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Hello All,


I have missed you!  I read some blogs on my phone, but honestly, it is a PITA to post a comment (and impossible on some).


So, first up Hilton Head.  It was nicer than I anticipated.  Actually cooler than home (80's versus 90's).  The first night was just everyone hanging out in the hotel's sports bar and outside (we had corn hole and darts set up).  It was humid for sure.  Around midnight some of the guys (liquored up) decided to go swimming in the ocean.  I (Mother Hen) was a bit worried, but everyone survived...even though one jerk went in at 1 a.m. by himself for 40 minutes!!.


I woke early the next day to a beautiful sunrise (I had opened the drapes in my room which faced east).  But soon the dark clouds raced in and we had thunder storms.  Des (my accountant) and I had our spa appointments at 11:30:  Sugar Glow:  a body rub with coconut sugar followed by a massage with pineapple oil.  Heavenly.


The sky stayed cloudy, but our boats still took off.  We were soaked!  I had on white jeans that were literally plastered to my body (not attractive).  Most of the guys got pretty tanked with stopping at 3 bars, but the ride was fun (despite the rain and the spray from the boat).  We saw a lot of dolphins and at the end, this guy came up to say hello:

Our limo ride to the airport Wednesday morning was a no-show!  Luckily the hotel called a cab and we were fine (Hilton Head airport has 1 gate...not a big place).  I managed to knit exactly two rows on my sweater Tuesday morning.  That was it!


I worked Thursday and Friday which were very busy.  Thursday Colin came over and grilled lamb chops.  And a head of garlic.  We had fresh grilled garlic on our lamb.  Delicious!!


Saturday Colin was back and grilled skirt steak for steak tacos.  They were wonderful.  He made guacamole and pico to go with and we also had radish greens from our garden on the tacos.  Yum!!


Sunday we met friends for lunch (hi Dee & Steve) which was so nice and ran a few errands.  Today has been lazy (after a morning of frantic cleaning of bathrooms and bedrooms).  I managed to clean up the yarn barf from the other week and it is ready to become something...most likely socks.  I've knit a few rows on the sweater and am hoping I'm just about up to the armholes...ready to start the fun part - the sleeves!


Since I missed Friday Felines, here are some cute pics of Marcel and Talbot who helped Colin with the laundry today:





Marcel in the washer.





And Talbot on the clean laundry.


I counted up and read 18 books between Memorial Day and Labor Day.  I had a total of 5 that fit on my Book Bingo sheet...and no bingo for moi.  But, I played the way that worked for me...reading what I wanted and reading all your blogs and getting book suggestions.


Right now I'm reading "Less" (Pulitzer winner) which I am finding just ok.  Fletch and I have also started reading the collection of Flannery O'Conner short stories after dinner.  They are not disappointing!  I haven't read them in probably 30 years or so, but really enjoying again.


This coming week is going to be busy at work.  But, I am looking forward to hooking up with Dee, Bonny and Bridget next Saturday at the New Jersey Sheep & Wool Festival.  Woo-Hoo!!!

Le Weekend

Hello All,


The weekend is winding down.  It has been so nice (really, what weekend isn't??).  I got an awful lot accomplished on Friday, leaving work by 1:30.  Before dinner both bathrooms had been scrubbed, rugs and towels washed and the kitchen floor scrubbed.


Saturday morning dawned so beautiful.  Cooler and no humidity.  I did not venture out to the seafood market - I had called on Friday and learned they did not have bluefish.  Poor Fletch.  Instead we had lobster, corn on the cob and green beans.  A better dinner than bluefish in my opinion. 


Saturday afternoon I decided to wind yarn in an attempt to pull something together to take to Hilton Head.  First up was the Manos del Uruguay yarn I bought the other week...the yarn that reminded me of river rocks.  The yarn broke near the end of winding it.  Disappointment.  But salvageable.  Just annoying.  BUT, I realized the yarn is more like lace weight than sock weight and would not work for the shawl (Shh! Wrap) that I was hoping to cast on.  Next up I decided to cake up the Mad Tosh sock yarn I had bought a few weeks back (Electric Rainbow).  This is what resulted:

Yup - Yarn Barf!  Oy vey!  It's better than this now, but I am not quite finished with this mess (and it probably won't be finished until I come back from HH).


Saturday night we finished watching "Ordeal by Innocence" on Amazon Prime - very good!  If you have not watched, we highly recommend it.  Tonight I think we will watch the first episode of Loch Ness on Netflix (waiting impatiently for the 5th season of Shetland on Netflix...hoping this fills the bill for a bit).


I started reading "Ape House" by Sara Gruen (of Water for Elephants fame) and so far I am really liking it (about 1/4 of the way into it).  And tonight after dinner Fletch and I finished reading "Mornings on Horseback" by David McCullough about Teddy Roosevelt's childhood and early foray into politics.  We both enjoyed this read immensely and highly recommend.


Oh!  I was a bit domestic today.  After breakfast I set about chopping up tomatoes, peppers (bell and hot), onions and making home-made ketchup.  This batch was a bit runnier (more juice/water in the tomatoes), but it was good to put the volunteer tomatoes to use.

This stuff is addictive:  has cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, mace and apple cider vinegar in it.


Well, I'm packed and boarding passes are printed.  For once I've packed reasonably and am just taking a carry-on bag.  I have a tote that my kindle, knitting chargers, etc. will fit in easily.  The past few nights I've been dreaming of alligators (I'm sure you've heard of the woman who was killed on Hilton Head last week by an alligator...I will not be walking a dog...but still.....)


Have a great week!  I'll catch up with you when I'm back in town.

TGIF 08-24-18

Good Friday Morning!


A crisp morning here (58 according to my phone; 62 by the patio thermometer) - very refreshing.  I am thankful the weekend is here.  I have a number of things I want/need to accomplish, but believe it is all manageable.


Colin was over for dinner last night (grilled hot & sweet sausage, home-made sweet potato fries, sautéed yellow squash, onions, peppers and mushrooms) and the night was so pleasant we enjoyed a fire around 8 p.m.  It was lovely.  Before dinner Colin went out to the garden to see if he could dig a couple of sweet potatoes.  These are larger than any Fletch has ever grown!

I hope they are not too tough!


Last night I managed to finish What She Ate which was just ok.  Interesting, but not compelling.  Six different women (including Eleanor Roosevelt, Eva Braun, Helen Gurly Brown [!]) and their relationship (or lack of) with food.


Still no knitting this week (ennui still, though I've also been very busy), but yesterday afternoon I started fooling around on Excel and started to design a shawl.  And then, of course, I came across several that might do the trick for me.  Shh! Wrap is one of them.  and although it calls for sport weight, I think I could finagle it in fingering.  I need to do some math.  The other is Haast by Clare Devine.


Besides the "normal" chores of the weekend, I plan to get to Hill's Seafood Market.  Fletch loves bluefish (me?  Not so much) and it has not been available in our grocery stores.  Hoping to find some to cook up for him.  Hill's is also the one place I know I can get crawfish meat (cleaned) and I've been in the mood for some crawfish etouffee.  Sunday I'll need to pack for Hilton Head (hopefully including a yarny project of interest!).


Our weather is supposed to be fairly pleasant through the weekend...then soaring into the 90's again by Monday.  I have a car picking me up at 6:30 a.m. for my flight Monday morning, so I will miss Philly's HHH weather - but I'm sure it will be HOT on Hilton Head as well.


Whatever your plans - enjoy the weekend!

Unraveled Wednesday 08-22-18

Hello Fellow Bloggers,


Nary a picture to show you on this unraveled Wednesday.  I don't know whether I'm experiencing that "back to school" feeling (though, admittedly it has been decades since I've gone back to school), or end of summer blahs (I am so, so ready for Fall)...whatever the reason I have been experiencing more than just a bit of ennui for a couple of weeks.


I'm bored with the Juniper Top (though I did manage to knit 2 rows on it last night).  The dragonfly socks went into time out the other day and I haven't had the interest to look at them.  I can't find a shawl pattern I really want to make to use that new yarn I just got (840 yards - fingering - help me with suggestions...please!).  I looked through a book on shawls that I have and nothing grabbed me.  I went through my patterns and nothing caught my eye.  I'm thinking I might like to do a rectangular one this time rather than a triangular shape.


I've been waiting and waiting for The Weight of Ink to come through on Overdrive.  It finally did and I just cannot get into it.  At all!


On a positive note, Colin is grilling hot and bbq wings for us tonight.  I will make a salad of tomatoes, onions and cukes and we have left over cornbread from the other night. 


Oh, I finally managed to have a slice of the peach pie!  I thought it was...ok...not wonderful, not great, and apparently not exactly what I wanted.  Ennui persists....


Mid-day today I will be helping to fill up backpacks for school children.  We are donating a bunch to local groups and all the supplies came in from Amazon last week:  scissors, markers, crayons, glue sticks, notebooks, pencil cases, etc.  That should be fun.


I hope everyone's week is going well and that you all are a tad bit more inspired than I am this week!

Back At It On Monday

Good Morning All,


It was a pretty mucky (humid) weekend, but a fun one!  Many of you have already seen Dee's Blog and know that we met up for some fun on Saturday.  First of all, her new house is just wonderful!  I absolutely love it and one of the best things is that it is only about 35 minutes from my house!!


We set off and ended up in our old stomping grounds (Abington, Jenkintown, Glenside, North Hills area for anyone familiar).  So ironic that we grew up only miles from each other and yet only met (for real) last Fall when she and Steve were moving up from FL.  We went to a (new to me) yarn shop in Jenkintown.  Dee's enhancement is over on her blog.  I was rather restrained.  This is what I came home with:

Oh my gosh, the colors in this yarn are just so gorgeous.  It reminds me of some of the river rocks I used to find in the West River (across the street from my Grandparent's home in Vermont).  It is Manos Del Uruguay and the color is "Nostalgia."  It is 100% superwash wool and is 814 yards!  I'm thinking a nice, big shawl for the Fall.


From there we headed to Union Jacks a great pub in the North Hills area which did not disappoint.  After that we ended up in a coffee shop in Glenside to sip and knit.  I managed to get two rows done on the Juniper Top sweater, but I'm getting pretty bored with it.....


Sunday was a nice relaxing day for me (including a 2 hour nap in the afternoon!!).  We did some grocery shopping and I did a little laundry.  I found a container of home-made chicken soup in the freezer and since it was much milder, decided that would be dinner.  I baked up some cornbread to go with the soup.

I usually bake it in two small pie plates...one with jalapenos (for moi) and one without (for Fletch).


Since I am getting bored with the sweater, I pulled out the green dragonfly socks to work on.  Oy vey!  It seems as though every few rows I was somehow managing to drop a stitch.  I'd be knitting along happily and look down to see a hole!  I almost ripped the whole thing out last night, but decided to just put it away and look at it again (maybe tonight?)...thinking I managed to pick everything up ok and hoping it does not look too awful.


I probably should pick a new project to take to Hilton Head since the socks and the sweater are just annoying me...lol.


Still quite grey here, but thankfully much less humid.  I'm expecting a much easier week (at least the first few days) - one boss is in Charlotte, one is in Charleston and the third is moving his son into an apartment for his junior year in college.  Hoping to get out at lunchtime to run a few errands.