Unraveled Wednesday October 13, 2021

 Good Morning!

How are you on this mid-week day in the middle of October?  (I'm not sure how we got to the [almost] middle of October already!)  Yesterday was a study in frustration in so many ways.  Fletch and I headed out around 10:30.  We stopped at a local farm stand and got some pumpkins for our front step.  Then we headed to the Acme (grocery store) where we had seen signs over the weekend for booster and flu shots.  Turns out we can't get the booster until after October 20th (our last vaccine was April 20th and you have to wait a full 6 months).  OK, no problem, we'll take the flu shot and come back for the booster.  Turns out that Acme is not an accepted provider for our insurance (BC/BS of NC).  OK, we'll head over to CVS where we get our prescriptions filled.  No appointment and it could have been a 30 minute wait, so we decided to skip that.  I called them later in the day to make an appointment and was told you have to book on line.  Went on line, no appointments available.  Grrrrr.  Called them back and was told you can just come in, the wait is never half an hour - at most 15 minutes.  We will give it a try tomorrow.

Work was crazy too.  As I mentioned, it is bonus calculation time.  Bonus payments are funded by excess profit at the unit level.  So if you beat your budget by $10K, you have $10K for bonus payments.  Requested bonus payments cannot exceed available funding.  One of my RDOs sent in his bonus calcs for his region yesterday and...you guessed it...the first one I checked showed payments in excess of funding.

This is the type of thing that makes me crazy and ultimately makes more work for me.  I don't know if he didn't check, or didn't care, or forgot, or what.  But it sure is annoying.

However, it is Unraveled Wednesday and I am linking up with Kat and all the Merry Unravelers to talk about knitting and reading.  A little bit of knitting has been accomplished.  First up we have the first sock for Peggy.

The heel flap has been knitted and the heel has been turned.  Only 2-3 rows after that however as work email exploded and yesterday afternoon and evening were busy.

There was also a bit of knitting on the 2nd French Market bag.

I'm loving these colors together.  Especially the grey and the green.  I think the purple just adds a nice pop of color, but the primary tones will be grey and green.  I'll keep going round and round on this as I definitely want it to be larger than the first one I made.

On the reading side of things, I finished When We Were Young and Brave by Hazel Gaynor.  It was good, but not what I would call compelling.  It was easy enough to put down.  I think I'm just tired of books set in the time of the 2nd World War.  I've started The Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker - the second book featuring Bruno, Chief of Police in a little sleepy (maybe not so much) French village.  An enjoyable read.

Well, I've got a very busy day ahead at the office and it is now time to pour another cup of coffee and get dressed and ready to head in.  Wishing you all a marvelous Wednesday!

Tiny Needle Tuesday October 12, 2021

 Good Morning!

Last night I could not keep my eyes open after dinner.  I tried knitting and reading - nothing worked, so I finally went to bed around 9:30.  Friends...I slept until after 7:30 this morning!  It was wonderful, but I haven't fully woken up yet.  Waiting for the coffee to kick in.

My morning in the office yesterday was productive, but I had gone in specifically so that Bruce and I could meet and he never showed up.  Frustrating.  So tomorrow when I go in, I need to find time (individually) with Bill, Kevin, Bruce, Lisa and Mike.  But meanwhile, they are in a management committee meeting all day!  Guess I'll be catching them on bathroom breaks - LOL.

I had meant to mention a month ago when Bobby (the CEO) sent out an email and then I forgot.  But October at my office is Socktober!  I don't think anyone will be handknitting socks to donate (certainly not me with the way my knitting is so slow these days).  This is the email that came out yesterday:

You'll have to click to enlarge if you like.  Basically we are collecting socks to donate to a shelter at the end of the month.  When I arrived at the office yesterday, I saw two large boxes (decorated) in the lobby for collecting the donations.  A great and thoughtful idea.

And look what I spotted on my drive to the office yesterday:

A chiroprator's office with a skeleton by their sign.  How appropriate!

Well, it is TNT (Tiny Needle Tuesday) and all I have to show is a very tiny start on one of the Pomegranate Birds.

I started to stitch on the bird (lower left of the urn) on Sunday afternoon and then Fletch and I went over to see our neighbors.  By the time we got back, it was time to start prepping for dinner and I never got back to stitching.  Hopefully I'll do more this week.

Yesterday Dee posted about the forecast for the coming winter.  Apparently the Farmers' Almanac says we are in for a doozy of a winter this year.  Dee also posted pictures of her black walnut tree (bare of leaves) and her winterberry bush - so full.  So, I thought I would show you our winterberry as well:

Certainly more berries than last year.  Could the Almanac be right?  If it is, I'm prepared with plenty of stitching and knitting options!

I can see that work emails are flying in like crazy, so I'd best pour a second cup of coffee and get cranking.  Hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday!

Weekending

 Good Morning!

How are you?  And how was your weekend?  Mine was lovely.  I met up with Dee Saturday morning at the Lansdale Farmers' Market (be sure to check out her blog as she has some fabulous pictures and the first one is from the Farmers' Market).  The Kimberton CSA booth that is pictured in the website for the Farmers' Market is the CSA that Colin and Mailing belong to.  It is run by a high school buddy of theirs.  I bought some wonderful bakery items and some great fruit spreads (a sour cherry and a lavender).  After that we headed over to Backyard Beans for some coffee, knitting and catching up.  And then we had lunch at Stove & Tap.  All in all, a wonderful Saturday morning/lunch.

Sunday dawned wet and grey.  It didn't rain hard at any time, but it never cleared.  Fletch and I went grocery shopping.

Apples and clementines and winter squash were all on sale.  I'm thinking we are pretty set for now.  We also discovered that our grocery store has the booster shot as well as flu shots, so we will be going back for those (separately even though they say you can get them together...I don't really want to do that).

I managed to carve out some time for knitting and stitching and reading.  I also had to do some work...not as much as I had thought I would (and I'll be making up for that today), but all in all it was a nicely balanced weekend.  

My messy kitchen table with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers from my bosses!

I'm heading to the office later this morning - hoping to have a little time with Bruce, but hoping to get out of there before lunch.  I'll be back at the office Wednesday when ALL of my bosses will be in for a management meeting.  That will be a longer day, but hopefully not too bad.

My eyes continue to be good.  Today is my last day on the steroid drops and then my follow up with the doctor is this Friday.

Here's to a good week ahead - enjoy!

TGIF

 Hello Again,

Thank you all for the well wishes.  My follow up eye surgery went well.  I was able to drive myself to and from which was a huge plus for Fletch - he was still in bed when I left for the surgery center.  Time was consumed by having drops put in my eyes and waiting for them to kick in (both numbing drops and dilating drops).  The actual laser surgery took literally one minute...if that!  Whoosh and it was over.  I could immediately see (ha!) a difference.  Amazing.  My doctor said I might have a lot of floaters that day and blurriness, but I didn't and the blurriness wore off quickly.  I have steroid drops (again) to put in that eye four times a day through Monday.  My follow up with the doctor is next Friday afternoon.  Modern Medicine!!!

The balance of the day was taken up with work.  Still so busy!  More initiatives came out last night, so the craziness continues.  I did manage to get another load of laundry done and the afternoon was nice enough I could hang jeans on the line to dry outside.

The grilled sausages were delicious.  As usual, Fletch grilled a lot of extra which I have now frozen and will use the next time I make sauce for pasta.  Yum!  It was so nice to see Colin again and it was a beautiful night to have a fire!

So now it is Friday and TGIF.  I have two conference calls this morning and then I plan to take it easy during the afternoon.  I have not picked up my knitting in several days which is unacceptable.  Nor have I put a single stitch on the Pomegranate Birds.  

I'm glad you all enjoyed the skeleton riding in the pick up truck.  I have noticed more skeletons on display this year than ever before.  And, they are not cheap!  I need/want to take a walk along the canal path and see if the skeleton on the bench is still there.  Maybe this weekend.

Cheers to the end of the work week and wishing you all a wonderful weekend - enjoy!

Thursday Stuff

 Good Morning!

It's another early and dark morning here.  I've had my first sip of coffee, so not really fully awake yet.  Usually I post about food and a recipe on Thursdays, but today is just random.  Colin will be over tonight and Fletch is going to grill some hot and sweet sausage.  I will cook up some onions, peppers and mushrooms to go with that and we have some good Italian rolls to round out the meal.

This is one of the sights on my way to work yesterday morning:

Hahahaha - I love this!  I was behind this pick up for maybe half a mile or so and I was grinning the entire time.  We passed a couple of school busses and I bet the kids loved seeing Skelly in the back of the truck.

Yesterday was a pretty long day at work (7+ hours!!), but extremely productive.  Helena, one of my new RVPs brought me a present!

An eyeglass tray that is a cat!  I love it.  She said she knew I liked cats (understatement) and she knew I wore glasses.  So sweet of her.  There were other gifts awaiting me from my bosses as well.  All lovely surprises.

I ended up just sitting in the meeting for an hour or so and that wasn't too bad.  Mike had also invited me to a meeting in Florida in November, but I was able to get out of that gracefully and with no issues.  Whew!

There were more folks in the office than I have seen in a very long time.  All of finance was in (fiscal year-end, closing out the books, etc.).  Luckily they are at the opposite end of the building from me.  And, everyone had masks - we are not required to wear them at our desks, but walking around the office everyone had one on.

So, today is my busy financial reporting day and I need to get going on some of those.  My follow up eye surgery is this morning and I will need to leave here by 8 a.m., so I'd best get cranking.  Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Unraveled Wednesday, October 6, 2021

 Good Morning!

It is dark and early here in Eastern PA.  Yesterday ended up being very busy work-wise (even though I was still *technically* on vacation).  But, I was glad to get through all the emails that came in while I was away.  I really don't like this time of year at work - so many initiatives, so much going on, one fiscal year ending and another beginning.  This year it is compounded with Bill's retirement and his replacements.  But, anyway, here I am.  I'll head to the office around 7 a.m. and I'm hoping I don't need to be in Mike's meeting ALL day!

Yesterday saw 4 loads of laundry done...still a load of jeans and one of towels to do.  I'm fully unpacked and we finally sat on the patio around 4:30 with a glass of wine (me) and a cup of coffee (Fletch).  And suddenly Mr. Buzzard showed up - LOL

What a massive bird!  Very impressive.

So this October 6th brings us to the first Unraveled Wednesday of the month.  Usually we all link up with Kat and other Merry Unravelers, but Kat is away this week.  I think I did more stitching while on vacation than knitting, but something was accomplished.  First a little (as in VERY little) bit of knitting on the first sock for Peggy.

This is the sock that was started and unraveled several times before I finally decided that just a plain old vanilla sock was best.

My second French Market Bag is coming along:

I'm several rows past having 200 stitches on the needles, so now it is just round and round and round we go.  I think I will start in with a bit of the green yarn on the left, then switch to the multicolored yarn on the right...back to the green and the handles will be a combination of the green and gray.  The intent is to make this one much, much deeper than the thistle one I made first, so this is not even close to completion.

Not much reading occurred while I was away.  I did start (and got about halfway through) When We Were Young and Brave by Hazel Gaynor.  I've only managed to read another chapter or so since being home.

Time for another cup of coffee before I get ready to head to the office.  I hope this finds you all enjoying the week.

Tiny Needle Tuesday October 5, 2021

 Hello, Hello!

We are back.  And safely, despite some of the heaviest rain I have ever seen on our way home yesterday.  It sounded like hail hitting the car.  Fortunately when we arrived home it was clear.  We actually came back a day early due to my having to be at the office on Wednesday.  I always need a day at home before jumping back into reality.  Today will be filled with laundry and probably a small grocery run.

Anyway, I did not take a lot of pictures, but have a few to share.  We started and ended our trip with camping in Rhinebeck, NY.  I know!  Not for NY Sheep & Wool.  Our favorite campground in the area has closed (thank you COVID) so we stayed at a new-to-us place that wasn't the greatest.  In between those Sunday nights, we journeyed to Southern Vermont...left our camper there and just took the car over to New Hampshire and the White Mountains.  We stayed in a beautiful log home about a quarter of a mile from where our friends were.  There was no one around and we had beautiful views of the mountains.  The weather was often overcast, but one day I woke from a nap to find Fletch coming to get me - looking out over the deck there was a huge rainbow.

You can see there was not a whole lot of color in the trees...still a bit early.  But one day our friends drove us up to Mt. Washington (where we had lunch at the Mt. Washington Resort - an AMAZING place) and we saw a lot more color there.  One night I cooked dinner for us (BBQ Shrimp) and one night Lois fixed a delicious venison stew.  We never would have known it was venison if she had not told us.  It was like the most tender roast you have ever had.

We drove back to Vermont visiting some familiar and favorite places along the way.  It had been three years since we had been in Vermont - far too long.  Driving back to Rhinebeck on Sunday, we stopped at the Eric Sloane Museum in Kent, CT.  A small, but very impressive museum filled with old tools and artifacts Eric Sloane had collected over the years.  There was also a small gallery with a number of his paintings and drawings.  At the back of the building was his studio/library/whatever room.  We have a few of his books and have always enjoyed his pen and ink drawings.  On display were two swifts!!

Both of them a little larger than the swift I have!

Meanwhile it is Tiny Needle Tuesday and I have two finishes to share!  Amazing...but with internet service and connectivity availability lacking for the entire trip I managed to stitch quite a bit!  First up, I finished Coverlet Birds.

I'm happy to have this one finished.  It's a bit larger than I wanted - really too large for a pin cushion.  In this photograph you can't really distinguish (or at least I cannot) between the blue and green.  But, after the red, there is a bit of green, then all blue until the end where it is green again.  The Ginny Thompson Flower Thread was very annoying to use, so I will pack that away for quite some time.

The other piece I finished is Malabar Farm - a small (pin cusion size) piece designed by Stacy Nash.  I had started this quite some time ago and then promptly lost interest...but it was in the stitching bag I brought on the trip, so I took the time to finish it up.

Yes, that is yet another bird - a peacock!

Due to internet issues I couldn't even read blogs while we were away, so I will enjoy some catch-up time today.  I also need to go through all the work emails so that I am caught up when I go to the office tomorrow.

It is good to be home!  We had a lovely time, but how wonderful to shower at home last night and sleep in my own bed!  I hope you have all been well.