Friday Felines

 Good Morning!  

Another rainy day and the temps are dropping.  But, it's Friday and that, my friends, is a wonderful thing.  Work was long yesterday and my eyes were spinning from all the numbers, but I got through it (and early...my deadline was today).  Now I've a conference call at 10 and I think I should be able to knock off a bit early today.  Fingers crossed.

For your Friday Felines viewing pleasure:

The question is:  Is Tyg grooming?  Or just hiding his eyes from the camera?  (Just ignore the messy table, please...it is always like this...)

I'm looking forwqrd to meeting up with Dee tomorrow morning for some chatter knitting (Dee wrote that to me in an email and I love the phrase or description "chatter knitting" meaning something you can work on while talking).  We are going to check out a new Starbucks and I think we'd best have our woolens on - it is going to be a cold morning!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!!

Fall

 Hey There - Good Morning!

I'm happy to report that I survived my work meeting yesterday.  It was surprisingly not as long as I anticipated and not quite as long winded with unnecessary talk as I expected.  There was still much that was said unnecessarily, but overall a better experience than I thought.  One thing that annoys me is when people say they will get something to you in a couple of hours and then it is much, much later.  The finance guy promised to send out the "master - parent- company" spreadsheet in a few hours after our meeting...so I assumed I would have it by 3 or 4 at the latest...maybe 5.  Nope - it came through the airways close to 10 p.m. last night.  My day (most of it) today will be spent completing that spreadsheet.

However, there was delight yesterday.  I spied this tree along the drive into my office complex.

Gorgeous, isn't it?  Just brilliant.  There are still a number of trees around here like that.  And some that I call half and half:  the top half has changed to red or orange or gold or a mix of colors and the bottom is still vibrant green.  However, today is a heavy rain day with the remnants of the hurricane, so by tomorrow many trees will be bare branches (still beauty there my friends).

My drive to work is very pretty.  I typically drive through part of Valley Forge Park.  There is a house right at the edge of the park that every year is decorated for Halloween.  Yesterday I finally pulled into a parking lot across the street (Valley Forge Post Office) and took some pictures.  First the whole thing:

You should be able to click to enlarge.  I like the leg sticking out of the cart on the far right - lol.  And here are two close ups - first the left side and then the right.

The bottom picture looks like a skeleton in a bathtub!

I think there are more decorations this year.  Maybe it's that people are home more and have time to do it?  Or folks are so bored with staying at home?  Whatever the reason, I'm enjoying the Halloween decorations.  I'd love to get more pictures, but many are on busy roads where there is no space to pull over.

Last night I ended up doing a little baking!  I had been thinking about pumpkin bread...with cranberries and with pecans.  So I made some.

My kitchen smelled so good while this was baking.  The loaf on the left did break in two after I took it out of the pan - lol.  That will be our loaf.  I will most likely give the second loaf to Colin & Mailing.

That's it for me this Thursday morning.  I've got to get cracking on my regular Thursday morning financial reports and then buckle down and get that spreadsheet completed.  Wishing you all a wonderful "it's almost Friday" kind of day.

Unraveled Wednesday 10/28/20

Good Morning!

It's mid-week and all is well.  I actually saw blue skies on my drive home from the office yesterday.  I was home by Noon, so was able to sit down to lunch with Fletch.  After that I went upstairs to nap, but really just rested for 45 minutes or so.  And, by the time I was back downstairs it had gotten overcast again.  We tried to sit on the patio before dinner, but I was too chilly.

Today I have to go back to the office.  Not what I had planned!!  LOL  Turns out I have yet another meeting with finance and some other folks regarding bonus payouts.  The company I work for is extremely generous and rewards employees constantly.  Managers in the field receive bonus payments in early December each year.  They have to be funded from excess profit at the unit level which makes sense.  This year in addition to those bonuses the company has decided to also hand out "Covid bonus" payments to folks at those accounts who were greatly impacted by the pandemic - think facilities in New York City, some in Texas and many in California as well.  So, in addition to the "regular" bonus payments I have already rolled into spreadsheets, there is an additional approximately 1,000 payments that need to be rolled in!  And, of course, our spreadsheets are formulated the way they have always been and our parent company wants to see the data in a different format, so we have to do that.  Whew!  That's a lot of numbers.

Of course, personal opinion here, we don't need a meeting about this.  We just need to get it done.  A meeting like this is a huge waste of time.  As Bill (my boss) said to me yesterday:  "be sure to bring your patience to the meeting."  Ha!  He knows I lack patience in that department.  Oh Well.

Right now it is still early though so let's have an Unraveled Wednesday.  Linking up with Kat and other Unravelers to talk about our knitting and books.  Last night I managed to knit another 10 or 15 rows on my Aspen socks (named for the colorway of the yarn):

The yarn is gorgeous and easy to knit with and the pattern I've chosen (Brandi Socks by Debbie Bliss) is very easy to memorize.  A pretty lace pattern.

I stretched it over a canning jar so the pattern is visible.  

On the reading front, I picked up Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey at the library the other day on the recommendation of Bonny and have started it.  So far, so good.  I'm not reading it fast (I haven't read anything fast in months...reading slump and all that), but I'm enjoying it so far.  Fletch and I are back to reading after dinner now that we are no longer running over to Colin & Mailing's to feed the cats.  We picked back up where we left off in These is My Words and are enjoying it.  Taming the wild west was not easy!!

Colin & Mailing have invited us over for a fire Sunday evening (if it is not too chilly!! - our low Friday is supposed to be in the 20's).  It will be so good to see them again and catch up - hear about their honeymoon, etc.

My kitchen floor is still very dirty...I've been avoiding that chore.  It won't happen today since I'm going back to the office.  But, maybe tomorrow.  We are supposed to have heavy rain all day long.  Glad I can be home that day.  Word now is that my office may re-open in March 2021!  That will be a full year!!  Hard to believe.

Time to fix another cup of coffee (black pepper, cardamom and turmeric - YUM) and do a little work before getting ready to go to the office.  I don't plan to leave here till 10 which is a luxury!!  Hope your Wednesday is a good one.

Tiny Needle Tuesday 10/27/20

 Hello and Good Morning,

I think it will be another grey and damp day.  A bit hard to tell right now since it is still very dark outside.  A little later I will drive to my office, meet with Bill, do a few things and then turn around and come home.  Maybe a nap this afternoon?  I've been awake since 2:30 a.m.  I believe I would have fallen back asleep, but Tyg jumped up on the bed and if he was not furiously grooming and moving around, then he was purring ultra loud.  LOL

Before I get into TNT, I wanted to mention black pepper.  Have you ever put it on ice cream?  Several weeks ago when Fletch and I were grocery shopping, one of the checkers was talking about putting black pepper on ice cream.  She said a chef had just been in her line and he highly recommended it.  We kind of forgot about it until the other day when Fletch wanted some ice cream for dessert.  He remembered the black pepper and tried it.  DELICIOUS!!!  I've heard of putting salt on melons, but had never heard of pepper on ice cream.  Try it!!

Yesterday afternoon I went on line to check on our ballots and I'm happy to report that both of our votes have been recorded.  YAY!!

Well, let's get to the stitching.  I managed to stitch a bit more this past week.  I've rounded the corner at the upper right!

I couldn't resist stitching the little mouse in the upper right.  There are so many cute animals in this sampler - rabbits, foxes, deer, squirrels and a mouse!

He (she?) was fun to stitch and I like the end result.  I think I will move back to the left side of this sampler next and do another Quaker geometric motif...and maybe add the Bear that also appears on this sampler.

OK, time to get moving.  I've got work to do before I shut down this laptop and drive to the office.  Have a great Tuesday!

Monday Again

 Hello, Hello,

Well, another weekend in the books.  They seem to come and then go awfully quickly these days.  Our weather has been grey and very damp now for a week or more.  Last week was mild, but Saturday the temps began to fall and Sunday was downright raw and cold.  Fletch and I noticed that our Crepe Myrtle is gorgeous this year.  Brilliant red leaves which we don't ever remember seeing in prior years.  Likewise, our Red Bud tree is a gorgeous yellow and green.

We don't remember it being this brilliant in prior years.  (One of our Burning Bushes is next to it.)  The picture doesn't really show how bright it is - another grey day and difficult to capture colors.  Now that it is the end of October (wait...what???) our Morning Glory is beginning to flower as well.  There is no explaining it, but we are enjoying having some color on these dreary days.

So, what did we do?  Saturday I did 3 loads of laundry.  We drove to the municiple building in Skippack to drop off our Election Ballots, but we got there at 10:30 and they did not open till 11.  We left and went grocery shopping.  We just needed a few things, but $150 later we walked out of the store.  Geeze!  I also scrubbed two bathrooms that day.  Sunday we did manage to get to the municiple building when they were open and both of our ballots have been cast.  I never did get to my kitchen floor...maybe today...maybe not.  Currently it is raining outside (Tyg came in soaking wet this a.m.) and it is difficult to feel inspired to do anything!

I did manage to cast on for a new pair of socks though!

Pretty fallish colors.  The yarn is a 75/25 blend and is "Less Traveled Yarn" in their Creosote Collection.  The colorway is Aspen.  This is the first time I've used this brand of yarn and it is very nice.  The pattern I am knitting is Brandi Socks by Debbie Bliss.  A pretty lace work sock.

In other news, the kids (Colin & Mailing) did make it home safely on Friday.  Col texted late afternoon that they were home.  We have not heard from them all weekend and we did not bother them.  We figured they had a lot to do (laundry, mail to go through, groceries, etc.) over the weekend and probably just needed to chill a bit.  They are both back to work today.  I'm hoping we can see them next weekend, but I'm also conscious of giving them space.

Tomorrow I will probably be heading to the office.  Bill wants to do my annual review/appraisal.  I've already seen it (very nice) and I know what my increase is, but he likes to do these things in person, and that's fine.  I have a few documents I need/want to print in color and I should really catch up with Bruce at some point (if he is not traveling again).

My brother in Boulder said they are expecting 8" or so of snow in town and a foot or more in the mountains!  Hopefully that will help the awful fires out there.  They need some relief.

Here's to another week - hope it's a great one for everyone.

Friday and a Finish!

 Hello and Good Morning!

It's another mild one out there.  This whole week has felt not like October at all.  But...I think more seasonable temps will come our way on Sunday.

This is a busy morning for me - conference calls at 8:30, 10:00 and 11:00.  It's like this every other Friday and I don't like it!  LOL  Fletch will be on cat feeding duty this a.m. since I'll be tied up with the phone glued to my ear.  And the kids will be home sometime this afternoon!  And thus will end the cat feeding for now.

The party rental folks were at C&M's house when I got there yesterday afternoon.  It didn't take too long for them to load up their truck.  Nice to have the garage cleared out for the kids.  Work was a little busy yesterday (and already this morning!!), but I can feel the madness easing up somewhat and I think by next week things will be much calmer (fingers crossed).

The nice news though is that the Lava Socks are finished!!

And a close up (a bit blurry) of the lace pattern.

The close up also shows the very subtle variation in color in the yarn.  I love it.  Thanks Val for such a great pattern!

We have no real plans for the weekend which is perfect.  We need to pick up just a few items from the grocery store and (of course) there is a bunch of laundry to get done...bathrooms to clean...kitchen floor to clean...etc.  Hopefully some quiet moments for knitting and stitching.  How about you?  Any plans for the weekend?

Unraveled Wednesday 10/21/20

 Good Morning!

Another night of good sleep!!  Not quite as straight through as the night before, but better than most nights have been.  I'm grateful.

And mild!  Yowzers!  It was in the low 70's when Fletch and I sat on the patio before dinner.  Weird.  But I will take it.

Fletch got our garlic planted yesterday.  Quite a bit more than last year, and we still have plenty left that we harvested.  Last night we had a salad with dinner and it was made up of greens (several kinds of lettuce, chard, spinach, bok choy) from the cold frame box and we even harvested some more cherry tomatoes.  A gift at this time of year.

My work day was a bit busier than I expected yesterday (ha!), so I never got out for a walk.  But I did get 3 loads of laundry done!  Today I need to feed the cats (C&M's cats) and pick up a couple of things at the grocery store.  We have a plumber coming at 10 ($$$).  I don't need to be home for that.  Tomorrow I need to head back into the office just for a short time in the morning.  By 1:30 I have to be at Colin & Mailing's to meet the "party rental" fools folks who FINALLY called to set up a time I could meet them.  All the farm tables, linens, plates, flatware, etc. are still in C&M's garage.  It will be good to have those things finally gone by the time C&M get home (Friday!!).

Now it's mid-week and Unraveled Wednesday.  Like my TNT post yesterday, not a whole lot of knitting has gone on.  I did manage to do a bit when Dee and I met up on Saturday and I put a few more rows in last night.

I think I have about 10 rows left on the foot and then will do the toe decreases and then the Kitchener closure.  I'm ready for these to be finished.  I'm not sure if they will be for me 😊 or someone else.  Last night I noticed a dropped stitch which I managed to fix, but I want to look at them all overall (both socks) and make sure they look nice enough to gift.  I've also made the feet fairly large (I wear a size 10 shoe), and most of my friends have smaller feet than me.  But...we will see.  The color is perfect for my friend Janet in Rhode Island (one of the sisters).

On the reading front, I gave up on "The Door."  It was due back at the library and I found myself reading it very slowly but not really retaining anything.  I've picked up "Olive, Again" where I left off and (even though the stories are all very bleak) I'm enjoying it.  Fletch's and my reading after dinner has been on hold for a bit due to needing to head over to Colin & Mailing's after dinner to feed the cats.  Usually I go and do the morning feeding and Fletch does the evening run.  Last night we went together though which was nice.  And tonight I think we are planning to have a fire in our fire pit.  Looking forward to that.

As usual, I'm linking up with Kat on this Unraveled Wednesday.  Be sure to check out her blog and the links to see what others are making and reading.

And a funny for you.  My friend Carol (who is not a knitter) sent this to me.  Happy Wednesday!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 10/20/20

 Good Morning!

How are you this Tuesday morning?  I am doing well and waiting for it to get a little lighter outside.  It is warmer this morning - in the 50's, and the whole week is supposed to be pretty nice.  Last night I slept for 9 hours!!!  I was so tired (again) last night that I went upstairs to bed before 9:30.  I read, but couldn't manage more than 4 pages before I had to turn out the light.  Figured I would wake up at 2 or 3 a.m. and be awake the rest of the night, but I never woke up until 6:40 this morning!  Woo-Hoo and Hooray for a good night's sleep.

Before I forget, I want to mention that I discovered a number of comments on my blog that were emailed to me (as they are supposed to be), but ended up in my spam folder...I clean that out every week or two, so my apologies for not acknowledging all comments.  Not sure what's up with that.

Yesterday was a longer day in the office than I had anticipated...and longer than I have been in there in months!  However, I don't need to go back in until a day next week, so that is good news (I had thought I would need to be in today as well).

Forgetting work for a bit (!!), it is TNT, or Tiny Needle Tuesday.  Not much progress has been made since last week, but here is what I managed to accomplish:

This motif is not yet complete.  There will be a bunch more stitching inside this one.  The yellow is at times hard to see on the linen I'm using.  I have to make sure my light is strong and I use magnification too.  Even more difficult to see on the whole piece:

It is on the far right and is the same color as the yellow on the far left.  The next motif to the right of the yellow one is the corner at the upper right.  It will be nice to have the entire top stitched.

We did (FINALLY) receive our mail in ballots last week.  We will complete them and drop them (not mail them) at a location near us.  (I don't trust the mail to get them in on time.)  We've been bringing in Colin & Mailing's mail while they are away, and their ballots still have not arrived!!  It's frustrating.

As I mentioned above, the week is supposed to be gorgeous.  I'm hoping to get out for a walk today.  I do have a conference call, but not until 3:30, so I should be ok for walking around lunch time.  This morning I'll run over to the kids' house to feed the cats and will probably leave the door to their sunroom open for those critters since it's supposed to be so nice.  It was good to hear from them that they made it to Key West safely.  

Time to get to work - emails are flying in.  Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Weekending

 Hello, Hello!

I'm writing Sunday night which is weird for moi.  But, hey!  work is CRAZY busy and I have a moment now when I can post.  Catching up since I last posted:

Thursday:  that was a 16 hour day for me work-wise.  oy vey!  I couldn't see straight when I went to bed (or before).

Friday:  I had the day off.  My friend Carol was married (her 3rd time; her new hubby - 4th time).  It was a rainy, grey day.  Hopefully a good omen for the two of them.  They were married in front of a judge at 11 a.m. and then we (and her two sons and another friend) had lunch together at a local spot.  I was back on the computer (work-wise) by 3:30 and didn't log off till after 10 p.m.

Saturday:  Fed the cats and met up with Dee for knitting and much needed therapy chatting and some lunch!  Fun!!  Thanks Dee for meeting up.  Was back on the computer in the afternoon until 8 p.m. that night.

Sunday:  Today!  Fletch and I headed out this a.m. to feed the cats and then went north west to the Trexler Nature Preserve north west of us.  It was a gorgeous day for a drive and we saw some beautiful foliage:

We had a nice walk that led us to a creek:

The path was steep in places.  I've gotten accustomed to walking 5-6 miles, but on flat surfaces.  And not for a few weeks (because:  busy with work and weddings, etc.).  Whew!

(My neck has wrinkles...)  It was a gorgeous day.  It was so wonderful not to be working (but after I post this I will be).  We are going to try to get out again in a week or so.  Sunday drives may become the normal for us!  We may be old (we are).

Meanwhile, the kids are doing well and have been having a great time in South Beach.  Tomorrow they head to Key West.  We will continue our cat feeding duties.

Tomorrow I am heading in to the office.  I have a conference call at 10 and have to review a ton of stuff with Bill.  I think/hope that by the end of this week or next my work will ease up quite a bit.  As I've said, it is always this way in October, but this year seems even crazier than normal.

OK - time to get to work.  Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  I'm thankful for today - it was a wonderful respite.

Unraveled Wednesday 10/14/20

 Good Morning!

This morning I turned the heat on in my office!!  Wonderful.  It's already turned off, but I was thrilled to be able to take the chill out of the room.  Especially since I have to spend so much time here these days.  And, speaking of days how is it already the middle of October?

Last night Fletch and I went over to Colin & Mailing's to feed the cats.  I also sliced, wrapped and froze what was left of the wedding cake (and left a zip lock bag of cookies in their frig).  The tent is gone from the backyard, but those party rental fools never called me so all the tables, chairs, plates, flatware, speakers, etc. are still sitting in the garage.  Those people are so disorganized!!  Not my problem, but they better not try to charge extra...

Anyway, here we are in mid-October and it's Unraveled Wednesday where we meet up with Kat and friends to talk about what we are making and reading.  I was able to make some progress on the second Lava Sock.  I'm almost halfway through the foot, so the end is in sight!

On the reading front, I am still trying to get through The Door which is a strange one for sure.  Fletch and I have just started These is My Words and it is ok (a bit gruesome in places - Indian scalpings, etc.).

The next few weeks will be slow for me on the knitting, stitching and reading fronts.  Hopefully I can carve out a little time for those pleasures!  Be sure to head over to Kat's to see what others are making and reading.

Tiny Needle Tuesday 10-13-20

 Hello!

Still damp and grey here in Eastern PA.  Thanks so much for all your kind comments on the wedding post.  As I mentioned, the kids are off for a couple of weeks, so Fletch and I are on cat duty.  In a bit I will have to head over to feed Talbot and Marcel.  Additionally the tent is coming down today.  The party rental place can access that easily since it is outside, but locked in the garage are the farm tables, chairs, dinner plates, etc., so we need to coordinate with the rental place when they are going over to pick up stuff.

Meanwhile, I'm happy to report I now have heat in my home office!!  Our neighbor Rob came over yesterday afternoon and replaced the thermostat and that did the trick.  I'm ready for winter now!

Despite all the wedding stuff and being busy, busy, busy, I did manage to get a little stitching in.  Here is where the Quaker Sampler stands right now.

I thought that tree would do me in.  It's difficult to tell/see, but there are 3 shades of green in that sucker and also a bunch of open spaces...it seemed to take FOREVER to stitch it.  I'm pleased with the way it turned out though (good thing because there is another tree or two just like it).

This morning I logged onto work email before 6:30 and I've managed to get through my in box.  I have a ton of stuff to do though, so I'd best get cracking on that.  Wishing you all a fabulous day!

Weekend Wedding

Good Morning!

It was a beautiful wedding and the kids are so darn cute together!  The weather was mild, a little overcast, but no rain.  They were married in their back yard...a tent was set up and it worked out perfectly.  Today (in ithe pouring rain), Colin & Mailing are taking off for a little honeymoon.  They are driving down to Miami (South Beach) and then to the Keys.  Wishing them safe travels and a fun time.  Now just a few pictures to share.

Colin wanted all the groomsmen to wear espadrilles like he had on, but one of his groomsmen has size 14 feet and the espadrilles only go up to a size 13!!

With the exception of one bridesmaid who is Mailing's best friend from Columbia undergraduate days, all of these kids were in school together (grade school through high school)!!

My dress is wrinkled and my hair is grayer than I realized!!  Fletch's hat reminds me of The Music Man - LOL.

Showing the cake simply so that I can tell you that Mailing made the cake!  Not only beautiful but it was delicious too.

Now it is Monday and I am happy to still be on vacation.  Fletch has a doctor's appointment today and I'm just going to putter around the house on this slightly chilly, very wet Monday.  I'll be back tomorrow with a TNT update.

Unraveled Wednesday 10/07/20

 Hello and Good Morning!

It is a beautiful morning here.  Unfortunately I'm at my office rather than at home...and I think it will be a long day.  The guys (my 3 bosses) are all here today for a meeting and I've got a ton of stuff to do - more than normal since I am on vacation tomorrow, Friday and Monday.  Yay!  I'll put up with a very busy day in order to have three off.

First of all I'm happy to report that Tyg showed up for some food about 40 minutes before his scheduled vet appointment yesterday, so I was able to take him in for his shots.  I don't really like the curbside approach and I think animals (of any kind) are better off when "their people" are the ones to take them inside the vet facility.  It is traumatic enough without having a stranger take them.  But, anyway, he is caught up on his vaccinations.  He also lost 12 ounces (but he tends to eat much less when it is hot outside).  His lips are swollen from allergies, so once again I have steroids to give him.  Bottom line it's an expensive enterprise having a pet!

It is Unraveled Wednesday and I'm linking up with Kat to talk about knitting and reading.  I'm happy to report that the first Lava Sock is (finally) off the needles.  I actually met up with Dee Saturday morning (before the Tea Ceremony) for coffee and chit-chat and some knitting.  When I left Starbucks I was at the point to start the toe decreases, so it was easy enough to wrap that sock up on Sunday.  And the second one is started and on its way down the leg!!

On the reading front, Fletch and I finished South Moon Under the other night.  We both thoroughly enjoyed it (and, if any of you are interested, it is only $0.99 on Amazon for the Kindle version!).  Tonight we will start This Book which I've wanted to read for some time.  On my own I am still reading The Door which is an interesting read.  I'm not sure I'm really enjoying it, but I also don't want to stop reading it.  It is different for sure!

That's a wrap for me.  Time to get back to work!  Make it a good Wednesday everyone!!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 10/06/20

 Hello and Good Morning!

Thanks so much for all your kind words and best wishes for Colin & Mailing.  My heart is full.

Work continues it's frantic October pace.  So Much Going On!!  Truly it is like this EVERY year, but I tend to forget how crazy it is.  Then add in the wedding things and trying to take a few days off and it gets even nuttier.  Yesterday was no exception, but I did manage to get a little bit of archery in during the late afternoon.  Then in the middle of dinner (thankfully NOT while I was cooking), our power went out and stayed out for about an hour.  Not sure what the issue was, but at least it eventually came back on.  I actually used a battery operated Ott lite to read our book after dinner!  

Fletcher has been busy with gardening stuff.  He planted a bunch of greens - several different varieties of lettuce, Swiss chard, baby bok choy, etc. - in a raised bed box and now is re-purposing old windows to make a cold frame.  

Late yesterday he went out and picked a bunch of the greens for a salad to go with dinner (which was pasta with red sauce).  Yum!  And, we are still harvesting cherry tomatoes😋 - the larger tomatoes are all pretty much still green.  Guess I will be cooking up another batch of fried green tomatoes.

Now it is Tiny Needle Tuesday and I have started another sampler.  As I mentioned last week, it is a Quaker style sampler called Autumn Forest.  I figured that was appropriate given the time of year.  Here is a link so you can see what it will (eventually) look like.  I do love all the different animals in it and I've always liked Quaker style samplers.  It is a big one...323 by 253 stitches.  I'm using 36 count fabric and stitching over two threads, so the finished size of mine will be roughly 18 by 14.  I'm not there yet though!

That's my start.  Just two motifs finished, but I'm enjoying it a lot.

Now it's time to get back to work.  Emails have been flying this morning and I have several spreadsheets I need to update and work on.  Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Weekending

 Good Morning!

Oh my!  What a full weekend for us.  So many emotions and good times.  But let's start at the beginning.

Friday night Fletch and I had dinner at our neighbor's house.  I cooked, but Rob's place is much larger making it easy to social distance.  Rob's girlfriend Eva has a dog and I have a new friend.

Merlin is one LARGE dog - a Great Dane and the sweetest thing ever.  But oh my!  He is sitting here and his head is at my waist!!

And now that October is here, we finally have our first Morning Glory blooom!

It's that heavenly shade of blue.  There are a ton of buds, so if we don't get a freeze one night, we should have some more blooms.

And then Saturday arrived.  October 3rd.  The day of the traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony for Colin & Mailing.  I will let the pictures tell a bit of the story.

Mailing is always pretty, but on Saturday she was simply beautiful and stunning.  I hadn't realized but the kids are now Chinese Married!!

The Tea Ceremony was held at Bonnie & Zhongren's (Mailing's parents) house.  Their friend Carol was there to take pictures.  We did a bunch inside and then took some outside as well.

 Anna, Mailing's sister, is in the picture above between Mailing and her Dad.

Colin & Zhongren switched shirts at some point...I'm not sure why.

After the tea ceremony (and champagne) we had dinner which was just so delicious.  Bonnie is a fabulous cook and there was so much food.  Shrimp, dumplings, several beef dishes, wings, some veggie dishes and then an inside-out fish which I had never had.  You actually take a fish (I forget what kind) and turn it inside out and then fry it.  There was Moon Cake and some other delicacy for dessert.

All in all it was just a beautiful day.  I hope the weather is just as perfect next Saturday for the (American) wedding!  

Sunday we just hung around.  Fletch worked on a project or two and I did some cleaning and laundry.   There was a bit of knitting as well!  Now it is back to work.  But, I am taking Thursday, Friday and next Monday off.

TGIF

 Good Morning!

Yes it is TGIF!!  And it's a grey, rainy one.  I woke in the night (what's new??) and heard rain around 2 a.m.  Usually I toss and turn, but last night I turned on my Kindle and read for about an hour.  My hope was it would make me tired enough to fall asleep quickly but that didn't happen - it was after 4 before I got back to sleep.  Oh well...

Meanwhile, I was supposed to take Tyg to the vet late morning yesterday for his annual well check (cracks me up that the vet calls it that - just like a baby) and annual shots.  But...he went out after having breakfast and was no where to be found.  The new appointment is next Tuesday at 4 p.m.  Hopefully he will be somewhere I can find him!  I think he was feeling smart about avoiding the vet for a bit!

Last night I made a batch of toffee pecan cookies...except that there are no pecans in them.

I'm not sure how long the pecans had been in the kitchen drawer (in a zip lock bag) - probably a couple of months.  While breaking some up in my hands, I (thank God) noticed a flying insect in the bag...and worse than that, I then saw a worm crawling in the bag.  It was enough to almost do me in.  But, I found a bag of walnuts (with no creatures) and used them instead.  Hopefully they are good - I haven't tried them yet.  I'm fixing dinner tonight for neighbors, so we will find out then.

Yesterday afternoon Fletch and I went to Otts - a fabulous greenhouse/nursery nearby and got some mums and asters to put around.  (the link will take you to a slide show of pictures at Otts - worth looking at, and Dee, if you have not been there, we should go some Saturday)  They had some giant pumpkins, but we'll look at the grocery store where they are a lot cheaper.  I did, however, buy myself a beautiful African Violet.

Love the shade of blue in this.  I used to have several African Violets, but I have not had any for years.  Hopefully this one will do well.

And that's a wrap for me.  Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!