Tiny Needle Tuesday

 Good Morning My Friends,

Almost 7 a.m. here on the East Coast and it is still VERY dark outside.  If I remember correctly, Fletch said we could be having rain by this morning.  We are still in need of moisture, so that is a good thing.

I'm happy to report that the new water heater was installed with no issues yesterday and hopefully this one will last another 20 years as well.  It surprised me that the plumber didn't even need to shut off our water.  We weren't sure how long it would take, so we had decided ahead of time to order out for dinner.  That was easy!!

Now it is time for a TNT update.  Just a little stitching was completed in the past week.

The top of the door frame was finished and more was added to the tree on the right.  Looking at this, I can see there is still a TON of stitching to be done on this.  At this point I am doubting it will be completed by the close of the year.  But, that's ok.  No rush, no contest, the idea is to enjoy the process.  And I am!

Please take care of yourselves.  My friend Carol, her husband and her son have all be battling Covid for the past week.  Not fun.  And yes, they are vaccinated and boosted.

Hoping everyone's week is going well.

Weekending

 Hello All,

How are you this Monday morning before Thanksgiving?  I am just waking up and having my very first sip of coffee.  How was your weekend?  Ours was good.

Friday started the weekend with bitter weather.  We had flurries, rain and sleet ALL day long!  It was nasty and breezy.  Not a good day to be out.  I ended up baking two of the loaves of cranberry pumpkin pecan bread.  Late in the day I walked over to our neighbor's to deliver one of the loaves.  I had my winter coat on and I was freezing!!

Saturday dawned sunny and beautiful. Still a bit chilly, but gorgeous after the stormy day Friday.  Look at this little rascal:

Mabel was out on the patio and then jumped into the cast iron pot that we grow eggplants in during the summer.  Fletch had dumped out all the dirt some time ago and I guess Mabel thought it was a cozy place to curl up (I'm betting the cast iron pot absorbed some warmth from the sun).  She didn't stay there long, but it was cute to see her there.

I baked two more loaves of the cranberry pumpkin pecan bread.

Fletch took the second loaf from Friday over to a former client and I took a Saturday loaf over to C&M.  I didn't stay long enough to take my coat off as both Colin & Mailing looked awfully tired.  They had been to the farm that morning for their last CSA share for the year.

Sunday was another damp and chilly looking day.  I did not go out at all!  I did cook (breakfast and dinner) and napped.  It was a good day for knitting, reading and dozing.

Now I've got to dry my hair (my head is cold) and then grab something quick to eat.  I have an eye appointment at 9 which means leaving home by 8:30.  This is just an appointment for a field vision test (not my favorite), but at least it should be quick.

Hope your week is off to a great start.

Friday Stuff

 Good Morning!

It is grey and damp and overcast here and...drumroll...we have flurries!!  Yesterday was so raw and bone chilling.  Only around 46 as a high and pretty much rainy all day (which we desperately need).  I saw snow north of us on the radar map, but figured we would not get any.  And, this won't amount to much or stick or anything, but it sure is pretty to see.  Another pretty thing:

Happy plants!  The Christmas Cactus on the right actually has two plants in the pot - one red and one pink.  The one on the left is a single red plant.  Not pictured is my Christmas Cactus from Vermont.  Still small buds, but this morning I counted a dozen of them!  They seem to be very happy in the office room (which is pretty chilly - I rarely turn the heat on in here).

I want to thank you all for your kind words and well wishes.  I'm beginning to feel much better and - importantly - sleeping much, much better.

Now, in the vein of it's always something, our latest "something" is that we need a new water heater!  Yup, our current one has started to leak a bit and we noticed that we needed to keep moving up the dial for hot water in the shower.  The one we have now was installed in 2004, so not a bad life and I guess we got our money's worth (I don't remember what we paid).  Anyway, we have someone coming out Monday to install a new one.  I'm thankful we could get an appointment so quickly.

Today will be a baking day for me.  I plan to make 4 loaves of cranberry pumpkin pecan bread.  One for us, one for C&M and two for friends.  Whatever your plans, I hope you have a good Friday and a lovely weekend.

Unraveled Wednesday 11/20/24

 Good Morning Friends,

It was actually raining last night when I went to bed around 10:30!  I don't think we got a whole lot of rain, but any moisture is welcome.

I'm happy to FINALLY have an answer as to why I have not felt all that well for a number of weeks and why I am tired ALL the time and haven't felt like knitting or stitching and even reading has been a chore at times.  Not fun.  Well, turns out after several cultures, etc., I tested positive for C-Diff!  YUCK.  I am now on a very strong/powerful (and quite expensive) drug that will hopefully correct my problem.  I have not been able to get out and walk for several weeks and I am definitely looking forward to doing that again.  But, slow and easy.  I only started the med yesterday afternoon and will be on it for 2 weeks.  Already though I am feeling better (sometimes just knowing what's wrong can make a huge difference too).

That may be a little TMI for you, and if so, I apologize.  Now we are at Wednesday and it is time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk making and reading.  My making has been slow, but there is progress on the latest sock.  I am through the heel flap and ready to turn the heel (so magical!).

Hopefully the balance of this sock will move along and sock #2 will be started.  These will be for Colin and I'd like to have them done by his birthday (12/11).

Reading has been a bit slow too (hard to stay awake at times).  I did finish Sandwich but it never got better for me. I just didn't like it and I didn't care for the writing.  I am now mid-way through Finding Margaret Fuller and am finding it wonderful!  I had never heard of Margaret Fuller, but she was a real person and this is a novel based on her life.  She "hung out" (I can't think of another way to put it) with the Trancendentalists - Thoreau, Emerson, Bronson Alcott as well as Melville, Hawthorne and others.  I'm excited to get to the point where she travels to Europe.

And that's a wrap for me.  The only thing I have on my docket today is laundry which should not take too long.  It's kind of grey outside, so it will be a good day to curl up with some knitting, stitching and reading!  Hope your Wednesday brings you joy.

Tiny Needle Tuesday 11/19/24

 Good Morning!

It is still a little dark here, but the sun is starting to come up.  It's also a little chillier this morning than yesterday or over the weekend.  Did anyone else watch Part 1 of the DaVinci piece pulled together by Ken Burns?  What a mind!!  We'll see Part 2 tonight.  

It's Tuesday, so time for a TNT update.  I'm pleased that the door is now the correct width on the house.  There is still a bit to do at the top of the door (more dark color), but the width is now right.  Whew!

There is STILL so much to stitch on this piece.  I'm hoping that I will finish this before the end of the year, but all bets are off.

A week ago I showed one of my Christmas Cacti with numerous buds.  Well...some of them have now opened.

And, we counted at least 19 more buds!  My other two plants are sporting buds as well, but they are not as numerous or as far along.  So pretty!

We have a (shelled) peanut feeder hanging from the edge of our patio roof.  The birds all love to come and dine - sometimes even while we sit on the patio.  I decided to get some peanuts in the shell to put out for the Jays and crows (and the squirrels).  Guess what?  We discovered that deer love peanuts in the shell as well.  Here is the scene from yesterday afternoon.  Snack time!

Mabel and the deer are friends - the deer don't run off when I open the door to let Mabel in or out and they will approach each other (cautiously).  The deer have also become accustomed to Fletch and me.  I know they can be destructive, but I do love having them around.  (I also discovered they like roasted almonds!!  I had a bag of roasted almonds that just were not very good, so I put them out thinking the squirrels would like them...the deer chowed down before the squirrels had a chance!)

I need to remember to go out and harvest some of the French Thyme from our garden.  The other night I used the last of the garden peppers in our dinner and we had the last garden tomatoes at lunch one day.  Fletch said the Swiss Chard in the cold frame is doing well and some of the lettuce (some of the lettuce plants were hit hard by the cold weather a few weeks ago).  I'm thinking a quiche with some chard might make a nice dinner one night!

Here's hoping your week is off to a wonderful start.  Have some fun!

Anyone for Dessert?

 Good Morning!

A quick Thursday morning post just to say I made a new dessert yesterday and it was good!  So I thought I would share it with you.

I found the recipe on a vegan site on IG that I sometimes look at.  I only copied out the ingredients and instructions, but no name.  I'm calling them Oatmeal-Pumpkin-Peanut Butter Bars.  Here's the deal:

Mix together:

• 2 Cups rolled oats
• 1/2 Cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 Cup milk
• 1/4 Cup peanut or almond butter (I used peanut butter)
• 1/4 Cup honey or maple syrup (I used maple syrup)
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix all of the above together and press it firmly into a baking dish.  I just lined an 8x8 pan with parchment paper.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown.  Let it cool.

Once cool, melt 1/3 Cup of chocolate chips with 1 tsp coconut oil.  (Just melt in the microwave in 30 second intervals till melted and smooth.). Spread this over the cooled bars.  Chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes until the chocolate sets.  Cut into bars.

Some notes:  

• I tasted more peanut butter than pumpkin - I may try increasing the pumpkin puree and decreasing the peanut butter next time.
• I don't keep pumpkin pie spice on hand, so since the recipe already calls for cinnamon, I just sprinkled in some nutmeg and some ginger.
• I would increase the melted chocolate.  I had a difficult time covering the entire pan with the melted chocolate.  And honestly, there is nothing wrong with more chocolate!  LOL
• Fletch and I both thought they would be a little firmer or crunchy, but they are moist and still very tasty.

I hope you enjoy if you make them.  They were quick and easy to make, that's for sure.

Unraveled Wednesday 11/13/24

 Good Chilly Morning!

Yup - 25 degrees here this morning.  It is chilly!  I turned the kitchen heat on early (5:30) when I let Mabel outside, just to get the downstairs a bit warmer.  It was tough to get out from under the covers this morning...I just wanted to burrow down further.  But, eventually I did decide to get up and put the coffee on.  Now my first cup has been poured and I feel like I can type out a few words.

It's Wednesday which means it is time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to chat about making and reading.  After finishing Fletch's Tapped Maple socks I did not pick up any knitting needles for a week!  I just wasn't interested or inspired or whatever.  Finally though I looked through my stash and wound up a skein of handspun from Sarah.  Thanks again Sarah for this beautiful yarn!

My picture did not capture the colors very well, but the yarn is gorgeous.  It is 100% wool and I did start to knit a sock for Colin, but it just didn't feel right. I think I need the nylon when making socks.  So...I am thinking about using this gorgeous yarn to make a Musselburgh!  I have yet to knit one and I know the start can be rather fiddly, but I've done that start before (when I made my felted bag)...took me several tries, but I did get it.

Meanwhile, I did pull out a skein of Regia to make socks for Colin.  I always give him socks for his birthday or Christmas, so I thought I'd best get moving on the process.

Just plain vanilla - something that will go quickly so as to be finished in time.

Onto the books!  I finished Brooklyn and enjoyed it a lot.  I'll definitely look for "Long Island" (the sequel) but will take a break first.  I still kept thinking of "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" while reading this.

Next up, I had been in the queue for quite some time for Sandwich and was excited when it became available just as I was finishing Brooklyn.  Well, count me under-whelmed.  I've read about half of it and I can't say that I really am liking the book.  For me, the writing is too gimmicky (I can't think of another word to use) and so far I am finding the story to be tedious and not very interesting.  I'll finish it (it's not a very long book), but I sure am disappointed in it.

Fletch and I are continuing to listen in bits to "The Mind of the Raven" by Bernd Heinrich.  There is a lot of humor in this book even though listening to it at times feels like being in a college lecture.

So tell me, what have you been making and reading this past week?