Friday Things

 Good Morning and Hello My Friends,

It has been quite the noisy morning!  I was rudely woken around 6 a.m. by some rather noisy crows...and more than an hour later, they are still at it!  So, I'm using this mug today:

Cracks me up each time I pull it out of the cabinet.

Then, when I woke up my computer I saw this:

Looking at the weather app on my phone, we should see snow around 8 or 9, then rain, then more snow.  Spring weather!

Yesterday I tried a new-to-us recipe and it was another winner!!  I made Lemon Brown Butter Pasta With Roasted Artichokes and Fennel using this recipe.  I subbed bow tie pasta and added fresh parsley as well as the basil.

The garlicky breadcrumbs were the BEST!!

I also roasted some more nuts:

Very addictive.  I used Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, walnuts, pecans and almonds.  Mixed them all up with less than a TBS of EVOO, some sea salt, black pepper, a bit of rosemary and some red pepper flakes.  Put them in a 325 oven for about 10 minutes, then turned it up to 350 and roasted for another 5 minutes.  The difficulty is to not eat the entire bowl at once!  LOL

I'm hoping to ease into the weekend this afternoon - fingers crossed that work will cooperate.  Have a great weekend!

Unraveled Wednesday 3/8/23

 Good Morning Friends,

I'm feeling a little groggy this morning.  I slept pretty well, but my gosh what a noisy night!  The wind - howling and screaming around the house.  When Mabel woke me at 4:30 (as is her habit), I wasn't sure I could/would get back to sleep.  Thankfully I managed, but I feel as though the night was a bit fretful or something!

Here we are though, once again, poised to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers.  No unraveling for me this week.  Thank Goodness!

The second Trekking sock is nearing the finish line.

I have roughly 30 or 35 rows to go to the toe decrease, so theoretically (that being the KEY word) I should complete this sock in a day or two.  Hopefully, because this arrived in the mail:

My Pi yarn from Fibernymph Dye Works.  What beautiful colors in this yarn!  I will cake this up for the next pair of socks for Fletch (he is a good man and deserves them).  I also ordered the set of mini's in the Atlantic Pi collection:

Not sure yet what I will do with these, but I could not resist them!  Each mini is 20 grams and there is a total of 435 yards here - could make a nice hat or cowl for someone.

My reading continues as it has...for some weeks.  I confess to be growing a bit weary of The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois.  Don't get me wrong...the writing is so good and the story heartbreaking and compelling.  But, I'm finding it easy to put down and do something else.  I do think the book doesn't need to be as long as it is...it could have been edited down a bit (personal opinion).  I have under 200 pages left, so I'm on the finishing track!  I also continue to read The Shipping News at night after I crawl into bed.  As Kat has said, what a bunch of quirky characters!  And, I continue to be amazed that I don't remember a thing about this book!

One afternoon this past week I listened to The Book Store Sisters by Alice Hoffman.  A quick listen - just over an hour.  It was ok - not fabulous, but it was nice to have something to listen to while I worked on my stitching.  I'm glad I didn't pay for the audio book!

Last up, my African Violet continues to thrive on my kitchen windowsill.  It is covered in an amazing number of buds!

Thanks for all your well wishes, thoughts, prayers, etc. for Leslie.  We texted back and forth yesterday as she was being served her various "cocktails."  She texted later (at home) two down and four to go, so she is a third of the way through this horrible ordeal.  Cheers to that and cheers to being at the mid-way point of the week.  Hope your week is going well.

Tiny Needle Tuesday 3/7/23

 Good Morning Everyone!

Last night before I went upstairs to crawl into bed (and read for a little bit), I looked at the weather app on my phone and it showed that by 2 or 3 a.m. we would be in a snow belt that would last into this morning.  Well, that didn't happen.  In a way I'm a little disappointed.  Other than a dusting or two and some flurries here and there, we have not had any snow this winter.  I was hoping for a pretty scene for a day or so.  Maybe next year!

Here we are at the first Tuesday in March and it is time for a TNT update.  Ellen Harrison continues to interest me (thank goodness...there is still so much to stitch on this piece) and a bit of progress was made this past week.  A few more motifs and a bit of the outside border on the bottom and the right.

The top row of motifs is finished - it goes all the way to the right hand side.  Here's a close up of the items stitched this past week.

The bird on the right with the red breast (a robin?) sits atop a tree.  I may stitch that next...or I may start in on the giant stag to the right of the house.  I've got options, that's for surre!

Of course, even though my interest continues with this piece, I've been thinking about what to stitch next.  I have a lot of old cross stitch magazines - mostly from the 80's and 90's.  Some Fine Lines, some Antique Samplers and Needlework, a few Just Cross Stitch (before that publication became way too "cutie" - just my opinion, don't shoot me).  I looked at some of them the other week, but haven't settled on anything.  Naturally, I have an over abundance of charts too.  Some small (i.e., pincushion size which I love) and some large samplers (like Ellen Harrison).  From the looks of the empty space on my Ellen Harrison piece, I have plenty of time to make up my mind and then change it - many times!  LOL

I'm wishing you all a lovely Tuesday - whatever you do, be sure to enjoy it!

Monday, Monday 3/6/23

 Hello and Good Morning,

How are you?  It is a sunny day here.  Still chilly (just 32), but sunny and, at least for the moment, it looks as though the winds have died down.  Today I will be playing catch up after having Friday off.  I know a ton of emails came in for work, but I have not yet looked at them.

The trip to Ikea on Friday was nice.  Not as long as I would have liked...and next time I will go solo and leave Fletch at home.  I wanted to wander a bit more through the Marketplace section - so many great kitchen finds, but he was anxious to get in and get out (where's the fun in that??).  But, I did find the wine glasses I wanted as well as some new kitchen tongs and a fun set of dish towels that I will send down to Leslie to brighten her day (all slices of fruits and veggies in bright colors).  Please keep Leslie in your thoughts and prayers...my best friend...another cancer diagnosis...tomorrow is her 2nd chemo treatment.  She is a trooper, but this is more than anyone should need to go through.

Back to Friday...we also stopped at an Asian market where I found the Japanese eggplants I wanted.  And then we did have a very nice lunch out.  It definitely was fun to have a different day than my usual Friday conference calls!

Dee and I did meet up on Saturday to knit, chat, sip coffee, laugh, solve the world's problems, etc.  If only we ruled the world!  The balance of the weekend was filled with both pleasure and chores (a little laundry, changing out the tablecloth and napkins, sweeping the kitchen, etc.).  I read, knit a little and stitched some.  A good balance of things.

Sunday morning as I was fixing coffee and thinking about making breakfast I glanced out and saw two Red Winged Blackbirds at our sunflower seed feeder.  I'd been hearing them for a couple of weeks and seen one or two on the ground.

Not the best picture taken through our back door, but you can see the band on the wing of the one to the right.  (The yellow object is a kayak hanging from our patio ceiling - LOL).

Thanks to all the cooking I did last week we have a ton of leftovers in the frig.  Some dinners for this week are already made!!  Last night we had some of the leftover stew I had made in the crock pot.  (There is yet more left for another meal!).  The only thing I made to go with it was a new recipe for Mushrooms with White Wine and Brussels Sprouts.  

I used this recipe but skipped the heavy cream.  The mixture looked so good at the point where I should have added that, but I decided to keep it lighter.  Very tasty.  I did use a mixture of cremini, oyster and shitake mushrooms.

While the sprouts were roasting, I looked out and the moon was already up!

Almost full - the app on Fletch's phone said it was 98% full.

Last night we watched Genius - highly recommend!

And, that's a wrap for me.  Time to pour another cup of coffee and dig into the work emails.  Wishing you all a wonderful Monday.

Friday Wrap Up

 Good Morning!

How are you?  I'm doing so very well - no work today and I slept until 7 a.m.!  Woo-Hoo.  Bonus is there is a bit of sun out there.  Not sure how long that will last as rain is in the forecast.  but for now I will enjoy it.

When I came downstairs and opened the living room shades, I discovered that the lemon that had been growing on the lemon tree was no longer in place.  It had fallen off overnight.  There is another group of buds ready to open though, so perhaps another lemon will form (fingers crossed).

Last night I made another new-to-us dish.  Butternut Squash Curry!  Cooking in the pot:

And served over jasmine rice:

Colorful, flavorful and very, very filling.  I used this recipe and it is fast and easy.  I started cooking around 5:15 p.m. and we were sitting down to eat just after 6 p.m.

That is 5 new recipes this week!  Also I planned everything out so that we did not over-buy at the grocery store.  I'm so good at picking up way too many fresh veggies because they all look good and then we don't use them all quickly enough.  We also have enough leftovers in the frig for 3 more dinners (unless Fletch goes into some of them for lunches...).

Today we are heading to Ikea mid-morning.  I have not been to the store in a couple of years, but our wine glasses have been steadily breaking and I know Ikea has decent, cheap ones.  I alwys enjoy wandering through Ikea's kitchen area and they also have fun plants sometimes.  Plus, we can walk around a bit and not feel like we've missed out on a walk if it does rain later.  Then we plan to go out to lunch.  

I plan to spend the afternoon knitting/stitching/reading and just taking it easy.  If it does rain, I may need to curl up with my book under a blanket and perhaps doze a little!  I do love a good nap.

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

Pretty Blooms 3/2/23

 Good Morning All,

It's another grey, foggy, misty morning here with temps in the low 40's.

I don't really have any spectacular news for you, but I wanted to show you some lovely blooms that are happening right now.  First up we have the Christmas Cactus that hasn't bloomed for more than a year.  If you remember, Dee suggested it was getting too much light in our living room so I moved it into the office room.  In a week there were several buds!  Well, one of them has opened beautifully.

Only this one bud has opened (the others are still tight and small), but isn't it spectacular?

Speaking of spectacular, look at my African Violet!

This sits on the windowsill at the kitchen sink (ESE facing).  There are months that go by without a single flower or even a bud, but when it decides to bloom it goes all out!  Look at the number of buds!

Both of these flowering plants cheer me up on these grey days.  They are a joy to see.  And...it looks like the lemon might be ready to bloom again as well.  I'm keeping my eye on it (and, yes, the lemon that formed earlier continues to grow some).

Well, it is Thursday which means I've got some reports to run and distribute.  I will get to them shortly.  I also have one (hopefully very quick) conference call at 10.  After that I'm free.  As a bonus, all my calls on Friday have been cancelled so I have decided to take that day off and have a lovely 3 day weekend!  Woo-Hoo!  I am loving this new Flex Time Off Policy.

Wishing you all some brightness on this day - enjoy!

Unraveled Wednesday 3/1/23

 Good Morning!

Hello You and Hello March!  It seems hard to believe that we are closing in on the end of the first quarter of 2023.  How is that even possible?  Yesterday was kind of grey and misty and not warm at all.  Fletch and I managed to do some grocery shopping (is it just me?  or do prices jack up EVERY single week?) in the morning and we both managed short naps after lunch.  The sky is just lightening up as I type this, but it looks to be grey again.  The cars in the driveway are coated in a very, very heavy frost.  It looks like snow, but there is nothing on the ground or picnic table, so I am assuming frost.

The other week Kym had posted about cooking and had graciously gifted us with a NY Times Recipe for "Lemony White Bean Soup With Turkey and Beans" by Melissa Clark and I decided to make it yesterday.  Let me tell you - this recipe is a HIT!!!  So, so tasty and perfect for the kind of day we had (grey, misty).  I used kale (which Fletch and I both love) and the herbs I included were basil and parsley.  It was so good I ended up sharing the recipe with Colin and Mailing as I think it would be just as good without the turkey.  Thanks Kym for a great recipe!

And now it is March 1st (the wall calendar page has been flipped) and time for Unraveled Wednesday where we all link up with Kat and all in the Merry Band of Unravelers to talk making and reading - two of my favorite things.  I had thought I might have a new start by today, but that has not happened.  Fortunately, unraveling has not occurred either.  

Since I ordered the Pi yarn (and minis) from Fibernymph Dye Works for more socks for Fletch, I decided I'd best make some progress on the Trekking sock (or I should say socks):

Sock #1 has been finished (on Saturday) and Sock #2 has been started.  You can see that the socks will not be identical twins, but rather looking like a twin born a few minutes after the first.  Fletch is good with these not being identical.  Hopefully this 2nd sock will be finished this week!

Reading is pretty much where it has been.  The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois is so good, but I'm not yet even halfway through it (800+ pages).  I noted on my library page that they automatically renewed it for me.  Thank goodness!!  Most of my reading is done at night and I find by that time I tend to get very sleepy reading.  I am also still plugging away on The Shipping News for the "Read With Us" discussion coming up later this month.  That book is on my nightstand and typically I read 2 chapters before I have to close the book and turn out the light.  I confess I do not remember this book at all!

Fletch and I are halfway through listening to Master and Commander.  We listen to this after dinner and I knit while listening.  Last night we picked a new Audible book to listen to when we finish this one.  It is Words of Mercury by Patrick Leigh Fermor.  A number of years ago Colin had given us two books by Fermor (the first 2 in a series of 3) about his journey (on foot) "from the Hook in Holland to Constantinople" which we thoroughly enjoyed (and I will most likely order the 3rd in that series so we have the complete set).

Originally I thought I would go to the office today, but I successfully talked myself out of doing that!  LOL  I have a few work items that need my attention, but then I plan to do some stitching and knitting (and maybe I should try reading during the day as well!).  Happy Hump Day everyone.  Be sure to head over to Kat's to check on what everyone is making and reading!