A Poem In Your Pocket

 Good Morning!

Welcome to Poem in Your Pocket Day.  What fun.  Choose a short poem - one that will fit comfortably in the pocket of your jeans, or one you can memorize.  Better yet, copy it onto a scrap of paper and share it with someone today - preferably a stranger.

I overslept - or slept late - this morning.  Luckily I saw Kat's post before I sat down to write this one.  Because...she posted the poem by Billy Collins that I was going to post!  LOL. So, I've chosen another great poem from Billy Collins, also taken from his volume of poetry called Musical Tables.

Departure

 

I wonder –

did you happen

to play something new

on the piano

 

just before you left

 

or was it the breeze

from the door

you left open

that turned the page?

Wishing you all a wonderful day.  Make some fun!

Unraveled Wednesday 4/9/25

 Hi Everyone,

How are you?  I hope all is well.  I'm good other than my back screaming for mercy this morning!

Iris seemed to be doing a little better yesterday...until late afternoon.  By that point she had not seen her Mama in 10 hours so she was fussy and cranky.  She did drink more from the bottle yesterday and Colin got her to nap for 30-45 minutes in the early afternoon (of course, holding her the entire time).  And he texted that after I left (at 4 p.m.) he managed to get her in a good mood and she drank another 4-5 oz!  So, progress is being made.

So here we are mid-week, hump day, Unraveled Wednesday!  Time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers.  Before I jump into what's going on knitting and reading-wise, let me tell you about yesterday morning.

Fletch and I typically do our grocery shopping on Tuesday morning.  Tuesday is Senior Day at Acme and seniors receive 5% off.  With the price of groceries these days, I will take advantage of any discount we can get.  Thanks to digital coupons and sales, we were able to score $50 worth of NY strip steaks for $22!  Not bad.  They also had fresh bluefish which Fletch loves.  I don't like it at all, but I do cook it for Fletch, so we got a couple of filets.  And cat food and the other usual weekly buys.  Then while we were in the check out line a woman from the office came up to us and said we had been picked as customers of the week.  I thanked her, said she was sweet and then she handed me a $50 gift card and told me we could get a free bakery item and free flowers.  Fletch pretty much gets pastries every week, but she said no...get something better and more expensive.  LOL. Luckily we can use that free offer next week.  I did pick out a lovely bunch of roses for free though!

That was such a nice surprise and an extra $50 off our grocery bill was wonderful!

OK, now down to business.  My lovely shawl (Semplice) was not worked on at all this past week.  I did, however, finish up my MedKNITation dishcloth and I really like how it turned out.

It is nice and big and soft and squishy!  I also started another one yesterday while Colin was getting Iris to nap.  This one is using a cotton yarn as well, but this yarn is harder on my hands (like Sugar and Cream).  Still, I was able to get a good amount done on it (roughly half way through the increase rows).

This is another corner-to-corner cloth, but this time I cast on 4, knit across one row and then started the pattern which is simple:  K2, YO, K across.  When I get to the halfway mark, the decrease rows will be K1, K2 together, YO, K2 together again, K across.

I do have some books to tell you about!  First up, thanks to Kim in Oregon I read The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths.  This book is not scheduled to be published till July, but somehow Kim managed to score two copies and she sent me one.  Thanks Kim!!  I loved Elly Griffiths' Ruth Galloway series and was sorry when that ended.  This is the start of her new series.  My opinion was the book was just ok...time travel is involved which is not my thing, but that aside I didn't find the book terribly compelling.  Still, it was not bad.  If anyone would like the book, I'd be happy to send it along to you.  If no one wants it, I'll see if my library would like the advance copy.

I also read The Shape of Night by Tess Gerritsen.  I had recently read about a new series by her dubbed "The Martini Club" that sounded good (ex CIA agent and pals hang out in Maine and solve mysteries).  I stopped at my library but they did not have her new series available so I picked up this one.  Ghosts are involved and all I kept thinking about was "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" - LOL.  This book was ok, but easy to figure out who did it.  Still, an easy and slightly entertaining read.

Lastly, when I was at the library, I picked up a Billy Collins volume of poetry that I had not seen previously:  The Trouble With Poetry and Other Poems which, as I'm sure you can all guess, was simply marvelous and a lot of fun!

If you are still here, thanks for reading along!  Please check out what others are making and reading - you will find links on Kat's blog.  

Tiny Needle Tuesday 4/8/25

 Hi Everyone,

Well, we are back to howling winds coupled with cold temps (32 this morning - prediction for even colder tomorrow morning).  Good thing I did not put away any of my woolens yet!  Oh and dampness too.  Rain all day yesterday and more in the forecast for Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  Oy!  Colin installed rain chains at their house and let me tell you, looking at them dripping can be meditative or just about hypnotizing!

I had roughly 4 hours at Colin & Mailing's yesterday.  Iris is better at taking the bottle so she is not quite as hangry, but her naps are not all that restful or long enough.  Colin is successful at getting her to fall asleep in his arms, but the minute he attempts to transfer her to the crib she wakes and fusses.  But yesterday was the longest Iris was separated from Mailing and Colin was successful in getting Iris to drink 6+ oz from a bottle.  Progress.

I took some of our spicy red lentil soup over for Colin & Mailing.  He had made sourdough bread over the weekend and last night was a perfect night for soup and bread.  In return, he gave me a couple of ribs he had cooked with homemade BBQ sauce and some cornbread he had baked in a cast iron skillet.  So, dinner was settled for us.  I sautéed some cabbage to go with it.  Fletch pronounced the ribs and cornbread as real soul food!  It's wonderful to have family who love to cook:)

So now it is Tuesday and time for a TNT update.  The Kindness sampler saw a bit of love this past week.

It's hard to see, but a bunch more green has been added as well as a lot of brown (so much brown in this piece!).  Since helping out with Iris, I don't have as much time to knit or stitch, but that's ok.  Iris is so much more important and nothing is a race.

Fletch and I are going to do grocery shopping this morning and I will head back to snuggle Iris after lunch.

Make your Tuesday a good one!

Weekending 4/7/25

 Hello My Friends,

How are you?  Doing well, I hope.  We are well.  I had been scheduled for a colonoscopy today, but the surgery center cancelled it.  I was not disappointed.  LOL. Long story - I was diagnosed as having C-Diff last November.  Got on antibiotics, got rid of it.  BUT...the surgery center wanted to be sure, so I had to have another test.  All is clear and I need to reschedule the colonoscopy.  And I will...eventually.

Meanwhile I have been getting lots and lots of Iris snuggles.  Mailing went back to work last Tuesday and Colin is officially on paternity leave.  The only issue is that Colin can't nurse and Iris had taken an aversion to a bottle.  Therefore, she was pretty hangry during the day.  And tired from fussing.  That girl likes to be bounced or rocked or swayed all the time.  And she is heavy!  It's a workout for sure.  So, I was going over most days just to give Colin a break so that he could maybe grab a bite of lunch, or put a load of laundry in, etc.  Luckily Iris started drinking from a bottle over the weekend.  I'll be going back over today and am anxious to see how she is.

Our weekend was wet and chilly.  We had rain on both days and the temps hovered around 40 or 42.  I decided on Saturday to make a big pot of Spicy Red Lentil Soup and I also baked Cuban Bread.

A nice chewy bread with a good crust.  It went perfectly with the soup.

Sunday was filled with chores - laundry and scrubbing floors.  I still managed to find some time for reading, knitting and stitching.  So, overall, a lovely weekend.  

This morning I will call to re-schedule my colonoscopy (IF I can get through - the line is often busy or I'm on hold for 15+ minutes!).  And, I will head back to see Colin and Iris before lunch.  I'll take a book and knitting in case she decides it's ok to take a nap after all!

I hope your weekend was a good one and I hope your Monday is shaping up to be a great start to the week!

April is for Poetry!

Hello Everyone!

April is National Poetry Month (actually I think of every month as being for poetry...but that's another story).  This April I am joining Bonny, Kym, Kat, and Sarah to share poems each Thursday in April.  This week we are sharing poems about HOPE (which we all need right now!).

I looked through a lot of poetry books and then went down a number of rabbit holes on the Web and suddenly I came across this poem.  I had not heard of the poet previously, but this poem spoke to me in a way that others I considered did not.  I hope you enjoy it.

Hope

Hope has holes

in its pockets.

It leaves little

crumb trails

so that we,

when anxious,

can follow it.

Hope’s secret:

it doesn’t know

the destination

it knows only

that all roads

begin with one

foot in front

of the other.

 

 

- Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

Here is a LINK to Wikipedia and more info on Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer.

Unraveled Wednesday 4/2/25

 Hello My Friends,

The heat is back on in our house.  Yup.  It's a chilly morning here - right around 32 degrees.  And, it's Wednesday which means time for an Unraveled Wednesday post.  The first one of April 2025.  Let's link up with Kat and see what fun everyone is up to this week.

I'm happy to report that Semplice saw a bit of love this past week.  Another 12-15 rows have been added and I'm loving the way it is looking (not loving how long the rows are becoming...but that's life and that's the pattern).

You may recall that I said I would be true to Semplice and work only on that until it was finished.  Well...since I participated in the MedKNITation class last Friday I needed a mindless/easy thing to knit.  No counting involved.  I decided on a dishcloth.  It's not finished yet, but I am on the decrease rows.

A very simple pattern:  cast on 3 stitches.  Slip the first stitch (with yarn in front), knit next stitch through the front and back loops and then knit across.  Repeat till it is large enough for you (I went to 75 stitches).  The decrease rows are:  slip the first stitch (with yarn in front), knit two together and knit across.  So easy and so soothing - especially with yarn as soft as this - Dragon Tale Yarn.  It is 100% cotton, but oh so soft.  I have no idea where it came from, but the original skein was 1,600 yards and the price tag says $4.50!!  A bargain for sure.

The other thing we always talk about on Wednesdays are what we have read.  Unfortunately, I have no finished books to report on.  So, instead I will share a very easy, very quick and quite tasty cookie recipe that I tried last night.  What I like is that it is super easy and fast AND it does not make a whole bunch.  I managed to get 8 cookies from the batter (and plan to take 4 over to the kids today).  Fletch, who loves a hard, crisp cookie, was not in love with them - too moist for his taste.  I tried a piece of one and thought it was good.

Here's the recipe:

Mix together one mashed banana, 1/4 Cup peanut butter and 1 TBS maple syrup.  Then mix in 1 Cup of oatmeal.  Fold in 1/3 cup of chocolate chips and 1/3 cup of ground peanuts.  Scoop onto a prepped cookie sheet and bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes.  I'm thinking that dried fruit and other nuts would be good subs for the chocolate chips and peanuts.  I may need to experiment!

Be sure to head over to Kat's to see what everyone else is up to in the making and reading worlds.  Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 4/1/25

Hello!

April 1st - no kidding!  How did that happen so fast?

We had a loud and long thunderstorm last night.  It sounded wonderful.  By the time I went up to bed the thunder had ceased, but the rain continued.  The sound of rain hitting the roof was the perfect lullaby for falling asleep.  This morning the sun is shining brightly and I need to wake up.  I stayed in bed longer than usual and was tempted to stay there till lunch!  Now I am slowly sipping coffee and attempting to wake up. 

Time for a Tiny Needle update.  Last week found me able to squeeze in a little bit of stitching.  Not a lot, but some.

More green, more brown and a couple of petals were stitched in the orangey color.  I'm definitely not moving quickly on this one, but I am enjoying it.

Yesterday ended up being a pretty nice day and it got a little warm.  I decided to make a pasta primavera with shrimp for dinner.

I sautéed some broccoli, sugar snap peas, red peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes and threw in Kalamata olives (why not?).  Then added the shrimp and once that was cooked added some white wine and tossed in the linguini I had cooked.  So easy and so good plus plenty of leftovers!

Still sunny out, but the winds have picked up to howling level!  I hope everyone has a wonderful Tuesday - enjoy!

Weekending 3/31/25

 Good Morning!

We are having a quiet, lazy rain in Eastern PA.  Saturday it got up to 80 degrees!!  Yesterday was a bit cooler, but still nice.  How was your weekend?  Mine was nice.

Friday afternoon I took the MDK workshop MedKNITation which I thoroughly enjoyed.  Did I learn anything new?  Not necessarily, but the class was very relaxing...so much so that I ended up taking a 2 hour nap after the class!  Suzan Colón, who led the class and who wrote the book MedKNITation, is a lovely person.  Her speech is so soothing and calming.  Have I meditated since taking the class?  No.  But I do plan to try to get into a regular habit of meditating.  We shall see.

Speaking of MDK, I received two copies of the latest Field Guide:  Mosaic.  I only need one, so if anyone would like the extra copy, please let me know.

Once I woke up from my long nap, it was time to pull it together and head over to Colin & Mailing's for dinner.  Iris is growing by leaps and bounds!  She is a very happy baby and sits at the table while we all have our meal.  It won't be too long before she is eating food!  While we were having dinner, Talbot was hanging out in the office room.  

We skipped having a fire after dinner as it had started to rain, but it was still a lovely evening.  Colin is now officially on paternity leave for two months.  Mailing is going back to work tomorrow.

Saturday was a gorgeous day.  So warm, but also very breezy.  I walked around the garden and saw that the garlic is coming up nicely and spinach and cabbage are thriving in the cold frame.  Our fig tree has buds!  I'm excited for that.  And, the French Thyme that I planted last year has come back!  That was a nice surprise.

Fletcher scored a planter for the garden at a local Goodwill store.  It should be interesting to see how things grow in it.  I have a card imbedded with basil, parsley and chive seeds that I am going to bury in one of the "bins."  Fletch has other things planned for the remaining bins.

Sunday was noticeably cooler.  The sun did come out, but not till late afternoon.  Zhongren (Mailing's Dad) came over in the morning to pick up some books we were getting rid of.  He also wandered out to the back of our property where our bamboo is.  He was looking for bamboo shoots to harvest, but it was too early...he said probably another few weeks.

Dinner was a new-to-us dish of ground beef with Brussels sprouts.  I followed THIS RECIPE and it was delicious!  We had garlic bread to go with it.

Plenty of leftovers for another meal or several lunches.  YUM!!

All in all, a pretty full weekend filled with good things!  I hope your weekend was equally nice.

TGIF

 Hey Hey and Good Morning!

Happy Friday!  Happy Weekend!  The sun is out and it is not quite as chilly as was forecast.  It's around 40 this morning.

Mabel has been waking me early, but I've gotten into a routine where I go downstairs with her and let her out and then I crawl back into my bed.  I can usually catch an additional 45 minutes or so of sleep.  Bliss!

Yesterday I walked around to the North side of the house to cut some more daffodils.  I now have a vase on the table and one on my kitchen windowsill.  So bright and cheerful.

On the table

On my windowsill

Some of the stalks have multiple blooms!

Two blooms on one stalk!

Three blooms on one stalk!!

Pretty cool, huh?

Today I am taking the virtual workshop MedKNITation offered through MDK.  Is anyone else participating?  Since I needed some EASY knitting for the class, I started a dish cloth the other night.  Pretty straight forward, just garter stitch with a slipped stitch edge.

And, we are heading over to C&M's for dinner tonight.  I cannot wait to see them - especially Iris!!  It's going to be a nice enough day we will most likely have a fire outside after dinner.  Colin texted me a picture of Iris the other day wearing one of his Baby Gap cardigans.  I think that cardigan was passed on to us from Ema, my SIL in Boulder, CO which would make the cardigan probably 40 years old!!  

Time for me to have another cup of coffee, dry my hair and get on with my day.  I hope you have something fun planned for the day!

Unraveled Wednesday 3/26/25

 Hello Again!

It's that FUN day of the week:  Wednesday, AKA Unraveled Wednesday.  Everyone links up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk making and reading.

You already know from my post yesterday (if you read it) that there has not been much time in the past week for knitting or stitching.  I'll spare you another picture of Semplice spread out because it basically looks the same.  A few rows were added, but not a whole lot.

A "springy" look - purple yarn and a yellow yarn bowl with a bird on it!

On the other hand, reading has once again been quite good!  I finished Devotions a volume of Mary Oliver's poetry.  How beautiful!  This is a book that had lived on my nightstand for many, many moons.  I would periodically pick it up and read a poem or two and then put it down.  Last week I brought it downstairs for my morning poetry reading and I quickly finished it.  I even read a few poems out loud to Fletch (mostly about snakes which I don't like, but Fletch is fond of them).

Thanks to Jane mentioning a book she was reading, I ended up buying it and Fletch and I read it after dinner.  Those of the Gray Wind The Sandhill Cranes by Paul A. Johnsgard follows the migration of the Sandhill Cranes from the Southwest up into Alaska.  We both enjoyed the book quite a bit.

And then, thanks to Bonny I requested The History of Sound by Ben Shattuck from my library.  Fortunately there was no wait and I picked it up rather quickly.  I finished this last night after our Zoom RWU discussion.  What a miraculous, wonderful book.  It is composed of 12 interconnected short stories (each one is paired with another).  Short stories are not typically my chosen or favorite genre, but this book is exquisite.  Highly, highly recommend this one.

Having finished the book on Sandhill Cranes, Fletch and I are now reading Six Walks. In the Footsteps of Henry David Thoreau which is also by Ben Shattuck.  This is a nonfiction book where the author retraces some of Thoreau's walks.  Interspersed on the pages are sketches by the author.  Very enjoyable!

The other week I showed you a single bud on my large Christmas cactus (which had already bloomed in the winter).  Well, after a week plus of remaining tightly closed, the bud finally opened.

So pretty!  No other buds have appeared, but I will enjoy this bloom as long as it lasts.

Happy Hump Day!  May you find time today to do something you love!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 3/25/25

 Hello Everyone,

And another Tuesday rolls around.  When I first woke this morning and looked out our back bedroom window I saw the most beautiful crescent moon.  I was also hearing the beginning of bird chatter for the day.  What a lovely way to wake up.  Then Mabel came up and started clawing the rug...time to get up!

Tuesday means time for a TNT update.  I had no time for stitching last week.  In fact the first time since last Tuesday that I sat down with The Kindness sampler was yesterday afternoon.

You can see that not much was added...BUT, a new color (green) was introduced.  I would have gotten a bit further along, but apparently I was having a difficult time counting yesterday afternoon.  I had to "unstitch" some of the "progress" (not so much) I had made.  Hopefully more will be stitched this coming week.

Meanwhile, I made a very tasty dinner last night.  It's one I used to make and then sort of fell out of the habit of cooking it.  It is easy and very delicious!  

S&P some boneless, skinless chicken breasts and then sauté them in oil.  Just get them a little brown.  You could use boneless skinless thighs if you prefer.

Then to the pan I added sliced onion, sliced bell pepper, sliced mushrooms, a bunch of Kalamata olives and some sun dried tomatoes (I used sliced, in oil).  Pour in about a cup of broth, toss in fresh basil and parsley, cover and let it simmer till done (30-40 minutes or so).  YUM!!!

I cooked some noodles to go with it and voila! dinner was ready!

I'm looking forward to seeing some of you tonight for our RWU Zoom discussion.  Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Weekending 3/24/25

 Good Morning!

Or, good Sleepy morning from Eastern PA.  We had light rain overnight (it sounded so nice when I woke...several times...) and it is continuing now.  It is grey and a perfect day for staying in and doing some knitting or stitching or reading.  Unfortunately, I have a dentist appointment (just routine check and cleaning) at 10:30.  I guess that means I will have to get dressed....

How was your weekend?  Ours was good.  The last week was busy with appointments and other stuff.  We are (FINALLY) getting rid of some things!!  Years ago (30+) we bought benches/shelves from Ikea.  They are benches, but can stack on top of one another to be shelves.  Many moons ago they migrated into Colin's room where they started collecting stuff.  Books we didn't look at.  Old papers, etc., etc.  C&M were in need of some shelves so I said you can have them!  Of course that meant unloading all the stuff on them.

The shelves/benches are now at C&M's house and we have a number of boxes filled with books to go through - I'm thinking many can be donated, but we will see what Fletch thinks.  (I'm happy to say he has already gotten rid of a lot of the papers and other things that were on those shelves.)

On Saturday I also picked up our finished taxes.  So good to have that out of the way!  I have to mail the local return (state and federal will be e-filed).  This will be my last local return now that I am fully retired.  YAY!!!

Sunday I cooked some sticky sesame tofu for my lunch.

I had it over brown rice with some steamed broccoli and carrots.  Pretty tasty!  Next time I will try cooking the tofu in my air fryer rather than the oven.

We had some sunflowers in a vase on the table, but they were looking a bit ratty (and they really did not last long - not even a week!).  Yesterday afternoon I walked around to the North side of the house and our mini daffodils are finally blooming.  They are always the first to bloom.

Well my friends, time to pour another cup of coffee and maybe have a little breakfast.  I hope your Monday finds you doing something you love.

What's Cooking? And a Poem!

 Good Morning!

Happy Spring and Happy Birthday to my Mom (who, if she were alive, would be 106 today!!).  It is the 20th of March and is the Spring Equinox.  Our day is a bit on the grey side.  We are expecting misty conditions most of the day and then rain maybe by dinnertime.  The past few days have been absolutely gorgeous with blue, blue skies and temps hovering around 70.  It's ok to have a slightly dimmer day once in awhile...just makes you appreciate those gorgeous days all the more.

Yesterday's weather was so wonderful that Fletch decided to grill.  I took some lamb chops out of the freezer.  Boy were they delicious!  Lamb is not something I want to eat on a regular basis, but when you have a really good lamb chop it is a wonderful thing.  Anyway, I decided to try a new (to me) recipe for Roasted Asparagus Potato Salad.

I will be making this salad again and again.  

The recipe calls for fingerling potatoes, but I used little red potatoes (having no fingerlings in the fridg).  They roasted perfectly and then asparagus was added to the pan.  What I like about this recipe is that it is best served warm or at room temperature.  Meaning, I could finish it before the chops were ready.  THIS is the recipe I used.

And now, with it being the third Thursday of the month, it's time to share a poem with everyone.  Like Kat I've been spending much time with Ted Kooser's poems.  I always find them soothing and calming.  This poem can be found in the volume of Kooser's poetry I recently read:  Delights and Shadows.

Turkey Vultures

 

Circling above us, their wing tips fanned

like fingers, it is as if they are smoothing

 

one of those tissue paper patterns

over the pale blue fabric of the air,

 

touching the heavens with leisurely pleasure, 

just a word or two called back and forth,

 

taking all the time in the world, even though

the sun is low and red in the west, and they

 

have fallen behind with the making of shrouds.

Bonny is hosting a link up for poems - be sure to check it out.

And that's it from me.  I need to review all the stuff I pulled together for taxes - my appointment is at 10 this morning.  Hoping for a favorable outcome!

Unraveled Wednesday 3/19/25

 Good Morning!

It's Wednesday - the most fun day of the week when we all link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk all about the making and all about the reading.  Always inspirational and fun!!

Before I get into the meat of the post, I wanted to let you know that yesterday ended up being GORGEOUS and after lunch I headed out to the trail by the canal.  It was a wonderful walk and on my way back I was rewarded when I just happened to glance to my left:

Magnificent!  And only a few feet away from me.  He/she kept her eye on me as I stopped to take a picture and then move on.  Blue Herons are just so regal looking.  (I love the building reflected in the water.). There were also some turtles to be seen:

Click to enlarge so you can see them all lined up!  And then this little guy:

(Look in the center of the photo.)  I would not have noticed him at the edge of the canal if two women ahead of me on the trail had not stopped to snap a picture.  This little guy is just learning the ropes of life in and on the canal!

On to the knitting!  I am so happy to tell you that Semplice is back in the house and growing!  You may (or may not) recall that I started this shawl last year.  I fell in love with the pattern - the geometric shapes - ordered my yarn and started.  Then I stopped.  I can't remember why.

I had stopped at row 85, but now am ready to begin row 106.  The pattern is easy to memorize, but it also grows by 4 stitches every other row.  It's a soothing knit and my plan is to just continue working on this.  I think I'm better as a single project girl...if I have more than one project going one (if not all) of them will suffer from neglect.  Anyway, we'll see how that goes.  The pattern calls for 200 rows, so I still have a way to go (especially with the 4 stitch increase every other row!).

Reading has been so good!  Thanks to Kat and her mention/review of it, I purchased Lights on a Ground of Darkness: An Evocation of a Place and Time by Ted Kooser.  First, this is the book that got Fletch and me back on track with reading together after dinner!  So, thank you Kat.  This is such a sweet little book (under 100 pages).  If I had been reading it on my own, I would have finished it in a single sitting, but reading it after dinner spread out the pleasure of this little volume (and Kooser's Mother's name was Vera!).

Next up I read Rodin's Lover by Heather Webb.  A novel about (duh) Auguste Rodin and his muse/love Camille Claudel.  I enjoyed the book - especially when it dove into what inspires/urges artists to create.  Claudel was a sculptor like Rodin, though suffered from being a woman and treated differently.  Theirs was not an easy relationship and Claudel had a lot of issues (maybe schizophrenic?), but the book was a fun diversion.

I also read (or rather re-read) Delights and Shadows by Ted Kooser.  Reading Lights on a Ground of Darkness prompted Fletch to ask me to pull out some Kooser poetry books for him to look at.  I pulled out Winter Morning Walks which I had recently read and then grabbed Delights and Shadows from the bookcase in our bedroom.  When I opened it I was surprised to see that my Dad had given it to us back in 2005!  That just makes this book even more special to me.  Anyway, Fletch thoroughly enjoyed it and once he was finished, I devoured the book!

Last night I finished Be Ready When the Luck Happens - Ina Garten's recent memoir.  I've always enjoyed Ina Garten - her shows, her recipes, the way she makes it all look so easy!!  I enjoyed the book, found parts of it interesting, though some of it was a bit of a slog.  Definitely a bunch of first world problems, but still it was a fun read.

And that's a wrap for me.  If you've stuck around for this lengthy post, I thank you.  Please be sure to check out what others are doing on this Unraveled Wednesday - you can find the links on Kat's blog.  Happy Wednesday, Happy Hump Day, may the sun shine on us all today!  Have a good one!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 3/18/25

 Good Morning One and All,

How are you this morning?  It is a cooler morning here (low 30's), but luckily no snow like I heard some areas had.  Come On Spring!!!

There was sweet news yesterday when I learned my college roommate Nina just became a Grandma!  Her daughter, Sarah, delivered a little girl (Ellie) last Thursday.  I love that Nina, Sarah and Ellie all share the same middle name - Tamar.  

Now it's time for a TNT update.  Kindness saw a bit of progress this past week.

The bottom left corner has been rounded.  Still an awful lot to stitch on this one, but it's fun and that's what counts.  I've been managing to get in at least an hour of stitching on this piece each day.  Slow but steady...

And now, I came across this cartoon in a recent New Yorker magazine and figured everyone would enjoy it:

Hahaha!  Happy Tuesday everyone - have a great day.

Weekending 3/17/25

 Hello and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

How was your weekend and what did you do?

First up, I discovered that my Christmas cactus (the older one - an offspring from my Grandmother's HUGE plant in Vermont) that bloomed at Christmas has yet another bud on it!!

No signs of other buds yet, but this is so cool since it was fully in bloom only several months ago.

Since Friday was Pi Day (and I realized too late to bake one myself), I picked up a peach pie for Fletch (one of his favorites).  It was awful!!  The filling was so sickly sweet syrupy and the pieces of peaches were hard as rocks!  Fletch had one piece and said unfortunately it was not good.  I took a bite and agreed.  The rest of the pie was cut up and put out for the deer.  They seemed to enjoy it!  LOL

I did walk for a bit (40 minutes or so) along the River Trail on Friday.  I realized that I need new sneakers.  I could feel every rock and piece of gravel under my foot on the trail.  Another thing I did was listen to an audio book while walking.  I did not like doing that!  My hope was that by listening to the book I would not be thinking about how my feet were uncomfortable and how my back was hurting.  That did not really work and I missed concentrating on birdsong.  I guess I just am not really a fan of audio books.  I'd rather have silence than listen to them while stitching or knitting and I definitely did not enjoy listening to one while walking.  Oh well - at least I did give it a try.

Saturday was a pretty grey and dismal day.  The morning found me running an errand or two, but otherwise it was an inside day.

Sunday was wonderful!  The temp got up to 70!  The winds also rose and it was a very gusty day.  We went over to Colin & Mailing's for a St. Patty's Day feast.  Colin fixed corned beef, potatoes, cabbage, carrots and he made home made Irish soda bread which was delicious.  For dessert he made a coconut custard pie.

Everything was delicious.  Iris is getting big (16 lbs now!!) and is so expressive and happy.  She smiles a lot.  They recently bought a high chair and Iris sat at the table with us for maybe 30 minutes before getting a little fussy and grumpy.  (In her defense, she was overly tired not having slept well the night before.). After digesting a bit and having an espresso, Colin, Mailing, Iris and I all set out for a little walk.  It was SO windy, but every time there would be a gust of wind, Iris would smile and laugh.  I spotted this sign in their neighborhood:

Isn't that great?

We had a very soothing rain late last night.  One clap of thunder was all I heard, otherwise it just sounded so nice.

Well, time for me to get moving and pour another cup of coffee.  I hope your Monday is off to a great start!

Signs of Spring!! 3/13/25

 Good Morning All,

I'm a bit late (again) today.  I had to go out early for a fasting blood test and then when I came back I HAD to have coffee immediately...and half a bagel and half a banana (you would think that I had not eaten in ages).

Anyway, yesterday was a beautiful day.  I walked again along the Perkiomen creek in the morning.  Lots of bird song (and crows), lots of robins and some Canadian geese on the water.  This morning is a bit chillier, so if I walk it will be in the afternoon.

Later in the day, Fletch was pruning our apple tree (lots of dead wood unfortunately) and I walked out to see if the peonies were popping up yet.  No sign of them, but there were other joys:

The bed at the edge of our driveway.

Smack dab in the middle of our front lawn - no idea about these...haven't seen them in the past.

Under my front office window...delicate crocus and daffodil buds!!!

Colin reported that his garlic is shooting up and Fletch says ours as well.  Good things to come.  Surprisingly, there is a bunch of spinach in the cold frame bed that was not damaged by the cooler temps or winds (the winds blew the sides and top off the cold frame!).  I may have to harvest that for a salad.

Well, time to get my day going (and get another cup of coffee).  I hope you all are seeing signs of Spring too!

Unraveled Wednesday 3/12/25

 Hello My Friends,

It's that fun day of the week - Wednesday - Hump Day - AKA Unraveled Wednesday.  Let's link up with Kat and talk about what we are making and reading.  Unraveled posts are filled with so much inspiration!

For my part, I am thrilled that my color block socks are finally (FINALLY) finished!!  Woo-Hoo

.

Naturally the photo doesn't show the true colors (the yarn is the November 2024 Sock Squad yarn from The Farmer's Daughter).  Cuffs and toes are actually purple.  The middle part (slightly above the heel and then down the foot part way) is like a mulberry color and the pale shade is more like a grey.

I think this pair of socks took me longer to knit than any pair I have ever knit!  Case in point:  one sock took just over a month to knit and the other just under a month.  And, this is my first knit finish for 2025.  Nothing is a race and I don't have a goal set for what I want to finish, but geeze!  

Nothing new has been cast on, rather my intention is to work on some things in progress (2 shawls and one cowl).  We shall see how that goes!

Reading has been pleasant.  I read The Garden by Nick Newman.  This is a book that is difficult to review or explain.  The copy I borrowed from my library has it labeled as science fiction.  I would not call it sci-fi.  Dystopian?  Yes.  The reader doesn't really know when or where this book is taking place.  Climate change factors in.  How old are the sisters?  Where did the boy come from?  What secret(s) are in the house?  Some questions will never be answered, yet I found the book very enjoyable.

It has been some time since Fletch and I shared a book after dinner, but thanks to Kat we are now doing so!  We are halfway through Lights on a Ground of Darkness by Ted Kooser and we are both loving it.  Kooser's writing is just so darn good!  In fact, this book has Fletch now interested in reading some of Kooser's poetry!  I just need to remember to pull out my books so he can peruse them.

I'm currently reading a novel about Auguste Rodin and his muse and lover, Camille Claudel which I am enjoying - more about that next week.

Last night I went to bed early (tired).  Before going upstairs I was complaining to Fletch that we had not heard an owl in ages.  Well...Fletch told me this morning that when he climbed the stairs to go to bed last night he heard an owl in the woods behind our house!  He said that owl "hooted" about 25 times while Fletch brushed his teeth!  I'm sorry to have missed that (the owl, not the brushing of teeth).

Have a wonderful Wednesday!!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 3/11/25

 Good Morning!

How are you?  I am loving our weather recently - warmer temps and most importantly, the gusty winds have subsided.  Whew!  But, no matter the weather, time marches onward and now it is Tuesday and time for a TNT update.  I'm happy to let you know that more stitching was accomplished this past week.  The sampler continues to grow.

I am really enjoying this sampler, but at the same time I am thankful that it is no larger - all that solid stitching!!  Glad I'm enjoying it because I certainly have a whole lot more to stitch!  LOL

Meanwhile, back to the weather for a moment.  Yesterday was gorgeous!  I did not get out to walk, instead I did four loads of wash and took it easy.  I guess the time change is impacting me because I felt pretty tired all day.  But, with the lovely weather, Fletch grilled hot and sweet sausages for us for dinner.  I sautéed some onions, bell peppers, mushrooms and zucchini to go with the sausage and then...drumroll...we had our first fire of the season last night!

It was a beautiful night with an almost full moon shining down on us.

There were lots of stars visible and Mabel was running around.  She never comes near the fire, but walks around the perimeter of the yard - checking her territory I guess.  We came in after about an hour (Mabel stayed out a little later, but still came in for the night).

Today it is forecast to hit 68!  We will do grocery shopping this morning, but I am hoping/planning to get in a walk after lunch.  I hope your Tuesday is a good one!

Tiny Treasures 3/10/25

 Good Morning Everyone!

How are you this Monday morning?  I've been sleeping in a bit thanks to the time change.  Our weekend was good - nothing spectacular which is fine.  We did not see Colin & Mailing & Iris this weekend (we will next weekend) (though Colin did report that Iris is now up to 15 lbs!!  She will be 3 months old as of tomorrow - hard to believe).

Anyway, nothing really to share or report from the weekend, so I thought that instead I would share some of my small stitched cushions.  They are nestled into a dough bowl that was Nanno's (Fletcher's Grandmother) and are sitting on top of a bookcase in the office room near the front window.

A little bit of a closer view:

And, some of my favorites (do you see Iris front and center??):

This is one I stitched in memory of my Mom.  Her middle name was Rose and she often would wear a rose bud pinned to her dress or jacket lapel.  We also often had rose buds in a vase in the kitchen.  My Mom's initials - VRL - are just visible on the left (yes, she was a Vera too).

Kat - this one made me think of you!  It's a crazy quilt pincushion made by my friend Carol.  So pretty.

This heart was made by a bloggy friend Marly - expertly stitched and finished (she has way more patience than I do!).

I can't remember when I stitched this one, but years ago when my eyes were better - LOL.  This is on fairly high count linen (maybe 40 count) and is stitched over one (meaning 40 stitches to the inch).

You see, I've always loved birds - I stitched both of these way back in 2011.  They are both (I believe) designs by Blackbird Designs (as is the Rose piece stitched in memory of my Mom).

So, there you have it.  Just some of the treasures I have that make me happy.  I'm hoping this Monday finds you happy and doing something you love.  Make some fun!!