A Review of Sorts

 Good Morning My Friends,

Welcome to 2024!  I trust that you all had lovely holiday times.  I sure did.  Our Christmas was filled with lots of time with family and wonderful food.  Our days have been mostly grey and damp.  Mild temps do not necessarily mean mild feeling outside!  Days that have been in the 40's or even 50's have felt raw and bone chilling to us.  We did manage to get out for a walk on Christmas Day.  Colin and I were remembering how one year we walked at Wissahickon Valley Park in Philadelphia and it was 75,  Another year he, Bonnie, Mailling and I walked at Valley Forge and it was bitter cold with a wicked wind chill.  Each year is different, that's for sure.

Mabel was spoiled by Anna and by Mailing & Colin.  She loves her catnip cactus that C&M gave her.

Constant movement means a somewhat blurry picture!

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I had not intended to stay away from blogging for so long, but I did!  There were times when I lost track of what day it was!  I did some knitting, some reading, lots of cooking, napping and just taking it easy.  Exactly what I needed.

Last night, as usual we stayed in.  I made our traditional crab quiche

for dinner and we had some prosecco to go with that.  Yum!!

Today will be all about doing things I love.  Hopefully some stitching, some knitting, some cooking and some reading.  It's going to be another cloudy day, but I'd like to maybe get out for a walk.  Too early to tell yet.

I am not one to set goals with my making or reading, but as one year ends and another begins, I enjoy looking back and reviewing what I made and read.

2023 found me knitting 12 items:

• 2 shawls (Odyssey and Hitchhiker)
• 2 cowls (Scrappy and Abstract Leaves)
• 8 pairs of socks

I stitched four pieces and made "X" number of granny squares.

On the reading side of things, I read a total of 48 books of which 6 were audio.  7 were read with Fletch and my breakdown of ratings is:

• 5 Stars - 11
• 4.5 stars - 4
• 4 stars - 13
• 3.5 stars - 11
• 3 stars - 5
• 2.5 stars - 2
• 2 stars - 2

I feel good about my ratings - I know I abandoned some books that would have been rated lower, but I have no time for books that do not appeal to me!

For 2024, I've pulled two books and put them on my nightstand for daily reading.  The first is Hal Borland's Twelve Moon's of the Year which is a collection of his outdoor editorial essays - one for each day of the year.  The second is Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach.  I've read both of these before, but it's been years since I picked up Simple Abundance.

As a wrap up, it will be no surprise to anyone, but it is simply wonderful to have Colin & Mailing back in town permanently!  Their furniture finally arrived from Texas and they are busy settling back into life in a slightly cooler location.  I know that they will miss some things about Austin, but they say they are happy to be back.

Cheers to you all and cheers to the year ahead - may it be one of calmness and sanity, excellent health, much joy and happiness.

Unraveled Wednesday 1/25/23

 Good Morning!

We finally had some sunshine yesterday and it was so nice.  Today, however, we are back to a grey ski and rain (possibly even some snow) is on the way.  I plan to stay inside.  Fletch plans to go out and run some errands.  He likes to escape the house when Karyn comes to clean (she is not what you would call quiet).

It's Wednesday and time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk making, reading, etc.  Always interesting and inspiring.  Let's get started!

There has been a little knitting this past week.  I focused more on stitching (see yesterday's blog post), but still managed to knit a few rows (and not unravel any!!).  The first green sock is now on the gusset decrease and soon it will be smooth sailing down the foot.  I do love an Eye of the Partridge heel flap:

This sock is screaming SPRING to me - fronds of grass and leaves poking up for daffodils and tulips.  Still a little early here, but dreaming is ok.

The cowl (Simply Scrappy Cowl) is coming along nicely.  The pattern is designed to use a bunch of mini skeins...or leftovers from socks, but I am using one skein of Static yarn by KnitPicks in the colorway "Taos."  I love the way this is knitting up!

Finally, the mail this week brought the Lopi yarn I purchased to knit a hat.  I have yet to cast on, but the yarn is sitting in the office room just waiting for me to get started.

On the reading front, I did finish The Book of Goose but did not really like it.  As one reviewer stated, it felt like there were missing pages at the end...there could/should have been more.  On the other hand, I'm glad there were not more pages.  I found most of the characters to be not-so-nice - even cruel, and that is just not my cup of tea.  Not sure what all the hype is about for this book, but it just was not for me.

I'm now reading The Lost Art of Mixing which is a follow up to the book I finished the other week ("The School of Esssential Ingredients").  It may be that I am reading this one too close to finishing the other, but I don't think it is as good.  Meanwhile, I've moved to position 95 in the queue for the latest Louise Penny book.  Soon I hope!

Fletch and I are enjoying Mark Twain for Cat Lovers which we are reading after dinner.  Twain certainly could tell some tales (and make up some words).

That's a wrap for Unraveled Wednesday.  Thanks for reading and be sure to check out Kat's blog to see what she and others are making and reading (HINT:  there is another gnome in the making!!).

Unraveled Wednesday June 29, 2022

 Good Morning All,

Here we are mid-week already and end-of-month.  As everyone is saying, June has rushed by.

Yesterday was a beautiful day here.  Delightfully cooler and less humid.  The bathrooms were cleaned and jam was made prior to lunch!  And that even included an unexpected trip to the grocery store for more canning jars, sugar and blueberries.  No blueberries to be found, so some raspberries were subbed.

The only thing is, it does not appear that the jam "set."  When I tilt a jar it is a bit runny.  I had hoped they would firm up over night, but nope.  But, as I said to Fletch, if it is too runny to put on toast or a bagel, it will most likely be delicious spooned over vanilla ice cream.  Now I need to make some ice cream - maybe in time for the 4th of July!!

The lack of setting is a bit perplexing as I used a recipe I have made in the past with success.  The right amount of sugar, the right amount of pectin, the correct amount of fruit and water.  A mystery.

Meanwhile, it's time to link up with Kat and the other Merry Unravelers to talk making and reading.  If you read my post yesterday, you know that a lot of my time in the past week or so was spent on the Adam & Eve sampler.  Still, I managed to do a little bit of knitting.

First up, Nai Nai's Favorite dishcloth knit in KnitPicks CotLin yarn (a blend of cotton and linen):

The color is Conch and is gorgeous.  And, this has already been put to use and pronounced "wonderful" by Fletch!  It is much lighter than the cloths I've made from Sugar and Cream - easier to grasp and wring out.  Bonus:  it did not bother my hands to knit with this yarn.

Next up, some things in progress:

Fletcher's first Cafe Au Lait sock is through the heel flap and ready for the magical heel turn.  And, a second dishcloth has been started - this one in scrubby yarn in tropical colors.  Scrubby yarn dishcloths may be nice for washing dishes, but the yarn is definitely hard on my hands.  I will not be buying more of this yarn!

Reading has been a bit slow the past week or two.  I did finish Copper River by William Kent Krueger and it was ok...not my favorite in the series (or maybe I'm just tired of the series?).  Likewise, I am now about 100 pages to the finish of "Necessary as Blood" by Deborah Crombie - part of the Duncan Kincaid/Gemma James series.  I will finish it, but will hold off on picking up more in this series.

Has anyone read Damnation Spring by Ash Davidson?  I had read reviews which looked good and borrowed it from the library, but just can't seem to get into it.  I may just return it today.  There are a couple of books that came in for me yesterday, so I will stop and pick them up.

I've a busy morning ahead of me.  I'm running into the office for a brief visit - I have some things I'd like to print in color for myself and I should check the mail.  I'll make a run to Trader Joe's from the office...and pick up wine...then to the library and home.

Be sure to check out Kat's blog to get inspired by what everyone is making and reading.  Have a wonderful Wednesday!