Unraveled Wednesday 2/12/25

 Bonjour and Hello,

I'm posting a little later today.  We have a snowy winter wonderland outside and I decided to fix breakfast for my love and me (bacon & eggs, pastry for Fletch, English muffin for moi).  One load of wash is in the dryer and another in the washer, so it has been a productive morning.

A snowy feeder and Cardinals in the bushes.  (The pole keeps the feeder propped up high enough that Mabel cannot jump into it...)

Those are Mabel's footprints going out into the backyard.  There are deer tracks all over the place and the birds have been feeding (only a junco at my window feeder though).  Yesterday I ventured out the front door and poked around in the ice to find the piece of the feeder that Mr. Squirrel had removed.  I found it, almost slipped on the ice, and then re-filled that front feeder with the "hot seed."  While poking around, I saw buds on my lilac!!

They are small, but they are there.  And now they are covered in snow.  The "white stuff" in the picture is the ice that is still on the flower bed.

Of course, tomorrow it is forecast to be 50 degrees with rain...which will make a mess of everything.  Then the temps will drop in the evening into the 20s which means the mess will freeze...sigh.  And, Colin told me that one of his employees said they saw that we could have a MAJOR storm next Thursday with 15" of snow!  I'm not looking that far ahead and anyway, by the time that date rolls around the forecast will have changed.

So, it's Wednesday and time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk about making and reading.  On the making side of things, my Eye of the Partridge heel flap is finally finished.  Whew!  That sure took a long time.  I hope to turn the heel today and then rapidly progress down the foot.  That would be nice.  Time will tell...

This past week was another good one for reading.  I finished reading Braided Creek which is the collection of Haiku-like poems that Ted Kooser and Jim Harrison sent to each other.  It is a wonderful book.  Some are funny, many are poignant, and all tend to be soothing.  Highly recommend.

I also read Blue Light Hours by Bruna Dantas Lobato and loved it.  This is a book I learned about through Mary's blog.  Based on her review and recommendation, I requested it from my library.  It came in within a couple of days and I picked it up after lunch one day.  I read half the book in one sitting and would have finished it except that someone was hungry for dinner (not me and not Mabel).  A wonderful, beautiful book filled with love and yearning.  Again, highly recommend.

And, I am still plugging away on "The Secret History" for our RWU group.  I'm past the halfway mark and am still not fond of the characters or the story, but the writing is just so good!

And that does it for me!  Time to rinse out my coffee cup, check the laundry and do a few things.  I hope your Wednesday is a good one!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 2/11/25

 Good Morning!

Well, it is still cold here (22 this morning).  There is still ice on part of the yard and flower beds and on the picnic table.  Sigh.  I did manage to get out yesterday to run a couple of errands - we needed sunflower seeds and peanuts for our feathered friends.  The roads were fine and the sun came out.  It was a pretty day, but there was a chill wind stirring everything which I did not like.  When Fletch took the trashcans out last night at 10 p.m. for pick up this morning, he said it was really nice out.  No wind and almost mild.  10 p.m.  Not a time for walking....

Meanwhile, it is Tuesday and time for a TNT post.  After finishing my BIG sampler piece last week I went stash diving over the weekend to find something new to stitch.  At first I thought how about a tiny red sampler?  Then I found some red linen in my stash and thought why not a tiny ecru sampler on red linen?  Well, that did not look good AT ALL.  It was pretty fugly as a matter of fact.

I ditched that idea and pulled out some ivory linen and some red DMC and started stitching a small bird piece.  Then I looked in the dough bowl I have in my office filled with smalls and found I already had that one done!  Kind of like starting a book only to discover I'd already read it.

Next I pulled a different sampler and tried that.  Awful!  I persevered but did not like it and then discovered I had stitched over 3 instead of 2 at the very beginning of what I stitched.  So, naturally, everything was off.  I decided it was the fabric that I just wasn't happy with, so that went in the trash (it was only a 7.5" square random piece of linen, so no huge loss).

Yesterday I pulled an old small Blackbird Design piece to stitch.

It is called "Summer Iris" so of course I HAVE to stitch it!  (You can click on the picture to enlarge so you can see the design.). Not liking the pale, pale border I decided to make that darker.  And I just managed to get the top border completed last night before my eyes grew weary.

A small start, but so far so good.  And, most importantly, I like the linen and floss (Weeks Dye Works).  I've also come to realize that I really prefer stitching with one thread over two (or over one) rather than two threads.  It just looks neater for me.  This is a small piece, so it shouldn't take too long to complete.  After this, I may have to go back to a BIG piece!

How is your Tuesday moving along?  I hope you have something fun to do!

Weekending 2/10/25

 Good Morning!

Last night sounded like New Year's Eve here with the Eagles winning the Super Bowl.  You all know I am not into sports AT ALL.  Fletch did have the game on, but then we watched All Creatures at 9 after which he flipped back to the game, so I was aware of the win.  But I didn't (and don't) care.  Ha!

I made some Ginger Cream cookies at the end of the week.  These are cookies that my Aunt Ellen used to make all the time.  They taste like gingerbread to me, so I find them delicious.  Fletch doesn't really care for them, but I thought Colin & Mailing would enjoy some (and I was right).

We had a nice time seeing Colin, Mailing and Iris on Saturday.  They made home-made maple-sage sausage and then fixed biscuits, sausage & gravy.  Yum!!  Once again Iris was a bit fussy, but I can't blame her - she pooped 3 times in the first hour we were there!  I'd be fussy too.  LOL

We got home before any of our wintry weather started.  We ended up with sleet and freezing rain.  Since it didn't really warm up yesterday, everything is still coated in ice.  Even the yard is icy!  Mabel was pretty slow coming across the yard yesterday...stepping gingerly and trying not to slide.  Luckily the wintry mix they had been forecasting for tomorrow is now not showing.

A friend emailed me this poem over the weekend:

The Nest

           For Alfredo Espino

 

This morning

I watched a goldfinch

Disappear into a tree

Through a hole no bigger

 

Than my open mouth.

From the hollow

The bird

Began her crooning.

 

That’s what poetry is

I thought – 

Not the tree,

But the hidden song.

 

Not the yellow bird,

But the instinct to climb

Inside the darkness

To sing.

                          – Benjamin Gucciardi

I found the poem beautiful and thought you all might enjoy it as well.  I had never heard of Benjamin Gucciardi and ended up down a rabbit hole when I googled him.

Wishing you all a beautiful start to the week - enjoy!

TGIF and a Finish!!! 2/7/25

 Hello My Friends,

And Happy Friday!  It's been a week, hasn't it?  Lots going on and I'm sure lots more to come.  Let's hold steady and not lose faith.

We did end up with ice and sleet overnight Wednesday night into Thursday.  Fletch and I stayed in all day yesterday.  No need to venture out.

And...drumroll...because of staying in all day and ignoring the cleaning chores, I have a finish!  My big sampler is complete!!  Woo-Hoo!

Isn't she pretty?  I really do like this one a lot.  I am also really happy to be finished stitching on it!  The piece is "The Blessing" by Vilma Becklin of Examplars From the Heart.  (BTW, I don't believe she is designing these days.). The fabric I used is 36 count linen and I stitched the sampler over two threads of linen with silk threads by Vicki Clayton.  She had put a packet together with threads specifically for this sampler.  I wasn't keen at first with the variegated threads, but I truly love how the sampler turned out.  This was a long haul:  I started this piece on September 3, 2024 and just finished yesterday, February 6, 2025!  For those of you curious about the back, here is a shot of that:

So today I will have the pleasure of looking for something new to stitch!  When I was awake during the night I was thinking about various pieces.  I might pick up something that was started a long time ago and never finished...but those are all BIG pieces.  I may be in the mood for something small and quick.  Maybe something all in red for February?  I'm not sure, but I'll enjoy looking through my stash later on.

I suppose I should get to at least some of the cleaning that I've been ignoring as I finished this sampler.  But honestly, cleaning is so easy to ignore!!  Especially when I have projects and books calling my name.  I did take butter out to soften to make a batch of cookies.  We are heading over to Colin & Mailing's for lunch tomorrow and I wanted to make some cookies for them.

Now it is time to pour another cup of coffee and get the day started.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Unraveled Wednesday 2/5/25

 Good Morning,

Hope this Wednesday finds you well and enjoying life.  I think that watching the birds at our feeders is good for me and good for my soul.  I think it helps lower my blood pressure...until Mr. Squirrel comes calling that is.  BUT, he's gotta eat as well and his antics can be amusing.  The other day I caught a weird sight:  a squirrel on the ground under our sunflower feeder was busy munching away.  His tail was in the usual question mark shape, but it looked like a skinny rat's tail!  There was no hair or fur or whatever on it.  Fletch came to see him and said that it looks like either Mabel got ahold of him or he had some strange birth defect or disease.

And now we are expecting wintry weather again!  We are supposed to have snow, sleet and freezing rain starting late tonight/early tomorrow morning and going through 9 or 10 a.m. tomorrow.  Getting around should be pretty miserable.  Be safe and warm if you are in the path of this mess.

But right now it is Wednesday and time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to chat about making and reading.  Goof stuff!

I will spare you yet another picture of my sock that is taking FOREVER for me to knit.  Perhaps if I would pick it up and actually knit on it there would be progress.  This past week all I managed to do was 6 rows on an eye of the partridge heel flap (I did get a lot of stitching accomplished though as yesterday's post revealed).

This morning I pulled out an old, lingering project.  My Hitch on the Move shawl.

This has not seen the light of day in months...maybe 6 months?  My intention was to pull it out and rip it out...or rather unravel it all.  I had not been happy with it.  BUT, when I pulled it out and spread it on the table, I liked it!  Whoa - maybe I should try knitting on this for a bit and see how it goes.  To be continued.

Meanwhile, on to the reading.  I finished Winter Morning Walks which is a collection of poetry by Ted Kooser.  After he had undergone some treatment for cancer, his doctor advised him to stay out of the sun, so he took to taking (very) early morning walks.  And, after a lull in his writing, he found that he was writing again.  These are short poems that he wrote and sent on postcards to Jim Harrison, another poet.  This is such a calming selection of poetry and I found myself sad when I finished the book.  But then I had also ordered Braided Creek which is a collection of poems that Ted Kooser and Jim Harrison wrote to each other.  They are haiku-like and quite beautiful.  There is no indication as to which poet wrote each poem - it makes it fun to guess.

Fletch and I stopped listening to The Warmth of Other Suns a week or so ago.  He was getting bored with it.  I will finish listening to it as I think it is quite good.  We have not yet come up with something to read (or listen to) together.

I am also reading The Secret History by Donna Tartt which is the current selection for the RWU book group.  I'm roughly 150 pages into it and am enjoying the writing a lot.  The story?  Not as much.  BUT, I still have a long way to go, so the story may grow on me.  I'm not finding it a fast read, but luckily I have enough time to finish it before our Zoom discussion in March.

And finally, I started reading Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer.  I had bought this book a few years back, but never started it.  After enjoying "The Serviceberry" by Kimmerer, I moved Braiding Sweetgrass from a bookshelf to my nightstand.  This will be a long term read as I can only read a few pages at night before my eyes start to close.  I've gotten through 1.5 chapters and am thoroughly enjoying it.

Today I will venture to the library as four books came through on my queue!!  Three for me and one for Fletch.  I need/want to get them before any winter weather comes our way.  I'll leave you with a picture of my Valentine Cactus with its second bud opened.  It is gorgeous!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 2/4/25

 Hey There!

Good Morning!  How are you?  I can feel that it is a bit warmer this morning, but I can't yet tell whether it is clear or somewhat cloudy.  Yesterday I actually managed to do a few things.  I paid the bills that were sitting on my desk (too many) and I took everything out of the freezer to do an inventory.  It is possible that I could be accused of hoarding food!  LOL.  I discovered that we have roughly 5 different kinds of fish in the freezer, along with a whole chicken, chicken breasts, drumsticks, different packages of beef, some vegetarian stuff I had made a couple of months ago, and on and on and on.  Whew!  No pork chops or ground turkey, so those are on the list for today's shopping.  Mostly though we just need fresh produce, milk, OJ, bread.  Also TP and tissues.

Do you remember a few months back "they" said there would be a shortage of Sriracha?  Luckily that did not happen.  But now, we cannot find Pickapeppa sauce - the original.  I can find mango pickapeppa, but not the old original.  I even checked Amazon!  None of our stores have it currently.  Just seems weird to me.

Anyway, moving on, it is Tuesday and time for a TNT update.  So close!

Look!!  The lawn is finished, a sunflower has been added on the right along with a little heart and the last blackbird is flying off in the upper right.  What's left?  A big ol' harvest moon in the upper right.  I hope the moon is not as much of a slog as that green grass was.  The green grass and the blue house seemed to take forever!

This sure has been a fun piece to stitch.  I'll have to think about what's next...and I'm thinking smaller for sure.  LOL

Time to grab more coffee and make sure Fletch is getting up.  Hoping your Tuesday is a good one.

Weekending

 Good Morning!

It's a bit chilly in my office (remember, I try not to use heat in this room because of Christmas Cacti and other plants) and we had snow last night!  What???  We had heard that we could have a wintry mix, but Fletch said it didn't look like we would.  Then around 8:30 he looked out and our picnic table was covered, there was snow on the grass and the cars in the driveway had a dusting.  And...it is supposed to get into the 50's today!  Talk about a roller coaster.

How was your weekend?  Mine was relaxed in many ways.  We had dinner Saturday night at Mailing's parent's home to celebrate the Lunar New Year.  Dumplings, fish, green beans, etc., etc.  All was delicious.  I brought a beet salad to go with everything and there were cakes with red bean paste (which I LOVE) for dessert.

Iris had slept for 6 hours straight Friday night!!  But, she was cranky and fussy on Saturday.  Dinner was early as C&M wanted to get home in time to give Iris a bath and get her settled down for the night.  I'll have another chance for Iris snuggles next Saturday when we go to C&M's for brunch.

A pink Christmas Cactus is blooming again...maybe it's a Valentine's Cactus?  LOL

My fight with the squirrel continues.  Carole had suggested that I get some hot seed for the feeder since squirrels don't like that.  Well...I bought hot seed.  The bag specifically states "no squirrels, just birds" BUT after filling the feeder, who came to dine?  Mr. Squirrel.  He feasted for some time and then finally went away (he doesn't even move when I bang on the window now...grrrrr).  I thought ok, maybe he will get a tummy ache and not come back.  But, day two found him back at the feeder munching on the hot seed.  He has pretty much destroyed that feeder - ripping it apart.  I also found Mr. Squirrel sitting in the peanut feeder we have hanging on our patio.  

Time to have another cup of coffee and try to wake up.  I have errands to run this morning and, once it does warm up some, I am hoping to get out for a walk.  I hope your Monday is off to a great start!