Weekending 12/1/25

 Good Morning My Friends,

How are you?  How was your weekend?  How was your Thanksgiving?  I am well and both Thanksgiving and the weekend were lovely.

One Thursday, Fletch and I headed over to Bonnie & Zhongren's in the late afternoon.  Mailing was cooking and everything was so delicious!  We had roast turkey (from the farm) and gravy, mashed potatoes with caramelized onions, stuffing and roasted broccolini (one of Iris' favorite veggies).  Zhongren had baked some naan, Anna made an apple pie and I made a praline pumpkin pie along with both cranberry orange relish and cranberry orange chutney.  I don't think anyone was hungry after that meal!

The weekend included two yoga classes as well as a trip to the laundromat...my washer has yet to be repaired.  The repair person who was scheduled to show on Wednesday ended up being a no-call/no-show.  I tried calling the business on Friday, but of course they were closed for the holiday.  Oh well, in the grand scheme of things it's not all that important.  Yes it is annoying and frustrating.  But I try not to hold on to those negative thoughts.  I'm lucky to have a laundromat close by (that was not crowded).  I'm hoping for an appointment tomorrow since I will be watching Iris today.

Sunday ended up being full of beautiful surprises!  I made some multi-grain pancakes for breakfast with blueberries.  While cooking I looked out and saw a bluebird.  Such a brilliant blue!  He (definitely a male) had come to our picnic table where we have a large saucer filled with water (and a heater to keep it from freezing).  Then, during breakfast, I looked out and noticed it was snowing.  So pretty.  It didn't stick really (except on the pumpkin which is still on the picnic table) but it was just so nice to see it coming down.  Then I noticed that our snapdragons are still blooming.  What a surprise!

We also have a petunia that refuses to stop blooming in our kitchen window box.

Continuing with the cooking theme, last night I made Shrimp in Thai Coconut Curry Sauce that was wonderful.  We had it over basmati rice.

I only used 1 TBS of fish sauce (that stuff is STRONG!!) and next time I would add more of the red curry paste.  Very yummy though.

Most likely there will be no TNT post from me tomorrow.  To date, I have not put in a single stitch since I last posted an update on my sampler.  I doubt I will have time or the energy to stitch tonight.

Also, we watched a great movie last night:  Train Dreams.  Available on Netflix and we highly recommend.

Welcome to December!!

Yay for Friday!

 Good Morning My Friends,

How are you?  I hope your Thanksgiving was a restful and tasty one.  Mine sure was!  Fletch and I realized that yesterday was the very first Thanksgiving we have ever spent by ourselves!  And, we liked it!!  Yes, we missed Colin & Mailing for sure and it felt weird not to be with Mailing's family - I think we have celebrated Thanksgiving with them for maybe a decade now.  But it was so relaxed to not be on any particular schedule.  I took my time and made rolls in the morning.

Some of them were huge!  (Guess I didn't do such a great job of dividing the dough evenly.). I didn't much care for them (me who loves and lives for carbs - lol).  Next time I will try my Mom's recipe.

I was talking with one of my brothers on Wednesday night and we were wondering how our Mom ever pulled off the feast that she did each Thanksgiving.  There was always a BIG turkey and stuffing.  Homemade gravy.  Homemade cranberry relish.  Mashed and sweet potatoes.  Homemade rolls.  Always a salad of some sort and two to three veggie sides.  And, of course, several pies.  Growing up, our house was small and the kitchen was very small.  No counter space to work on and only one oven and four burners.  We did have a big electric roaster that she used for the turkey, but the rest of it must have been magic!!

Anyway, our meal was way, way, way pared down.  I cooked a turkey breast and made stuffing.  The rolls mentioned above and some gravy.  Two kinds of cranberry relish/chutney and some Brussels sprouts sautéed in butter and maple syrup with the addition of some walnuts and pomegranate ariels.  And, pumpkin pie for dessert.  It was tasty, and making just that made me exhausted!  LOL

I even brought out the "good" dishes and silver.  There are plenty of leftovers (I'll get my turkey sandwich today).  All in all, a lovely day.

Now it's back to normal life.  I have a load of wash going and another one to put in after.  The bathrooms desperately need to be cleaned.  Usually I avoid going out on Black Friday, but I will be running out to pick up a massage gift card for Mailing.  Her birthday is tomorrow and we plan to stop by to give her the gift card and some other gifts.

A nice surprise showed up in the mail on Wednesday.  My last shipment of 2024 Sock Squad yarn from The Farmer's Daughter arrived.

The full skein is pretty dark, and I wasn't thrilled with it.  But then I read the name of the color way and now I am smitten!  The color way is "Mother Magpie" and I love those birds (I wish we had them here in Eastern PA).  There is a lot of variation in the skein - some lighter shades (almost bluish) and pale grey.  I think it will knit up very nicely.  The green mini skein is very pretty.  I've enjoyed having the monthly shipments of yarn even though I have not kept up with using it all.  Definitely a fun retirement gift to myself.  But, I'm ready for a year off (at least).  LOL

Time for me to check the laundry in the washer and re-fill my coffee cup.  Wishing you all a restful and enjoyable weekend! 

Weekending 11/27/23

 Hello and Good Morning!

I'm hoping that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that it was as tasty as ours was!  The biggest thrill for us though was having the kids back in town.

It was great to all be together again, if only for a brief time.  C&M are now back in Texas, having flown back last evening.  Colin texted that despite the dire prognostications, there were no lines at security so they breezed through and their flight was on time and no delays (despite the pouring rain here in the Philadelphia area).  Mailing will be back for 2-3 days next week for work and then they will both be back permanently on the 19th.  YAY!!

Otto (Anna's dog) joined us on Thursday.  He is a big fan of turkey!

He is a quiet dog and takes his food so nicely - sitting and then giving first one paw and then the other.  When he takes food from your fingers, he is so gentle!!

None of my Christmas cacti have buds yet, but Bonnie & Zhongren have a gorgeous one beginning to blooom.

I do, however, have snapdragons still blooming!  For the first time ever I caught deer munching on them, so I chased them off and then cut a couple of the blooms to have on the kitchen windowsill.

Dee and I did meet up on Friday for a few hours of friendship, knitting and sipping.  We decided that Panera's might not be quite as crowded as it can be on a Saturday and that everyone else out would be shopping on Black Friday.  As usual, it was a lovely time.  However, it kept making me think that Friday was Saturday and then Saturday was Sunday, etc.  

So now a new week.  We are on cat duty and I will be heading over to C&M's to feed Talbot and Marcel once Fletch is awake (and it is no longer dark outside).  I will also be picking up soaking wet laundry!  C&M's washer conked out in the middle of a cycle yesterday morning, so I will gather up the wet clothes, bring them home to wash (again) and then dry.  Once they are back in town, if they determine they need to replace the washer I will not recommend a Maytag (the one I have) - LOL.  I will, however, suggest a Speed Queen.

Cheers to a great week ahead!!

Unraveled Wednesday 11/22/23

 Good Morning!

Oh man!  What a rainy night we had.  I don't know how much fell (Fletch put the rain gauge away before it could freeze in the winter), but it was a lot and heavy.  And this morning is mild - just 50 degrees out.

Are you ready for the big feast day?  I have not done any cooking yet, but I will get started today making the cranberry relish and the cranberry chutney.  The pumpkin pie and the Brussels sprouts will wait until tomorrow.

The other day when I went out for a loaf of bread and left the store $80 later, one of the things I picked up was an amaryllis!  At the grocery store!  The picture on the box is a red and white one, so I hope that is what we get.  I plan to get that into the pot today.  There are already leaves coming out of the bulb, so time to get it settled into some dirt.  I do confess I seem to be running out of room for plants though.  I need to do something about that.  Also, two more acorns have sprouted in the yogurt cups on my kitchen windowsill.  There will be a little family of oak trees to give to Colin & Mailing for their property.

And here we are on Wednesday, Thanksgiving Eve and it's time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk making and reading.  If you read my post yesterday, you know I spent time unpicking some of my stitching, so thankfully that took care of any unraveling.  However, there has not been much knitting.  The Red Winged Blackbird sock has grown a little bit and a couple more granny squares were crocheted.

The Granny Square on the left is so Thanksgiving-looking!  I hadn't even realized it.

A third granny square is near completion, so I'm keeping up with them.  I should lay them all out and see what it looks like.  Maybe later.

I'm itching to start something new.  A shawl perhaps.  I double checked the yarn I caked up for a Hitch on the Move, but I may need to re-think that plan.  I don't think I have enough of either color.  I definitely want that shawl to be large.  I do have yarn for a couple of other patterns, so I may start one of them.  Stay tuned!

I did finish the William Kent Krueger Book I was reading last week.  It was good, but not as strong as some of his other books (my opinion).  Now I am about halfway through The Comfort of Crows and it is so good.  Just a marvelous book.  Very much like her book "Late Migrations" and it is the perfect book to read before turning out the light at night.

And now it's time for another cup of coffee and get started on the day.  Wishing each of you a peaceful, relaxing and tasty Thanksgiving - Enjoy!!

Weekending

 Hello and Good Morning!

It is cloudy and a bit damp on this Monday morning, but mild.  53 degrees currently (7:45 a.m.).  We had a ton of rain yesterday and it looks like some of it may have lingered around.

Well, how was your Thanksgiving and how was your weekend?  Both of mine were so nice.  Thanksgiving Day, Fletch and I walked with Colin a little bit in the afternoon.  A trail from the John James Audubon Center goes right behind Bonnie & Zhongren's house.  We drove over, dropped off wine and pies and some other stuff and then walked a bit.  It was a lovely day.  We saw plenty of deer and geese and a hawk flew right by us.

Zhongren had picked up Nai Nai (Mailing's grandmother) so she joined us for dinner.  We missed Bonnie though who is still in China until December 6th.  Anna was there and also Otto (her dog).

Mailing and Colin are too funny in this picture.  And I ended up trying all 3 pies!!

I will say that I did not feel well that night!  LOL  Major indigestion.

Zhongren gave us a bag with Persimmons from his friend's tree.  I had never had one before, but they are good!

I took another walk on Saturday along the Perkiomen Creek.  It was a bit breezy but again a gorgeous day to be out and about.  There were lots of geese along the dam!

I always wonder how they can just stand there without getting swept away!

As I mentioned, yesterday it rained and rained, starting late morning.  We went over to Colin & Mailing's in the afternoon.  What fun to see Talbot and Marcel again!  I completely forgot to take any pictures of them.  We watched the first episode of Get Back which we all really liked.  Fletch and I don't have Disney+, so not sure when we will watch the balance - maybe when we are in TX over the Christmas holidays.

The rain kind of stopped a bit, so after dinner we headed outside for a fire.

But by the time we left, I was damp and chilly.  What a nice time though and just a gift to have time with C&M.  We'll be getting together some more and they will be over for dinner at our house next Sunday.

Meanwhile, back to work today.  I may head to the office as I've stuff to print and overnight to Kevin.  Here's hoping that your Monday is off to a good start!

Happy Thanksgiving 11/24/22

 

Wishing you All a Wonderful (and Tasty) Thanksgiving.  Enjoy!!

TGIF

Good Morning!

I don't know about the rest of you, but I sort of waddled downstairs today to put the coffee on.  I still feel rather full from dinner, yet strangely I don't feel like I overate!  Bonnie, Mailing's Mom, had made some delicious spring rolls as appetisers - filled with cabbage and dried mushrooms.  And there was the olive tapenade that I had made.  Anna brought an apple pie and also wine.

The animals were all present (well, thankfully, not Mabel).  Here is Otto with Fletch in the background.

 Usually he stays in the sunroom, but he was being a good boy.  Talbot had disappeared - he doesn't really like crowds, but Marcel was trying to keep watch over his cousin Otto, but he (Marcel) kept falling asleep!

He is perched on the shelf that holds the TV and it was so funny watching him trying to stay awake.  He just could not.

Fletch had suggested we all go for a walk, so we all headed out to White's Park which is just a short walk away from the house.  There is a nice walking trail that is a loop.  There were a few people out, but not too many.  We did see this poor guy though.

Now, you all know I am not fond of snakes, but I don't like to see any creature suffer and this guy was going to.  The sun was starting to go down and it was getting chilly out.  He had apparently been warming himself on the pavement in the sun, but now he was unable to move very quickly.  Zhongren picked him up with a stick and put him in some leaf mulch - hopefully he was able to burrow in.

Dinner was delicious:  turkey, stuffing (challah bread and sweet potatoes and choirzo), roasted Brussels sprouts (with a pomegranate glaze), green beans, sauteed mixed mushrooms, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry chutney and cranberry/orange relish.  Dessert was pumpkin pie, pecan pie and apple pie.  Oh!  And, whipped cream of course.  

All-in-all, it was a lovely gathering and was so nice to see Mailing's family again.  Hard to believe Christmas is just a month away now.

This morning when I went into the bathroom I heard some water running...Mabel the devil had jumped into the tub, knocked a towel into the but and then, somehow, jumped up to the faucet and managed to turn the hot water on.  These antics need to STOP!!

Well, time to sip a bit and get dressed.  Shortly I will be off to meet up with Dee for some chatting and knitting.  Can't wait.  Hope everyone is doing well!

Thanksgiving Day 11/25/21

 Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Really I had no intention of posting today, but then decided that y'all should see what's been going on here this morning.

First of all, everything on my list yesterday except laundry was accomplished.  The laundry has now been started this morning.  The only thing I need to do today is whip cream to go with the pies I made.  I will do that closer to departure time.  Colin suggested we come over around 3 p.m., so that gives me the morning to relax.

The other day I pulled out a pair of hand knit socks to put on and discovered a hole in the toe of one (I guess my toenails should be trimmed down more frequently?).  I pulled out yarn and decided to darn that hole this morning while Fletch was in the shower.

Voila!  A darned hole.  The yarn used to darn the hole is a fingering weight yarn that I bought at Good Karma Farm in Belfast, Maine some years ago when we were on vacation.  I had used it for some socks and there was lots left over.  Not any more!  When I finished my darning work I couldn't find the yarn I had left on the table.  No wonder.

Someone had grabbed it, dragged it over to the rug in front of the refrigerator and then went at it.  It was too tangled to try to save, so it is in the trash.

Then I discovered this:

The sheep ornament my SIL had given me a few years ago has been chewed and threads pulled out.  Not once, not twice, but three times!  Little sheepy is now tucked away in a drawer along with a needle felted mushroom pincushion (also a gift from my SIL) and a little knit cat that I made the other year.  All of those things were on the top of an apothecary cabinet (where I have specialty thread stored) which sits on top of a dresser in the office room.  Sister Mabel has been jumping up there (where she does NOT belong) and grabbing whatever suits her fancy.  Oy vey!  I will say that she has somewhat lost interest in her favorite ribbon...there are more and better things to be found apparently.

Mabel's appointment at the vet went well yesterday.  She had gained a little weight (up to 6.13 from 6.5).  She put up with her last shot very well and was pretty well behaved last night.  She actually was on the couch in Fletcher's lap or mine while we watched a show!

Oh well, if all I need to worry about are the antics of a very lively kitten, life is good!  I plan to do some knitting, make the whipped cream, get a shower and then head over to C&M's for a feast.  Wishing you all a wonderful day!

Back At It

Good Morning!  Is anyone still full from Thanksgiving?  I hope you all had a wonderful holiday.  Ours was lovely.  As usual, Colin & Mailing hosted and everything was so delicious.  The pies I made (maple pumpkin and pecan) turned out well.  It was just Colin & Mailing, Mailing's parents and her grandmother (who speaks NO English!!) and us.  We almost forgot to put plates on the table!

We did watch The Irishman which was so good.  And so long (3.5 hours!!).  I managed to get a little knitting done while watching.  And, it was just so wonderful to have 5 days off in a row.  I wouldn't mind that every week - lol.  But, of course, now I am Back At It (at work).

Friday I surprised myself by going out shopping.  I haven't gone out on Black Friday in years, but I just felt like it this year.  Traffic was not bad at all and the stores I went to were not crowded, plenty of parking, etc.  I stayed away from the malls (which I stay away from anyway) and I managed to get a lot of shopping done.  We mail quite a few packages to friends and family, and I've just about finished shopping for those folks and even started wrapping some gifts!

Sunday morning Fletch and I ran out to do a few errands, and when we pulled back into our driveway it had started to sleet.  Within 20 minutes, it looked like this:

Little ice droplets on the apple tree branches.  The black spot on the shed door is the remainder of a sunflower head that Fletch had hung for the birds to enjoy.  I think it's time to put the little mini wreath on the shed.

This morning we are having a "wintry mix" that is supposed to change to all snow by Noon with anywhere from 2-5" accumulating before it's all said and done.  It's been snowing now for the past half hour or so.

On the knitting front, I did manage to finish my little brother's socks!

I love the way they turned out and love the colors in this yarn (Lorna's Laces and the colorway is "Baltic Sea").  They could have used the hand knit socks this past week - they were driving back from California and camping, but ran into snow in New Mexico.  (They abandoned camping and took a hotel room!)  Meanwhile at their home (Boulder, CO) they had two feet of snow!  They did make it home safely yesterday.

And here is where the Canary Blanket stands at this point.  I crossed another cable and added a 4th ball of yarn.

So bright and cheerful!

On the reading front, I'm still making my way through the latest from Louise Penny - A Better Man and I'm not sure if I'm still in my reading slump or what, but this book just doesn't seem as good to me as the other ones in the series.  Or am I getting bored?  Anyone else have opinions on this book?

I'll be trying to catch up on some blog reading today between conference calls...and keeping an eye on the weather in case I want to leave before it gets really messy!  Nice to have the luxury to do that.

Wishing you all a fabulous week!

Tuesday already?

Good Morning!

Is it Tuesday already?  Is it Spring?  If you read Dee's Blog then you know we had some snow on Sunday.  And wind!  But yesterday the sun was out and it felt like Spring...today, more of the same and it could hit 60!  The wind did do some damage though:

That is known as our "Swing Tree."  It stood (past tense...) next to the start of the trail into our woods.  There was a branch that crossed the entrance to the trail and for years we had a swing hanging from that branch.  Colin spent many happy times swinging high over our boggy area and back into the woods.  Yesterday afternoon Fletch and I noticed that the tree had come down.  Thankfully not all the way because it would have crushed the trellis that Fletch put up recently.  Fletch was able to push the trellis back so that if the tree falls further it will not damage it.  It is going to be a mess to clean up!

So, how was your weekend?  Mine was nice.  I met up with Dee on Saturday at the Farmers' Market (last weekend for it till Spring) and then we went for coffee/knitting/chatting.  We left before we were trapped in Lansdale - lol.  It was the day for their Holiday Parade and they close the streets to traffic.  We escaped in the nick of time.  My Sunday was spent prepping for Monday which was my colonoscopy.  I will say that the prepping has certainly improved...I didn't get sick and was able to keep it all down.  My procedure went well - thank goodness!  It was a weird day after that though.  My history with this procedure is that afterwards I am very lethargic and sleepy, not interested in eating, etc.  Yesterday?  Just the opposite.  Fletch and I went out to eat as soon as I was able to leave the facility.  When we got home I started cooking (the dinner I was making took 4 hours or so to cook) and then proceeded to clean both bathrooms and do 3 loads of laundry.  LOL.  So bizarre after being sedated.  Today I am back at work.

Meanwhile, I was able to get quite a bit of knitting done.

Only a little over half a sock left and my little brother's socks will be finished!  I hope to finish these up this weekend (if not before). 

Thanksgiving I plan to take the Canary Blanket to Colin & Mailing's and spend some time working on that.  Colin wants to watch "The Irishman" (Martin Scorsese's latest) which comes out on Netflix on Thursday - it's 3.5 hours, so plenty of knitting time.

I've made the cranberry/orange relish (my Mom's recipe) and the cranberry chutney (Fletcher's Mom's recipe).  Wednesday I will make two pies.  There will only be six of us for dinner on Thursday - Fletch & me, Colin & Mailing and Mailing's parents.  I'm making a maple pumpkin pie and a pecan pie.  Mailing has the turkey ordered and I'm betting the rest of the meal will be delicious (she makes such a tasty stuffing!!).

Not sure if I will be coming into work tomorrow or not.  The office is closing at 1, so I'd sort of like to not bother...but with being out yesterday, I'll see how it goes.  In case I don't post again this week, wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.  May your holiday be filled with an abundance of good health, much laughter and plenty of love.  Enjoy!  And safe travels to all on the roads/in the air.

Back to Work

Hello All,

How was your Thanksgiving?  Tasty?  Ours was delicious.  And also bitter cold (outside temp - not the food - lol).  It did not get above 28 on Thursday!  The gathering at Colin & Mailing's was smaller than usual as her parents were both in China.  Colin and I watched a few episodes of Monty Python (the original Flying Circus - now on Netflix!!) before dinner.  Fletch and I waddled home around 8:30 or 9 p.m.

It was so wonderful to have so much time off work!  I think I averaged 10 hours of sleep each night!  Of course, last night was the exception and I was awake most of the night (and am dragging this morning).

I did manage to finish the mitts for my sister-in-law.  The colors are not accurate in the photo.  The cuffs are grey, and then the other two colors are purple and blue.  I realized I did not have enough of any one color to make two mitts, so I just reversed the blue and purple and I like them!

The picture above makes them look huge, but they fit my hands nicely.  Being made with Lopi yarn, they are extra warm!  I'm more than halfway finished the first mitt for my brother- they should be finished this week.

I made breakfast bars using Colin's recipe and they turned out great!  They are a bit crumbly and easily fall apart, but the taste is wonderful.  Kathy B wanted the recipe, so here it is:

Breakfast Bars

2 Cups dried fruit (Colin used dates and cherries; I used apricots and cranberries)

2 Cups nuts (Colin used almonds; I used pistachios and walnuts)

2 Cups rolled oats

¼ Cup nut butter (we both used peanut butter)

¼ Cup honey (I used maple syrup instead)

Chop the dried fruit in food processor until it becomes a ball.  Put in bowl.  Either chop the nuts in the food processor or rough chop them with a knife.  Add to bowl with fruit.  Add the oats.  Using your hands, mix all of that together.

Put the nut butter and honey or syrup in a small saucepan and heat on low until it is all liquid.  Pour into bowl with fruit, nuts and oats and mix all together.

Line an 8” x 8” pan with parchment paper and add the mixture, tamping it down.  Put another piece of parchment paper on top and weight that down.  Place in freezer for 2.5 hours.

Pull out of freezer, cut into bars, individually wrap and store in freezer.

 Let me know if you make any!!

Some of you asked about the cranberry and fig sauce.  It was a recipe from the November issue of Bon Appetit and it was good...but I missed the flavors of orange and cinnamon.  Instead there were flavors of shallot and fresh rosemary and balsamic vinegar was added. 

On the reading front, I finished "To The Bright Edge of the World" last Wednesday.  Fabulous!!  Five Stars!!  I did not want the story to end.  Now I'm in the midst of reading The Alice Network which is an easy, but good read.

Friday, the 30th, is Mailing's birthday and we will be back at Colin & Mailing's for a birthday dinner on Saturday.  I think/hope here parents will be back from China and will join us.

Luckily it seems pretty quiet at work today.  I plan to order a few things on line this morning and then knit on a sock at lunch!  Hope everyone is doing well.

More Fog

Hello All,

Another very foggy morning here (this time mostly outside...my brain isn't quite as foggy this morning).  My bosses agreed I should not come in to work tomorrow.  Woo-Hoo!  I'm going to try a new recipe for a cranberry sauce that includes dried figs in it - I'll let you know how that turns out.  It will be so nice to have the day tomorrow to putter around and get a few things made.  I'll most likely make the dough for the pie crust, but will hold off baking a pie until Thursday morning.  We won't be going over to Colin & Mailing's until mid-afternoon.

I did manage to knit some last night and I only have 8 rows or so until the toe decrease on the sock.  I brought it to work and am hoping that I can take a little time to knit today.

Our weather forecast for Thursday is showing only a high of 28!  Brrrrr.  Meanwhile, here is an image I found on the web years ago and just love:

Wishing you all a Very Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving and Yarn Barf!

Hello All,


Not such an appetizing title for a blog post - sorry!!


Let's start with the appealing stuff.  Thanksgiving was great!  I hope you all had wonderful holidays and tasty food as well.  Damon (Fletcher's brother) and his wife Peggy arrived at our house around 2 p.m. Thursday.  By 3:30 we were on our way to Colin & Mailing's.  Mailing's parents, her uncle and her grandmother also were there.  We had some drinks and appetizers and then sat down to a delicious meal.  Mailing's grandmother speaks absolutely no English.  So, whenever she would taste something I had brought (chutney, pies, carrots & parsnips roasted with maple syrup), she would slap my arm and give me a thumbs up sign.  Too funny.  Here's a picture of Colin and me with her before dinner:

We got home late, but stayed up talking for a little while.  Friday was a gorgeous day.  Damon, Peggy, Fletch and I had tickets for an 11 a.m. tour of the Esherick Museum.  What a treat!  I've been there at least 5 or 6 times, but each time I go I find something new or something I hadn't remembered from a previous visit.  I didn't take any pictures, but the web site (Wharton Esherick Museum) has some really pretty pictures of the studio.  The furniture he built is gorgeous and copper sinks in the bathroom and kitchen - love them!


Friday night Colin and Mailing came over.  Damon and Fletch grilled oysters and I made shrimp BBQ.  I'm thinking something a little lighter after Thanksgiving might have been better, but everyone seemed to like it all.  The beer and wine were both flowing.


We went out to breakfast on Saturday and then Damon and Peggy got on the road around 10:30.  They wanted Sunday to relax at home before getting back into the work week. 


Now for the barfy yarn part:  remember the socks I was/am making with the Scottish blue tartan wool?  I picked them up again after finishing the Close to You shawl.  Finally the leg was just about knee high length and I was getting ready to start the heel flap when all of a sudden the yarn broke.  The yarn came in pull from center skeins, so I had not bothered to wind it into balls.  I picked up the remainder of the yarn and started to wind...and it broke again...and again...and again.  I was so freakin' frustrated.  I had two more skeins in my bag so I started to wind them...same thing.  Here is what one skein looked like:

The messy parts were just too knotted to even wind.  This happened Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving.  I put everything away (in time out) for the weekend.  Discovered another 3 skeins in the chest where I store my stash, so I figured I have enough to make two socks.  I started knitting on the first one again yesterday.  The heel flap and heel are finished.  I've picked up stitches around the gusset and am starting to do the decreasing now.


But honestly, I'm wondering if these will even wear well.  I have no idea why the yarn keeps breaking.  It is 100% wool - no nylon in it.  I also don't know how old the yarn is (this is the yarn my friend Carol got at a yard sale several years ago).  I'm going to finish this first sock and then give it a rest - I have a couple of things I've decided to knit for Christmas, so I need to get on that pronto.


And now I need to get back to work -- busy, busy after a few days away.  I'll be trying to catch up on blog reading over the next day or so.  Looking forward to reading/hearing about everyone's Thanksgivings.

A Short Work Week!

Good Morning!


Happy to report that the car is back to running.  It was the battery.  Fletch was able to get it started and ran it for awhile to charge it up...turned it off...then was able to start it again.  I thought we had replaced the battery last year, but it was 3-4 years ago.  So, now I'm good to go for the Winter.  And, I'm so glad it didn't start at home rather than at the end of the day when I was ready to leave work.


Close to You is now blocking.  I gave it a good soak last night and then spread it out.  I'm hoping it will be dry so that I can wear it on Thanksgiving day.  I put a few more rows into my first Charade sock last night.  I'm a tad bit bored with these as I'm making them long (like knee sock length), but I know I'll really enjoy them once they are finished (I need to remember that this is only the first one...).  I've decided to not even think about Christmas knitting.  I may cast on a hat for Colin (and I do have a pair of socks I made for Mailing), but other than that, nothing.  I want to finish what's on the needles so that I can concentrate on NEW and EXCITING things (like ARROWS!!) when the holidays are over.


Today (aside from work) I need to run to the liquor store, Trader Joe's and book a pedicure appointment for tomorrow.  Tomorrow, in between making pie crust dough and prepping veggies for Thursday, I want to relax a bit and just enjoy being home.  Hopefully that means plenty of knitting time, reading time and, perhaps, an afternoon nap.


Wishing you all a delightful, joyful, restful, tasty and happy Thanksgiving!

Three Things

Good Morning Everyone!

 

Thanks for your comments yesterday...I guess we all have our rants about insurance...misery loves company, etc.  Something definitely needs fixing....

 

So, today is Thursday and I'm joining Carole for a three post (check hers out for the cutest grandson pictures!!).

 

1. Pumpkin
2. Pecan
3. Apple

 Those are the 3 pies I will be making for Thanksgiving.  We will be going to Colin & Mailing's for dinner, and they have requested my pies along with some cranberry chutney (Fletcher's Mom's recipe) and a vegetable (yet to be determined...need to find out what they are fixing so that I don't duplicate).  Luckily I am taking next Wednesday off and you'll be able to find me in my kitchen baking up a storm - lol.

Fletcher's brother and his wife are driving up from Virginia next Thursday...they should arrive in time to relax at our house a bit before we all go over to Colin and Mailing's for dinner.  Mailing's parents will be there as well.

Black Friday there will be no shopping!!  Fletch, Damon, Peggy and I have tickets to go to the Wharton Esherick Museum Friday at 11.  We have been to this Museum so many times - a favorite of ours.  Check out the web site if you have time.  And then that evening Colin & Mailing and some others will join us at our home for a BBQ Shrimp dinner. 

I guess I have some grocery shopping to do this weekend!

 

Thanksgiving Eve

Good Evening Everyone,
Hope no one is going crazy with Thanksgiving prep work.  I remember being crazy about it years ago.  Now I just go with the flow...of course it helps that no one is coming here tomorrow.  Instead we'll be going to Colin & Mailing's.  The turkey is brining and I'm not sure what else we are having (well, I do know stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans).
It was wonderful to not be at work today.  I got up and lazed around and then went out to get my hair cut.  Since I am 1) embracing my grey hair and 2) growing my hair out, I now just go to the local Hair Cuttery.  They do a great job and my cut & blow dry costs $28 as opposed to the $110 I was paying at a salon.  That's more money for yarn, right?
This afternoon I did make some things for tomorrow.  First up is the "Surprise Angel Pecan Pie" which has no crust (!!) and is really like a huge meringue with pecans folded in.  I made this years and years ago and had forgotten all about it.  I like it because you get the pecan pie taste, but it's not as heavy as a traditional pecan pie.

Next up I made boozy gummies (from the recent issue of Bon Appetit).  I love gummy candy and figured these had to be good with the addition of alcohol.  I haven't tried them yet...but here's hoping.

Love the way they go with my fall tablecloth!  The ones on the right have grapefruit juice and Campari in them, the ones on the left are made with coconut water and rum.  I used Agave Nectar in both for sweetener.

And then, just before dinner, I mixed up a bunch of maple-cinnamon nuts (almonds, cashews, pecans and walnuts).  The house smelled wonderful.

EVERYTHING is going with us tomorrow (well, a few nuts left in a zip lock bag).  Tomorrow morning I'll make a pumpkin pie (I made the pastry after dinner).

I even had a bit of time to work on Emory's skirt but forgot to take a picture...in another day or two.  I'm antsy to start some more socks and a hat, but I need to focus.

Hoping you all enjoy Thanksgiving - relax, have fun, eat a lot and just enjoy!!