What's For Dinner? 1/5/23

 Good Morning!

It's another weirdly balmly day in Eastern PA.  I so wanted to get out for a walk yesterday, but honestly I am still so freakin' tired these days.  Yesterday saw me taking yet another 1.5-2 hour nap after lunch.  Yikes!!

Covid Fog Brain still seems to be with me as well.  I managed to cast on for the cowl I want to make for my SIL.  Knit the 8 rows of ribbing and somehow ended up with extra stitches plus a horrible join at the beginning.  That will all be ripped out later this morning.  Everything may need to sit in time out for a little bit.

I'm hoping to do some vacuuming later simply so that I can lay out the blocking mats and get Odyssey soaked and stretched out.  Time will tell.  I'm a little busy with work (again).

Meanwhile, we have been eating well.  God forbid!  LOL  I started out the New Year on the right foot making a new-to-me recipe this first week.  A definite winner and one I will make again.  It is Shrimp & Asparagus Angel Hair Pasta:

This is the recipe I used from 12 Tomatoes.  Filled with lots of great things:  shrimp and asparagus, lots of garlic, fresh tomato, scallions, spinach. So yummy.  I had 4 lbs (!!) of 16-20 count shrimp in the freezer, so I used about a pound of those and cut the shrimp in half before cooking them.  I squeezed lemon over mine; Fletch sprinkled his with Parmesan.

On the fail side, I made foccacia for the first time yesterday and it was TERRIBLE!!  I had a little piece with the split pea soup I had made.  Fletch was smart and opted for a toasted corn muffin.  The balance of the foccacia has been ripped up and is in a bag waiting for me to take it out and dump it for the birds and squirrels.  Ha!

Not everytime can be a success, and I will definitely try making foccacia again (using a different recipe).

And with that, I need to get down to work.  It's Thursday and I've got a lot to do in addition to my regular Thursday reports.  Hope your day is a good one!

Unraveled Wednesday 1/4/23

 Good Morning!

Here we are at the first Unraveled Wednesday of 2023.  Hardly seems possible.  This is the day we link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk making and reading.  In my case, I tend to talk knitting on these Wednesdays.  And...drumroll...I do have a finish or two to share with you!

First up, my Turning Leaves socks are finished.  Woo-Hoo.  I managed to finish these on Friday the 30th of December.

These socks just make me happy.  Plain and simple.  The colors in the yarn are marvelous and the way the colors all go together is wonderful.  I'm not sure I would have named the colorway "Turning Leaves" but it doesn't much matter.

On Saturday, New Year's Eve, I decided I needed to cast on something new.  Well, that didn't work!  There was unraveling several times.  Fletch and I both felt like we had Covid Fog Brain.  New Year's Day dawned and I just knew I HAD to knit something.  So, I cast on for a pair of socks.

And that's as far as that has gotten - 15 rows of ribbing.  I need to determine what pattern I will use.  The yarn is Twist Sock from Machete Shoppe and the colorway is "Douglas Fir."  Naturally I want to incorporate some kind of tree into the pattern.  I'm considering this pattern but maybe just at the top of the sock.  Time will tell.

Meanwhile, my next finish is a shocker!  I started Odyssey Shawl way back in June 2019!  All that was left to do was the picot edge bind off.  It had sat patiently waiting for me to pick it up for years!  Why had I put it down?  I think I was deciding whether or not to keep knitting...make it a little bigger and then one little delay became one huge one!

Obviously this needs to be blocked.  There are several lace sections plus the picot edge bind off that need to be pulled out to shine a bit.  I hope to get to that later today.  

The yarn is a delight!  It is some I bought at the last Allendown Fiber Festival and is from June Pryce Fiber Arts and the colorway is "Secluded Forest."  It is a hand painted gradient - Watch Hill Sparkles.  760 yards and is 75/20/5  SW Merino/Nylon/Stellina.  I am so happy to have this off the needles!!

This past year I did not knit Christmas gifts.  By the time I decided to, there was not enough time.  So...my plan (until some other shiny object comes along) is to start now making a few gifts for next year.  First up will be a cowl for one of my SILs.  (That was what I attempted to cast on Saturday.)  Dee and I also have plans to knit Planetary by Melanie Berg.  But I have a question for everyone:  how do you know what length circular needle to use?  This is the first pattern I've come across that doesn't indicate the length of needle.  I looked at the Sigla pattern I knit to see what length I used, but different yarn, different number of stitches, etc.  I've emailed Melanie Berg's pattern support, but so far have not heard back.  I'm just not that experienced a knitter, so any help will be appreciated.  Merci!

There has not been a lot of reading.  See the mention of Covid Brain Fog above...I took this book

to Texas, but didn't have much time or good light.  I've less than a hundred pages left, so I hope to finish soon.  It is ok, but I'm getting a bit tired of it and am finding it easy enough to put down.

Fletch and I are continuing to listen to The Cartographers but again I am finding myself bored.  Fletch is enjoying the story, but I am finding the whole thing more annoying.  Plus, I don't like the various narrators.  So.....we will finish this (still 4+ hours left), but after that I think we will go back to reading out loud.  I'm not enjoying audio books as I thought I would.  Boo Hiss.

That's a wrap for me this Unraveled Wednesday.  Be sure to head over to Kat's to see what others are making and reading.

It's a mild day here and rain is forecast.  I think I will put a big pot of split pea soup on the stove and maybe bake some bread to go with that for dinner.  Have a wonderful day!

Happy New Year! 1/2/23

Hello and Good Morning and Happy New Year!! 

How are you and how were your celebrations?  Our weekend, of course, was quiet.  Fletch and I are both on the mend and will finish up our Paxlovid prescriptions tomorrow morning.  Our symptoms vary day-to-day.  I experienced more coughing than Fletch; he experienced a worse runny nose than I did.  We both thought our sense of taste was diminishing Saturday night, but Sunday morning that was fine.  I'm still a bit on the tired side (there was one night I slept 11 hours, got up and did a few things and then had a 2 hour nap!!), but overall am pleased with how we fared our first (and hopefully only) bout of Covid.  Thank you all for your well wishes and all the healing juju you sent our way.

I'll wrap up talking about our Texas trip in this post.  Kind of picture heavy, so be warned!

Saturday morning (still a bit on the chilly side) we all had a late breakfast at a restaurant in Austin.  After that the men went off to see Avatar (which they all enjoyed - all 3+ hours of it!).  Mailing, Bonnie and I took off on our own adventures:  first we drove to Franklin's to pick up all the BBQ Mailing had ordered for Christmas day.  Luckily she had ordered and we were able to pick up.  Others who had not ordered were waiting in line - folks get in line hours before the place opens...almost tailgating - chairs, coolers with beer, etc.  After that we went to the Blue Genie Art Bazaar

This was just your typical neighborhood bazaar:  soaps, candles, jewelry, tee shirts, etc.  Some of the stuff was interesting, some not so much.  After that we drove to a park Mailing had heard about and walked a 3-4 mile loop.  I was exhausted by the time that was done!  But, it was time to meet the guys and take in the Bullock Texas State History Museum (and I will say the history of TX is extremely violent!).

Christmas Day dawned sunny and bright.  We had a lazy morning at the AirBnB and then walked over to C&M's (about a 15 minute walk) late morning.  We had some gifts and then some of us took a walk along the River Walk.  What a pretty trail.  There were lots of people out and about walking, running, biking, etc.  Early on our walk we spotted a beautiful hawk sitting on a low branch alongside the trail.

Up near the dam and Lady Bird Lake we spotted a lot of turtles.

Colin & Mailing often spot green parakeets along this trail, but none were to be seen on Christmas Day.  There are a lot of pretty and interesting murals along the trail.

The BBQ for dinner was delicious.  There was turkey, pulled pork, sausage, brisket and ribs.  And, of course, sides:  potato salad, cole slaw, pickles, etc.

We watched a movie and called it an early evening - Monday we headed to San Antonio!

First up was Tower of the Americas which was pretty impressive.

You can see from the sky what a gorgeous day we had!  And, San Antonio was mobbed - so many people.  Compared to it, Austin felt like a ghost town!  We ended up having lunch at a place along the River Walk in San Antonio.  Though the air was a little chilly, we opted to sit outside to eat.

Next up was the Alamo.

Next up we took in the San Antonio Botanical Gardens.  So many of the plants were covered due to the severe weather of a few days before, but there are several greenhouses and the displays were gorgeous.  I liked this little structure:

Our last stop before an early dinner was the San Antonio Japanese Tea Garden which was so, so beautiful.  We didn't have much time there as it was closing by 5, but we walked a bit.  This structure was so gorgeous

We had an early dinner and headed back to Austin.  Bonnie, Zhongren, Fletch and I had an early flight back to PHL Tuesday morning.  Our flight was delayed, but only by half an hour.

Overall, it was a wonderful trip with a whole lot of walking!  Thanks for coming along on my trip!

Hoping today finds everyone stepping into the New Year with joy and optimism.

A Slight Interruption

 Hi All,

I'll be back with more TX pictures and tales...but taking a little break.  Zhongren (Mailing's Dad) did not feel well Christmas Day and tested positive for Covid when he got home Tuesday.  I tested positive this morning.  Waiting on Fletcher's results now and then will call our primary care doctor.  Luckily Zhongren is already feeling much, much better, so hopefully this will not be a long ordeal!

Take care and I'll be back when I can.

We're Back!

 Hello My Friends,

I hope you all enjoyed the holiday season and survived the brutal temps that happened pretty much all over the country!  Even in TX!!

Our flight last Wed (12/21) was thankfully uneventful and actually really pleasant.  Fletch and I were separated and my seat mate was the nicest woman.  I read a tiny bit and knit even less, but had a wonderful conversation with her.  Colin picked us up at the airport and took us directly to our AirBnB.  A very funky place.  I did not take any inside pictures, but here are a couple of things on the patio (didn't spend time on the patio as it really was not patio weather!).

Unfortunately, the space was pretty dark.  We even moved a lamp downstairs from the sleeping loft, but there was not sufficient lighting for me to see to knit!  After unpacking a few things, we drove over to C&M's apartment to wait for Mailing to get home from work.  It was wonderful to see the grand-kitties again:

(Talbot has always enjoyed being on top of the frig...as well as inside it!!)

We had dinner outside at Suerte that evening (with heaters) - an amazing Mexican restaurant.  I forgot to take pictures of food, but here's the drink I had - lol

That is a delicious eggplant dip behind my drink.  

Thursday Colin came over early and he and I took a walk in the neighborhood.  At this point, the weather was still nice.  The neighborhood of East Austin is interesting.  Lots of varied houses and landscaping.  We saw this guy on our walk:

Mailing drove over around 10 and we went to Book People (what an amazing bookstore), Whole Foods (to get some things for the AirBnB) and Waterloo Records (very cool record shop).  By the time we came out of the shops to walk to the car the temperature had dropped noticeably - like at least 25 degrees - and had gotten very, very windy.

When we woke up Friday morning, the temperature was 14 degrees with a real feel of minus 6!  Not at all what we expected in Austin.  Our AirBnB host texted asking us to leave water dripping in the sinks.

Mailing's parents were flying in that day, but would not get in till the afternoon.  We took off to go to the Blanton Museum of Art on the UT campus.  There was a wonderful exhibit going on:  "Painted Cloth: Fashion and Ritual in Colonial Latin America."  Here are some pics from that exhibit:

This one is for my spinning friends - look closely and you will see that she is spinning!  (And that frame!!)

Amazing fabrics and stitching.  We also walked around the balance of the museum which is filled with so many wonderful works of art.  Then we went to lunch at an Argentinian place Buenos Aires Cafe  and the food was so freakin' good.  I had some soup and a lentil stew that was to die for.

Bonnie and Zhongren arrived safely (just a little late) and after checking in to their hotel, they walked over to the apartment.  That night we ate at a local brewery Central Machine Works for some good beer and pizza.

Tomorrow I'll share some more, but for now, I think this post is long enough and has sufficient pictures in it!!  Thanks for reading.

Tiny Needle Tuesday 12/20/22

 Hello and Greetings to All,

A Happy Winter Solstice to you...a bit early, but this will be my last post until we are back from our adventure in Texas!  Tomorrow, the Solstice, is also the birthday of one of my brothers.  And, of course, it means that the amount of daylight will begin to increase.  I really love these dark winter mornings and I also really enjoy having dinner by candlelight, so I'm ok with less daylight.  Fletch not so much.  What can I say?  Opposites attract.

Yesterday found my packing finished!  And then I had to re-think it and I removed some things.  In the early morning hours today when I woke up I realized something else I want to take and a few more things to remove.  Today will find me sorting it all out and finalizing it.  After all, our ride to the airport arrives at 7:30 tomorrow morning - there will be no time to do it then!

Meanwhile, it's Tuesday and time for a TNT post.  And voila!  I have a finish!!

That crazy long-legged bird is done.  Woo-Hoo.  The design is "Gathering Basket" by Blackbird Designs (from 2011).  I used 30 count fabric (Weeks Dye Works in the color Cappuccino) and DMC threads.  I don't much care for the fabric - it is very stiff.  Plus, I prefer higher count linens, but it was in my stash and needed to be used.  The designer had stitched one of her initials in the lower left and I tried that, but did not like the way it looked, so ripped that out.  This piece is now put away in the drawer of finishes.  I may (or may not) make a pin cushion out of it.  To be determined at a later date - LOL

If anyone is interested in this chart, let me know.  I'm happy to ship it out to anyone.

I'd like to wish everyone a very peaceful and happy week before Christmas.  And, if you celebrate (or even if you do not) wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah.  While we are away, I may read some blogs on my phone, but most likely will not comment.  I'll try to catch up when I'm back in a week.  Enjoy!!

Weekending 12/19/22

 Good Morning!

Still dark out there (just 6:30 a.m.) and my phone tells me it is 28 degrees...my computer says rain off and on.  Neither sounds good!  I'll be running out later for a few last minute things. I'll tell you, between keeping bird seed and peanuts in stock as well as cat food I may never be able to retire!  Those animals eat a lot...

I'm hoping your weekend was lovely.  Mine was.  I met up with Dee Saturday morning as we usually do and had such a good time sipping coffee, knitting and chatting.  Good company!  And, when I got home I managed to finish up the second Christmas sock!

I can't believe how matchy-matchy they are.  I love them.  I made sure to make them short enough in the foot to fit my friend so that I would not be tempted to keep them for myself - lol.  They've already been wrapped and a ribbon tied around the package which has been set aside with other gifts for this friend.

The rest of the weekend was spent organizing some things (drugs and cosmetics) for the upcoming trip.  Today I MUST pack some clothes.  The weather forecast for Austin has kind of plummeted and now we could have some days in the 40's and nights in the 20's.  YIKES  Also, there was a 5.5 earthquake centered in Midland, TX on Friday.  Colin felt it at their apartment!  Mailing was still at work and did not feel it at her office.

As well as running out for a few last minute things, I'm going to do a final load of laundry.  And, of course, I'm working today and tomorrow...well, working in a vague sort of way - HA!

It's the countdown week to Christmas - wishing you all a peaceful and stress-free time.  Have a great Monday!