It's Thursday!

Good Morning!

Another socked-in grey day here.  I believe we are supposed to have rain most of the day.  Yesterday was fairly busy for me, but I was able to sneak out for an hour and a half for a nice walk on the tow path.  No blue herons were seen and, fortunately, no snakes either.  Just some sleeping ducks.

There were some other ducks in the water and also noisy geese.  A few kayakers were out and there was minimal foot traffic on the trail.  I even wore a bandana!

At first I did feel a little silly/foolish and occasionally my glasses steamed up a bit, but I kept it on the entire time.  I only saw two other people with masks on - two men who were roughly my age, give or take, and they just had the masks around their necks - not covering their mouth and nose at all.  And the point would be?????

I also did some more archery in the afternoon, but nothing worth showing (i.e., no bulls eyes - lol).  It's probably good for me to have a little break from that today.  I can feel it across my upper back and in my upper arms (which need it anyway).

Our Asian Pear buds have now opened!

And I'm afraid my lilac buds were more leaves than flower buds.  There are a few deep purple showing, but not much.  Time will tell.  The mint is coming up nicely (ha!  so invasive...) so soon it will be mojito time!  I have some fresh pineapple in the frig - maybe pineapple mojitos?

Meanwhile, Fletch has been busy.  He has been putting cedar shake shingles on the back side of our house that is under the patio roof.  He finished one section yesterday and re-installed some of the antique tools he has against that backdrop.

It looks so nice!  The other section will require a bit of juggling (he has SO MUCH STUFF on the patio).  He also has two guideboats hanging from the patio roof that are up against the house.  All in good time....

I only managed to knit 4-5 rows on the sock yesterday.  Hoping for more today and that will most likely happen since it will be raining.  I've got several financial reports to run this morning and after that I *think* I may be clear for a bit.

Wishing you all a great day!

Unraveled Wednesday 04/08/20

Hello!

It was a stormy night in Eastern PA last night.  Several hours of rolling thunder, lightening and rain.  I was awake, of course, for most of it - lol.  My new sleeping (or lack thereof) patterns.  But, the rain sounded so nice and this morning everything is washed anew. 

After finishing the Canary Blanket last Friday, I did not do that much knitting over the weekend.  I suppose I was giving my fingers and arms a bit of a breeak.  But I did pick the lavender sock back up the other day.  As of last night it looked like this:

The heel has been turned and I'm on the gusset decreases.  I hope to finish this sock by the end of the week and cast on the second one.

Work continues to be busy for me which is ok.  The only downside to that is I can't always get away from my computer long enough for a good walk (since I drive to a trail).  It was a gorgeous afternoon yesterday and a walk would have been very welcome.  Instead, I would check e-mail, respond, and then go out and shoot a round of arrows.  I ended up shooting 5 rounds - 90 arrows!!

And even managed to get a bulls eye!!  Woo-Hoo!  Of course, there were many arrows that fell short of othe target, and some that went over the top.  No guarantee on how I'll shoot!

On the reading front I've nothing to report.  Still can't sink into a book and enjoy it.  Hopefully that will change soon.

Meanwhile, I've got to run.  My boss is calling in 15 minutes to review a report I pulled together for him.  I need to pour another cup of coffee and pull up the report on the computer.

Linking with Kat as usual for Unraveled Wednesday.  Head on over to her blog to see what everyone is making and reading.

Walk Softly......

Hello There!

How are you doing?  I'm well and I slept better last night despite hearing foxes in the night.  But it is another overcast day here.  It looks like the sun is trying to peek out, but so far the dark clouds are winning.

Yesterday my little brother in Boulder, CO texted me saying that his granddaughter (my great niece) thinks that everyone should carry a six foot stick for social distancing...then one can use that stick to whack those who don't stay six feet away!  Here she is with her stick:

Makes me think of Teddy Roosevelt and his saying:  "Walk softly but carry a big stick."  LOL

I've got another project to work on today (work-wise), but plan/hope to get more knitting done. 

On the bright side I heard on my conference call yesterday that discharges at NYC hospitals are way up and that numbers of people being admitted are way down.  That's positive.  Of course there are new hot spots waiting to happen (specifically we discussed New Orleans and Dallas).

That's it for me this morning.  Time to fix a second cup of coffee and get moving!  Have a wonderful day.

Weekending

Good Morning!

I hope this Monday morning finds you all doing well.  Thanks for all your comments on the Canary Blanket.  It is finished (wrapped up the whole thing on Friday - even weaving in the ends!!).

The majority rules and I did not block it (I wsn't going to anyway...jut wanted to know what people thought).  The grey, overcast weather we've been having would mean a month or two for it to dry!  LOL.  And, as several people commented, I think it will be just fine and will stretch out a bit with use.  It is folded up and in a bag for Colin along with some other things I have for him.

Saturday was sort of a blah day for me.  It wasn't nice enough to be outside (too raw and still windy).  I finally settled down and went through my Dad's things that have been sitting in my home office since he passed away 6.5 years ago!  Prior to now I just didn't want to deal with it.  Now I needed to since I'm actually using the office.  Everything has been sorted and I have piles for my brothers and a huge pile of things to be shredded (when I can get back to the office).  It feels good to have that chore out of the way, but I was exhausted that evening.

Sunday dawned much nicer.  First up there was Steve the Beav coming closer to the house!

As Colin says, What a Beast!!  After breakfast I did some chores - cleaning bathrooms, laundry, etc. and did my workout.  I decided to head over to the towpath to walk.  It was a great time to go as there were not that many people out yet.  There were tons of turtles sunning.

And ducks wandering about.

About 3/4 of the way back I passed a girl with a schnauzer and thank God I looked down.  Because right there was the evil serpent!

I had just missed stepping on it.  My heart was racing after that - lol.  I know it is just a garter snake, but to me, a snake is a snake and is EVIL!!!

Later in the day I did some more archery.

Still no bulls eye and not that many arrows even hit the target this time! 

I also pulled some weeds and an invasive vine that is wrapping itself around my lilac.  Boy that was a lot of work!

That pretty much sums up my weekend.  I worked some on the lilac/purple sock but will save that for another post.

How was your weekend?

Getting Closer!!

Good Morning!

Whew!  What a week it has been.  Busy times at work (but happy to be employed).  And, the week is not yet over.  I've got a conference call at 10 this morning and my boss called late yesterday to say he volunteered me to help someone at our parent company.  Oh well...we'll see what's up with that.  Something to do with coordinating getting supplies (disinfecting stuff) to hospitals and medical centers around the country.

Yesterday did find me able to get some knitting done on the Canary Blanket.  When I finished the last repeat before starting the border, I had Fletch hold it up.

Then I texted the picture to Colin.  I wanted to be sure he was happy with the length.  Fortunately he texted back that it looked good!! 

The border is 16 rows of Seed Stitch (I admit not my favorite by any stretch of the imagination...but it does look good).  Last night I was able to complete 5 rows and then put it down.  So, my goal today is to do the final 11 rows of Seed Stitch, bind off and then weave in all the ends.

Is it ok not to block this sucker?  I'm not sure where I could spread it out to dry!  And I don't have sufficient blocking mats anyway.  Please let me know your thoughts.

Also, no walk yesterday - too busy work-wise (again), but also it was SO windy.  Mainly 25-30 mph winds with gusts up to 50 mph.  Not fun walking weather.  I did, however, get outside in the yard to cut some more flowers.

So nice to have these on the table when we sit down to eat.

Tomorrow would have been the Allentown Fiber Festival.  Boo-Hoo.

Happy weekend everyone!

Growth!

Hi There!

Good Morning.  I never got to walk yesterday.  I was slammed work-wise all day long...into the evening even, but as Colin reminds me, it is good to be employed.  And it is.  I'm grateful and thankful that I can do my job from home.  Yesterday I came downstairs at 6 for coffee, opened e-mail and then never got back upstairs till Noon!  That's when I did my workout and got dressed.  Then it was right back at work.  Still...hoping today will find it easier to break away and get a walk in.  It is chilly right now (35), but I can see blue sky and it does not seem to be windy.

I did find a few minutes yesterday late afternoon (while dinner was cooking and there was a lull in the email traffic) to wander outside and I saw a bunch of growth!  So, that's what I'm sharing with you today.  The pictures are pretty poor, and a bit blury, but they still make me happy and hopeful for what is to come.

First up our Asian Pear Tree: 

Do you see ALL the buds?  We do have this delicate tree enclosed in a wire fence to protect it from the deer (who have chomped on it in the past).

Next up is our Red Bud.

The branches are just loaded with buds and they will be opening soon.  I love these trees.

This next one is difficult to really see

That is a branch on our apple tree.  Like our weeping cherry, this tree did not do very well for the past few years.  We used to get scores of apples - more than enough for us AND the deer (who often stood on their hind legs to pull branches down - so fun to watch).  But there were very few blossoms and almost no apples last year.  I thought the tree was dying (and it is now covered with lichen).  But there are buds on it for leaves.  So...I am hopeful.

Last up is this

That is the first radish seedling popping through the soil.  I can taste a garden radish as I write this.  Radish greens are also tasty in a salad.

Other things that are happening:  sugar snap peas are up and growing in the garden.  The rhubarb is once again coming back strong and there are lots of red stalks emerging.  Garlic is thriving, though not nearly ready to harvest.

All of these things make me happy and give me something to think about besides what is going on day-by-day.

OK, time to pour another cup of coffee and then start pulling financial reports I run on Thursdays.  Wishing you all a wonderful day - enjoy!

Unraveled Wednesday 04/01/20

Hello, hello!

How are you?  I'm hopeful today.  Hopeful that I will be able to get out for a walk.  The sun is supposed to come out, but right now it is fairly breezy out there and not all that warm (30's - 40-ish).  That wind always does me in.  But, still, I'm hopeful.

Meanwhile it's Unraveled Wednesday, so let's get to the knitting.  First up:

The Canary Blanket.  I know this picture looks so much like the last one I posted (last Wednesday, 3/25), but honestly a few more cables are in place.  Holding it up to my chin, it almost comes to my feet (I'm roughly 5'10").  I am on row 5 of the pattern (20 row pattern with the cable coming on row 1) and think I will do one more cable.  Then you knit to row 19 and start the seed stitch border (which is 15 rows long).  More info than you need, most likely.  Ha!  But, my plan is to finish it this week!  Really!!!

And then there is this:

A new sock start.  This yarn (Theodora's Sapphire by Theodora's Pearls) was bought during a vacation sometime in the last year or two.  Sadly I can't remember exactly when or where.  It is 80% superwash merino and 20% nylon.  The colorway is Thistle and it is the loveliest shade of lavender with a bit of blue thrown in there now and then.  I wanted a really Spring-like color to knit with and this popped up out of my stash.  The pattern I am using is "Socks of Kindness:  A Recipe" which seemed like an appropriate name at this time.  Not sure where the pattern came from (I have a hard copy - one single page) and I can't seem to find it on Ravelry.  It's lacey and I hope to show you more of this in a few days.

Not much going on reading-wise.  Like so many others, I am finding it a bit difficult to concentrate on books.  I have started Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead but I'm having a difficult time making any sense out of it.  I'll read a chapter or two and then can't remember anything about what I read.  I may just send it back over the airways and let someone else try it now and, perhaps, come back to it at a later time.  I have one more Overdrive book on my Kindle and that is Inland which I may also let go and come back to later.  I think I'll have better luck holding a "real" book where I can flip pages back and forth easily if needed.

Fletch and I did do our grocery shopping outing yesterday.  The first store we went to ended up not being well stocked (no eggs, none of the organic milk I use, no paper products at all) so we ended up going to a second store as well.  That store was fully stocked - lots of fresh produce (which store #1 had too), plenty of meat (which we did not need), eggs, my milk and we were able to get napkins!  They also had TP (which we did not need).  We were able to get everything on our list including ice cream (a Fletcher necessity).  Hopefully we are set for some time and will not need to get out.  And I was able to get wine at both stores:)

So that's it for me on this April Fool's Day.  Linking up as usual with Kat for Unraveled Wednesday.  Head on over to her corner of the world to see what she and others are making and reading.

Wishing you all a bit of happiness today.