Unraveled Wednesday 3/9/22

 Good Morning!

It's a little warmer here this morning (38), but it is grey and damp.  A wintry mix is expected within an hour or two.  And yet Fletch mentioned that it will be warm again tomorrow and he'd like to grill.  Crazy up and down, spin me around weather.

Also, tick season has already begun (or, more likely, never ended).  Fletch has been doing quite a bit of work around the garden - putting up a fence to keep out the rabbits, deer and other creatures (Steve the Beav - our resident groundhog??).  Anyway, he discovered a deer tick on his pants leg the other night.  We gave Mabel a flea & tick treatment so I hope she is safe too.

The news about my brother Ray continues to evolve.  The Penn doctors really don't see the situation as dire as the Delaware doctors did.  The heart surgeon at Penn is ready to replace Ray's mechanical valve if necessary, but it will not be right now.  Instead Ray will be sent home with a pic line and IV antibiotics.  He will have monthly check ups at Penn and CT scans.  Not only will he see the heart surgeon monthly, but also an infectious disease doctor.  Linda is hoping his discharge can happen as early as tomorrow, but we are not sure yet.  They have other things they need to check - like his blood thinner meds (which he has been on since open heart surgery), how the newest/latest antibiotic is working, etc., etc.  Meanwhile, Linda has been camped out at a hotel next to the hospital so that she would not need to commute daily from Delaware.  It's a lot!  I continue to appreciate all your healing vibes and well wishes for Ray.  Thank you so much!

And that brings us to Unraveled Wednesday where I hook up with Kat and her merry band of unravelers to talk making and reading

You already know (if you read my earlier posts this week) that once again there was unravelling, or knitting backwards as I prefer to call it.  I have not yet re-cast on the Hiking Trail socks for Colin.  Soon I will.  I will most likely just do Hermione's Everyday Socks pattern, or a simple rib like I did for Fletcher's Barn Owl socks.

Here is the scene from last night:

Another messy table scene, but such is life.  In front is the new beginning of the Guernsey Wrap by Jared Flood.  This is the one that was completely unraveled the other week.  And, in reading the pattern (what a concept!!) I discovered that what I had knit last year was fine...I was just messing it all up when I started knitting on it again this year.  Distracted much?  Yes, I would say so.  But I believe/hope I am on track now.  That is only the first 8 rows of the wrap, but after taking this picture I ended up on the phone with a friend and literally laughing for 2 hours (very good for the soul).

On the reading side of things, I finished Circling the Sun by Paula McLain and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Much of it was so familiar because many years ago I had read Beryl Markham's memoir West With the Night (highly recommend) and, of course Out of Africa (and the movie - so good).  In the picture above you will see the next two books.  Fletch and I are reading Taste together after dinner and are laughing out loud and enjoying it.  Even reading it AFTER dinner, I still find my mouth watering over the recipes.  I also started The Final Case by David Guterson.  Decades ago I read "Snow Falling on Cedars" (by Guterson) and loved it.  I'm not loving The Final Case.  I'm roughly a third of the way through it and I'll finish it, but I'm anxious to get to some of the other books that recently came through for me at the library.  Fortunately it's not that long a book.

You may have noticed sweet Mabel in the picture above.  Yes she is sprawled on the table - that's how we live.  She was deeply asleep with tail, paws and her mouth periodically twitching.  Deep dreams.  Here is her sweet face.

Daily she is growing more affectionate (and tolerant of me picking her up) and loving.  So happy that we rescued her.

OK, I need to get moving.  Despite the weather forecast, I am headed to the office this morning.  I have some things I need to do and I've arranged to meet up with Christina - a peer - who asked for help navigating the legal data base and learning what she is supposed to do with it (something she should have been taught when she was hired 4-5 years ago!!).  I'm hoping to get in early, do my stuff, meet with Christina at 9 and then blow out of there by 9:30.  I need to stop at Trader Joe's for a few things and the State Store for wine.  And then home again, home again jiggity-jog.

Happy mid-week!  It is good to be on the downward slope to the weekend!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 3/8/22

 Good Morning Everyone,

Once again, thank you all for the tremendous outpouring of healing vibes for my brother.  I don't really have any updates other than that the doctors at Penn don't seem to think it is the dire situation that the doctors in Maryland thought.  So, they are running all the tests again that were already done in MD.  I decided to not bother my sister in law last night as I know if there is some major change or turn she will keep me up to date.

I had hoped to get a walk in yesterday (I know the fresh air would be good for me), but work was crazy (again) and the wind was howling.  We had rain last night and that wind continued howling ALL night.  It was difficult to fall asleep as windows were rattling and the howling was just loud.  This morning it is back to being in the 30's and our high forecast is only in the low 40's.  It is still pretty breezy out there.  Mabel will go outside and then promptly get spooked by dead leaves blowing around.  

It has been difficult for me to concentrate on anything much.  No additional stitching was done on The Visiting Bird.  The Adam & Eve sampler saw just a small amount done on the latest dividing band.

Work should ease up today (fingers crossed) so maybe I can find time to put some more stitches in.  I sure hope so!

Last night our dinner was the chicken dish that Bonny posted about last week.  It was delicious!!  We only had one can of black beans, so I also threw in some pinto beans and a cut up shallot.  We had it on wraps that we first covered in guacamole.  YUM!!!  Bonus:  there was enough left over that I froze a container as well as put a container in the frig for lunches.

Time for me to pour another cup of coffee.  May your Tuesday bring you joy!

Weekending

 Good Morning!

How are you and how was your weekend?  Mine was I guess what you would call a mixed bag.  I did meet up with Dee Saturday morning for some needed friend time.  We sipped our beverages, chatted and did a little knitting.  It was so nice.

My knitting over the weekend though ended up being mostly backwards (again!).  I got the ribbing done on Colin's Lizard socks and then started in on the pattern and 3 rows in realized I had made a mistake.  The twisted stitches are not easy to tink back, so I unraveled to the ribbing.  But, I'm not good or experienced at picking up stitches and ended up ripping it all out.  And starting over.

Sunday I re-knit the ribbing on Colin's sock and then started the pattern again...this time avoiding my first mistake.  But further on (of course further on) I made another mistake.  The good news is that I was far enough along to see how the pattern was playing out and it was not playing out very well.  The yarn (Hiking Trail) is variegated and honestly the pattern was not showing up all that well.  I think the twisted stitches are better suited to a solid yarn.  SO...I ripped it all back again.  I will re-start these today or tomorrow and will choose a simple pattern.  The lizard pattern will have to wait.

I think I had a touch of vertigo too yesterday and my back was a trifle sore, so I just really took it easy.  I have not done any stitching.  I have napped and I've read.  Fletcher grilled both Saturday and Sunday which was wonderful.  We also started watching a new series on BritBox - "Murder in Provence" which is very good.

Thank you all for the well wishes, healing juju, etc. for my brother Ray.  Things were looking so much brighter over the weekend - his fever was gone and he was responding well to the 2 antibiotics he was taking.  However, I had an email and several texts from Linda this morning - the doctor saw more infection on Ray's mechanical heart valve (this is the heart valve he was given during open heart surgery).  Ray was transferred from Christiana Hospital in Delaware to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia over night.  Linda spoke with his nurse this morning and they are still evaluating Ray and have no specific plan of action at this point.  This is all so scary.  Please continue to send all the healing vibes you can.

Friday Musings

 Good Morning!

Oh the weekend is upon us...well, I do have some work to do, but basically it is the weekend.  So YAY!

I have two conference calls today (10 and 11) and I emailed both Division Presidents suggesting they be cancelled since we have similar calls on Monday.  The 10:00 President responded and cancelled the call!  I have not heard from the 11:00 President, but she is on the West Coast and may still be asleep.  Fingers crossed, but even if she wants the call that's only 50% of what I woke up thinking I would have to do.

I have spent a good part of the morning so far stash diving.  Looking again at my yarn to choose what to use for the SSP Shawl (Rav Link).  So many options.  I had chosen one main color and then Fletch decided he would like another pair of socks...in that color...But this morning I found an alternative for him that I am hoping he will like (he should be downstairs soon for breakfast, so I will know before too long).

Meanwhile I did start the Lizard socks for Colin.

Just started...10 rows of ribbing so far.  I almost always knit 15 rows of ribbing before getting into a pattern, so five more.  I think I've figured out a way to make the left twist stitch easier for me to do (I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about it!).

It is a chilly morning here (19 F) and it feels especially raw after the taste of Spring we had earlier in the week.  However, our weekend forecast is for warmth and Fletch has already said he would like to grill both Saturday and Sunday.  Steaks one night and hot and sweet Italian sausage another night.  YUM

Here's hoping that each of you enjoy a wonderful weekend.  Have fun!

Fletch just came down and he still prefers the original yarn he chose...so more stash diving is in order!

Oh, and please send healing wishes out to my brother Ray.  He had been running a fever for several days and then it went up to 103 one night.  My sister in law took him to the ER and they ruled out Covid, flu, and pneumonia.  Ray had open heart surgery several years ago and has a mechanical valve in his heart, so they looked at that too and everything looked ok.  They took some blood cultures and wanted him to check into the hospital, but he declined.  The blood cultures were supposed to take 2-3 days for results, but the doctor called at 7 a.m. the next day and said basically "get your butt into the hospital...something is going on."  They have now determined that he has "out of control bacteria in his gut" but can't figure out where it came from or how or why, etc., etc.  So, he is in the hospital having a lot of scans and tests done.  I have not gotten an update yet this morning.

What's For Dinner? 3/3/22

 Hello Again!

I'm back for another thrilling blog post.  Yesterday was simply glorious.  Sunny, mild temps (upper fifties) and I managed to get a pedicure in the early afternoon.  When I came back home I noticed this:

Our first crocus have opened along our driveway bed (which, yes, needs the dead leaves cleaned out of it).  It was so good to see these.  

These two were quite noisy at my office window (which, yes, is still very dirty).

Mabel's window ledge is just below this window and she loves to talk to the birds and sometimes will bang against the window with her paws.  LOL

Today is damp and grey.  It's not raining now, but it did rain overnight.  But it is still mild - it was 48 F when I came downstairs this morning.  When I opened the patio door for Mabel to come in (yes, she went out at 2 a.m.) there was yet another "gift" (vole) on the patio.  Quite the huntress!

Several folks commented on the curried shrimp chowder I made over the weekend, so I thought I would share that recipe.  It's one I got from Alicia Paulsen of the Posie Gets Cozy blog and it is a favorite of ours.

Curried Shrimp Chowder

• 2 slices of bacon
• 1 TBS EVOO
• 1 medium onion diced
• 1-2 carrots chopped
• 1-2 stalks of celery chopped
• 2 potatoes diced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 tsp curry powder
• salt & pepper
• 1 quart chicken broth (or veggie broth)
• 1 Cup corn - fresh or frozen
• 1 Cup peas
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1/2 pound shrimp peeled & cut into bite sized pieces
• Fresh Basil
• 2 tomatoes chopped

Fry bacon in large pot till crispy.  Remove & drain on paper towels.  Pour off grease and add EVOO to pan.*

When oil is hot add potatoes, onion, carrots and celery.  Sautee until beginning to brown.  Add garlic and curry and sautee a few more minutes.  Add broth and simmer until potatoes are tender.  Add corn, peas and shrimp and then the coconut milk.  Simmer until the shrimp are pink and cooked.  Add the basil and tomatoes along with crumbled bacon.

Stir and serve.

*Note:  I cut my bacon up before cooking and just leave it in the pot with the grease.  Extra flavor!!

This is a great recipe to use up stuff in the frig - I've thrown in beans, turnips, sweet potatoes, etc.  It also make a lot!  I froze a big container of chowder and we have another large container in the frig for lunches (we both had some yesterday).

And here is a bonus recipe for the multigrain pancakes I made Sunday morning.  This is a great breakfast it you've run out of eggs - none in this recipe!  This is taken from a vegan cookbook Colin had while he was in college.

Multigrain Pancakes

• 1 Cup regular flour
• 1/2 Cup oats
• 1/2 Cup cornmeal
• 1/2 Cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 Cups milk (I used skim milk, but have made with almond milk so they are vegan)
• 2 TBS molasses

Combine all the dry ingredients.  Whisk the milk and molasses together and combine with the dry ingredients.  Cook like regular pancakes.

I cut the recipe in half on Sunday (and there were still 2 pancakes left over) and added fresh strawberries.  In the past I've added apples or craisins.  All versions are good.  These are hearty and very filling.

Hope you enjoy these recipes.  Time for me to get going - it's Thursday which means I need to pull together financial reports and then distribute.

Unraveled Wednesday 3/2/22

 Good Morning!

I am feeling lazy this morning.  I was up at 4 a.m. to let Mabel out and fell promptly back to sleep until I heard crows calling at 6:30.  I do enjoy crows, so that was a welcome sound and when I looked out the window there were half a dozen in a dead tree in the neighbor's yard.

Yesterday was a mixed bag.  Many frustrations on the work side of life (people not responding...or responding with ridiculous answers that obviously don't make sense).  But, making up for that was the arrival of Mailing and Bonnie (her Mom) for dinner!  Zhongren was traveling and could not join us.  Mailing is here for a week - working in her old office, attending a retirement party for a colleague on Friday afternoon and picking up a few things from their house that they forgot to take to Austin.  It was so good to see her again (and Bonnie!).  My back was pretty tired by the time they left.  Between grocery shopping in the morning and then cooking a lot in the afternoon, I think I was on my feet for too much of the day.  I plan to take it easy today and (hopefully) book a pedicure appointment for later this morning or afternoon.

Well, let's talk knitting on this Unraveled Wednesday.  As usual, I am linking up with Kat and the others who make up the Band of Merry Unravelers.  As I mentioned in my post the other day, quite a bit of backwards knitting (i.e., unraveling...but somehow backwards knitting sounds more productive!) took place here over the weekend.  After I finished Fletcher's Terrarium Socks I decided to pick up a neglected project or two.  Last year I started Guernsey Wrap by Jared Flood at the beginning of May.  I got perhaps 40-50 rows into it before putting it aside when I was distracted by other projects.  Saturday I started knitting on it again and had completed another 10 rows or so when I realized the borders were completely different.  I don't know what I did almost a year ago or what I did on Saturday, but after staring at it and the pattern for 45 minutes I gave up and ripped everything out!

Next up, I picked up Wintertide Shawl by Beatrice Perron Dahlen, another project that I started last May and then abandoned (yes, I am a Magpie - easily distracted by the next shiny or yarny object!!).  That piece didn't have as many rows and I read through the pattern again and started knitting and discovered that I had the wrong number of stitches on the needles.  Oy!  I ripped that all back to the beginning.

Then Mary posted and mentioned This Pattern which immediately slipped into my cart and which prompted me to go through my stash.  Whew!  I found things I had forgotten I had, but I'm pretty sure I have the yarn for this new shawl.  The question is do I start that?  Or do I go back to Wintertide?  Or Guernsey Wrap?  My inquiring mind wants to know - LOL.

Of course, one needs socks on the needles at all times.  I have not started a pair yet, but believe the next ones will be in this yarn:

This yarn was purchased at the NJ Sheep & Wool Festival last year.  It is by Kim Dyes Yarn and the colorway is Hiking Trail.  Perfect for Colin!  It is an 80/20 blend and I have been looking at this book

In the hopes of creating something different.  See all the sticky notes in the book?  Lots of gorgeous and fun patterns.  I'm leaning towards the one called "Lizard" simply because before moving to Texas, Colin told Fletch he was looking forward to his "lizard-self" making an appearance (i.e., basking in the sun).  I did practice the stitch a bit - the right twist is easy, the left one is a little more difficult for me, but I will persist.  Hoping to cast these on today.

If you are still with me, let me briefly talk about reading.  Fletch and I finished reading Shady Hollow after dinner.  This is the book with one of the characters named Vera Vixen!  Certainly not great literature, but a fun read and we found ourselves laughing out loud at times (despite it being a murder mystery).  I had to pass on "The Guncle" - I just could not finish it and it was past due at the library.  In the beginning of the book I was enjoying the writing and found it pretty funny, but it seemed to get more repetitive and trite, so I quit.  I am reading Circling the Sun and am enjoying it quite a bit.  At times it feels as though I've already read this book (I'm pretty sure I have not), but I think that is because I have read so much about Beryl Markham, Karen Blixen and Denys Finch Hatton.  I'm in queue for several books that show they "are on the way" to my library for me, so I'd best get reading!

This has certainly turned into a long winded post.  Time for me to pour another cup of coffee and strap myself in to do a bit of work.  May this Wednesday be a good one for you all.

Tiny Needle Tuesday 3/1/22

 Good Morning!

Hello you and hello March.  Wow!  February (and January) seemed to fly by.  I turned the calendar page this morning and there are just 3 weeks till the Spring Equinox.  Bulbs are beginning to show up in our yard - under the apple tree and in other beds.  It is a hopeful sign.

I was only at my office for maybe an hour yesterday.  On the drive there I saw protesters near a middle school that I pass.  One of the signs read "Free the Smiles!  Mask Choice" - what the heck?  I guess PA has lifted its mask mandate but perhaps the school still requires masks?  I don't know, but with all the crap going on in the world that seemed a little silly to me.  And, for the record, I am continuing to wear my mask when I go to the library or the grocery store, etc.  My choice.

Anyway, the afternoon got away from me.  There was a lot going on work-wise so I never got a walk in (or a nap).  Later, before dinner, I spent time looking at/going through yarn stash.  Yikes!  Of course I found skeins I had completely forgotten I had (I'm sure this happens to all of you too) and I'm wondering why I ordered more the other week and why I'm contemplating going to a LYS in a week or so.

Meanwhile it is TNT or Tiny Needle Tuesday, so let's see what has been stitched in the past week.  Not a lot, but some progress has been made.

The dividing band I'm working on now is taking forever!  It is squares of red and green.  Each square is 4 stitches wide by 5 stitches tall.  The solid filling takes time, but also switching colors pretty frequently slows things down.  The lower case alphabet that started at the end of the last line will continue under the red and green dividing band.  There will be another dividing band and then numbers (!!) under that and then (finally) I will get to the meat of this sampler...Adam & Eve and assorted birds and motifs and (finally!!) colors other than red and green.  Soon, but still a bit of a way to go till I get there.

A Visiting Bird just had two small motifs added to it this past week.  There is a bunch of solid stitching left on this piece, so it will be a little while before this one is finished.  Luckily I'm still enjoying stitching on both of these pieces.

I've got a project I'm working on for work and Fletch and I plan to do a little grocery shopping this morning.  I'd also like to schedule a pedicure.  But first it's time for another cup of coffee.  Enjoy your day!