A New Week

Hello All,


Once again Monday has rolled in.  And with it another storm.  Rain, rain, rain and flash flood warnings (again).  The weekend wasn't too bad though.


Saturday morning I got Tyg to the vet without any difficulty.  He wasn't happy and vocalized his complaints the entire way, along with heavy panting.  As I've mentioned, he has swollen lips that are very pink.  This happens every summer - as soon as the heat and humidity start, his lips swell.  He also scratches constantly.  He has allergies.  He is now on steroids which have helped - even after just one treatment.  He also had a puncture wound on his right shoulder (could have been from anything - another cat, a sharp branch, etc.) but that was almost completely healed.  He had his rabies shot, but the vet would not give him his feline leukemia or distemper shots until he is off the steroids (oh joy!  another trip to the vet).  Anyway, we both survived and we were both happy to get home.


Thanks to Kym I went shopping Saturday afternoon!  She suggested I look for some sun-proof clothing for my upcoming boat "event" on Hilton Head Island.  I don't know why that didn't occur to me (Fletch has some for boating and my brother and his wife have a ton of sun-proof clothing for all their hiking).  I ended up hitting the jackpot!  I got 3 shirts, a pair of shorts and a pair of capris (all 40-50 SPF) plus 2 pairs of flip flops (I had been in desperate need of replacing mine).  The best part was that almost everything was 50% off...some even more!  And, all of these items will be perfect for our camping trips.  A number of the items are not only "sun shield" clothing, but also moisture-wicking - perfect for hiking!  Thanks Kym for jolting my brain - lol.


The balance of the weekend was the usual.  A little bit of knitting, a little bit of reading, some cooking, some cleaning and some laundry.  I did manage to make some refrigerator pickles and added some of our Carnival Peppers to the jars.

I'm happy to report that after having gone missing for several days, Froggy was around on Sunday.

When I took this picture, Tyg was (sort-of) napping only a couple of feet away!


Wishing you all the best of weeks.  Next time I hope to post some knitting!

TGIF and The Remains

Hello All,


The gateau was delicious - I really liked the addition of the raspberries.  And here is all that remains - LOL

One little piece.  I had a slightly smaller piece than that for dessert last night, Colin had a rather healthy sized piece and Fletch had a piece for a snack later on.  The balance of it went home with Colin for he and Mailing to enjoy (he was thinking breakfast this morning).


The mail yesterday brought the weekly grocery ads and I saw that one of the stores we shop at has local (probably NJ) peaches for $0.49/lb!  I'm thinking a peach pie is in the forecast for us.


As always, thanks for your comments on my posts.  I love hearing from you!  Several of you mentioned that I should take knitting on the boat  while on Hilton Head.  That won't be happening!!  First of all, I'm going to be way too hot to knit and second, the boat is really a shuttle between bars which means you ride a little bit then get off to go to a bar...get back on...ride a bit more...get off again.  Staying on the boat is not really an option, especially since the LD has asked me to set up a photographer to meet us at various stops.  As I said before, this is his meeting, not mine...his idea of a fun time...not mine.  But, I will survive.


Weekend plans include getting Tyg to the vet tomorrow for his annual well-check (cracks me up that they actually do call it a well-check...just like with your child) and shots.  It will be traumatic for sure as he does not like the car and does not like the vet.  His lips are still pink and swollen which happens every summer.  He is not a cat who tolerates heat and humidity well, plus I think he has allergies.


Other than that no plans except the usual groceries, laundry and cleaning (I MUST clean the bathrooms).  Hoping for plenty of down time for reading and knitting.


Wishing you all the best of weekends!!  Enjoy.

Yum!

Hello!  Lovely to be on the downside of the work-week.


No knitting was accomplished last night (and luckily no unraveling either).  But I did bake!  We had some blueberries and raspberries in the frig that were not going to last much longer, so I used my trusted gateau recipe and made one (usually I just use blueberries).

I need to remember to stop and pick up heavy cream on my way home to whip up to go with this.  I was tempted to cut a piece for breakfast...but I'm trying to be good.


Yesterday was very busy at work and I'm hoping today is a little easier.  Mostly I worked on arrangements/activities for the Hilton Head trip - everything changed multiple times.  There are 6-10 of us going who were not interested in the harbor cruise the LD wants to do.  Initially that was fine...after all, it is supposed to be free time for all to do as they please.  The LD changed his mind and decided everyone should be on the boat.  Since I don't go in the sun at all anymore, I was just going to relax...now I'll be in long pants, a long sleeved shirt and a hat (the boat is not covered) on the water at the end of August in SC.  And...the boat is really just a shuttle on water going from bar to bar to bar...not how I want to spend my afternoon.  But, it is what it is and soon it will be over.  I've still managed to fit in a spa treatment, and that will be lovely!


OK - I've got to get back at it...planning yet another meeting...in October this time for the StLD...looking at Chateau Elan outside of ATL.  Looks like a nice place!  Has anyone been there?


Have a great Thursday!

Unraveled Wednesday 8-8-18

Good Morning!


We had a short thunderstorm roll through the area last night which immediately dropped the temp by 10 degrees and cut out a lot of the humidity.  A gift!  Sitting on my patio early this morning with a cup of coffee was very pleasant.  It's supposed to be stinkin' hot again by Noon, but for now I will enjoy.


I've managed to do a few rows of knitting on my Juniper top:

I've relaxed into the rhythm and am not concerned about how slowly I'm going.  Some nights I've got too many other things to do or I'm just too tired to knit.  And, that's ok.  My poor dragonfly socks feel neglected (and they are), but that's ok too.  They may end up in my bag going to Hilton Head at the end of the month.


Earlier this week (Monday?  Tuesday?) I started reading The Radium Girls which is a rather chilling story of "dial painting" starting before WWI.  I'm enjoying the book, but will most likely need something light when finished.


Work continues to be busy, but progress is being made on the transition.


Hope everyone's week is going well!

Monday Back at Work

Good Morning!

 

Once again, I’m amazed to find myself back at work and am wondering where the weekend went.  I was kind of out of sorts all weekend…not sleeping well during the night and then falling asleep in the wee hours and sleeping later than I am accustomed to.  It sort of threw of both Saturday and Sunday.

 

Thank you for all your kind comments about my work situation.  It really is not all that bad for me (other than dealing with two very different people managing the same group of folks).  I’ve worked with the LD for close to 20 years, and the operations team under him is extremely close (more so than any other group in the company).  It’s really those folks who are struggling with the transition and my heart breaks for them (again, I’ve been with most of them for 16-20 years).  Change is not easy, but it is necessary.  My gut tells me that some of the “team” will no longer be with us within a year, but I don’t know for sure.

 

Meanwhile, the Hilton Head trip (which really is just a big old party) is still on.  As of Friday it was off, then on, then off, then on, etc., etc.  It has been shortened, so I will fly down on Monday and fly back on Wednesday, but that is fine with me (I’m too old to party hard for several days!!).  Most of today will be spent finalizing (or trying to finalize) plans for that trip.

 

I managed to get a tiny (like one inch) of knitting done on my sweater, and that was it.  We did go out to dinner at Nectar Saturday night which was delicious.  And I read a book – “Educated” by Tara Westover.  A very quick read and I enjoyed the book a lot (despite how dysfunctional everyone is!).

 

I read a poem on Friday that I just loved:  “Age Sixty-nine” by Jim Harrison.  Here is one line from it that just resonates with me:

 

At dawn I have birds,
clearly divine messengers that I don't understand
yet day by day feel the grace of their intentions.

 

Beautiful, huh?

 

Wishing you all a wonderful week!

TGIF

Oh My!  A HUGE TGIF!!!!!


It has been a week, for sure.  I won't bore you with all the details, but things are heating up at work.  The LD was in yesterday.  The Successor to LD does not "officially" take over the region until 10/1 (the start of our new fiscal year), but he is already "ruling" in his own way and making life extremely unpleasant for many.  Additionally, after getting the green light for one final meeting (the one in Hilton Head), the LD now tells me that it is being "questioned" by some.  I've already paid a non-refundable deposit of around $7K, but only time will tell.


Meanwhile on a more pleasant note, Colin was over twice this week for dinner again (Mailing is once more out of town all week for work).  Meals have been pleasant and we all just enjoy hanging out together.  Colin and I have started playing Cribbage

My Dad and I used to play this occasionally and it's fun to be playing once again.  Neither of us has been skunked...yet!!


Saturday Colin, Mailing and we are going to Nectar for dinner - one of our favorite restaurants.  Other than that, I have no plans.  I hope to get to knit some since I haven't at all this week. 


I did finish "White Houses" and give it a 3 star rating.  It was interesting (I think anything about Eleanor Roosevelt is interesting), but as I mentioned before a bit on the soap-opera-ish side.  Last night when I went to bed I picked up "What She Ate" which I've been reading periodically.  I finished the chapter on Eva Braun (which was really more about Hitler - what a wackadoodle - but we all knew that anyway) and started the chapter on Barbara Pym.  It's not great writing, but I do enjoy reading about food.


OK, I need to buckle down and get some work done.  It is Friday (YAY) and I want to make sure I'm on my way home by Noon or 1 p.m.  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

Unraveled Wednesday 8-1-18

Good Morning!


I woke at 5 a.m. hearing rain gently hitting the roof.  It was so soothing (even though we've really had enough rain already).  I eventually got up and headed downstairs to put the coffee on.  It is mild this morning...and damp...and humid.  It is August (already!) and that pleases me.  I'm not real fond of Summer (especially since I don't/can't go in the sun these days) and Fall is my most favorite season.


The yard is looking very Fall-like:

The lawn is littered with leaves from our apple tree.  I'm sure this is stress (this is the tree that bloomed last Fall - weird) and not a sign of an early Fall.  This morning as I sat on the patio with my coffee a doe came into the yard and after several minutes came to the tree.  She nosed around and found one or two of the small apples that have fallen.  She was close enough that I could hear the crunch of the apple when she chewed!  (They are really messy eaters.)  The black spot on the right is wind chimes and that's Tyg on the bench heading to his favorite spot:

He loves to lay on this table and survey His property - lol.  Always keeping an eye out for Steve (the groundhog), the deer and any mouse or vole foolish enough to show their face.


Garden produce is still coming in strong (onions, green beans, cherry tomatoes and carrots).  We have yet to dig for sweet potatoes.  A couple of volunteer plants have shown up (as usual).  First up a grape tomato plant - the fruit is still all green, but it shouldn't be too long:

And best of all, a volunteer pumpkin vine (which is dying already).  There are 3 pumpkins so far:

Fletch has propped them off the ground so that they (hopefully) won't rot.


On the knitting front...no unraveling this week (also very little knitting).  Here's a shot of the Juniper top - 4" so far, so quite a way to go before I get to the top:

I'm loving the color and the yarn, but I've just been too weary most nights to concentrate enough to knit.  Winter Sea has been blocked and dried.  No glamour shots, but here it is on the back of the chair waiting for a chilly morn or night to drape around my shoulders.  You can see the pattern much better now, I think.

On the reading front, I mentioned Monday that I finished the Essex Serpent which I did enjoy (4 stars).  I'm almost finished White Houses by Amy Bloom.  It's a quick read...not great literature by any means (at times it is almost like a soap opera), but I am enjoying it.  I think the book "Eleanor and Hick" has better reviews, but that was unavailable to me on Overdrive, so I went with White Houses.  True to form, I had about 6 books come through on Overdrive last week.  HA!  I won't be able to read them all within 3 weeks, but I've made a list (again) so that when my reading pile has diminished I can request some again.


Work is work.  I'm very busy - busier than I've been in a long time, which is fine - makes the days go more quickly (but makes it more difficult to concentrate at night as noted above).  Things will iron out.  Both the Lame Duck and the Successor to Lame Duck will be in the office next week for meetings.  Will be interesting.  So far I am managing the Successor's prancing and strutting around like a prima donna.  It's a show for sure!  I'm looking forward to the last week of August when I'll be on Hilton Head Island for the Lame Duck's last hurrah (billed as a meeting, but it's not).  Lots of golf for those who do that...not me - I'll be booking a lovely spa appointment.  We've got dinners planned and perhaps some harbor-hopping around the Island - I'm still in the planning stages for this one.  But, my flights are booked and the contract with the resort has been signed.  It will be fun!


Now, however, I'd best get to work.  Wishing you all a Happy August!