TGIF 1-4-19

Good Morning!

So far I've done a good job of writing 2019 rather than 2018...I'm sure I'll slip back at some point.  Anyway, TGIF!  It has been easier than I expected getting back to work (but I'm missing my days at home) probably because it has been busy.  I'm ready for the weekend.

No real plans other than going to Costco tomorrow with Colin (wishing our Costco sold wine...).  I may try to hit the outlets as well.  I love Ann Taylor and Loft clothes and ended up with six (6!!!) $12.50 coupons from them (part of a class action suit), so that adds up to $75 off.  Woo-Hoo!  I don't really *need* anything, but maybe I could refresh a top or two...or a sweater...or find a gift for a friend.

Colin was over last night an we played some Cribbage (which I won!).

The board is a new one that Colin got me for Christmas.  Here's a better shot of it:

Lake Dunmore is near where I spent time every summer.  A friend of my Mom's had a camp on the lake and we would spend at least a month each summer there.  The map of the lake is like a topographic map in that it shows the varying depths of the lake.  The smaller lake to the right is Silver Lake which we used to hike to each summer.  Such a cool, unexpected, fun gift!  I love it.

Well, I need to get moving - I've got a conference call in 15 minutes and another one after that.

Happy weekend everyone - enjoy!!

Unraveled Wednesday 1-2-19

Good Morning!

This will be a rather quick post as I am back to work and it is busy, busy, busy. 

I had hoped to walk yesterday, but the wind never stopped until dusk.  It was mild - like 60 degrees, but my ears bother me whenever I'm out in the wind (even if they are covered).  Funny how a year ago it was 1 degree!  What a difference.  So, anyway, I spent the day knitting and working on a jigsaw puzzle and I had a nice nap in the afternoon.

The 2nd Arctic Fox sock is progressing nicely:

I'm into the gusset decreases on the foot, so it shouldn't take too long now (probably just jinxed myself).  Hoping to finish by the weekend.  I've ordered yarn to knit a cowl for Fletch and that should arrive by the weekend or early next week.  Stay tuned on that one...I will be making up the pattern as I go (fingers crossed it will work).  He wants the cowl knitted flat and then buttons (and button holes) added.  And he is so darn picky over things.  I was going to do cables, but he doesn't want that.  I *think* I've worked out a pattern that he likes...need to try it on a swatch to be sure.

Reading-wise I am still working my way through "The Feather Thief" and thoroughly enjoying it.  I'm only about a third of the way through - I seem to be reading slowly these days.

I hope to go back through my journal soon where I am tracking books and knitting projects and have a summary post for 2018. 

OK - back to the grind.  I've got a ton of reports to do so I'd best get cracking!!

Happy New Year!

Our celebrations last night were typical – very quiet.  Usually I make a crab quiche for dinner, but we decided to do BBQ shrimp (New Orleans style) instead.  It’s a favorite dish and you can just about feel your arteries clogging from all the bacon and butter!!

 

 

It was good and we had a salad to go with it and some bread (to mop up all that delicious juice!!). 

 

The evening was spent watching some TV, working on a jigsaw puzzle, reading and knitting.  I went to bed at 10:30 and we completely forgot to open the champagne!!  Age…..

 

Today has started off well.  Coffee and knitting early and then I made cinnamon pecan waffles for breakfast.  I have a bit of laundry going.  I’d like to undecorate the tree, but I know Fletch wants it up a bit longer, so I’m not even suggesting it!

 

The balance of the day will be spent knitting, napping, reading a bit.  I’m hoping to take a walk, but right now it is very windy out, so maybe later.  We’ll see.

 

I have my “One Little Word” for 2019 and it is STRENGTH.  I mulled over a number of words, but this one kept coming back to me.  I’d like to gain more physical strength, but also emotional and mental strength as well.  Strength of the Spirit perhaps.  To find out what word others have chosen (or what word has “found” them), hop over to Juliann's Blog. 

 

Meanwhile, it’s time for me to get back to some knitting!

Catching Up

Good Morning All,

 

Hard to believe it’s been over a week since I posted.  I’ve actually lost track of what day it is at times (which has been fun) and I ended up taking a break from technology which was wonderful.  I’ve kept up with blogs on my phone, but I mostly have not been commenting.  By the sound and look it appears that everyone had a fine holiday.

 

Our Christmas was nice…busy, but nice.  The weekend before Christmas we ended up at a concert by Piffaro which was fabulous.  Piffaro is a Renaissance group based in Philadelphia.  They only play period instruments from the 1500’s and their music is also from that time.  The entire program was in French (the concert was “A French Noel”).  Their music can be found on Spotify if anyone is interested in hearing them.

 

We also went to the movies and saw “The Favourite” which we really enjoyed.  It reminded us all of “Phantom Thread” – not the story line, but the atmosphere of the movie.  Last Thursday we watched “Florence Foster Jenkins” with Meryl Streep.  I have not laughed that hard or that long in a very long time.  Meryl Streep is such a fine actress.  Hugh Grant was very good in this as well.

Colin cooked dinner on Christmas day - a wild boar ragu which was amazing!  It tasted more like beef than pork to me and was very tender.  He served that over home-made pasta and we had a bunch of roasted vegetables to go with.  Dessert was a pear crisp.  Yum!!  The day was long but relaxed.  Fletch, Zhongren (Mailing's Dad) and I all fell asleep in the afternoon!  We played Mahjong, worked on a jigsaw puzzle, read, etc.

 

This past Friday was damp, grey, wet, foggy, etc., etc., but I braved the elements and drove up to Emmaus to meet up with Dee.  The drive up (mostly by the Perkiomen Creek) was gorgeous – kind of like a Sleepy Hollow area – the water was all misty and foggy.  The yarn shop in Emmaus doesn’t open till noon, so we went out for brunch and then to the coffee shop (delicious Turmeric Golden Milk Lattes) for some knitting and chatting and then to Conversational Threads.  What a great store!  I managed to get a few skeins of yarn (all solids).  As always, it was a fun day getting together with Dee.

 

I have not been doing a lot of knitting, but I managed last night to finish the first Artic Fox sock for Colin.  I realized (again) that I would not have enough yarn for two socks.  Both Fletch and Colin like the leg of their socks to be a bit longer and they both have long feet.  Thus, I used one of the solid skeins I picked up on Friday to finish up the foot and toe decreases of sock #1.  Sock #2 has been started and the cuff ribbing is done.  I hope to get more done on that today before we go out later. 

 

 

I think I mentioned that Colin heads of up volunteer arm at his company for the Pennsylvania Philharmonic.  They are giving a concert this afternoon at a local community college, so we are going to head out to see that.  I believe the program is Broadway tunes.  Should be a fun couple of hours.

 

On the reading front, again, I have not done much.  I read the latest Louise Penny (Kingdom of the Blind) and really enjoyed it.  I’m in the midst (about a third of the way through) “The Feather Thief” and am enjoying that.

 

That about wraps it up for me.  Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year!  May we all be blessed with excellent health, much happiness and a whole lot of joy!

TGIF 12-21-18

Hello There!  Happy Solstice!  Merry Christmas!

It has been a busy morning, but now it is shortly after 11 a.m. and things are winding down at work.  I hope to get out of here by Noon.  I'd like a nap and then a shower and then Colin will be over for dinner tonight (Mailing is doing something with her co-workers).

My oven is still not fixed - it should be either today or tomorrow.  Luckily I had things in the freezer that I could make on the stove or warm up in the microwave.  Last night we did order from the local pizza place and tonight will be take out from a Chinese place.

Shopping is mostly done.  I have a few remaining stocking stuffers to pick up and a few things to wrap.  It seems like a nice pace this year - not frantic down to the wire.

The weekend looks like fun.  Tomorrow morning I'm meeting Dee for coffee and knitting and chatting (I wonder if there will be a parade???).  Then we are heading over to Northbound for lunch - a place that Colin and Mailing recommended.  And tomorrow night we are going out to dinner to celebrate Anna's birthday (Mailing's sister).  A full day, but all fun things!

Knitting on the Arctic Fox socks continues as does reading Kingdom of the Blind which is certainly not disappointing.  I expect to finish that (maybe tonight??) and start in on The Feather Thief next. 

Wishing you all a most relaxing and joyful Holiday Season.

Unraveled Wednesday 12-19-18

Good Morning,

Welcome to mid-week.  It is a cold one here (9:20 a.m. and still just 28 degrees).  But Colin texted me that it could get up to 60 by Friday (of course...rain and flood watches are in the forecast as well).

After knitting that terribly fiddly cat, I decided I needed some easy knitting and have started a pair of socks for Colin.  Once again the pattern is Hermoine's Everyday Socks - a free pattern on Ravelry and one that gives very nice texture to socks.

In reality the socks are a bit darker, but I love all the various shades in the yarn.  The yarn is an 80/20 blend from Mineville and the colorway is Arctic Circle.  This shot was taken early last night...since then I've added another 12 rows or so and hopefully more will be added at lunch today.

My day started with an 8 a.m. doctor's appointment (regular 6 month check-up) and all is good.  I had blood drawn last week (too many tubes!!) - and all my numbers are good!  YAY!

This is my last full day of work this week.  Tomorrow I'm leaving by 12:30 to meet the Lame Duck for drinks.  He and his wife are up from FL for the holidays and he wanted to get together.  He put a very nice book together for everyone in the division using Shutterfly - pictures from all the years we worked together.  A reminder of good times (the last few years were rough - especially for him...but now he is retired and all is good).  Friday we are closing at 1:00 and are closed next Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday...and I doubt I will work Thursday or Friday.  So a nice bit of time off.

On the reading front I'm a little more than halfway through "Kingdom of the Blind" the latest Gamache book from Louise Penny.  So good!  I'm making myself read it slowly and not rush through it so it will last - lol.

Joining Kat and friends for Unraveled Wednesday.  What are you up to?

Weekending

Good Morning!

The sun is (finally) out.  What a soggy weekend we had - lots of rain and then high winds.

So....my weekend did not start out very well.  After dinner on Friday night I started baking.  I got one batch of cookies done and then my oven quit!  It's electric and the heating element fried itself.  This happened once before - back in 2010.  That first time the fire department arrived!  Luckily that did not happen this time, but until we can get someone out to repair it, my baking is on hold.

Saturday was nice despite the weather.  We went over to Colin & Mailing's for dinner to celebrate Colin's birthday.  Here are the kitties checking out the gifts.

Marcel sat on the one gift for quite some time.  Talbot didn't really seem ALL that interested - lol.

Here is their mantle.  The stocking on the right is one that my 2nd Mom (Leslie's Mom) made (needlepoint) for Colin when he was born - so it is 29 years old!!  The thing that looks like a stick on the left is a bow that my uncle carved - probably in the 30's or 40's.

Dinner was delicious.  Mailing made Korean fried chicken - two varieties one was hot and the other was a butter-honey.  OMG, so good.  To go with there were plenty of things I had never had!!  Lotus root,, burdock, sesame leaves, and then there were pickled cucumbers, soy beans and anchovies.  Dessert was a pistachio cake - Yum!!  Here's a shot as stuff was being put on the table.

Sunday was pretty much a lazy day.  I did an errand or two and then decided to knit a tiny cat.  What a fiddly mess that was!  I will not be doing this again.  I used alpaca yarn which kept splitting and fraying.  Anyway, my version ended up looking like a cat that has been in a fight.  The tail is supposed to be knit, but I had had enough at that point, so I just braided some yarn and tacked it on.  A cute idea, but way too fiddly for moi.

LOL

Finally, some of you asked to see our tree.  Here is a shot I took this morning as I sat with my coffee enjoying the lights.

I cut off the top by accident, but we always put a red cardinal at the top of our tree.

Hoping this week will be easy.  Today is probably busy, but the rest of the week should be a breeze (fingers crossed).  Hope your week goes well.