingbirds soon.  Last, we are growing mushrooms EVERYWHERE.  Colin gave me a planter box with white icicle radish seeds (one of my favorite radishes) planted in it for Mother's Day.  The radishes are not doing so well, but the spores?  Taking off!

Last night those little 'shrooms were tiny and close to the dirt.  This morning they are standing several inches high!

On the other hand, knitting is going well.  I'm staying loyal to the socks I am making for Fletch and not knitting on anything else.  Monday I finished up the first sock at lunch and started #2 that evening.  Here's where I'm at right now:

Difficult to get a good picture on this grey day, so it is hard to see the pattern.  The finished sock also looks weirdly huge in this photo - lol.  But...I had Fletch try it on Monday night and it fits perfectly!

I'm excited and looking forward to trying something new!  The latest MDK Field Guide is all about socks - cuff down, toe up and lots of different patterns.  I am Determined to learn how to knit socks toe up.  The provisional cast on may throw me for a loop, but I will give it a try once these are off the needles.

Linking up with Kat on this Unraveled Wednesday.  Head on over to her blog to see what she and others are making and reading.

How Can It Be Monday Already?

Hello!

How was your weekend?  Mine was good, but I'm sitting at my desk at work and I feel like I just left here 10 minutes ago!  Turns out the car issue last week wasn't a spark plug, but rather an ignition coil which is much more expensive and much more involved to replace.  Fletch took the car in Friday morning and was not able to pick me up till 4:30 - I have not worked till 4:30 in years!!  To make it worse, I had planned on leaving work by Noon so had not brought a book or knitting with me.  Lesson learned - never leave home without at least one of those items.  But, many $$$ later, the car is fixed and running well.

Saturday I got my knee stitches out and then we ran around to car dealerships.  We have managed to narrow our choices down.  There is one more car that we want to test drive and then we'll decide what to buy.  That afternoon we headed over to Colin & Mailing's for a Father's Day dinner.  OMG.  What fabulous food.  I'm not normally a fan of meatballs...just don't like them.  BUT, the ones Mailing made were so good and the sauce was wonderful as well as the home made pasta.  Colin grilled romaine lettuce which was really good too.  Dessert was home made chocolate mousse with whipped cream, shaved chocolate, shaved  nutmeg and strawberries from the CSA farm:

So Delicious!!  After dinner we took a walk in a local park (and I did NOT trip and fall!!) and then sat around the fire pit.  It was a lovely evening.

Sunday morning I met up with Dee for some coffee, knitting and mostly chatting😊

Cardamom black pepper lattes are very tasty!  I highly recommend.  Some knitting was actually accomplished and a bit more last night.  I have about 6 rows left on the toe decrease of sock #1.

Hoping for a chance to finish this at lunch today.  I put it away before we turned on the new season of Endeavour last night.

All in all, a very nice weekend, but I still feel as though I just left work 10 minutes ago!  Hope your weekend was fun.

Happy Friday

Good Morning!

We had some storms last night, but woke up to a gorgeous, though chilly, morning.  Only 54 at 6:30, but a clear, brilliant blue sky.

I have no Friday Feline picture for you today, but y'all need to hop over to Dee's Blog and see what Giroux is doing - hysterical doesn't even begin to describe it.

But, I do have a Tyg story.  This morning around 5:45, Tyg and Mr. Fox went racing by on the patio!  I opened the door and Mr. Fox ran off.  Tyg would not come in, though he did stay on the patio.  I believe this is the same fox that we saw Tyg go out to greet the other evening.  Geeze.  It's like having a teenager who is hanging out with the wrong crowd!  You just pray they will make the right decisions.

Next up:  cars.  I'll blame Kathy B for mentioning cars (and car noises) on her blog yesterday.  I was almost home yesterday when the idle suddenly got very rough and the check engine light came on.  Remember we are down to only one car.  Luckily Fletch has a code reader for the check engine light and it turns out one of the spark plugs needs to be replaced.  The car is due for an oil change anyway, so Fletch will set an appointment for next week (hopefully early in the week).

Saturday should be a good day - I get my stitches out!!  Woo-Hoo!  I'll just go back to the urgent care place where I had the stitches put in and they open at 8 am.  After that, Fletch and I are taking off for the Toyota dealer and the Subaru dealer where we plan to test drive a few vehicles.  While in the area we will stop at Costco (hope we can make it a quick stop - HA!) for a couple of things.

We are heading over to Colin & Mailing's for a Father's Day dinner Saturday night.  Mailing's parents will be there too as well as her sister and her boyfriend.  Colin is making home-made pasta and Mailing is making meatballs and sauce.  Col is also going to grill romaine lettuce and I think he said make a chocolate mousse.  Yum!!

Sunday Dee and I are meeting up for a much needed therapy session, i.e., coffee and knitting and chatting.  I'm really looking forward to that!

Last, but not least, I'll get to do some laundry with my fixed washing machine - lol.

Wishing all the Dads out there a very Happy Father's Day.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Thursday Things

Good Rainy Morning!

I woke this a.m. to the sound of rain...it was so hard to get out of bed.  I love laying in bed and listening to the rain hit the roof.  To me it is such a soothing sound.  Ah well, work beckoned and I got up, made the coffee, etc., etc. and here I am.

First of all, thanks for all your well wishes about our washer.  All is good!  The *wizard* repaired the machine for under $200 which is quite a bit less than a new washer would have cost.  Count me happy on that front.

Next up is sock progress:

Yesterday at lunch I finished the heel flap and last night I turned the heel and am on the foot now.  Won't be long till this one is finished and I can start the mate.  Hoping to get a bit more done at lunch today.

And last, have any of you used Bees Wrap?

Colin and Mailing left us some zucchini bread wrapped in this.  I had heard of it, but never seen or used it.  It feels a little waxy (duh - bees wax) and almost a bit dampish.  I put the wrapped bread on our counter and it left a little bit of a film.  Yesterday I unwrapped it to cut a piece for breakfast and found that the bread was moldy😢.  Now, I had not put it in the fridge and I suppose I should have done that.  Anyway, this wrap is re-useable and washable.  So last night I washed it and hung it up to dry to return to Colin.  It was weird to wash and I wonder if I really got it clean?  Hard to tell.  If any of you have experience with this stuff, let me know.  I like the idea that it is re-useable, but I'm a bit unsure about it...inquiring minds want to know.

That's it for this morning.  I've got to hustle to get out some financial reports this morning.  Wishing you all the best Thursday!

Unraveled Wednesday 6-12-19

Good Morning!


It is another beautiful day here in Eastern PA.  We've been having low humidity and cooler nights which make for perfect sleeping weather.

The other day I was able to knit a bunch of rows on the Tosh Tart sock and I've now started the heel flap.

Hoping to again be able to work on this at lunch and get through the flap and the heel turn.  Tosh yarn is just a delight to knit with and the color is wonderful.

The only unraveling that has occurred is on the appliance side - oh joy!  Saturday I put the sheets in the washer.  When the cycle had ended I took them out of the washer to hang outside.  They were dripping - as in the spin cycle had not spun!  Luckily it was a sunny and breezy day, so the sheets did dry.  I tried another small load thinking it was just a fluke, but the same thing happened.  So, the "appliance wizard" (a repair person Fletch calls whenever we have an issue) is coming over today.  I'm hoping for a quick (inexpensive) fix rather than having to go out and buy a new machine.  But, honestly, I can't remember when we bought the washer and we can't seem to find any manual/paperwork for it.  That leads me to believe that it is over 20 or 25 years old!  If we do need to replace it, I guess I won't be surprised.

We did finally start to look at cars over the weekend too.  We want something economical to drive, and looked at VWs and Mazdas.  Monday Fletch checked out Hondas and Subarus.  He still wants to check out a few Hybrids (I think Toyotas) and then we will road test some.  So far we like the Subaru CrossTrek and the VW Golf - both small SUVs - almost like high station wagons.  I drove Colin's Mazda 3 yesterday and really like it, but it is 2 years old and I don't like the newer  model.  Luckily we are not in a huge rush.

Meanwhile, my week at work has been spent on large spreadsheets.  More of the same today.

To find out what others are up to, hop over to Kat's to see what folks are knitting/reading this week.

June Weekending

Hello All,

My intention was to post on Friday, but it quickly became a very busy day at work.  On the plus side, I was able to leave the office shortly after Noon and start my weekend a little early.

Around 3:30 p.m., Fletch and I joined Colin and drove over to the Kimberton CSA Farm.  Col & Mailing bought a subscription for the summer and they get a box of produce every Friday.  They were going away for 5 days, and wanted us to have the goods!  Oh my.  What a lot of food:

There were strawberries and peas, baby turnips, zucchini and yellow squash, parsley, oregano, chives, cilantro, lettuce, scallions, Swiss chard, collards, kale, dandelion greens - I'm probably missing something.  It was a struggle to fit everything into the fridge!  On Saturday it took forever to trim the greens - lol.  I ended up making a huge pot of ALL the greens and then added black eyed peas and fire roasted tomatoes with chilies - sort of a hoppin john.  Fletch said it was really good.  I couldn't eat it because I pulled a couple of worms out of the pot and couldn't be sure I had gotten them all.  The down side of fresh produce!!

The plan was to make zucchini bread, but Colin & Mailing had given us some, so I grated most of the zucchini and it is in the freezer for when I am next inspired to bake some.  We gave some zucchini and lettuce to a neighbor.  We grilled the little patty pan squash last night and it was delicious - very sweet.

So, most of Saturday was spent prepping and cooking food.  Sunday I was able to relax a bit.  Since Colin & Mailing are away, we are on cat duty.  I drove over to their place Sunday after breakfast and stayed for about 2 hours.  It was so nice to sit and knit in their sun room.  Talbot kept me company - staring at me from his perch (or his throne!!) - perhaps he wanted to learn how to knit?

Marcel hung out in another room.  I worked on a new pair of socks in the Tart colorway by Tosh.

The pattern is Gladys - a free pattern on Ravelry.  I am just doing the very top of the pattern (the "rig and furrow" portions and the herringbone pattern) and I met my goal of getting through that portion.  Now it is just plain knitting, so these came to work with me today - hoping for some lunchtime knitting.

Last night I also put some more rows in on my Down the Rabbit Hole socks which are coming along (despite being neglected all last week):

I'm really enjoying this Grapefruit Sangria yarn - so pretty!!

The Odyssey Shawl did not get worked on per se.  But...the lace work includes some new to me stitches (making a hole and Purling 2 TBL), and I decided I'd best try those out on a swatch.  It took a bit of doing, but I feel comfortable now trying those stitches on the actual shawl.  If I'm not too tired after running over to Colin & Mailing's tonight to feed Talbot & Marcel, I may work on it.

Our garden is growing rapidly.  Fletch has been picking sugar snap peas every day!  He says we should have some cherry tomatoes within a week or so.  And our 7 Sisters Rose started blooming over the weekend:

So pretty.  The original bush was growing on Fletcher's grandmother's farm in Suffolk, VA.  His Mom took a cutting and was growing it in Norfolk.  When we bought our house, she gave us a cutting to plant. 

After a beautiful weekend (70's and low humidity), it is grey and rainy today.  The goal will be to stay awake - lol.  Wishing you all a wonderful start to the week - enjoy!

Unraveled Wednesday 06-05-19

Good Morning!

First of all, thank you all for your kind words and healing wishes.  I actually thought I might drive home yesterday, but by the time Fletch picked me up I was pretty uncomfortable and felt miserable last night.  No sleep!  Fletch says intense healing is going on and that's why.  Hoping he is correct.  Meanwhile, he dropped me off this morning, but I may go home mid-day and try to get a little nap in.  Thank God everyone at work is so understanding - makes a world of difference.  OK, enough whining.

On the knitting front, I have not accomplished a whole lot, but there has been no more unraveling.  I brought the Odyssey shawl to work today in case I end up staying through lunch.  So here is a shot as of this morning:

I only have 10 more rows and then it will be time to start the first lace panel!  I can't wait for that.  Of course, this shawl grows by 4 stitches every other row, so it is taking longer and longer to knit a row.  I'm hoping to at least get to the lace panel today/tonight.  I also need to remember to put in a lifeline...just in case.....

Nothing new on the reading front, but I had a few more books come through on Overedrive, so hopefully something will spark my interest.

Our weather has been just delightful.  Warmish days (70's) and cool nights - I actually had to grab a blanket for the bed last night!  Fletch picked up some petunias and zinnias from the nursery yesterday.  We still have a few areas to fill in, but things are looking nice.

Wishing you all a wonderful day!

What a Klutz!!

Good Morning!

How was your weekend? Mine was not exactly as planned.  We started out Saturday morning driving over to Colin & Mailing's.  From there we walked to breakfast (about a mile walk through lovely neighborhoods) and after breakfast walked over to the Farmers' Market.  Walking back to Colin & Mailing's from the Farmers' Market, I managed to trip on the uneven sidewalk and go down hard.  My right knee was torn up pretty badly.  We bandaged me up back at the house and had some delicious drinks and then Colin grilled lunch for us.  By the time Fletch and I got home (around 4 p.m.), my knee was still bleeding badly so off to the Urgent Care we went.  I ended up getting 8 stitches in my knee - right across the part where you bend when walking...I have to keep my leg straight for several days.  Geeze!  Maybe all this walking isn't such a good idea for me.

Dee and I had made plans to meet up for some coffee, chatting, knitting and lunch on Sunday...but I can't drive!  Dee is so sweet😊 - she came over and picked me up and off we went.  It was so good to get together with her again.  Thanks Dee for being such a good friend!

We did get some very good things at the Farmers' market on Saturday.  A bunch of different mushrooms and Sea Beans which I had never heard of.  They are delicious!  Great just to snack on and I think they would be wonderful in a salad.  The woman who sold them to me said she likes to oil a grill pan and then just lightly grill them.  Yum.

Anyhoo, I set about to make dinner last night:

First I sauteed some shallots and garlic scapes, then added all the mushrooms...cooked things a bit and added cherry tomatoes and fresh basil (and more EVOO).  Served over "ancient grains" pasta - it was delicious:

Sunday morning I re-started (yes there was some unraveling) the Odyssey shawl and I am up to the point where I unraveled.

I wanted the dark yarn at the top of the shawl and it will move into the light greens as I go along.  The pattern (so far) is easy to memorize and the yarn is really nice to knit.  There is a bit of stellina in it, so a bit of sparkle.  I love it!

Well, Fletch drove me into work this a.m., and I guess I should get some work-work done instead of blogging - lol.  Hope you all have a great day!