Friday Felines

 Good Morning!

Yesterday kind of got away from me.  I slept until 6:30 (!!) and had a lot of reports to run for work...then the emails started flying in and the next thing I knew it was time to take Mabel to the vet for her first meet up.

The purple/pink ribbon you can see on the chair above is her current favorite toy.  Thank you Giroux!! 

She was a very good girl.  Surprisingly quiet in the car and at the vet (at home she almost never stops talking to us).  She weighs 6 lbs, 5 oz and the doctor says she needs to gain some weight.  She received a 2nd distemper shot (apparently the one given at the SPCA was only a half dose??) and also a half dose of the feline leukemia vaccine.  The 2nd half will be in 4 weeks.  I don't ever remember having a cat (or kitten) get a half dose of a vaccine...I need to ask the vet about that (she will call today to see how Mable is doing).

I finally managed to do some stitching yesterday afternoon and someone - Mabel - was very, very interested in learning about needles and thread and scissors.  Despite her interference, I was able to put in a few stitches so I will actually have something to show next TNT (Tuesday).

Rather than coming to our house for dinner last night, Colin suggested we go over to see him (Mailing is still out Thursday nights with a work group).  Col was out in his garden picking hot peppers when we arrived.  He made a delicious dish of garlic, white beans, artichoke hearts, parsley and EVOO which we had on toasted slices of a baguette.  Delicious!

Marcel was underfoot a lot, as usual.  But he is such a handsome cat, you cannot be annoyed.

Poor Talbot was recovering from his vet visit on Thursday.  He had to have 3 more teeth pulled, so has some pain meds to take.  He really just wanted to cuddle with Colin.

Talbot actually got a certificate for bravery at the vet!  I should have taken a picture of that.

After dinner we enjoyed a fire outside

 and then we headed home around 9 p.m.  Mabel was happy to see us and demanding some attention.

It sure is nice to have a cat in the house again (even if I woke up to some cat puke on the kitchen floor this morning - at least it was on the floor and not on a rug!).

Happy Friday and Happy Weekend - enjoy!

Unraveled Wednesday October 27, 2021

Hello and Good Morning!

Who else is astonished that we are already at the end of October?  Thanksgiving will be next month and Christmas the month after that.  Incredible!

Talking with a girlfriend last night, she mentioned she had heard we are supposed to have a very mild/warm winter.  Other people have told me they have heard the exact opposite with heavy snows forecast.  Who knows?  No one apparently.  I guess we will just need to wait and see.

As usual on Wednesday, I'm linking up with Kat and her merry band of Unravelers to talk about making and reading.  And look at this!  I actually have a finished object!!  The first of Peggy's socks has been completed.

And the second one started.  Let's hope that this second one doesn't take me quite as long (7+ weeks!  YIKES!!).

French Market Bag #2 also saw a few more rows added.

I'm so enjoying the stripes on this lump (hard to call it a bag just yet...it is so limp and just a blob).  The last time I checked I had knit this one (so far) about 2-3" longer than the first.  Still a way to go as I want this bag to really be a good size.

On the reading front, I finished a mystery by Linda Castillo (part of the series that takes place in the Ohio Amish land).  It was good but a bit predictable.  I've started Pax, Journey Home which I guess is really written for kids.  I had read the first book ("Pax") and enjoyed it.  I'm finding this one slower to get into.  Last night I started Malibu Rising which is much more of a "beach-read" type of book than I was expecting.  I'm a little bored with this one, but will keep with it for now.  Fletch and I have not picked anything new to read and I'm missing that time together.  The past couple of books I chose he hasn't really liked and he is not choosing any, so we are sort of at a standstill.

Well, time to look over this for any glaring spelling errors, then I need to wake Fletch and get myself ready to go to the office.  Hoping your Wednesday is a pleasant one.  Be sure to head over to Kat's for inspiration from everyone there!

Tiny Needle Tuesday October 26, 2021

 Good Morning!

How's your week going so far?  Gosh it took me forever to wake up yesterday and then it was time to go to bed again - LOL.  Some days are like that.  I feel a bit more awake today which is good as I've got a ton of work to do.

I have no stitching to show you this week.  That's right, I have not even put in one little cross stitch since I last showed you the Pomegranate Birds piece last Tuesday.  Between Mabel (she's a charmer for sure) and work I've been a bit swamped.  Speaking of Mabel, I made an appointment with our vet to take her in on Thursday for a "look over."  I'm curious to learn what she weighs (so light!!).

My office visit was quite short yesterday (thankfully) - just barely 2 hours.  Bill and I never got around to my review - believe that will occur next week.  I did get to the eye glasses place yesterday and ordered 2 pairs of glasses - one regular and one sunglasses.  Gosh those are pricey things!!

Early afternoon Fletch and I were sitting on the patio and I spotted some blossoms...on our apple tree...weird!

There must be at least half a dozen or so clumps like this.  Once, several years ago it had a few blossoms in October and the tree has been going downhill ever since (see all the lichen on the branch?).  I do hope it will be ok.

Well, nothing more to report and as I mentioned, I've got a ton of work to do, so I may as well get started.  First I'll look at our rain gauge since it rained heavily ALL night.  Hope your week is going well.

Weekending

 Good Morning!

How was your weekend?  Mine was quite good - very satisfying.  It really started on Friday which was a no-conference-call day for me.  Very unusual and very welcome.  I decided while I had the courage to go ahead and make a hair appointment and I was able to get my hair cut Friday at 11:00!  My hair was pretty long and not in great shape.  I tried to take a picture before so you could see just how long it was.

You can see if was just about down to my waist.  Yikes!!  Shannon started by cutting off 10+ inches while my hair was dry and then shampooed and cut a bunch more.  The end result was this:

And I could not be happier.  I love the result and I love having ALL that hair gone!  Now the grey is more visible, but I like it.

Saturday morning we had a different deer visit our yard and he is a strange looking one.

He's got a big splotch of white on his face which is weird, but then his body has ridges and bumps that do not look right.  Shortly after he showed up and then left, Dee drove up to meet Mable.  she brought lots of goodies from Giroux - some treats, some catnip mice and a new scratching pad!  Mabel loves everything~

Look at he with her tongue hanging out!  LOL  I had sprinkled a bit of catnip on the scratching board and she got right down to rub it all over herself.

Her name is now Squeaker Mabel.  I call her Mabel and Fletch calls her Squeaker.  She does tend to be very vocal and squeaks a lot.  She is now letting me pick her up occasionally (definitely not all the time).

Sunday I brought out my winter sweaters, turtlenecks, etc.  Of course now today is forecast to be 75.  But it won't be long - Fall is definitely in the air.  And despite that nip that we've had, we finally have morning glory blossoms.  Hahaha.

 That really is a heavenly blue.  We had no blossoms all summer and now, a few buds have unfurled their petals.

I've got to head to the office in a bit.  Bill is meeting me there and I will have my review and then he's got to review/approve/bless the bonus calculations I pulled together for his team last week.  He prefers to look at hard copies, so I have a lot of printing to do once I get to the office.  Fingers crossed I can get out of there before lunch, but no guarantees.  I'll be going back in on Wednesday to meet with both Kevin and Bruce.  Still seems busier than it should be at this time.

Today I need to call the vet and make an appointment for Mabel to be checked over.  If there is time, I will go to the store to order glasses.  I had planned to go yesterday, but when I checked their website I learned they are now closed on Sundays.  Fletch and I both still had a bit of soreness in our Booster Arms and we both felt just a little run down.  Overall not a bad reaction.

Well, feels like I'm gearing up for another busy week.  I hope your weekend was relaxing and enjoyable!

Friday Stuff

 Good Morning!

Gosh it is still so dark outside (and it is now 6:25 a.m. as I type this).  I've been up for a bit and my brain is foggy.  We were able to get our Booster Shots yesterday!  But we both woke up in the night with sore arms.  Did not have that with the first two vaccines, but if a sore arm is the extent of my discomfort, that's not bad.  I'll give myself a break for a couple of weeks and then will go for the Shingrix shot(s).  Oh boy - the fun never ends!

The afternoon yesterday became very busy work-wise and suddenly at 3:30 I realized I hadn't started the Brunswick Stew or made the Pear-Cranberry Cobbler!  I hopped to it and dinner was good.  This is the cobbler before we dug into it.

It was still warm from the oven and I had made whipped cream to go on top. Yum!

We still have not settled on a name for Mabel.  As you know, I love the name Mabel.  Fletch not so much.  Colin came up with several suggestions, so we will see what we settle on - hopefully this weekend.  Mabel really liked Colin (and vice versa).  Meanwhile, she (Mabel) was a sweetie this morning.  4 a.m. and she jumped on the bed.  Then she started purring so loudly I just knew I couldn't get back to sleep (plus a sore arm).  I came downstairs a little before 5 a.m. and put the coffee on and fed the feline.

Today is an open day for me - no conference calls which is wonderful.  I may actually try to get my hair cut!  It is driving me crazy and I'm tired of just pulling it back into a ponytail.  Hopefully I can find a place that can take me today.  Tomorrow Dee is coming over in the morning to meet Mabel (or whatever her name is/will be).  And Sunday I hope to go order my new glasses.

I'm glad it is the weekend and I wish you all a wonderful one - get outside and enjoy!!

What's for Dinner? October 21, 2021

 Good Morning!

How are you and how has your week been so far?  Mine is moving along.  A little busier than I would like, but not quite as crazy as last week (thank God).  I know I "brag" about my work and our CEO all the time, but I have to tell you about yesterday's virtual lunch.

It was supposed to start at Noon and when I logged on, there were already 57 people in attendance.  Missing were Bobby (CEO and Dan (CFO) and a few others.  They were in the Board Room at the office and were having some technical difficulties.  Tom from IT was with them, but they still had "issues."  Anyway, they finally came on around 12:20 or so.  Talked about what a great year we had (our fiscal year just ended), how great we all are, etc.  Then they started the raffle.  I did not win anything, but some of the prizes were:  $200 Amazon gift cards, Yeti Coolers (BIG ones), drones, a generator, Play Station 4, Wireless speakers, etc.  Pretty amazing stuff (I think).  

The first person to have their raffle ticket drawn was Shawn from accounting.  Everyone mentioned a good thing that happened recently, or a happy thing before saying what they wanted for a prize.  Shawn mentioned his 3rd baby is due in December (I think he just got married 4 years ago) and said he would take an Amazon gift card since they would be buying a lot of diapers.  Everyone congratulated him and then Bobby said that's wonderful and you will need a lot of diapers, so let's double your prize!

When Ken from Purchasing had his raffle ticket drawn, he said he didn't want a prize.  He was just happy that he was in a better place mentally than he had been at the start of the pandemic...he had gotten very depressed and missed social interactions, etc.  He said he wanted to let people know that it was ok to feel that way and the help is available, etc., etc.  Actually his "speech" was more detailed and more personal.  Everyone was blown away that he would have the courage to say that, etc.  Bobby tried to say you really deserve something and Ken just held up his ticket and ripped it up.  Repeating that he didn't want anything and to donate his prize.  So, Bobby asked what his favorite charity is and the company will be making a $5,000 donation to that charity.  

That gives you a bit of flavor for the person Bobby is.  It is amazing to work for a company where there is so much love and compassion.

Let's talk food!  On Sunday I roasted a chicken (and it was so good!!).  Tonight I'm using the left over chicken I pulled off the bones to make Brunswick Stew.  Fletcher's Mom used to make this all the time.  I had never had it - my Mom would always make chicken soup or turkey soup after roasting a bird, but never Brunswick Stew.  I love it and typically use a recipe from the (old) New York Times Cookbook I have:

The Tabasco and Worcestershire are what make this!  A great soup that also freezes really well.  I bought a loaf of "Tuscan Bread" to heat in the oven to go with the soup/stew.

And - bonus!! - for dessert I will make a Pear-Cranberry Cobbler.  We have a couple of pears that need to be used up and I found some cranberries in the freezer from last year (not freezer burned or anything!).  I forget where I found this recipe, but here it is:

Pear-Cranberry Cobbler

Pear Filling:

• 1 TBS Butter
• 5 Medium pears - cored, peeled and cut into 1/2" chunks (2 pears is really enough)
• 1 Cup fresh cranberries
• 1/3 Cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/3 Cup sugar
• 3 TBS Cornstarch
• 2 TBS lemon juice
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger

Melt butter in large skillet and add pears.  Saute until slightly softened and remove from heat.  Stir in cranberries and everything else.  Spoon into a 1.5 quart casserole dish.

Biscuit Topping:

• 1 Cup unsifted flour
• 1/4 Cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 TBS milk
• 1 large egg, slightly beaten
• 1/4 Cup butter, melted

Combine flour, sugar and powder.  Stir in milk and egg until just combined.  Fold in melted butter.  Spoon topping over filling.  Place casserole dish on rimmed baking sheet.

Bake at 325 for 50-55 minutes or till top is brown and filling is bubbly.  Serve with whipped cream.

Oh yum!!  It is going to taste like Fall tonight at our house.

Well, it's Thursday which means it is my heavy report day.  I need to get cranking on those as Fletch and I are running over to CVS this morning to try to get out booster shots!  Fingers crossed we will get them today.

I passed this display on my way to the office yesterday:

My take:  Caution:  Yard Work May Kill You!!  (see the skeleton pushing the lawn mower on the left - in the shadows? - LOL)

Mabel is doing well and will meet her brother (Colin) tonight!

Unraveled Wednesday October 20, 2021

 Good (Chilly) Morning!

There is a nip in the air and I confess to putting the heat on in various rooms this morning (we have electric heat and each room in our house has its own thermostat).  A few days ago I came downstairs and it felt fine and then I realized that Fletch had left the heat on (as low as possible) in our downstairs bathroom.  That was enough to take the chill off.  But this morning - nothing!  So I cranked it on in the living room, kitchen and downstairs bathroom.  I put it on briefly in the office room (where I am sitting now), but I turned it off soon.  Coffee going down the throat is warming me as I sit here typing.

I woke up this morning to this little sweetie walking across the bed.  I guess she is getting used to us!  LOL  She is a very talkative little thing.  Yesterday she sat in front of the sliding door to the patio talking up a storm to the various birds out there.  There are times when she almost coos like a dove.  She could be a bird whisperer - HA!

Well, today is Wednesday which means Unraveled Wednesday.  As usual, I am linking up with Kat and other Merry Unravelers to talk about making and reading.  Peggy's sock doesn't look all that different from last week, but it's true that a few (very few) rows have been added.

For some reason other things have been occupying my time.  Not a single stitch or row was added to my second French Market Bag.  Furthermore, there has been no start on the cowl I want to make for Mailing's Mom or the scarf I want to make for her Dad.  I'd best get cranking!

On the reading side of things, I finished one book the other night:  The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker (thanks Kat for the reminder of this series).  This is book #2 in the Bruno, Chief of Police series that takes place in the French countryside.  Last night I started another book in the Linda Castillo series that takes place in the Ohio Amish countryside.  I also picked up a couple more books from the library - Malibu Rising finally came in (I had been on the wait list forever!!) as well as Life in a Day by Doris Grumbach which Jane had mentioned on her blog.  I had not heard of Grumbach, but the description of her book reminded me of May Sarton's journals which I devoured decades ago.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I will be heading to the office today.  But, I don't intend to go in till maybe 10 a.m.  I'll stop at the liquor store to pick up some wine...also champagne for Colin & Mailing (we completely forgot their 1st anniversary!!) and also Trader Joe's for a couple of things.  I'm hoping for a peaceful afternoon filled with some knitting!  And perhaps a bit of kitten cuddling!

(Picture taken this morning as I was waiting for the coffee to finish perking - she is laying on the kitchen floor in front of the sink.)

Tiny Needle Tuesday

 Good Morning!

Another evening has passed with nothing destroyed in the house - at least that I am aware of....Mabel is definitely a kitten and she has been racing around the house and up and down the steps.  I was up at 4:30 this morning (to pee if you must know) and when I opened the door of the bathroom to go back to bed, there she was at the top of the steps.  She has been up on her hind legs pawing at the sliding door to the patio.  It is still pitch dark out there, so I can't see what she sees (if anything).  Last night she was on the sofa with Fletch and attempted to jump to a chair and missed.  Fletch said she looked embarrassed after that!  LOL

Well, it is TNT, or Tiny Needle Tuesday.  Between work and Mabel, I don't have much to show on the Pomegranate Bird Sampler, but here it is.

I'm working on the darker pink on the head of the first bird.  It will be pretty when finished, but I am not there yet.  Oh well, no rush.

I'm planning to go to the office tomorrow.  We are having a virtual lunch meeting and those are easier to do at my office than at home.  Yesterday the UPS guy brought an envelope with a Wawa gift card ($50) (so I could pick up a hoagie or something for lunch...that's a lot of lunch...most likely I will give the card to Colin & Mailing), a raffle ticket (there will be give-aways at the lunch) and a $200 gift certificate I can use to either get Mastercards or restaurant vouchers, or anything from numerous stores.  As Fletch says, my company tends to throw money at employees...which is fine with me.  I say Keep Throwing!!

Well, time to get to work.  Here is the sweet girl this morning:

She is a fast and strong little thing!  Have a wonderful Tuesday.

Weekending Excitement!

 Good Morning!

I really hadn't intended to disappear last week.  However, Thursday and Friday were crammed full of work - basically 15 hour days at the computer looking at/reviewing/verifying spreadsheets.  No wonder my eyes were blurry!  I did get away Friday afternoon for an eye doctor appointment and now have a prescription for glasses (but haven't found the time to go order some).  Our eye doctor is a real cat lover (in fact one of her cats is named Fletcher!!).  This is hanging on the wall in the hallway of the office:

I love this!  Sorry for the glare, but it was the best I could do with office lights and my cell phone.

Anyway, I was pretty worn out both days and did not sleep well - kept waking up thinking about work (I hate when that happens).

But Saturday Fletch and I took off for the SPCA in hopes of finding a cat.  And we did!  We lucked out as another couple were looking at the same cat, but they weren't sure and didn't make up their minds, so we made up ours.

Her name from the SPCA is Mabel which I love.  Fletch is not quite sold on the name, but I told him he had to decide quickly...we can't call her Mabel for a few weeks and then change her name.

She is sweet and very, very shy and wary of us.  She is a tiny thing and, according to the papers we got she is 10 months old.  She was just spayed last week and has had all of her shots.  She had been a stray who was taken in by someone and then they decided they had too many cats, so she was turned in to the SPCA.  She is also micro-chipped.

I joke that she is part Lynx - she has little tufts at the top of her ears and she has spots on her back and also on her front legs.  Hopefully she will grow accustomed to us sooner rather than later.  For now we are keeping her inside (at least for a few weeks), but she will end up being an indoor/outdoor cat like all the other ones we have had.  I need to make an appointment with the vet just to have her checked over.

I  love this picture of her - look at the spots on her legs.  So precious!

So that was our exciting weekend!  I hope you all had a good one too.

Unraveled Wednesday October 13, 2021

 Good Morning!

How are you on this mid-week day in the middle of October?  (I'm not sure how we got to the [almost] middle of October already!)  Yesterday was a study in frustration in so many ways.  Fletch and I headed out around 10:30.  We stopped at a local farm stand and got some pumpkins for our front step.  Then we headed to the Acme (grocery store) where we had seen signs over the weekend for booster and flu shots.  Turns out we can't get the booster until after October 20th (our last vaccine was April 20th and you have to wait a full 6 months).  OK, no problem, we'll take the flu shot and come back for the booster.  Turns out that Acme is not an accepted provider for our insurance (BC/BS of NC).  OK, we'll head over to CVS where we get our prescriptions filled.  No appointment and it could have been a 30 minute wait, so we decided to skip that.  I called them later in the day to make an appointment and was told you have to book on line.  Went on line, no appointments available.  Grrrrr.  Called them back and was told you can just come in, the wait is never half an hour - at most 15 minutes.  We will give it a try tomorrow.

Work was crazy too.  As I mentioned, it is bonus calculation time.  Bonus payments are funded by excess profit at the unit level.  So if you beat your budget by $10K, you have $10K for bonus payments.  Requested bonus payments cannot exceed available funding.  One of my RDOs sent in his bonus calcs for his region yesterday and...you guessed it...the first one I checked showed payments in excess of funding.

This is the type of thing that makes me crazy and ultimately makes more work for me.  I don't know if he didn't check, or didn't care, or forgot, or what.  But it sure is annoying.

However, it is Unraveled Wednesday and I am linking up with Kat and all the Merry Unravelers to talk about knitting and reading.  A little bit of knitting has been accomplished.  First up we have the first sock for Peggy.

The heel flap has been knitted and the heel has been turned.  Only 2-3 rows after that however as work email exploded and yesterday afternoon and evening were busy.

There was also a bit of knitting on the 2nd French Market bag.

I'm loving these colors together.  Especially the grey and the green.  I think the purple just adds a nice pop of color, but the primary tones will be grey and green.  I'll keep going round and round on this as I definitely want it to be larger than the first one I made.

On the reading side of things, I finished When We Were Young and Brave by Hazel Gaynor.  It was good, but not what I would call compelling.  It was easy enough to put down.  I think I'm just tired of books set in the time of the 2nd World War.  I've started The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker - the second book featuring Bruno, Chief of Police in a little sleepy (maybe not so much) French village.  An enjoyable read.

Well, I've got a very busy day ahead at the office and it is now time to pour another cup of coffee and get dressed and ready to head in.  Wishing you all a marvelous Wednesday!

Tiny Needle Tuesday October 12, 2021

 Good Morning!

Last night I could not keep my eyes open after dinner.  I tried knitting and reading - nothing worked, so I finally went to bed around 9:30.  Friends...I slept until after 7:30 this morning!  It was wonderful, but I haven't fully woken up yet.  Waiting for the coffee to kick in.

My morning in the office yesterday was productive, but I had gone in specifically so that Bruce and I could meet and he never showed up.  Frustrating.  So tomorrow when I go in, I need to find time (individually) with Bill, Kevin, Bruce, Lisa and Mike.  But meanwhile, they are in a management committee meeting all day!  Guess I'll be catching them on bathroom breaks - LOL.

I had meant to mention a month ago when Bobby (the CEO) sent out an email and then I forgot.  But October at my office is Socktober!  I don't think anyone will be handknitting socks to donate (certainly not me with the way my knitting is so slow these days).  This is the email that came out yesterday:

You'll have to click to enlarge if you like.  Basically we are collecting socks to donate to a shelter at the end of the month.  When I arrived at the office yesterday, I saw two large boxes (decorated) in the lobby for collecting the donations.  A great and thoughtful idea.

And look what I spotted on my drive to the office yesterday:

A chiroprator's office with a skeleton by their sign.  How appropriate!

Well, it is TNT (Tiny Needle Tuesday) and all I have to show is a very tiny start on one of the Pomegranate Birds.

I started to stitch on the bird (lower left of the urn) on Sunday afternoon and then Fletch and I went over to see our neighbors.  By the time we got back, it was time to start prepping for dinner and I never got back to stitching.  Hopefully I'll do more this week.

Yesterday Dee posted about the forecast for the coming winter.  Apparently the Farmers' Almanac says we are in for a doozy of a winter this year.  Dee also posted pictures of her black walnut tree (bare of leaves) and her winterberry bush - so full.  So, I thought I would show you our winterberry as well:

Certainly more berries than last year.  Could the Almanac be right?  If it is, I'm prepared with plenty of stitching and knitting options!

I can see that work emails are flying in like crazy, so I'd best pour a second cup of coffee and get cranking.  Hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday!

Weekending

 Good Morning!

How are you?  And how was your weekend?  Mine was lovely.  I met up with Dee Saturday morning at the Lansdale Farmers' Market (be sure to check out her blog as she has some fabulous pictures and the first one is from the Farmers' Market).  The Kimberton CSA booth that is pictured in the website for the Farmers' Market is the CSA that Colin and Mailing belong to.  It is run by a high school buddy of theirs.  I bought some wonderful bakery items and some great fruit spreads (a sour cherry and a lavender).  After that we headed over to Backyard Beans for some coffee, knitting and catching up.  And then we had lunch at Stove & Tap.  All in all, a wonderful Saturday morning/lunch.

Sunday dawned wet and grey.  It didn't rain hard at any time, but it never cleared.  Fletch and I went grocery shopping.

Apples and clementines and winter squash were all on sale.  I'm thinking we are pretty set for now.  We also discovered that our grocery store has the booster shot as well as flu shots, so we will be going back for those (separately even though they say you can get them together...I don't really want to do that).

I managed to carve out some time for knitting and stitching and reading.  I also had to do some work...not as much as I had thought I would (and I'll be making up for that today), but all in all it was a nicely balanced weekend.  

My messy kitchen table with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers from my bosses!

I'm heading to the office later this morning - hoping to have a little time with Bruce, but hoping to get out of there before lunch.  I'll be back at the office Wednesday when ALL of my bosses will be in for a management meeting.  That will be a longer day, but hopefully not too bad.

My eyes continue to be good.  Today is my last day on the steroid drops and then my follow up with the doctor is this Friday.

Here's to a good week ahead - enjoy!

TGIF

 Hello Again,

Thank you all for the well wishes.  My follow up eye surgery went well.  I was able to drive myself to and from which was a huge plus for Fletch - he was still in bed when I left for the surgery center.  Time was consumed by having drops put in my eyes and waiting for them to kick in (both numbing drops and dilating drops).  The actual laser surgery took literally one minute...if that!  Whoosh and it was over.  I could immediately see (ha!) a difference.  Amazing.  My doctor said I might have a lot of floaters that day and blurriness, but I didn't and the blurriness wore off quickly.  I have steroid drops (again) to put in that eye four times a day through Monday.  My follow up with the doctor is next Friday afternoon.  Modern Medicine!!!

The balance of the day was taken up with work.  Still so busy!  More initiatives came out last night, so the craziness continues.  I did manage to get another load of laundry done and the afternoon was nice enough I could hang jeans on the line to dry outside.

The grilled sausages were delicious.  As usual, Fletch grilled a lot of extra which I have now frozen and will use the next time I make sauce for pasta.  Yum!  It was so nice to see Colin again and it was a beautiful night to have a fire!

So now it is Friday and TGIF.  I have two conference calls this morning and then I plan to take it easy during the afternoon.  I have not picked up my knitting in several days which is unacceptable.  Nor have I put a single stitch on the Pomegranate Birds.  

I'm glad you all enjoyed the skeleton riding in the pick up truck.  I have noticed more skeletons on display this year than ever before.  And, they are not cheap!  I need/want to take a walk along the canal path and see if the skeleton on the bench is still there.  Maybe this weekend.

Cheers to the end of the work week and wishing you all a wonderful weekend - enjoy!

Thursday Stuff

 Good Morning!

It's another early and dark morning here.  I've had my first sip of coffee, so not really fully awake yet.  Usually I post about food and a recipe on Thursdays, but today is just random.  Colin will be over tonight and Fletch is going to grill some hot and sweet sausage.  I will cook up some onions, peppers and mushrooms to go with that and we have some good Italian rolls to round out the meal.

This is one of the sights on my way to work yesterday morning:

Hahahaha - I love this!  I was behind this pick up for maybe half a mile or so and I was grinning the entire time.  We passed a couple of school busses and I bet the kids loved seeing Skelly in the back of the truck.

Yesterday was a pretty long day at work (7+ hours!!), but extremely productive.  Helena, one of my new RVPs brought me a present!

An eyeglass tray that is a cat!  I love it.  She said she knew I liked cats (understatement) and she knew I wore glasses.  So sweet of her.  There were other gifts awaiting me from my bosses as well.  All lovely surprises.

I ended up just sitting in the meeting for an hour or so and that wasn't too bad.  Mike had also invited me to a meeting in Florida in November, but I was able to get out of that gracefully and with no issues.  Whew!

There were more folks in the office than I have seen in a very long time.  All of finance was in (fiscal year-end, closing out the books, etc.).  Luckily they are at the opposite end of the building from me.  And, everyone had masks - we are not required to wear them at our desks, but walking around the office everyone had one on.

So, today is my busy financial reporting day and I need to get going on some of those.  My follow up eye surgery is this morning and I will need to leave here by 8 a.m., so I'd best get cranking.  Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Unraveled Wednesday, October 6, 2021

 Good Morning!

It is dark and early here in Eastern PA.  Yesterday ended up being very busy work-wise (even though I was still *technically* on vacation).  But, I was glad to get through all the emails that came in while I was away.  I really don't like this time of year at work - so many initiatives, so much going on, one fiscal year ending and another beginning.  This year it is compounded with Bill's retirement and his replacements.  But, anyway, here I am.  I'll head to the office around 7 a.m. and I'm hoping I don't need to be in Mike's meeting ALL day!

Yesterday saw 4 loads of laundry done...still a load of jeans and one of towels to do.  I'm fully unpacked and we finally sat on the patio around 4:30 with a glass of wine (me) and a cup of coffee (Fletch).  And suddenly Mr. Buzzard showed up - LOL

What a massive bird!  Very impressive.

So this October 6th brings us to the first Unraveled Wednesday of the month.  Usually we all link up with Kat and other Merry Unravelers, but Kat is away this week.  I think I did more stitching while on vacation than knitting, but something was accomplished.  First a little (as in VERY little) bit of knitting on the first sock for Peggy.

This is the sock that was started and unraveled several times before I finally decided that just a plain old vanilla sock was best.

My second French Market Bag is coming along:

I'm several rows past having 200 stitches on the needles, so now it is just round and round and round we go.  I think I will start in with a bit of the green yarn on the left, then switch to the multicolored yarn on the right...back to the green and the handles will be a combination of the green and gray.  The intent is to make this one much, much deeper than the thistle one I made first, so this is not even close to completion.

Not much reading occurred while I was away.  I did start (and got about halfway through) When We Were Young and Brave by Hazel Gaynor.  I've only managed to read another chapter or so since being home.

Time for another cup of coffee before I get ready to head to the office.  I hope this finds you all enjoying the week.

Tiny Needle Tuesday October 5, 2021

 Hello, Hello!

We are back.  And safely, despite some of the heaviest rain I have ever seen on our way home yesterday.  It sounded like hail hitting the car.  Fortunately when we arrived home it was clear.  We actually came back a day early due to my having to be at the office on Wednesday.  I always need a day at home before jumping back into reality.  Today will be filled with laundry and probably a small grocery run.

Anyway, I did not take a lot of pictures, but have a few to share.  We started and ended our trip with camping in Rhinebeck, NY.  I know!  Not for NY Sheep & Wool.  Our favorite campground in the area has closed (thank you COVID) so we stayed at a new-to-us place that wasn't the greatest.  In between those Sunday nights, we journeyed to Southern Vermont...left our camper there and just took the car over to New Hampshire and the White Mountains.  We stayed in a beautiful log home about a quarter of a mile from where our friends were.  There was no one around and we had beautiful views of the mountains.  The weather was often overcast, but one day I woke from a nap to find Fletch coming to get me - looking out over the deck there was a huge rainbow.

You can see there was not a whole lot of color in the trees...still a bit early.  But one day our friends drove us up to Mt. Washington (where we had lunch at the Mt. Washington Resort - an AMAZING place) and we saw a lot more color there.  One night I cooked dinner for us (BBQ Shrimp) and one night Lois fixed a delicious venison stew.  We never would have known it was venison if she had not told us.  It was like the most tender roast you have ever had.

We drove back to Vermont visiting some familiar and favorite places along the way.  It had been three years since we had been in Vermont - far too long.  Driving back to Rhinebeck on Sunday, we stopped at the Eric Sloane Museum in Kent, CT.  A small, but very impressive museum filled with old tools and artifacts Eric Sloane had collected over the years.  There was also a small gallery with a number of his paintings and drawings.  At the back of the building was his studio/library/whatever room.  We have a few of his books and have always enjoyed his pen and ink drawings.  On display were two swifts!!

Both of them a little larger than the swift I have!

Meanwhile it is Tiny Needle Tuesday and I have two finishes to share!  Amazing...but with internet service and connectivity availability lacking for the entire trip I managed to stitch quite a bit!  First up, I finished Coverlet Birds.

I'm happy to have this one finished.  It's a bit larger than I wanted - really too large for a pin cushion.  In this photograph you can't really distinguish (or at least I cannot) between the blue and green.  But, after the red, there is a bit of green, then all blue until the end where it is green again.  The Ginny Thompson Flower Thread was very annoying to use, so I will pack that away for quite some time.

The other piece I finished is Malabar Farm - a small (pin cusion size) piece designed by Stacy Nash.  I had started this quite some time ago and then promptly lost interest...but it was in the stitching bag I brought on the trip, so I took the time to finish it up.

Yes, that is yet another bird - a peacock!

Due to internet issues I couldn't even read blogs while we were away, so I will enjoy some catch-up time today.  I also need to go through all the work emails so that I am caught up when I go to the office tomorrow.

It is good to be home!  We had a lovely time, but how wonderful to shower at home last night and sleep in my own bed!  I hope you have all been well.