Tiny Needle Tuesday August 31, 2021

 Good Morning!

Gosh it is dark in the morning now.  Noticeably dark.  This is the first week in months that I have not pulled the shades up on the livingroom windows as soon as I come downstairs.  Oh well, we are at the end of August - as unbelievable as that is - and we are coming into my most favorite season.  I will not be sad to say goodbye to the humidity and mugginess we've been having.

This is the last Tiny Needle Tuesday of August!  Honestly, I did not feel like stitching at all the past week until yesterday.  Thankfully work remained quiet and I did get a bit completed:

The flower pouring out of the vase/urn on the right is what I managed to stitch yesterday.  so, it is coming along bit by bit.  I did not do any stitching on the Coverlet Birds piece.

At some point I took a tiny break from stitching and walked out to the garden.  The figs are ripening again.

(My poor chipped and cracked bowl, but I love the size of it, so I can't get rid of it.)

And then I looked at the jalapeno plants.  There are two.  Last week Fletch had brought in around 8-12 jalapenos, but I could see many more were ripe.

I ended up picking 4 dozen!  And there are more out there.  That's a lot of peppers!  I plan to make candied jalapenos.

Time for me to get moving.  As I mentioned yesterday, I am heading to the office today.  I hope to be out of there before lunch, but it could end up being a longer day.  Hope your Tuesday is a good one.

Weekending

 Good Morning!

My weekend was so nice and I hope yours was too.  Mine started late Friday morning when my last conference call scheduled for 11 a.m. was cancelled.  Joy!!  A good part of that afternoon was spent looking at knitting patterns and getting some ideas for future projects.

Saturday morning Dee and I met up for some quality time at a local Starbucks.  We knit and chatted and sipped and oh man did the rain come down!  In torrents!  The afternoon cleared though and Fletch and I headed over to Mailing's parents for some dumpling making and consuming.  You should see the melons growing in Zhongren's garden!

Look at the size of this!  I'm not sure what kind this is (the bamboo he uses for supports is from the stand of bamboo on our property!).

This one is known as a "loofah squash" and is related to the cucumber family.  We had some of this at dinner sauteed with a ton of garlic - very much like yellow summer squash or zucchini - not really strong flavored, but good.  One last one:

I know I've shared this previously, but it is such a work of art I need to share it again.  The "Horse Head Fiddle" that Zhongren plays occasionally.

So beautiful!  And here's a picture of the table before we sat down to eat:

We had dumplings (of course!!), some pickled veggies (cabbage, carrots and daikon radish), wings, ribs, a noodle salad with tofu and the loofah squash.  We brought a Peach Blueberry Greek Yogurt Cake and there was also Moon Cake.  Everything was delicious!  After dinner we took Otto (Anna's dog) for a walk in the neighborhood (it was good to move a bit after that meal - lol).

Sunday was a pretty quiet day.  I made pecan waffles for breakfast and Fletch and I did a small grocery shopping.  Fletch mowed a little and I knit a little in the afternoon.  Dinner was the vegetarian stuffed peppers (I just cooked a bit of brown rice, added some red onion chopped up and refried beans.  Put that in the peppers and topped with a little shredded cheese).  I mixed up some guacamole to go with it and also a sauce using the tomatillos and hot peppers that Colin had given us last week.  Yum!  We watched a little TV Sunday night and called it a wrap on the weekend.

This week shouldn't be too bad work-wise.  I think everyone is winding down to Labor Day Weekend.  I will be meeting up with Bill at the office tomorrow to go through a few things and start to clear out his office.  Nothing major though.

Wishing you all a great week!

Friday News

 Hi There,

Really no news...but I couldn't think of another title.  I miss doing Friday Feline posts...and I know I need to change the picture in my header and I will...at some point...just not today.

Today is my 3 conference call morning from hell.  I've a call at 8:30, another at 10 and another at 11.  It's torture I'm telling you.  And the 11:00 one drags on and on and on.

In the meantime (and before my 8:30 call) I wanted to show you that I actually have a finish!  Yup - Damon's "Out of this World" (my name) socks are complete.  

These were knit using #2 needles.  The yarn is from KnitPicks - their Static line and the colorway is "Neptune" (thus the name I gave the socks).  The pattern is a simple K6, P2 across after 15 rows of ribbing for the cuff.  The foot is just plain knitting.  Today (I guess this afternoon) I plan/hope to cast on for Peggy's socks (Peggy is Damon's wife).

Thursday's Mailing goes to her office and then out in the evening with work friends for Trivia at a local bar.  Colin has gotten back in the habit of coming over on Thursdays for dinner and he usually hangs around for a bit.  He'll have a cigar and sometimes we have a fire (not last night - way too muggy out).  The chicken thighs were a success as was the buffalo cauliflower.  I made some couscous to go with it all.  Colin brought over some of his garden bounty.

A bunch of hot peppers and some tomatillos!  The green bell peppers on othe left are from our garden -they are finally coming in!  I plan to make a vegetarian stuffed pepper dish and maybe I'll whip up a sauce using the peppers and tomatillos from Colin.  That may be a Sunday plan.  Tonight we will just have leftovers (there are so many in the frig).

Tomorrow I plan to get together with Dee (note:  she has a new blog address) for coffee, chatter and knitting in the morning.  And tomorrow night we are going to dinner at Mailing's parents.  Dumplings!!  I will make a dessert to take - most likely the peach/blueberry cake that I made a couple of weeks back.

It's already in the upper 70's this morning and it feels like it will be another hot and muggy one.  I think I'll brew up some tea now so that it can cool for iced tea later today.  Wishing you all a happy weekend!

What's for Dinner? 8/26/21 (With a Side of Lunch)

 Good Morning!

Feels like it will be another uncomfortable day.  It is already muggy (or stayed muggy overnight perhaps) and in the upper 70's.  Upper 70's sounds cool after 90, but still...it is warm and close.

Naturally I've chosen something to make for dinner that requires the oven to be on, and on at a high temp.  Oh well.  It's that time of year when I start longing for stews and chili, soup and roasts.  Come February I'll be tired of that food and longing for summer salads.  Oh well, such is life.  But tonight we will have:

Sweet Hot Mustard Chicken Thighs

Take 6-8 bone in chicken thighs and cut 2 slashes in each (to the bone).  Place in a zip lock bag.

Mix up a marinade of:

• 1/2 Cup Dijon Mustard
• 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1/4 Cup red vine vinegar
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground pepper
• 1/2 tsp chipotle pepper
• pince of cayenne
• 4 garlic cloves minced

Pour the marinade over the thighs and put in the frig for 4-6 hours or overnight.

Preheat your oven to 450.  Line a pan with aluminum foil and spray with Pam or some other oil.  Place sliced onions all over the pan and place the chicken thighs on top.  Bake for approx. 45 minutes.

As long as the oven is going to be on so high, I will also be making buffalo cauliflower bites to go along (we do like our spicy food!!).  Simply roast (with EVOO, S&P and a little garlic powder) cauliflower pieces.  Pull out of the oven and pour over them a bunch of melted butter with Franks Hot Sauce added in.  Put back in the oven for 10 minutes or so.  Oh yum!!

On a cooler note, this was my lunch yesterday:

A radish quartered, some cherry tomatoes, a few sugar snaps, some black olives, a little bit of cheese and some of those luscious figs!  Not pictured but consumed:  a few crackers.  It was refreshing and tasty and I may do the same thing today.

Wishing you all a wonderful day - make some fun!

Unraveled Wednesday, 8/25/21

 Good Morning,

I hope your week is going well.  As I had planned, yesterday I was able to get to the office, take care of some printing and scanning, participate in the conference call at 10, stop at the State Store for wine and make it home just before Noon.  I would call that a good morning!  And I only saw 3 other people while at the office!

My plans do not include another office visit until next week.  My boss Bill's birthday is the 2nd of September, so I will at least go in and leave a card and bottle of wine for him.

But today is Wednesday.  It is most likely going to be another hot one, but the sun is shining and the sky is blue.  It's a little later than usual for me to be writing a post - I slept in till 7 this morning (usually I am up by 5:30 or so)!  Such a luxury.  And it's Unraveled Wednesday, so as usual I am linking up with Kat and the merry unravelers to talk about making and reading.

Once again I do not have a lot to show.  I did not do much knitting in the past two weeks, but I am finally on the foot - and about half way down it - of Damon's 2nd Out of This World sock.

The yarn continues to please me - I like the different tones of blue and it is an easy yarn with which to knit (Static by KnitPicks in the colorway "Neptune").  I'm hoping to finish this up in a day or so and move on to something else!  But the heat and the humidity have not been making it fun to either knit or stitch.

On the reading side I did finish a few books.  First up Bonny had mentioned a book I had never heard of:  "Miss Buncle's Book" and I was intrigued.  It was an enjoyable read, but I was plenty bored in places.  I gave it 3.5 stars.

Next up I read another in the Cork OConnor series by William Kent Krueger.  This one was "Blood Hollow" and was very good.  I gave this 4.5 stars and highly recommend this series.

Lastly I read "Off the Wild Coast of Brittany" by Juliet Blackwell.  I was hoping for recipes and there were none.  The story was just ok for me - a bit trite.  I gave this 3 stars.

Last night I started the most recent book in the Elly Griffiths series about Ruth Galloway.  This one is called "The Night Hawks."  The series is fun (archaeoalogy and crimes and England) and the books are quick reads.

Our garden has been a disappointment in some ways this year.  We did have rhubarb (we have rhubarb every year which is a very good thing), but our sugar snap peas were a bust (thank you voles).  Our green beans have produced, but not as strongly as usual and tomatoes are slow to ripen.  There will be no beef steak tomatoes this year (thank you deer) and the Early Girl ones are all still green.  Fletch did pick about a dozen jalapenos the other day and then last evening went out to look at our fig and voila!!

We had been averaging one or two per day and sharing them at dinner time, but yesterday's haul was just lovely.  I need/want to think of something special to do with these beauties.

Well, that's a wrap for me today.  Have a good one!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 8/24/21

 Good Morning!

I hope this morning finds you well and ready to face the day.  Yesterday did indeed end up being a bit on the rainy side, but not all day.  We had rain in the morning and again in the late afternoon and evening.  It was pretty muggy out there and the cicadas were making their noise, that's for sure.

Last week didn't really lend itself to doing much.  I just could not get motivated for anything.  However, there is a tiny bit of progress on both samplers that happened during the latter part of the week prior.  First up the Coverlet Birds piece.

I've started the blue between the birds and then up a little higher.  I will need to fudge this a bit as my count is off a tad bit.  LOL and I just couldn't wrap my mind around the math last week.

The Pomegranate Birds sampler also had a (very) few stitches put on it.

One side is not quite identical to the other side, but I am following the chart.  I'm ready to fill in the flower on the top right with both whiskey and the pink shades.  There is a large pink (pomegranate colored) flower in the middle that should pull this together nicely.  This is taking a bit longer than I anticipated (what with 40 count fabric and my eyes...), but fortunately it is still holding my interest.

The forecast is for another hot one today.  I plan to head to the office in a bit.  I've a conference call at 10 and I have some stuff (both work-wise and personal) that I need to print and scan.  Hopefully I can be home before Noon.

Weekending

 Good Morning Friends!

Thank you so much for your kind words and thoughts this past week.  It did feel good to take a week off, away from the screen and just be.  Today it feels good to get back to my blog.  Last week was a hard one but also an extremely busy one at work (2 days in the office - unheard of!!).  Other than work, I didn't do much.  Just moped around a bit.  My right eye has taken longer to heal than the left one did so it hasn't been the best time to knit or stitch.  I've done a little, but not much.

We did spend the day with Colin & Mailing on Saturday and that was a lot of fun.  We started off in the morning with a short walk in a part of Valley Forge that I had not been to previously.  There is a tree they wanted to show us known as Pawlings Sycamore which is purported to have survived the tree cutting in Valley Forge when Washington's troops were there.  This Sycamore is massive!!

I would have liked to take many more pictures, but there was a wedding that was going to take place a few minutes after we got there.  Men in kilts!!  The groom was Welsh and he and his brother were in kilts.  A few others were as well.  The bride had not yet arrived when we were there, but guests were walking in.

Here's a link to a little more info on this beautiful tree:  https://www.monumentaltrees.com/en/usa/pennsylvania/chestercounty/10198_asmallbuildingoffpawlingsrdinvalleyforgenationalpark/

We went out to lunch after that and then headed over to Pennypacker Mills.  https://www.montcopa.org/928/Pennypacker-Mills

We toured the house which was the home of PA governor Samuel Pennypacker in the early 1900s.  I did not take any pictures (but the link above has some shots both of the exterior and the interior).  If it had been a little cooler/less humid, it would have been enjoyable to walk around the grounds a bit.

Instead we headed over to a local winery (Cardinal Hill Winery in the Lansdale/North Wales area) for a tasting.  What a mistake!  All of the wines we tasted were simply horrible - like cough syrup or worse.

So, one bad thing out of three - not too bad!

We ended the day back at Colin & Mailing's for dinner which was delicious.  We had pasta with sauce Colin had made during the week with tomatoes and other veggies from the CSA farm.  He fried some eggplant (also from the farm) to go with the pasta and we had a big green salad.  Dessert was some strawberry sorbet I had made the other week.

It was a busy day for Fletch and me (the old folks) and we headed home shortly after dinner.  Henri was expected to impact us some and we wanted to get home before any downpours occurred.  We did end up getting some rain overnight and then more again last night and it is raining now.  A good day to stay home.  I will most likely end up at the office for a bit tomorrow, but am hoping for a quiet day today.

It is good to be back here.  Thank you again for all your kind words and sympathy.  

Sad

This has been a sad weekend.  Our sweet kitty, Tyg, is no longer with us.  He did not show up yesterday morning as usual and then yesterday afternoon our neighbor found him on her front lawn.  He had been hit by a car Friday night or early Saturday morning.

I know that is a risk of having an outdoor cat, but I will say in all my years of having outdoor cats (decades), we have never had one hit by a car. 

We rescued him in May of 2013 when he was 5 months old.  8 years was not long enough with him. 

RIP sweet boy.  We miss you.

What's For Dinner?

 Good Morning!

My coffee hasn't quite brewed yet this a.m., so everything is a bit foggy for moi.  It should be ready soon.

Yesterday was busy (this is beginning to sound like a broken record), but I did manage to cast on sock #2 for Damon.  I only was able to do the first 5 rows of the cuff, but that's something.  It was terribly hot, but we had a pretty strong thunderstorm in the evening which dropped the temps a little bit.

Let's talk food!  Which I love!  The recipe I am sharing here is a throw back to the 50's I'm sure.  It's from my Aunt Doris and is a casserole I don't make all that often, but we do really like it.  I made it the other week when we were having some unusually cooler temps.  It goes well with chicken, pork, fish, whatever.

Summer Squash Casserole

(I'm sure you could sub zucchini if you are over-run with it...or do a mixture)

Cook together (I just melt some butter and cook it in that):

• 6 C yellow squash
• 2 onions chopped

Once cooked, mix in the following:

• 1 C shredded carrots
• 1 C sour cream
• 1 can cream of chicken soup

Melt one stick of butter and mix with a small bag of Pepperidge Farm dressing mix.  Put one-half the dressing in the bottom of your casserole dish and pour all the squash mixture on top.  Sprinkle the last half of the stuffing over it all.

Bake at 350 for about 1/2 hour - you want it to get warmed through and be a little brown on top.

Note:  this makes a lot, but it does freeze well.  You could also easily cut the recipe in half.

And a bonus recipe for you!  This is Peach and Blueberry Greek Yogurt Cake and it is so yummy!  I made this last Friday:

We took it to Colin's on Saturday when we were over there for lunch, but all of us were too full to have any.  We cut the cake and left half with Colin and Mailing and brought the other half home.  It is tasty (hey - blueberries and peaches - it has to be tasty!!) and not overly sweet.  Unfortunately, I didn't think to put it in the frig and in a matter of a couple of days it was covered with green fuzz.  Yuck!  I will be making this again though.

Now it is time to (finally) pour a cup of coffee and get to my Thursday reports.  Have a wonderful day everyone!

Unraveled Wednesday - August 11, 2021

 Hello Everyone!

How are you doing mid-week?  It's looking a bit grey here this morning, but I'm betting that will burn off.  It is supposed to be very hot today.  The retirement dinner last night was really very, very nice (though the food was mediocre).  It was a later affair than I had hoped and driving home wasn't all that fun - rain and dark and eyes that are not quite right!  But, easier than the last time I drove at night (I think 3 years ago??).  Anyway, I was home by 10:15 or so and in bed by 11, so not too bad.

I've got my work cut out for me today - a bunch of reports to run and send out and some tracking forms I need to set up.  My eyes got tired quickly yesterday morning, so I plan to take it a bit more slowly today and take the time to stop and rest my eyes now and then.  And, of course, I hope to find pockets of time when I can just relax and knit or stitch some.  We'll see.

Once again, I am linking up with Kat and her merry band of knitters/unravelers for Unraveled Wednesday (do check out the fun ribbon she just found!!).  I'm happy to say that Damon's first "Out of This World" sock is off the needles!  The yarn colorway is "Neptune" and thus the name I have given the socks.

The foot looks HUGE in this picture, but really it is just a normal size foot.  (The zinnias in the vase have been there for 2 weeks now...and it looks like it is time to replace them!)  I have yet to cast on for sock #2, but hope to remedy that today.

On the reading front, I finished Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller.  Oh my!  Her writing is just so good, but the characters in this book...and the story...just so bleak.  Much of it did not really seem all that believable to me, but it did hold my interest and I give it 4 stars.

Fletch and I have been reading (slowly - only 6 or so pages a night) From Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne.  We find ourselves laughing out loud almost every evening - so much tongue in cheek humor.  It's a very short book, so I am glad we are taking it slowly.

Well, time to start my engine and step into the work day.  Hope your week is going well!

Tiny Needle Tuesday, August 10, 2021

 Hoo-Boy!

Yesterday got very hectic...work-wise...into the evening hours.  Not my preferred way to spend my time (days or nights).  Today promises more of the same.

First of all, Happy birthday to my bestie Leslie!  Usually we call each other on our birthdays and sing (and, no, you do NOT want to hear that), but we talked (at length) on Sunday and I don't think I will have a chance to call her today.  It's ok, she knows I love her.

Today is also Tuesday which is TNT, or Tiny Needle Tuesday.  There was no stitching done on the Pomegranate Birds sampler this past week - way too tiny for these just recently operated on eyes to see.  I did, however, manage to put a few stitches in on the Coverlet Birds piece.

There is still plenty more to stitch in blue - at the top between the birds.  But on the right hand side it is time to thread the needle with green and pick up the design.  There is also another bit that goes all along the bottom of this.  Slowly but surely it is coming together.  The fabric is (I think) about 32 count, so 16 stitches to the inch.  But, the fabric is a very un-even weave.  Some threads are thick and some are extremely thin.  Overall I'm liking this piece and I'm glad to be stitching a design that has been in my stash for quite some time (years).

OK, time to rally.  I've hair that needs to be dried and a body that needs to be in something other than a tee shirt and pajama pants.  I also have a body in need of more coffee.  My plan is to go to the office but come home mid-day to rest my eyes and then go back out for the retirement dinner.  I could get trapped in the busy flow at the office though, so I need to be sure to pack my eye drops.

Wishing you all the best kind of Tuesday!

Weekending

 Hey There!  Good Morning!

Later than normal for me to be posting, but I've been having issues this a.m.  First, we received notice last week that we were out of data on our phones!  Not sure how that happened as it never has previously (except when we are on vacation and not using our own internet connection).  Something to figure out.  Then I could compose emails, but if I added a picture they would not go through.  Finally, I spent too much time trying to figure out why some blogs (blogspot.com) won't show pictures when I go to them.  Mine does if I visit my own blog, but Bonny, Dee, Araignee, etc. - none of their pictures are showing on my computer.  They do show on my phone.  Frustrating and weird.

Anyway, enough already!  The eyes are doing better.  The 2nd surgery was a bit more difficult.  My eye bruised...a lot...like every time she (the doctor) touched it, I bruised.  It is still fairly red and still a bit swollen.  The real problem this time is glasses.  When the first eye was done, I could still see out of my glasses with the other eye.  Now that both eyes have had the cataracts removed and implants done, my glasses are useless!  I can see distance-wise without glasses and have found that readers work ok (not great, but ok) for reading, knitting and stitching.  But, my eyes frequently get tired...guessing eye strain from not having the correct prescription...yet.  By early September this right eye should be healed enough that she can write an accurate prescription for me.  Hopefully!!

The weird thing with the second surgery is that I was more conscious for it.  The doctor and the nurses told me that would most likely be the case, even though the drugs were exactly what I had been given previously.  I could hear everything the doctor was saying (and remembered it) whereas with the first I have no recollection of the surgery at all!  So strange...

The weekend was quiet.  We went over to Colin & Mailing's Saturday morning (I actually drove over!!) and we all went to the Farmer's Market.  Fletch and I picked up some corn, eggplants, beets, and mushrooms.  Colin & Mailing just bought two loaves of fresh bread:  a seeded rye and a whole wheat sour dough.  They had made bruschetta from farm produce that morning, so when we got back to their house, they toasted some of the bread with EVOO and we had that with the bruschetta and a crisp white wine.  A very refreshing and tasty lunch.

Have you ever had ground cherries?  I had them for the first time last year and when Colin came over last week he brought us a quart of them from the CSA they belong to.  They are tiny, but very tasty with a satisfying pop when you bite into one.

The quart basket was full when Colin brought it over...I've been munching on them (I don't think Fletch eats them).

The husks just sort of slide off, so a little work, but worth it.  Kind of like mini tomatillos, but a different flavor.

Tomorrow I head to the office.  I have a meeting at 9 with Mike who is taking over the East Coast from Bill.  That was no surprise and I've worked with Mike for years, so no biggie.  The West Coast replacement has been selected and is a huge surprise - not whom we thought would get the job.  A bunch of noses are going to be (or are) out of shape.  I believe the choice is purely political and I will be curious to see how it pans out (and I have to support this person as well).  Oy vey!  After I meet with Mike I will head home to rest my eyes a bit.  Bill's retirement dinner is tomorrow night, so I'll need to go to that (one of my least favorite restaurants - Sullivan's Steak House - noisy, overpriced and mediocre food - my opinion).

The day today is ramping up a bit, so I will be busy.  Fortunately my 10:00 conference call has been cancelled.  Hope everyone has a great start to the week!

Unraveled Wednesday August 4, 2021

 Good Morning!

I'm here this a.m.!  I don't need to be at the surgery center till 9:30, so...might as well post while waiting for my hair to dry.  Everything is a bit fuzzy (no coffee) and I'm terribly hungry just because I cannot eat.  LOL

Yesterday went well at the office - I was in by a little after 8 and left around 10:45.  Not bad.  And, I got done what I wanted to get done.

Now it's Wednesday and I'm linking up with Kat (and the Merry Unravelers/Pranksters) for Unraveled Wednesday.  Knitting was a little slow (like everything else) this week.  But, I managed to turn the heel and start on the gusset decreases for the first of Damon's "Out of This World" socks.

I'm liking the blues a lot and I think/hope Damon will like these.  I turned the heel and started down the gusset last night, but by 9 p.m. my eyes were just too tired to do any more.  The second sock *should* go much faster.

On the reading side of things I finished The Narrowboat Summer and enjoyed it quite a bit (I give it 4 stars).  Now the thought of navigating the canals of England is fairly appealing.  One of my brothers once thought of living on a house boat...that never happened, but it's kind of fun to dream.  I like that there was knitting in the story!

And, I have now started Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller - the next "Read With Us" selection.  I'm only about 50 pages into it so far, so no strong opinion yet.  It is holding my interest though which I wasn't sure about.

Finally, I will leave you with a beautiful creature.  We saw him (her?) yesterday afternoon and (s)he stayed still long enough for me to go inside and get my phone to snap a picture.  Gorgeous!

Have a wonderful day - happy mid-week!

Tiny Needle Tuesday August 3, 2021

 Hello My Lovlies!

It is another coolish morning (54), and I think today is supposed to be another pleasant one temperature-wise.  After this, it may begin to get warm again.  Oh well, it is August after all.

I managed to get out of the office by 10:30 yesterday morning.  Hoping for the same again today.  there will be more folks in today with the panel interviews and I think Bobby has a meeting of some kind going on.

Not much stitching was accomplished in the last week.  I found it difficult to do - my eyes were tired and things (that would be fabric and floss) kept blurring.  But...I did manage to get the pink into that upper left flower and I really like the combination of the two colors (whiskey and sanquine - though the pink is hardly a sanguine color...) together.  What do you think?  (Click to enlarge)

My plan is to do the mirror image flower the same way.  I also managed to stitch the stem and leaves for the center (large) flower.

The Coverlet Birds piece had nothing done to it all week!  Shameful, I know.  The plan is to do a little stitching this afternoon/evening if I can because after my cataract surgery tomorrow I probably won't be able to stitch for a few days (at least).

I should find out today what time I need to be at the surgery center tomorrow.  So, at this point, I'm not sure whether I will post for Unraveled Wednesday or not.  If I do I'm sure I'll be groggy as no coffee is allowed, etc.  LOL

Weekending

 Hello!

How was your weekend?  Good, I hope.  Mine was good.  Nothing out of the ordinary and nothing spectacular, but that's fine with me.  Saturday I met up with Dee for some coffee, knitting and catch-up chatting.  That felt good (especially after a very long work day on Friday).  Fletch grilled some chicken for dinner and I made some spicy yellow rice and a garden salad of green beans, onions and tomatoes with a drizzle of EVOO and a bunch of basil.

YUM!!!

Saturday's weather was just so nice.  Sunday we woke up to a bit of rain and had rain on and off all day.  We got the grocery shopping done and I managed to wash and dry two loads of laundry.  Fletch loves fried mushrooms and I hate frying any food.  So...I went ahead and ordered an air fryer.  I made the mushrooms for dinner on Sunday to go with some fresh bruschetta.  The shrooms turned out great!  I cannot wait to try other things - winter squash, Brussels sprouts, etc.  Deb posted last week about making fried green tomatoes - YUM!

So, a new toy to have some fun with and experiment a bit.

I did a very little bit of stitching and knitting over the weekend.  My eyes seemed to be tired a lot and, of course, if doesn't help not having the correct prescription for my left eye yet.

This is shaping up to be a very busy week.  I now have to go to the office both today and tomorrow.  What's up with that?  I need to meet with Bruce this morning and then tomorrow a bunch of folks will be in for panel interviews to replace Bill on the West Coast.  I'm hoping that I'm just in for 2-3 hours each morning, but time will tell.  And then Wednesday the right eye gets done!  WooHoo, I really cannot wait for that and then getting updated glasses.

Looks like today will be a pretty one.  A bit chilly this early a.m. (54 or so) but it felt so good to sleep (very well, thank you!) with no AC and not even the ceiling fan.  Just the windows wide open.  I did notice that bird song is happening a bit later in the morning than a month ago.  And early Sunday morning (like 4 a.m.) Fletch and I both heard an owl in our woods!

Time to rally and get ready for the day.  Here's to a great week ahead!