The End of July 7/31/26

 Hello!

How is everyone doing on this last day of July?  And who can believe that tomorrow is August already?

Yesterday was such a lovely day for me.  It was humid, but not hot.  Laundry was done in the morning and a run to the post office to get stamps and a box for shipping Leslie's birthday gift to her.  Also (naturally) a visit to CVS to pick up a prescription.  I also ventured out to the garden.  

Yesterday's haul!  The bush green beans are now coming in along with more (and more and more) yellow pole beans.  Another small cucumber and a good picking of the sun gold cherry tomatoes.  I took a very large bag of yellow beans over to Colin & Mailing's yesterday afternoon when I fed Talbot - I was having a hard time finding room for everything in my own fridge!

Early yesterday afternoon I had the most wonderful massage.  Mallory, my massage therapist, is a miracle worker!  I wanted to just come home and fall into a deep sleep, but instead I folded towels from the dryer and then drove over to feed Talbot.

Today I plan to spend a bit of time over at C&M's.  I'll feed Talbot, clean the litter box and then settle in for some knitting.  I need to tink a bit - I discovered my heel flap has a few extra stitches.  Not sure how that happened, but hopefully I can find the error and correct.  Later I'll venture back out to the garden - I know there will be more beans to pick.

I started to read The Calamity Club, but the book is so big and heavy and my eyes grew tired and heavy too.  Hopefully I'll make more progress in that later today.  It is laugh out loud funny in places.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend and a great start to August - enjoy!!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 11/4/25

 Hello and Good Morning!

Another day has passed with me successfully avoiding chores.  LOL. I did, however, take in donations to our local food pantry and I did pick out new frames and order new glasses - they should be ready in under two weeks.  Yay!

Fletch has been doing garden chores daily - getting it all ready for a long Winter's rest.  The other day he dug our potatoes.  It was a very poor showing this year.  There were only 6 small ones.

But, let me tell you, these were the sweetest and creamiest potatoes I've ever had.  They were delicious...I only wish there had been more.  We had them last night along with fresh green beans and some haddock that I cooked in the air fryer (nice and crispy and tasty).  When I walked out to look at figgy, I noticed a few more figs are beginning to ripen.  They are all small but there are loads of them.  I hope more will ripen...I'm not sure as the leaves are beginning to yellow.

Anyway, all of this brings us to the first TNT of November!  As I mentioned yesterday, stitching has been calling me much more than knitting and I think I got a lot stitched in the past week.  The Evil Serpent has been completely outlined and the tip of his tail has been filled in.  The balance of his body still needs some color and obviously there is a lot of tree trunk to be filled in.  And the creepy crawly was finished.

Sorry for the shadow...here's an overall look at where things stand.

Every time I pull this out to stitch I get a big smile on my face.  I love it!  But...I will be happy to do something a little smaller for the next one (no pattern chosen yet - still lots to stitch on this one).

Time for another cup of coffee and time to get my day started.  Hope your Tuesday is a good one!

Weekending 10/6/25

 Hello My Friends,

Happy Monday!  How was your weekend?  I hope it was as lovely as mine.  Time allowed me to stitch, read and do some yarn things (including unraveling and winding - but more on that on Wednesday).

Our weather was lovely.  The days were a little warmer than I like for October, but once the sun starts its descent, the temps cool off into more reasonable October temps.  There was lots of sunshine and blue, blue skies.  I walked out to the garden yesterday to check on figgy (nothing more there - all the figs remain small and unripe) and found that one of our large peppers had fully turned red!

Isn't it gorgeous?

And Fletch spotted a visitor on a railing.  Our first toad this year!

I have never seen one with this coloring.  Really, he looked like a rock, but I saw him blink.  No idea how he got onto the railing and no idea where he went later.

We ended the weekend with dinner at Colin & Mailing's and a fire after that.  It was a perfect evening for a fire and the moon was big and bright in the sky.  I'll be back over there in a couple of hours to watch Iris today.

Have a wonderful Monday!

Weekending 8/25/25

 

Good Morning!

The weekend has come and gone already!  I'm enjoying several days "off" from watching Iris (though I miss seeing her).  This coming Wednesday starts my full-time gig through most of September while Bonnie is in China.

My weekend included some chores (glad to have gotten them out of the way), some running around (always) and some cooking (always).  One night I made a delicious stir fry.  So good with fresh veggies.

One morning I made peach waffles (and forgot to take a picture).  I've said this before, the stone fruits this year are amazing.  Last night I made shrimp scampi with the addition of marinated artichoke hearts.  Again no picture.  We had that over linguini and I roasted a couple of large tomatoes (cut off the tops, sprinkle with EVOO, S&P and add a lot of minced garlic...then top with panko and more EVOO...bake at 400 till browned).

Fletch harvested the first batch of green bush beans.

The angle of that photo makes it look like not too many beans, but there were roughly 125 that he picked!  I steamed them Friday night and they were delicious!  And for something completely different, I tried making steak bites in the air fryer!  Though I honestly prefer a grilled steak, these were not bad.  I cut a strip steak into bite sized pieces, tossed them with a bit of oil, S&P and garlic powder.  They cook up quickly at 400!

I harvested the last eggplant.  Boo.  We ended up getting 3 this year.  Not bad considering the plant developed scale early on.  It looked so bad I didn't think we would have any!  I used one on a pizza the other week.  The remaining two are in the crisper drawer and I'm planning to make eggplant caponata with them.

More errands are on the agenda for today (we need wine and I also need some DMC floss).  There are more books ready for me to pick up at the library, but I may wait until tomorrow for that.

How was your weekend?  I hope it was a good one and that this Monday finds your week off to a great start.

Tiny Needle Tuesday 8/12/25

 Hello and Good Morning,

I'm sorry to say the heat and humidity have returned.  Ugh!  I missed posting yesterday - I was short on time before going over to watch Iris.  Our weekend was nice.  We had a lovely dinner outside at Colin & Mailing's on Saturday.  We had freshly baked sourdough bread, a chicken roasted with carrots and onions from the CSA along with roasted eggplant (also from the CSA).  The mixed berry crostata I made turned out well also.  Too busy playing with Iris and eating to take any pictures!  We wound up the evening with a nice fire in the pit.

It turns out that Fletch was wrong about our cucumber plant not producing due to mold or something.  We are now overrun with cucumbers.  I'd best make some more pickles and I suppose another cucumber salad will be on the menu one of these nights.

Sunday night I cooked more of the yellow pole beans for dinner.  They are so good...but honestly, I don't want them every night and those plants are over-producing!  LOL

Now it's Tuesday and time for a TNT update.  The weekend did provide some time for doing a little stitching.  The leaf was finished being filled in and the clouds on the right have been started!

And here is an overall shot of where things stand at the moment.

My plan is to work some more on the clouds, but also finish the brown stems on the plants.  After the clouds I will most likely stitch the moon and stars underneath them.  Lots of intense stitching, but also a very fun piece.

Time to pour another cup of coffee and do a few things.  I need to figure out what will be for dinner (I'm thinking scallops) and what's a day without a visit to CVS?  It would be nice if they could get it together so that all our prescriptions would be ready at the same time.  Hopefully some time for stitching and knitting and, of course, reading.

TGIF 8/8/25

 Good Morning!

Just popping in to quickly share a new recipe I tried.  Sorry no pics (I forgot).  And, of course, to say Happy Friday!

This is the Recipe I made:  Marcella Beans with Tuna and Pickled Onions.  Oh Yum!  And, I did happen to have a bag of Marcella Beans handy.  Boy are they good and boy was the recipe delicious.

I soaked the beans overnight and then put them on to cook in the morning.  Do NOT, as I did, turn the pot on high and then leave the room and forget that you turned the stove on.  I was sitting peacefully at my computer doing the NYT puzzles when Fletch suddenly shouted from outside that the pot was boiling over.  It was messy (but it cleaned up very easily).

Also, I had made the pickled onions a couple of days before pulling the dish together.  Fletch honestly was not thrilled with dinner prospects that night, but he ended up liking the dish - especially the pickled onions (to the point where he polished them off, so there are none to go with the leftovers!).

The recipe does make a lot.  I ended up taking some of the leftovers to C&M.  Next time I would cut the recipe in half, but triple (at least) the pickled onions.  Also, I don't think tuna packed in EVOO is absolutely necessary - especially since you drain it and then add EVOO to the recipe.  I usually buy solid white tuna in water and that is what I would use next time.

Anyway, a tasty and quite economical meal if you are so inclined to eat this sort of thing (we love beans).

After saying he didn't think we would have cucumbers to harvest, Fletch picked the first one the other day and then yesterday he picked a really large one!  And more yellow beans!

Good thing we like both cucumbers and beans.  Now, if only our tomatoes would behave in the same way...

Here's hoping your weekend is filled with good things.  We will be heading over to have dinner with Colin & Mailing & Iris tomorrow.  The forecast is nice enough that we will probably have a fire that evening.  I'll be taking a mixed berry crostata.  Yum!

Weekending 8/4/25

 Good Morning!

What a gorgeous weekend we had.  Not a typical August weekend at all.  Moderate temperatures and very low humidity.  It was wonderful!

This weekend I managed to get the chores done that I had successfully avoided over the past week.  It was time...bathrooms, kitchen floor, scatter rugs washed and hung on the line to dry.  Trust me, there is still more to do, but at least a dent was a made in some of the things.

A bit of cooking was also done.  Colin had given me a couple of cucumbers from Zhongren's garden.  He gave me the smallest two and they are pretty big.  Long and slender like an English cucumber.  I used one to make some sweet cucumber chips.  I also made some guacamole and a large crab salad (just lump crab meat, chopped celery, mayo, s&p. a bit of Old Bay seasoning and lemon juice.  We had that last night on a toasted croissant with sliced tomato and a little bit of cheese on top - stuck under the broiler to melt the cheese.  Yummy.

This was the best though:

Yellow pole beans - so good both raw or quickly steamed.  The little cherry tomatoes were a big disappointment though - either no flavor or a bad taste.  This has not been a good year for tomatoes for us.  Our green bush beans should be flowering soon (fingers crossed).

I managed to sneak in a tiny amount of stitching and knitting as well as some reading.  Overall, a very satisfying weekend.  I hope yours was a good one as well.

Weekending 10/7/24

Good Morning One and All,

How are you this fine Monday morning?  I am doing well.  A bit groggy - not yet fully awake, but doing well nonetheless.  How was your weekend?  Mine was a nice quiet one.

Starting Thursday (because I'm retired, my weekend can start any time!  hahaha).  We put the final piece in the 299 cats and a dog puzzle.  

 It wasn't as hard as it looks.  We took it over to Colin & Mailing's that evening and I think they will try it without the border pieces which should make it a little more difficult.

I also baked some banana bread on Thursday - knowing we were heading to C&M's that evening I wanted to take half of it to them.

This was a new-to-me recipe that called for espresso powder in the batter as well as chocolate chips and walnuts.  It was finished with a maple glaze.  C&M and F all liked it.  I did not.  I now realize that I am not a fan of chocolate chips in banana bread (I know that is a scandalous opinion, but there you go).

Fletch and I got our Covid booster shots on Friday (no reaction on my part...Fletch had a sore arm for a few days).  Next up we need to get the Tdap vaccine.  Colin has been pestering reminding us that we need to get that before the baby is born.  My last Tdap was in 2013, so I'm due and Fletch last had one in 2006, so he is way over-due.

My weekend included reading, stitching and knitting, so that made it a good one.  I received notice that both Clear and Intermezzo are waiting for me to pick them up at my library.  When it rains it pours!  Intermezzo is the next selection for the Read With Us group and we will not be discussing it until January...so not sure I want to read it now...the way my memory is (or isn't) I may not remember it!  But, I can always get it again.

Fletch did a bit of garden clean up (taking down the cucumber trellis and spreading some top soil).  The large raised bed is ready for garlic planting.  Meanwhile, tomatoes keep coming in fast and furious!

I may make sauce today since there is left over hot and sweet sausage that Fletch grilled last night.  And, I will need to get out and pick some greens for a salad tonight (steamed mussels, salad and garlic bread is tonight's menu - YUM).

Enough rambling!!  Time to pour a second cup of coffee and see if I can wake up a bit.  I hope your weekend was lovely and that your week is off to a good start - enjoy!!

No TNT...But More Garden Produce!

 Hello My Friends,

Once again there has been absolutely no stitching during the past week.  We have been very busy, and that's ok.  I will admit that the small-ish piece I am working on by Blackbird Designs is taking much longer to stitch than I imagined it would.  But again, that's ok.  It's not a race and when I've had a free minute or two I have felt like doing other things.

And, look at this!  Yesterday morning I wandered out to the garden to get some onions and parsley for the sauce I was making later in the day.  This is what I came back with:

Pretty, huh?  The onions and parsley are in there...just hidden.  The cherry tomatoes are finally beginning to ripen (soon we will be overrun) and the beans!  As I was picking the green bush beans I was counting (as one does) and I picked over 100 of them.  There are around 40 of the yellow pole beans in there.  Also some of the mucho nacho hot peppers.  And, yes, more figs are ripening - I will go out and pick them today.

Our weather has returned to the hot, sticky mess that August typically is.  Hotter today and tomorrow, but then the temps will drop a bit again.  Planning meals is a bit of a challenge.  We will be doing some cold stuff (shrimp, etc.) for a couple of days and then back to warmer things later.  I'm planning to try a new recipe for curried lentils with greens.

Hope you are enjoying this last week of August!!

Unraveled Wednesday 7/10/24

 Hello All,

Still hot and humid here in Eastern PA.  I thought we might get a little relief yesterday, but no such luck.  This morning all is still (not a breath of air moving) and at 6 a.m. the temp is already at 80.  Ugh!

Let's instead focus on happier things.  It's Unraveled Wednesday and time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk making and reading.  My knitting making has focused entirely on my Shakerag Skirt.  No progress on the first shortie sock at all.  But, the Shakerag skirt (despite looking similar to last week) has progressed nicely.

The decreases have been completed (and those stitch markers removed).  I am now in the process of adding some rows since I don't want the skirt to be mid-thigh length - LOL.  Soon, though, it will be time to knit the waist band, add the elastic and have this project finished!

This morning, reading MDK's daily post, I came across the pattern for Semplice by Vera Marcu and I'm smitten!  I might just need to cast that on sooner rather than later (I've been thinking of shawl knitting...of course my Hitch on the Move has been ignored for months...but no worries).

On the reading side of things, I read Piglet by Lottie Hazel.  Unlike Sarah and Bonny, I did not really care for this book.  It just didn't seem real or logical to me.  I have never met anyone who behaved the way Piglet did in the story...I kept wanting to shout "oh for God's sake, grow up!!".  Oh well, different strokes for different folks.

Last night I started reading The Glass Maker by Tracy Chevalier and roughly 30 pages in I am liking it so far.

In gardening news Fletch picked the first ripe fig!!!

Can't wait to try it.  Alongside it is a small (quite small) yellow squash.  Normally Fletch would have left that to get a bit larger, but the larger squash had been nibbled on by something, so he decided to rescue this one before some critter got to it.

Today I go back to the audiologist for a fitting check.  I confess to not wearing my hearing aids very much.     My hearing loss is so minor I think I probably could have waited to get hearing aids, but I'll keep them at this point.  I just need to remember to put them in/on today before I go to the appointment.  LOL

Happy Hump Day everyone!

New Yarn!! Garden Produce!!

 Good Morning All,

Gosh, the air actually felt a little chilly this morning (early - like 6:00).  That was weird!  Another weird thing?  I completely forgot to put my hearing aids in yesterday.  LOL. My hearing loss is not great...it is very minor.  When I first got up I made coffee, took my meds and supplements, took by blood pressure (good), etc.  I knew I would be jumping in the shower soon, so I did not put them in.  Then I wanted to wait to put them in until after I dried my hair.  Then I was getting ready to run a couple of errands and I just forgot about them.  Today they are IN!!!

Yesterday was a good mail day.  My July yarn from the Farmer's Daughter arrived and it is gorgeous!

Just look at that blue!!  The mini is not bad either.  I've been so pleased with the yarn I have received for 2024 Sock Squad.  Of course, I'm behind in using it all, but that does not matter.

We are finally getting garden produce!!  Fletch went out in the morning to check on things and came back with this:

Our first cucumber and the first cherry tomatoes.  The redder tomato on the right is actually a very (very) small Roma tomato.  We had a salad to go with dinner last night and included these in it.  Delicious!  Fletch mentioned that we have a few yellow squash that are 3-4" long, so it will not be too long before they are ready to pick.  And, with July 4th coming up next week, it is time to harvest the garlic.

Yesterday I managed to finish the patterned leg of sock #2, so it is on to the heel flap and turn and then the foot.  That should go faster than the leg for sure.  I'm planning to get to that today as well as more skirt knitting and, perhaps, some stitching.

Wishing you all a wonderful Friday and the best weekend - enjoy!!

Unraveled Wednesday 9/6/23

Greetings My Friends!

 How are you all doing?  I slept in a little bit, feel a trifle groggy (need coffee) and it is already 72 degrees.  Another hot one is on the way.

Look what was in the backyard this morning!

A very nice looking buck!  And when I just stepped back into the kitchen I noticed a second buck had joined the first.  Usually it is just the does who come down to feed on the apples, but these two were browsing and munching away like there was not tomorrow.  Fun to watch and I wonder if we will ever find any antlers on our property...we never have so far.

Also, the garden is still producing!  No BIG tomatoes, but more cukes, a few cherry tomatoes and now, two gorgeous eggplants (there are 7 more that are still growing!!).

Yesterday's trip to the office was a good one.  First of all, Tom from IT (AKA Jake) was there.  He explained that my laptop had been going into hibernation and refusing to come out.  Haha - could be me!  Anyway, it's a known problem with that particular laptop (which begs the question why do you continue to send that particular model out?).  He downloaded some updates for it that "should" take care of the problem.

We were the only two people in the office and then one of the property managers came in with 2 folks who had a meeting in one of our conference rooms.  The property manager asked if I recognized them and I did not.  But when I asked who they were, it turned out that I know the guy - I just had not recognized him.  He went to school (high school) with my little brother!  I knew he worked for my parent company and, over the years, I had seen him occasionally, but this was too funny.  It was good to catch up with him again.

On to the meat of this post.  It's Unraveled Wednesday!  In fact, the first Unraveled Wednesday of September 2023.  Time to link up with Kat and all in the Merry Band of Unravelers to talk making and reading.  There was not a whole lot of knitting this week thanks to failing plumbing parts, laundromat runs, laptop woes, etc.  Life is busy!

But, I did post a picture at the end of last week of my finished Allsorts socks.  A little too snug for me, so they will go into the gift box.  I've started a new pair (of course) using #2 needles.  I needed something plain to work on when Dee and I meeet up.

Love my Squirrel stitch marker!

The yarn is Berroco Sox (75% superwash wool and 25% nylon) and the colorway is #1445.  The colorway means absolutely nothing to me, but Dee looked it up and the name is Kirkwall.  That also means nothing to me, but apparently it is a town in Scotland.  (Personally, I think they need a bit more creativity in their color names).  The yarn reminds me of Crazy Zauerball.  It was the first skein I saw when I opened a box of yarn stash, so it's the one I picked.  I'm just knitting a plain vanilla sock.

Reading stalled a bit.  I was unable to keep going with "Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers" so I returned that to the library.  I'm not taking anything out from the library till after vacation (I'm in queue for a few and hopefully they will hold off coming in).  Instead I picked up one of the books that I found at a thrift shop for 25 cents:  Sue Monk Kidd's "The Mermaid Chair."  It feels a little like a summer beach read (maybe because it takes place on an island in South Carolina?). I'm roughly 150 pages in and am enjoying it.  

Fletch and I are continuing to enjoy "The Unbroken Road" by Patrick Leigh Fermor.

Now I need to plan/figure out vacation knitting and reading (and I'll throw my stitching bag in as well).  Today, though, we have plans to get our new licenses.  Both of ours expire this month.  I renewed them both on line and the paperwork has arrived...but we need to go to one of the "centers" to have photos taken, etc.  Fingers crossed it will not be crowded there.

Head on over to Kat's to see what everyone else is making and reading and have a wonderful Wednesday!

Weekending 8/28/23

 Good Morning,

It is mostly clear out there, but to me it looks more cloudy.  I'm hoping the rain will hold off till tonight or tomorrow - I have plans for Fletch to grill wings tonight:)

How was your weekend?  Mine was very nice.  Dee and I met up at the Landsale Farmers' Market for a change from our usual venue.  We walked around a bit, bought some corn (not great...) and I got tomatoes and peppers from Frank.  Frank is a high school classmate of Colin & Mailing's and he runs the Kimberton CSA.  It was nice to see him again and catch up a bit.

After the Market, we headed to a Manhattan Bagel for coffee (and I did have a bagel), knitting and chatting.  Bonus for us - there was live bluegrass music and the band/group was really good.  Fun times.

On my way home I stopped at Colin & Mailing's place to check mail and water houseplants.  And, after that I went to the laundromat to wash a few clothes and some sheets.  A thrilling afternoon.  I will say it is wonderful to get two loads of wash done at the same time.  Lugging back all the wet things is not so much fun!  Hopefully I will hear today about when the repair guys can come back with the motherboard to (finally) fix my washer (hopefully for good!).

Sunday was a very nice day too.  I had more laundry to do, but that went quickly and I had a lot of time for stitching!  Fletch put a final handrail along the garden fence and picked more green beans (so prolific this year) and I spotted some tomatoes to pick!!

The Sungold Cherry Tomatoes (so sweet) are finally producing and I spotted the first of the bigger tomatoes.  These are by no means huge, but I'll take them!

Fletch and I also came up with alternate dates for our vacation - these are before Colin & Mailing will be up.  I've emailed my 4 bosses and so far have heard back from one (she is OK with the alternate dates).  Hopefully this will work (and, Dee, I should be able to make BOTH fiber festivals!!).

Enjoy these last days of August.  I'm excited that September will be here on Friday!!

Well, It's Been a Long Week...8/25/23

 Good Morning Friends,

It is a rainy morning here.  It sounded so nice when I first woke up, but it is keeping things a bit darker than normal.  I guess it kind of suits my mood.  Ha!

The washing machine is still not fixed!  The repair guys were out yesterday and installed a new motor and capacitor as was recommended for the problem I was having.  They were in and out before Noon.  After lunch I put a load of sheets in to wash.  When the cycle was done I took them out.  They felt heavier and wetter than normal - almost like the spin cycle hadn't fully run its course or something.  Anyway, those sheets went into the dryer and another load went into the washer.  But, it would not work...again...all the lights flashing but nothing.

Long story - I called the repair place back and the guys came back out around 3:30.  They could not get it to work either despite several different things they tried.  A new mother board has been ordered for my machine.  They are also going to try (if they can get away with it) ordering another motor and capacitor (since those are not always good...which doesn't give one a lot of hope...).  They are hoping to be out much faster than in a week, but time will tell.  Depends on when the new stuff is shipped to them.

Surprisingly, I was not upset or nasty or ugly.  I actually laughed.  I surprised myself (and Fletch!!  lol).  but really, as I said to someone - first world problems you know?  And, it is something completely out of my control, so why get upset.

On another disappointing front, it does not look like we will be taking vacation as planned.  I asked for some time off in October and I cannot take it.  Not really a surprise to me.  Our fiscal year ends with the close of September so between year-end processes and new year processes, I am going to be swamped with reports and things that HAVE to be done.  We could maybe get away at the end of September, but that is when C&M will be in town for a little bit and we do not want to miss them.  So...we won't be taking the week plus that we had hoped.

Oh well, again, I am not surprised and you know what?  Next year will be different...for sure!

Moving on to more pleasant things.  I had 7 inches cut off my hair on Wednesday!!  Woo-Hoo!  No pictures as of yet, but at some point I will show it.  I feel so much lighter!  Actually, I had been starting to get headaches and I think it was the weight of the messy bun or ponytail.  My hair now just comes to my shoulders and I really like it.

And look!  New garden produce:

We have turnips!!  After not doing all that well earlier (we were wondering if they would even sprout), yesterday we discovered they had sprouted and indeed grown!  Last night I cut them up and roasted them with a bit of EVOO, salt & pepper and a sprinkling of sage.  Delicious!  These turnips are actually very sweet and mild - almost like a radish taste.  Fletch managed to plant a bunch more turnip seeds for a Fall crop.

Turnips are one of those things I did not like (at all) when I was growing up.  Parsnips too.  Now I can't get enough of either of them.

Tomorrow's plans naturally include meeting up with Dee - this time we are going to meet at the Lansdale Farmers' Market first before coffee and knitting.  That is near C&M's house, so I will stop there afterwards to water plants and check the mail.

That will do it for me.  Enough said!  Here's hoping we all have wonderful weekends!!

So Big!

 Bonjour!

A bit of a later start for me today.  I slept 9 hours last night!!  Woo-Hoo.  And then, of course, I had to jump right into work, but things are quiet now so I have a chance to write a brief note to you all.

The other day Fletch mentioned that he had seen a giant cucumber that had been hiding on the vine, so yesterday I walked out to the garden.  There was not one, but four!!

They look more like zucchinis that cucumbers.  LOL  And, they are just as productive as zucchinis.  Our neighbor Rob said he did not need any more (his plants are finally producing), but that a work colleague of his would appreciate some (the work colleague's plants had all died).  So we took 2 over to Rob for his friend.  

Meanwhile, Zhongren had brought over several on Saturday.  So, we are a bit swamped with cukes.  I've started adding them to my infusion water bottle (a nice change from strawberries - very refreshing).  And, I guess I should make some more pickles.  I only make quick/refrigerator pickles - I don't process any, and we still have one jar in the frig from my last pickle making day.  Whew!

When Fletch and I went over to Colin & Mailing's on Tuesday to water plants and trim back weeds, we apparently forgot to shut the garage door when we left!  Geeze.  One of Colin's neighbor's texted him to say the garage door was open...he (the neighbor) went over and shut it.  I might be losing my mind...not sure.

Finally, I received a confirmation call yesterday that the washer repair guy will be here today between 10 and 2.  YAY - laundry has been piling up.  Hopefully it is an easy/quick fix and I can get to washing this afternoon.

That's it for me - short and sweet.  Hope your Thursday is a good one.

Friday Produce

 Hello My Friends,

Welcome to Friday.  I'm so glad it's here.  The week has been gorgeous (weather-wise) but it has felt very long.  Work once again has been crazy busy (summers have never been crazy busy before - weird).  I've a couple of conference calls (10 a.m. and 1 p.m.) and hopefully after the last of them I can move into full weekending mode!

We had a surprise call from Colin yesterday (surprise because we usually talk on the weekends, so this was a nice change).  They are back from the Bahamas where they had a wonderful time.  They stayed in a remote area where there was not much to do (other than kayaking, snorkling, swimming, eating conch salad and feeding stingrays, etc., etc.) and he said it was wonderful to have 6 days together with absolutely nothing they had to do.  Sounds good to me!

While Fletch was talking with him, I wandered around the yard.  I picked some more apples!

Last night I tried one of them (the tiny one, top center) and it was not good.  Boo-Hoo.  It had just about no flavor whatsoever.  We will try another one or two and hope that they will be better.

That bowl, by the way is gorgeous.  I should take a picture of it empty.  My SIL bought it for me.  The potter used a doily and pressed it into the clay when it was still damp, so the inside of the bowl is patterned with the doily.  So pretty!

Continuing my walk around the yard, I went into the garden and discovered the jalapenos are finally producing!

Also, the yellow squash has finally gotten to a size worth picking!

This particular brand is named "Smooth Criminal" - LOL.  Fletch got the seeds from his brother in Virginia.

On the menu tonight is green bean casserole using beans from the garden.  Fletch is going to grill lamb chops.  Yum!!

I failed to get a picture, but Fletch finally picked the first cherry tomatoes!  There were 6 and we munched them right down at lunch yesterday.

Garden bounty!  Nothing better.  Wishing you all a wonderful, bountiful weekend!

Unraveled Wednesday 7/26/23

 Hello and Good Morning!

How are you?  I am doing well on this Wednesday morning, though I would have enjoyed sleeping a little better and, perhaps, a little longer.  I set my alarm for 6 a.m. because I'm venturing to the office this morning and I was [finally] sound asleep when that buzzing went off.

This is the last (gasp!!) Wednesday in July and it is time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk making and reading.  Unraveled Wednesday just makes Hump Day all that much better.  So, let's get to it.  Another finish!!!  The PairFect socks are finally done.

They are matchy-matchy and they fit Fletch perfectly.  Woo-Hoo!  I will say that this yarn (PairFect by Arne & Carlos for Regia) feels much more rustic than my other sock yarns.  It is the same 75/25 blend, but it is not as soft.  No matter, Fletch loves them.

There is not much to show here, but I did (again finally) start on my Shakerag SkirtL

I've only done 5 rows or so, but I'm pretty sure I managed that without twisting it!  I'm using Rowan's Creative Linen for my skirt in the colorway Oasis.  My circular needle is by Chiaogoo and I will say the yarn seems to not flow all that smoothly on the cable.  I also realize I am a very tight knitter and that could be part or all of the problem.  I've had a few issues with the yarn splitting a bit, but I'm sure that is user error.  My yarn is dark and if I'm knitting in low light sometimes the tip of my needle goes into the yarn rather than under it.  Oh well.  I just need to go slowly (obviously) and carefully.

As for reading, I finished Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O'Farrell.  It was good...certainly not the same level of writing as "The Marriage Portrait" or "Hamnet."  The beginning sort of dragged for me, but I liked the last third of the book better.

I'm now in the midst of a "beachy" read and it is pretty bad.  LOL  I can't remember the title (and am not running upstairs to check), but I have less than 100 pages left, so will stick it out.  Waiting patiently on my nightstand is The Bandit Queens and I am looking forward to diving into that.

Fletch and I are just about finished with "H is for Hawk" by Helen Macdonald (we are over 90% of the way through).  I think Fletch is leaning towards another Master & Commander book.  We've only read the first in that series, so next up will be Post Captain which I just downloaded.

We had quite a thunderstorm yesterday afternoon.  The winds picked up, the rains came down and the temps dropped into the 60's!  We had about 2" of rain very quickly.  Fletch actually put on the PairFect socks when we went out to sit on the patio and we both donned flannel shirts!  Poor figgy which has been so slow to grow this summer appears to have been knocked over!  Fletch will check on it later (It's out at the edge of our veggie garden).

I did pick the eggplants...chopped them up and roasted them last night.  Later today I will finish making the caponata.

And yes, more cukes!  Fletch is picking green beans (again) for dinner tonight.

Time for me to get motivated with another cup of coffee.  I want to go to the office early (and Trader Joe's of course) and get home well before lunch!  Be sure to check out the links at Kat's blog - there are always interesting things to see.  Enjoy!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 7/11/23

 Hey Hey and Good Morning!

Another comfortable morning here in Eastern PA.  It's 63 degrees according to my computer.  But, if I remember correctly, the heat will be on the rise.  Two nights in a row of sleeping with windows open and no AC - it has been wonderful.  The AC may need to come back on later today.

Meanwhile I got more cleaning done - the bedrooms upstairs have been swiffered (thank you Fletch), vacuumed and dusted.  There will be more today.  There is a reason for my madness.  My friend Leslie, her daughter Jaimie and her granddaughter Emory arrive on Sunday and will spend the night.  This is their annual girls trip from NC to RI.  It's going to be SO GOOD to see Leslie again.  Her cancer treatments are finished and she sounds great.

Today it's all about TNT though.  My two pieces have both seen some stitches added in the past week. First up we have Autumn Posy by Plum Street Samplers:

The upper left white flower is complete now and another flower on the left added.  Also a bird!  Underneath the bird's tail is the beginning outlining of another berry.  Closing in on the end of this one, but still a little way to go.

The next piece is Sampler Aux Bouquets by Jardin Prive:

Both a heart and a bird have been added to the right of the house.  And underneath is the flowers in a pot or basket.  The leaves are still needed here but it will not take long to add them.  Slowly but surely this one is growing.  There is still a lot left to be added to this.  Luckily I am still finding this one a pleasure to stitch.

More garden produce was brought in yesterday.  Our first cucumber and our first eggplant!

Finally, someone commented on a post last week asking what ice cream maker I have.  Unfortunately that person is a "no reply" commentor, so I was unable to reply to them.  So, for anyone interested, my ice cream maker is THIS ONE.  The bowl does need to be in the freezer for a good 12-24 hours before using...I just keep mine in the freezer all the time so it is always ready to use!

Now it's time to pour a second cup of coffee.  Have a good Tuesday!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 7/4/23

 Good Morning and Happy 4th of July!

Do you have big plans?  We do not.  I hope it is not too sultry today.  We will most likely do our grocery shopping...after all, the store is open and Tuesday is our Senior Discount day, so why not?

Yesterday, I am happy to tell you, I was able to get a sneaker on my foot comfortably and I did end up walking about 2.5 miles.  I would have gone a little further (to a certain bridge making it a 3 mile round trip walk), but there is a tree down across the path.  Too low to walk under and too high to step over.  I could crouch down to go under, but truthfully, after walking as far as I had I was worried about my back.  What if I crouched down and then couldn't get up?  Plus, I'd have to crouch down on the return trip.  So, instead I turned around and called it enough.  It was stinking hot anyway.  (Car showed 80 degrees when I arrived at the River Trail and was reading 89 when I left.)

Speaking of stinking hot, C&M's house felt like an oven to me.  I watered plants and Fletch fooled around with one of their doors and then we left.  The car while riding home showed a temp of 98.  Too stinking hot for me.  The orchid seems to enjoy the warmth though.  More blooms!!

That is lavender on the other side of the window - C&M planted an herb garden there and everything is thriving.  Excuse the dirt on the windowsill...I still have not gotten around to cleaning at their house yet...

They also have some gorgeous calla lilies by the front door (along with a bunch of weeds...)

Last night as dusk approached, Fletch decided to pull/harvest some of the garlic.  He got roughly half of it and will pull the rest today (maybe - depends on how hot and sunny it is).  The bulbs look smaller to me this year.  But, it will sure be nice to have home grown garlic to use (once it dries a bit).

We will let it dry in the sun a bit and then hang it from the patio roof - keeping all vampires away.

Meanwhile, getting to the meat of this post.  It's Tuesday!  Time for a Tiny Needle update.  Not much was accomplished on the Autumn Posy piece.  The only stitching on this was on the uppermost left flower...the petals now have some pale, pale blue stitches along the outer edges.  The center will be filled with white.  I might get to that today.

Construction on the BIG sampler was completed!  I do love this house.

Next up on this is a pot of flowers under the house...also another bird off to the right.  I may try to get some stitching done on this one today as well.  Time will tell.

I may try to make some ice cream today as well!!  We have an ice cream maker, but the last time I used it (a year or more ago) it did not sound good.  The problem was me - I had stuck a spoon in it while it was running (to get a taste as one does) and the spoon hit the blade.  Oooppppssss.  So, I will pull it out of the basement and see if it runs ok.  If so, I will make some ice cream.  If not, I will order another ice cream maker!

Hope you all enjoy the 4th and can stay as cool as possible.  Take care of your pets - so many of them do not like fireworks at all.  I will see you back here tomorrow for Unraveled Wednesday!

Lions and Tigers and Bears! Oh My!! 7/3/23

 Good Morning Everyone

I'm sorry to write that we still have not seen Mabel.  I continue to remain optimistic, but as I said to Fletch, I don't want to have false hope either.  I keep thinking of our little Maestro who disappeared for a week and then my sister-in-law told me of one of their cats, years ago, who vanished..,.and showed up 3 months later!  Miracles do happen.  Meanwhile, I am so appreciative of you all and your concern, your kind words.  I'm thankful to be part of this blogging community.

So, there has been quite a bit going on.  Today is a holiday for my office as well as tomorrow and last week I decided I just didn't want to work on Friday, so I didn't!  Instead I took a lovely 2.5 mile walk along the River Trail in Valley Forge in the early morning.  I pretty much had the place to myself which was lovely  It was a great way to clear my head and boost my mood a bit.

Around 4 p.m., Fletch and I were getting ready to head out to the patio to sit and watch the little wren.  Suddenly Fletch stepped back and pushed me back and said "don't go out on the patio."  When I asked why, he just said SNAKE.  Well...you all can imagine the words that came out of my mouth!

I managed (from a distance) to get a picture as this evil serpent slithered off the patio onto the lawn.  It was at least 2.5 feet long and was not a garter snake.  Fletch is pretty sure it was a corn snake.  I don't really care...it just needs to be NOT HERE.  Fletch managed to scoop it up with a shovel (it kept falling off, too) and was able to fling it into the woods behind the shed.  One more reason for me to never go back there.  Oy vey!

On a more pleasant note, I mentioned that Fletch and I have been enjoying watching a little wren.  He is the loudest little thing - constantly singing and chattering at the top of his lungs as he builds a nest in one of our birdhouses.

It really is a comedy to watch him.  He brings the longest sticks or twigs to the nest and then has difficulty maneuvering them into the house.  At times there are so many sticks partially in and partially out that it is amazing he can even fly in and out!

And then this morning, this guy greeted me when I came downstairs and turned the coffee on!  What a rack!

Picture taken through the patio door, so a bit on the blurry side, but what a handsome fellow!

After the incident of the evil serpent on the patio, I've been a bit leary of wandering out to the garden (particularly in flip flops), but I did go out yesterday when Fletch was harvesting some things.  First he cut all the garlic scapes.  I need to save some (I like mincing them up in eggs or other dishes).

The beans are finally ready to be harvested.  These are delicious!

I love them just raw, but they are also good lightly steamed.  We had them with crab quiche for dinner last night~

In addition to herbs (parsley, basil, tarregon and thyme), red onion and Jarlsburg cheese, I also added a layer of baby kale to the bottom of the quiche.  So good (also, so rich!!).  There is roughly 3/4 of the quiche left, so plenty of leftovers.

Somehow I managed to drop a saucepan on my big toe yesterday.  OUCH!!!  Luckily the saucepan had already been emptied of the beans and hot, hot, hot water!

Plans for today include taking it easy.  If I can get a sneaker on my foot comfortably (debatable at this point) I may get out for a walk this morning before the humidity builds.  We are back to hazy, hot and humid weather.  We really need rain (again).  We were forecast to have strong storms yesterday, but as often happens, they were all around us, but missing us completely.

Fletch and I plan to run over to Colin & Mailing's this afternoon to water plants, get rid of the junk mail and see if there is anything else to do over there.  Happy 4th of July to everyone - stay safe and keep your animals safe.  Our poor pets are not fond of fireworks.