Unraveled Wednesday 2/25/26

 Hello and Greetings,

The last Unraveled Wednesday of February 2026 finds me looking out the window at more snow...  Yup, it snowed a bit overnight.  Nothing big - roads are clear, but the car will need to be cleaned off before I can drive to Colin's.  And last night was one of those nights where I hardly slept at all.  I'm tired at 6:30 in the morning!  Hopefully that sweet child will take a nice long nap this afternoon.

Well, it's time to link up with Kat to talk about making and reading.  I'm still plugging away on the Family Socks.  Specifically the last one.  I thought I might be finished or at least speeding down the foot on the final sock.  Instead I find myself meandering and pausing now and then.  It's ok.  It will get done eventually.

I've been thinking about/toying with ideas of what to knit next.  Definitely another pair of socks, but I will pick up something else as well.  Perhaps I should get back to Semplice - it has been in time out for a bit.  The last row I finished found my stitch count off by one and I have not really wanted to deal with it.  But, I'd really like this to be off the needles and blocked.  We shall see.

Reading has been good.  The Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion continue to delight and entertain me.  I finished Volume 3 and am more than halfway through Volume 4.  Already I am wishing that there was not an end to these books.

Fletch and I are enjoying listening to Bernd Heinrich's One Wild Bird at a Time which is giving us some interesting and surprising facts.

Canticle by Janet Rich Edwards was read with my eyes and I loved it.  Historical fiction set in Bruges, it includes mystics, saints, anchoresses and beguines.  Not something I would normally chose to read, but it was truly lovely.

If Canticle didn't provide enough religion, I'm now reading (with my eyes) Gilead by Marilynne Robinson for our RWU group.  I know I read "Housekeeping" by Robinson decades ago (when it first came out) and I think I liked it, but honestly don't remember anything about it.  Gilead is proving to be a bit laborious for me.  There are times when I'm reading that I thoroughly enjoy it and the writing is beautiful.  What Robinson has to say about family, faith and life is truly wonderful.  But then there are times that I keep thinking, get on with it!  Fortunately it is not a terribly long book and I should be able to finish it well before our discussion on 3/27.

Here's hoping your Wednesday finds you immersed in a wonderful book or two and having fun making something!  Enjoy and be sure to check out the links on Kat's blog.

Tiny Needle Tuesday 2/24/26

 Hello!

Welcome to the last TNT of February 2026.  Hard to believe that by the end of the week we will have been through the first two months of 2026.  Whew!  Progress has been made on the Appil piece.  No more hair for Eve (yet), but some creatures have been added.  Here's an overview of the entire piece as it is this morning:

As you can see, the creature on the right has been outlined.  I think it's a cat.  Here's a close up of that:

And two bugs (I think they are beetles) have been stitched on the other side of Eve.

Fun things!  More creatures to come and (of course) Adam needs to be added on the other side of the Evil Serpent.  Even though there is still a lot (a lot!) to stitch on this, I do feel as though good progress has been made and I am steadily moving on toward the end of this.

Our streets are now bare (they were by yesterday morning) and Colin came over in the afternoon (with Iris) to help with shoveling.  Fletch says we ended up with about 9.5", but most of that has now settled down.  It's pretty chilly though.  But at least the sun is out today.  My phone is showing the possibility of snow for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday!  Luckily less than an inch each day.  What a snowy winter it has been!

There are mushrooms and some meat marinating for kabobs for dinner. Peppers and onions will be added to the kabobs.  I'll try doing them on the indoor grill I just bought.

Here's to a great Tuesday!

A Winter Wonderland! 2/23/26

 Greetings from Eastern PA,

It's a beautiful Winter Wonderland outside.  We had some rain yesterday morning which turned into what I call "thick rain" - not really rain, but not quite snow, but not sleet either.  That eventually changed into all snow and it is still coming down this morning.  I took this picture when I came downstairs and stepped out onto our patio:

It's a lot.  Right now it is very pretty.  The street has not been plowed.  I was supposed to watch Iris today, but I'm not going anywhere!

At Thanksgiving I had gotten a free (8 lbs!!) turkey breast from one of our grocery stores and decided to cook that yesterday.  I made stuffing and a small green bean casserole.  Good food on a snowy day.  This morning I have the bones simmering on the stove for soup.  I think a turkey sandwich is on the menu for lunch!  I will freeze the soup for another day.

Some nice surprises over the weekend:  I discovered a new flower on my biggest Christmas cactus!

And then I discovered buds on another Christmas cactus!

I guess they really like living in my office room (where I never turn on the heat).  When I watered plants this morning I noticed even more buds on the one plant.  

So, a good day to stay in.  We don't even need to go grocery shopping tomorrow if we don't want to.  Plenty of food in the freezer.  I think today will be spent knitting and/or stitching, some reading and listening to the Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion and, perhaps, a little nap after lunch!

I hope everyone is warm and cozy and if you are in the midst of the storm or expecting it, stay safe!!

Unraveled Wednesday 2/18/26

 Good Morning!

Greetings from very foggy Eastern PA.  It's still quite dark out, but my phone says dense fog until 10 a.m.  And, Happy Birthday to my little brother.  The temp is a bit more mild this morning (34) and I think this week will see us above freezing overnight all week!  Both cold temps and damp weather are bad for my back, so I will be glad to see a change in the weather.  Of course our forecast shows we could get snow on Sunday.  Ugh.

It's Wednesday and time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk about making and reading.  I love Wednesdays.  Always inspiring and often enabling in the best kind of way.

Today I have one and a half socks to share.

The last pair of the Family Socks!  The first is finished and the second is up to the heel flap.  It should not be long now.  I intended to work on this yesterday but pulled out my stitching instead.

Reading has been quite good!  I've listened to the first two volumes of The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion and they are simply wonderful.  So good that I'm almost finished with Volume 3!  And, yes, I did write "listened" - me!!  My library does not have the books, so I decided to download from Audible to use up some of the many credits I have.  The narration is superb and the story is just plain fun.  Thanks to Sarah for this recommendation,

With my eyes, I read Seascraper by Benjamin Wood.  What a book!  Moody, atmospheric, perhaps even a bit melancholy.  Beautiful writing and I highly recommend it.

Fletch and I finished listening to Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson.  Again, the narration was quite good.  We both laughed a lot and enjoyed the book, though by the last hour or so we were tired of it and ready for it to be over.  Last night we started listening to a book by Bernd Heinrich - one of our favorite nature writers.

Due to my aching back, I never managed to get around to putting orange oil on my cabinets yesterday.  And today I'm off to watch Iris.  Perhaps I'll get to the cabinets later in the week.  Tomorrow I have an early doctor appointment and a massage in the afternoon - can't wait for that!  I may sign up for a yin yoga class Thursday evening - depends on how my back does today.  I think the slow stretching is good for me.  I just need to remember to not twist too far!

Whatever your plans, I hope you have an enjoyable Wednesday!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 2/17/26

 Hello!

It's Fat Tuesday!  Happy Mardi Gras!  My beans have been soaking overnight and I have hot Italian sausage thawed.  We will be having red beans and rice for dinner.  I can't wait!  But first, the rest of the day awaits and it is time for a TNT update.

Stitching (some) was accomplished this week.  The solid fill-ins do take some time.  But the ground underneath Eve (the Garden of Eden?) has been filled in and, the bottom line over to the right side (as you look at it) of the sampler has been stitched!

Obviously no more hair was added to Eve and I don't know if that will happen this week.  There is a creature off to the right that I am anxious to stitch.  Also a few more bugs between Eve and the Tree as well.

I'm happy to report that I did manage to get my chores completed yesterday!  That was scrubbing the kitchen floor and vacuuming upstairs.  Today I may wipe the cabinets with orange oil if I am so inspired to do so.  First, though, I'll cook some bacon & eggs for Fletch and me and we will do a quick run to the grocery store to procure some things (mostly fresh veggies and fruit).  Hoping to find reading, knitting and stitching time at some point.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Weekending 2/16/26

 Good Morning All,

How are you and how was your weekend? Ours was very nice.  Fletch and I went out to breakfast on Saturday morning.  That was a great treat - I love going out to breakfast.  The rest of that day was spent on good things - books, knitting and stitching.  I cannot complain.

Sundy morning we met Colin, Mailing, Iris, Bonnie and Zhongren at the Colebrookdale Train Station in Boyertown.

Such a beautiful train station with elegant gingerbread trim.  It was mobbed!!  I think the train was full.  The cars were all beautiful.  White linen tablecloths, cloth napkins, fancy silverware and nice china.  There were fresh flowers and chocolate truffles on each table.  Wine and champagne and even a boy (teenager) strolling through the cars playing his violin.  I kept expecting to turn around and see Poirot!  LOL. It really was fun.  The food was surprisingly good - French toast, eggs and sausage for brunch.  And everyone received a long stemmed carnation as we stepped off the train.  The ride goes through what is known as the Hidden Valley.  It was pretty with snow still on the ground and I'm betting it would be gorgeous in the Fall with colorful leaves.

We got home around 1:30 and yours truly took a nice, long nap!  Then we went over to C&M's for dinner.  We had coq au vin with mashed potatoes - a perfect meal for a winter's night.  And chocolate mousse with whipped cream for dessert.  And, of course, wine.  We were all beyond stuffed at the end of the meal.

On our way over to C&M's we had a bit of rain, but as we left to come home, snow was falling.  This morning we woke to a few new inches of snow - the kind that coats all the tree branches.  Very pretty (but I am tired of snow).  We had been commenting that the snow has been sticking around for such a long, long time.  And then Fletch heard on the news that this is the longest a snowfall has stayed on the ground since 1963!  At least the new snow is still pretty and white and has covered up a lot of the grimy patches.

Nowhere I need to go today, so I will be staying in.  There are a few chores I should take care of - time will tell whether I do or not.  I hope your Monday is a nice one - enjoy!

Wrapping up the Week

 Good Morning!

How are you on this Friday the 13th?  I am doing well.  Other than a Restorative Yoga class this evening, I have no real plans.  There is laundry to be done and the kitchen floor is pretty dirty, but nothing major.

Yesterday I ran errands, set up appointments (including with our accountant for taxes), did some knitting and a bit of reading.  It was so relaxing.  One of this things I picked up on my errands was this cute little bunny basket for Iris.

Isn't it sweet?  I also picked up one of those cars that you pull back and then it zooms off.  The one I bought is a banana.  LOL. I will get some other goodies to fill the basket for Easter.

After Iris was born and we were going through all the books that were Colin's when he was young, I was disappointed not to find two.  The first was Sheep in a Jeep and the other was a Golden Book - Two Little Gardeners.  I had forgotten that the author of Two Little Gardeners is Margaret Wise Brown who wrote "Goodnight Moon" and "The Runaway Bunny" - two of Iris' favorites!  Anyway, I ordered both books.  The Golden Book is coming from Abe Books, but Sheep in a Jeep I ordered from Amazon and it arrived yesterday!  I'll probably take that to Iris next Wednesday when I will be watching her.

There has also been cooking, of course.  Last night I made white clam sauce and added some smoked mussels along with the clams.  Highly recommend!!  It was quite tasty.  Tonight I am fixing baked ratatouille - lots of veggies and a bit of cheese.  YUM!

We have no plans for Valentine's Day and I have yet to figure out what I will cook, but there is time to figure it all out. On Sunday we have plans to meet up with Colin & Mailing & Iris and Mailing's parents for a brunch train ride on the Colebrookdale Railroad in Boyertown.  That should be fun - it will be Iris' first train ride!  Also, Sunday is Zhongren's birthday and he loves trains, so perfect timing.

I hope this Friday finds you well and enjoying life!

Unraveled Wednesday 2/11/26

 Good Morning One and All,

The warming trend is (thankfully) continuing.  Today it is 32 out right now which is roughly 10 degrees warmer than yesterday!  Woo-Hoo!  I'm still in comfy leggings and two sweaters, but I don't feel stiff and cramped with cold.

It's Wednesday!  The day when all the cool people link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk about making and reading.  I'm happy to show you that the first of the last pair of Family socks (got that?) is almost finished!  I only have the toe decrease and kitchnering to do.

Honestly I think I could have (and maybe should have) finished this last night, but my eyes were getting a little tired and my hands were beginning to ache just a tiny bit.  Better to not over-do it.  Hopefully I will finish it up tonight and even cast on for the last one!  I kept weighing my yarn to be sure I would have sufficient and I'm pretty sure I can get the second sock to match this one (fingers crossed).

Reading has been so good!  I finished The Black Wolf by Louise Penny and found it to be much, much better than The Grey Wolf (which I didn't like).  Like Kat, I was happy to read that the next Ganache book will be centered in Three Pines and should include more of the "characters" we have all come to love so much.

A ton of books have come in for me at my library - many of them new and therefore not renewable.  I may have to return one or two before reading, but not a bad problem.  I'm in the midst of Seascraper by Benjamin Wood and the writing is just wonderful.  Because of Kat's review, I've started reading Wintering by Katherine May which is just beautifully written.  I'm going slow with this and reading maybe 10 pages or so just before turning out the light.  And Sarah prompted me to download Book 1 of The Unselected  Journals of Emma M Lion which I am finding to be just wonderful!  The narration is excellent.

Fletch and I are continuing to enjoy Run for the Hills.  I think we have about 2 hours left.

And, of course, I still have "Gilead" by Marilynne Robinson for our RWU group. Other books waiting for my eyes are Canticle by Janet Rich Edwards and Stone Yard Devotional by Charlotte Wood.  And yesterday I received notice that Heart the Lover by Lily King is ready for me to pick up.

Whew!  What a bounty of books.  Lucky me!!

What are you making and reading this week?

Tiny Needle Tuesday 2/10/26

 Good Morning All,

Well, it is roughly 20 degrees warmer this morning than yesterday!  Progress!!  And I saw 40's in next week's forecast.  But, let's not jump ahead.  As we all know, the forecasts are more often wrong than correct.

I spent a delightful day yesterday with Iris.  We read so many (SO MANY) books!  Some of them multiple times.  Have any of you seen or read The Zabajaba Jungle by William Steig?  This is not one we read yesterday, but what a funny, weird book.  That William Steig must've been smoking something when he wrote this one!  Wednesday will be another day with Iris.

Anyway, it's Tuesday which means it's time for a TNT update.  The only time I stitched on Appil was Sunday afternoon for an hour or so.  Therefore, not a lot is new.  I skipped working on hair and instead concentrated on the ground under Eve's feet.  A little more outlining and a bit more filling in.

It is difficult to see, but there are a couple of shades of green in the ground.  There will also be some brown (of course...this piece has so much brown!!).

Today's plans include grocery shopping and making shrimp fajitas for dinner.  Yum!  I'm hungry for them right now!  Hope your Tuesday is a good one.

Weekending 2/9/26

Hello My Friends,

The above picture tells the story.  It is still wicked cold...and more wicked than it has been!  That window is my front bedroom window.  As a child, I loved seeing the frost patterns on windows.  Now I still find them interesting and pretty.  They also make me feel cold.  On Saturday the temp never even made it to 10 degrees at our house, and the winds were so fierce.  I actually ventured out - there were two books to pick up at the library and I needed some peppers and mushrooms for the dinner I was going to fix.  At the library I almost couldn't open my car door because the wind was so strong!

I managed to warm up some by doing cleaning (that's one good thing about it...that and when it's done things are clean!).  I vacuumed and dusted and scrubbed the bathrooms.  It was chilly in the basement where I went to visit the washer, but it was cozy to remake the bed with sheets straight out of the dryer.

There was a visitor to my front office window on Saturday.

As I sat at my desk a motion caught my eye.  This guy was nibbling on a bush that's just off to the side of the window.  See his little tongue sticking out?  And on Sunday, I caught some deer laying down in our back yard.  I bet their butts were cold!

Sunday's temps were not much better and the wind picked up again just about the time I went out.  We were in need of wine, so I ventured out only to find my favorite liquor store was closed for inventory.  Grrrr. I ended up just picking up a couple of bottles at Wegman's (which was mobbed and I had to park what felt like a mile from the store!).

The days thankfully have been bright.  The sun is strong (and blinding with all the snow).  But when the temps are in the single digits with 25+ mph winds, the sun doesn't do much to warm things up.  We made it through the first week of February, so that's a success.

Other than cleaning and cooking, I did some reading, a little knitting and a little stitching.  Not much.  I cancelled my yoga classes due to my back issues...hopefully it will be better by Thursday so I can get back to some classes.

How was your weekend?

Unraveled Wednesday 2/4/26

 Hey, Hey!!

It was above 20 degrees this morning!  Flurries had been in the forecast (like we need more snow??), but no sign of any precipitation overnight.  Snow and ice are slowly sinking down and there is a bit of melting.  Fletch went out and did a little shoveling - he needed to make a path from the driveway to the side of the house so that our water meter could be read.  We had a letter from our water company that they've been doing estimated guesses for our water bill because the water meter was inaccessible.

After a week of hit or miss mail delivery, my February Sock Squad yarn finally arrived yesterday.  I love the main color but am not all that thrilled with the mini skein.  But, I'm thinking of saving the mini skeins to make a scrappy cowl or shawl later (like next year after I have them all).

On this Unraveled Wednesday, let's link up with Kat and see what everyone is making and reading.  I do enjoy Wednesday posts so much.  Similar to my Appil sampler, the Family Socks are progressing in a slow and steady way.  As you know, I'm on the last pair and the first of that set has reached the beginning of the heel flap.

The foot will be in blue once I turn the heel and then the toes will pick up the yellow again.  I'm liking the color combination.  You may remember that my thought had been to make Family Birthday Socks which didn't pan out.  Family Christmas Socks did not happen either.  And now it looks as though Family Valentine's Day socks won't happen either.  No way I can finish this sock and make a second matching one by the 14th.  But, that's ok.  It will be fun to give them to C&M&I whenever they are finished.

Reading has been good.  I did finish "Invitation to a Banquet" and learned so much about Chinese food and cooking.  I also read and finished The Devil's Cave by Martin Walker.  This is the 5th book in the Bruno, Chief of Police series and it may be my favorite one so far.  It definitely was good to be back in St. Denis and in the company of Bruno.

Fletch and I are listening to Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson after dinner and we are both enjoying it a lot.  The narration is very good (usually that's a complaint for one or both of us).

Tell me, what are you up to on this Hump Day?  I hope it is something fun.

Tiny Needle Tuesday 2/3/26

 Good Morning!

I guess it's no surprise that we are in for 6 more weeks of winter.  It feels as though it will take at least that long for the snow to disappear from our yard!  But...my car thermometer said it was 36 (!!!) when I left Iris yesterday around 4 p.m. And the sun was still high and bright in the sky.  This morning's temp is in the teens rather than single digits.  There is hope my friends, there is hope.

Now it is Tuesday and time for a TNT update.  Eve has been fully fleshed out!

She even grew a little more hair on one side.  Here's a look at the whole Appil sampler overall:

While there is still so much (so much!) left to stitch, I feel as though progress is being made.  Slow and steady.

No plans for today other than a small grocery shopping and a trip to CVS to pick up a prescription.  I may do some laundry...or I may not.  I've been having some back pain, so I may just take it easy!  Whatever you are up to, make it a good Tuesday!

Weekending 2/2/26

 Hello, Hello!

Good Morning and Goodbye to January!  Happy Groundhog's Day.  It is probably still too dark for Phil to have come out of his cozy bed, but from where I am it seems like winter will be going on for some time.  I hope I can remember these frigid days when I start complaining about the heat and humidity this summer!

How was your weekend?  Ours was good.  There were the usual things:  yoga, reading, knitting and stitching.  We also ventured out Saturday for dinner at Colin & Mailing's.  We had a delicious bolognese with hearty pasta, a huge salad and a yummy olive oil cake with blueberry compote and whipped cream for dessert.  And wine, of course.  Iris loved it all (no wine for her though and no salad).  She is a whipped cream fanatic just like her Grandpa (Fletch).

We got home Saturday a bit after 8:00.  I was sitting at the table in the kitchen reading and I looked out and saw that we had a visitor:

Obviously taken through the screen and glass of our patio door.  Mr. Raccoon was on the shelf that is over our outdoor basement steps.  That's where we store birdseed and peanuts for the birds.  Once he saw me he jumped down and waddled down the shoveled path in the backyard that goes to the bird feeder.  We have not seen him since.

Sunday after breakfast I baked some peanut butter cookies with chocolate and peanut butter chips.  Yum!  Dinner was a chicken casserole that bakes in a low (275) oven for three hours.  It was nice to have the oven on in the afternoon to help warm the kitchen.

Plenty of food and making and reading over the weekend.  For me, that's pretty perfect!  I hope your weekend was just as nice.