Weekending 11/13/23

 Good Morning!

It is brisk outside.  My phone says 21, my computer says 26.  The first sip of Cafe du Monde is tasting so freakin' good this morning!

The weekend was lovely.  Relaxed and full of good things.  And then last night I seemed wound up - stayed up later than normal trying to get sleepy and finally crawled into bed only to lay there awake for several hours.  I did finally fall asleep, but I'm wondering what set me on edge.  Nothing in particular on my mind.  Another one of those mysteries of my life.

My 10 a.m. conference call on Friday was cancelled at 9:45 a.m.!  Woo-Hoo.  Fletch and I ran out and picked up our new glasses (so much better for knitting and reading!).  It was a day with rain on and off, so our contractors did not show up.  Nice to have a day off!

In the afternoon I drove over to Colin & Mailing's to water plants and drop off some food for their freezer.  Then I drove to Otts to look for some baby gourds.  The other week Kym posted about different gourd displays (so gorgeous - especially that cairn-like display with a bouquet on top) and there was a bit about hollowing out tiny gourds or pumpkins and putting tea lights inside.  The grocery stores no longer have their bins of tiny pumpkins and gourds and the ones at Otts were bigger than I wanted, but I bought one anyway.

Well, I just about broke my hand trying to cut off the top.  Fletch couldn't either.  He finally used an electric drill to drill holes all around the top and then he was able to lift off the top.  (It was still difficult to hollow out.)  It's big enough that a tea light would sit down too far.  I found a slightly larger candle and tried that.

 It looks pretty, but still didn't really provide much light (unless you looked down on it).  After dinner, I melted a bit of a taper and then stuck it in the gourd.  We'll see how that works at dinner tonight!

So, pretty, but I will not be making a bunch of these for Thanksgiving!  I might try it next year with the itty-bitty pumpkins (if I remember).

Meanwhile, the balance of the weekend was lovely.  Dee and I met up as usual for a morning filled with laughter, coffee, knitting and friendship.  So nice!  I found pockets throughout the weekend that allowed for knitting, crocheting, reading and stitching.  My kind of weekend!

Yesterday I made a crockpot full of vegetable beef soup.  I have a container of that to take over to C&M's on Wednesday when I'm over there for their house to be cleaned.  (So much easier now that Colin is no longer vegan!!)

Hard to believe, but today is my work holiday luncheon!  Once again it is being held at Pomme Radnor which is where it was held last year.  Some of you who have been reading my blog for a bit my recall that we used to (pre-pandemic) have work holiday luncheons ALL the time - Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day, etc., etc.  The pandemic, of course, changed all that.  And now that no one is in the office regularly (certainly not daily), it has been pared down to a luncheon in the late Fall.  It is always a lovely affair with plenty of gifts to go around, so it should be a fun time.

And the contractors will be back today...in fact, I should probably move my car out of the driveway before they arrive so that I can easily leave for the luncheon.  I'd best get moving and dry my hair and then move my car.

Have a great Monday!

Mabel!

 Hello Everyone,

I slept in a little bit which feels wonderful!  I'm having my first sip of coffee and the sun must be up because it is not pitch dark outside, but it is awful cloudy and about 50 degrees.  Not bad for a November morning.

Mabel continues to be a delight and is still staying inside at night and not crying to go out.  That is truly amazing.  She is out pretty much all day, but comes in 5-6 times for a bit of refreshment and to just say a few words.  Lately she's been jumping up in my lap while I'm working.  And she just purrs and purrs and purrs.  I'm guessing she is very happy to be back home with us.

She is definitely happy to be back in "her" apple tree!

Mabel surveying her realm!

She's a wild one, our girl.  

This has been a busy week for us.  We've had contractors here re-doing a back upstairs wall (determined it needed to be done when we started bathroom renovations...if you give a mouse a cookie...always more than you expect/want.  BUT, our contractor is awesome as are his workers.  They will be back today and may finish...or may need a little bit of time on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Fletch and I need to run out to pick up new glasses and I really should stop at Colin & Mailing's to water house plants and do a few things.  I managed to line up someone to clean their house next Wednesday!  What an ordeal that was...the first place I called quoted me $265.  The second place quoted me $555!  Yikes!  To clean a mostly empty (very small) house.  There is minimal furniture (much is in TX).  Anyway, I found a more reasonable person, so I am taking next Wednesday off so that I can be on site.  I'll consider it to be found time to knit and read!

I do have one conference call at 10 this morning and after that I will be in weekend mode!!  Happy Friday everyone - have a great one and a wonderful weekend.

Unraveled Wednesday 11/8/23

 Hello Everyone!

Welcome to Unraveled Wednesday where we link up with Kat to talk about all the wonderful things we are making and reading.  Such fun!

My days are still a bit busier than I like, so I have not had ALL that much time to knit.  I did, however, manage to wind up a new skein of yarn for some lovely socks:

KnitPicks Stroll in the colorway Red Winged Blackbird

I think this will knit up nicely in the Petty Harbour pattern for Fletch.  He says he does not really *need* any more socks...I'm here to tell you that he does not know what he needs!  LOL  And, really, *need* does not factor into it at all.

Saturday when I met up with Dee and Bonny, I was attempting to work on a pair of shortie socks for Mailing.  I managed to screw them up royally and when I went to unravel back to the dropped stitch I found even more mistakes, so I just ripped out the whole mess.  Last night I started them again.

I managed to finish the cuff (which is only 5 rows) and then start the heel flap.  By the time I finished the 10th row of the heel flap my eyes had had it!  Once I get the flap and heel turn accomplished, I will switch to a light varigated yarn for the foot.

See those granny squares piled up?  I took them all out and counted - I now have 41!!  That's not (nearly) enough for a blanket, but it is way more than I thought I had.  I hope to start another one today.

On the reading side of things, not much has been read.  I'm in the midst of the latest William Kent Krueger book - The River We Remember - maybe a third of the way through.  I enjoy Krueger's writing, but this one is not real compelling...meaning it is easy to put down and go do something else.  I'll finish it and then return it to the library.  Meanwhile I am finally in the #1 spot in the queue for "The Comfort of Crows" by Margaret Renkl and I cannot wait to get my hands on that!!

Today is a busy workday for me.  I have to have training on our new legal database (because no one yet knows I will be retiring...).  I had signed up for the training yesterday morning and completely forgot about it!  Instead it will be at 1:00 this afternoon.  Luckily it is virtual.  I need to do open enrollment (even though we are on a Medicare Advantage program, I still sign up for dental and vision)...just in case my retirement is delayed a bit.  Also I need/want to schedule Colin & Mailing's house to be cleaned.  I will start calling around for that today.

So, I'd best get cracking!  Hope your Wednesday is a good one.  Be sure to check out Kat's blog to see what everyone is making and reading.

Tiny Needle Tuesday 11/7/23

 Good Morning!

Boy this first week of November has flown by!  And, even though it is November, it is warm - my computer says it is currently 52 degrees.  52 degrees and it is not even yet 6:30 a.m.  Strange and weird weather (again).

My office visit was brief yesterday - just as I wanted it to be.  I was home before 10:30!  I have my new fob and once again I am set up to print.  We are doing away with our print servers at my office.  When I send something to print it goes to the cloud.  Then I can walk to any printer, tap my fob and then print whatever it was I had sent.  I still have a small laser printer on a credenza by my desk, but for "big" jobs or color jobs I use one of our larger printers.  Supposedly I can now print from any printer that is owned by my company - whether it be in Charlotte, Atlanta, New York or wherever.  It all sounds a bit "big-brotherish" to me and I certainly don't understand how it all works (nor do I need to).

Meanwhile, it's Tuesday and time for a TNT update - finally!  I think it's been around 3 or 4 weeks since I last posted on a Tiny Needle Tuesday.  Not that there is a huge update.  There were weeks where I did not stitch at all.  Thankfully that busyness seems to have eased a bit now.

I have not carved out any time to work on the Cacti Triptych, but I will plan to have an update on that next week.  For now, we will just deal with the BIG sampler - "Sampler Aux Bouquets" by Jardin Prive.  Here's a shot of how the entire piece looks right now:

It's Getting Bigger!

And a close up showing what was recently stitched:

More of the flowers at the bottom - still more to add there as well as leaves.  And the letters D, E and F were added yesterday afternoon.  I'm on the last chart for this piece and really am nearing the end, though there is still a lot of stitching to be done.  Luckily I am still enjoying it.

I want you to know that Mabel is back to her old self - racing around the yard, chasing leaves, catching mice and voles and zooming up the apple tree.  Yesterday she and a deer were having sort of a stand off.  LOL  The deer had come up to within about 2 feet of Mabel and was just staring at her.  Mabel stared right back (with eyes like slits and her ears laid back).  After the deer wandered away, Mabel raced up the apple tree.

This girl has NO fear!

Well, time for me to dry my hair and get a bit motivated to do some things.  Perhaps another cup of coffee first.  Have a fabulous Tuesday!

Weekending 11/6/23

 Hello All,

How are you?  I am well on this chilly (35 degrees) Monday morning.  I hope you all had as wonderful a weekend as I had!

If you read Dee's Blog [and if not, you should] or Bonny's Blog [again, if you don't, you should], then you already know that the 3 of us met up for a delightful morning and on into the afternoon.

These two just make me so happy.  We laughed (and laughed) and sipped our coffee and eventually had lunch and continued chatting away.  I don't think we solved any of the world's problems, but we dealt with some of our own.  I managed to really screw up the knitting I had started (the lighting was not good and I was having problems seeing what I was doing) and next time we go there (Lumberville General Store) I will bring a small pillow or cushion to sit on - the wooden chairs were damn hard!!  (and believe me, I have padding...).  It was so nice to get together.  Thank you Bonny and Dee for meeting up and for your friendship.  Love you two!

Eventually I made my way home and Fletch and I sat out briefly on the patio with our beverages.  We spotted a hawk two doors down at the top of a dead tree.  There were birds in some of the surrounding trees too (not crows though which are usually there).

I'm happy to let you know that some of the green figs I picked are beginning to ripen!!

I cut a few up Sunday morning for us to share with our breakfast.  Although they are not as strongly flavored as prior years and they are much, much smaller...it was still wonderful to have a taste of fig (and they went very well with pecan waffles and sausage!  LOL).

The balance of my weekend was taken up with some laundry, some cleaning and I FINALLY managed to pick up my tiny needle and put a few stitches in one of the pieces I am stitching.  It had been about 3 weeks since I had done any stitching which is pretty much unacceptable in my book.  Hopefully I can find a little more time this afternoon.

Today I'm going to the office in a bit.  My fob cracked in half.  I can still get in my office, but am unable to use it to log onto any of the printers.  Tom from IT (i.e., Jake) has already activated a new fob for me and he should be in today and will be able to set me up to print.  I hope to be home by mid-to-late morning and then I have a conference call at 11:30.  I may try to find a way to back out of that call!

Last night was pretty nice, so we had a fire and listened to music outside for a bit.  A nice way to end the weekend.

Have a great week!  I should be back tomorrow with a TNT post.

TGIF 11/3/23

 Good Morning,

We made it to Friday!  There were points during this past week when I didn't think that would happen.  Yes, it's been another long work week.  Just when I thought things would ease up a bit...they did not.  I'm taking deep breaths and attempting to practice patience.  Today I have two conference calls - one at 11 a.m. and another at 1 p.m.

My plan for this morning is to carve out some me time for knitting or stitching.  It's been far too long since I did either of those things.  And, I'd like to make another granny square to keep that project rolling.  First though I need some coffee (it's almost ready).

Last night I made a curry dish:

There is butternut squash, cauliflower, onions, garlic, ginger, carrots and chickpeas in it.  And kale (I subbed kale for the spinach the recipe called for).  All things I love.  But partway through dinner I thought hmmmmm if I eat another bite I'm going to get sick!  No idea why that happened.  Fletch wasn't that keen on it, so the leftovers have been frozen and will wind up in Colin & Mailing's freezer.  I think they will enjoy it.  I have some other things to take over too - trying to stock their frig & freezer with things so that when they come home at Thanksgiving they won't need to run to the store.

Ahhhhh, that first sip of coffee in the morning is always so good!

Tomorrow I'm looking forward to meeting up with both Dee and Bonny!  We will have a grand time I'm sure chatting, knitting, sipping and working on solving the world's problems (there are SO many!).  Whatever your plans are, I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

It's Getting Cold! 11/2/23

 Hello Everyone,

Just a quick pop-in before I dive into my usual Thursday reports for work.  My computer is saying 27 degrees out; my phone says 24.  Either way, it is chilly!

Mabel did, thankfully, show up in time for her appointment with the vet.  She only needed a feline leukemia vaccine which is annual.  I had forgotten that rabies and distemper are 3 year doses and she is good till 2025.  The vet pronounced her to be in good shape!  A nice, clean coat with no traces of fleas or ticks, clear ears and clear eyes.  He probed around a bit and found no lumps or bumps in her (whew!) and her heart and lungs sounded good and her temp was normal.  She weighs 8 lbs, 7.5 oz.  The last time I had taken her (March 2023) she weighed 9 lbs, so really no worse for her little adventure away from home.

After that, Fletch and I got our RSV vaccines and neither of us have had any issues or negative results from it - not even a sore arm!

Late in the afternoon we wandered out to the garden.  There were some things to harvest and things to do in anticipation of the cold temps overnight.  Fletch put the cap on the coldframe to protect the lettuce and chard.  And we harvested some things.  Figs!

Not as many as I had thought and hoped for, BUT a few have started to ripen.  So, they are on a plate on the counter where the sun will hit them and hopefully we will be able to use them.  I had thought of making preserved green figs, but there really are not enough.

And, we picked tomatoes.

Amazingly there are more out there, but it was so cold (major wind chill yesterday afternoon) that I pronounced this haul to be sufficient.  Looks like we will have some fried green tomatoes shortly!

Well, that's a wrap for me.  I've got a lot of reports to run and sort through.  Later this mornoing Fletch and I will head out to one of the local "drop stations" for ballots - we started doing mail in ballots in the first election during the pandemic and decided we would just keep with it.  Easy and no waiting in long lines!

Have a great Thursday!!