Weekending

 Hello Friends!

How are you?  Once again I find myself in ithe land of grogginess.  Here is is 8:40 a.m. and I've only had a couple sips of coffee.  In fact, I have not even been up for an hour!  Who am I?  I've always gotten up by 6 a.m. if not earlier, but recently...not so much.  I woke up at 5:30 this morning, but rolled over to "just rest" for a few minutes.  Those few minutes turned into 2.5 hours!  Oh well, I guess I needed it.

My computer says it is 44 out, but it seems milder to me.  Other than heat in the bathroom for my shower, I have not turned on any heat.  Fletch is just getting out of the shower, so I'll have to notice if he puts on heat downstairs or not.  It's another sunny day, so I am hoping to get outside a bit at some point.

The weekend was lovely...only a few work emails - nothing like the prior week or two.  I met up with Dee for a few hours Saturday morning.  As always, we laughed and laughed and did a little knitting.  Saturday was a beautiful day, so Fletch and I had a fire that night.

It was a perfect night for a fire.  A little chilly on the back side - I told Fletch I needed to be put on a spit so that I could easily rotate - LOL.  There were more visible stars than usual and it was just lovely.

We were a little worried about Mabel.  She had gotten sick Friday night - piles of puke in two places.  Got that cleaned up and she spent most of Saturday curled up in a chair sleeping on Saturday.  Then we noticed she was limping a little bit and keeping one of her hind legs off the floor when standing.  Once I told her that we would need to take her to the vet she seemed to improve.  Now she is back to running around (no limping) and consuming her usual amount (rather large quantity) of food.

Sunday was a perfectly slow and easy day.  I cleaned the bathrooms (Karyn who comes to clean our house had taken a birthday break), washed the towels and bath rugs and also the shower curtain liner and rubber mat for the tub.  Fletch grilled wings for dinner and I made biscuits and coleslaw to go with those.  I also made a yummy apple/cranberry crisp.  A taste of heaven!

I had to run out in the afternoon to pick up a prescription and on my way to CVS is a house that has a Halloween scene outside:

Fishing skeletons with an Alien between them!  Hahahaha

Happy Halloween everyone!  I need to go pour another cup of coffee!

Lemons and a Cat

 Good Morning my Friends,

October is winding down.  Yesterday was extremely windy and many of the crepe myrtle leaves are now on the ground.  Also the leaves of the red bud.

Funny about the crepe myrtle.  Fletch walked around it in the morning trying to get a good picture and noticed that on the street side (northern exposure) the leaves appeared golden (which is how I remember it from prior years).  This year, however, the side facing the house is the brilliant red - the side that gets more sun.

In the same vein I was commenting yesterday that our wisteria vine is still very green.  I thought I remembered it turning a coppery gold in the Fall.  Looking out our back bedroom window, I noticed that the top of the wisteria is brillian red!  Again, that is the patch that gets the Eastern sun.

Meanwhile, I want to show you that we now have two lemons growing on our lemon tree!  What excitement!!  

Obviously very small still, but fun.  Remember the other year we had one growing.  It fell off before ripening, but I put it on the buffet with other fruit and it gradually ripened and we used it (if I remember correctly, I used it on some salmon) and it was really good.  So, now I'm hoping for two that will mature and ripen.

And, just because it's Friday, here is a picture of Mabel this morning.  She had come in to have some breakfast and then I didn't see her.  She was curled up on one of the kitchen chairs...yawning and dozing away.  Now she is back out romping in the yard with the visiting deer!

My 10 a.m. conference call has been cancelled.  I have a call at 1 and another at 2, but I'm pretty sure I'm finished with all the bonus calculations.  Thank goodness!

And with that, I will wish you all a Happy Weekend!

The View From Here

 Good Morning!

Once again it is still dark, so who knows what the day will be like...I've heard it is supposed to be sunny which would be nice.  Yesterday was foggy all day and a bit on the damp side.  I had some misty rain on the windshield driving home from the office.

The only person I saw at the office yesterday was Des - my financial analyst for Kevin's world.  She was coming in just as I was about ready to leave.  And, as I mentioned to some of you in my reply to comments yesterday, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and I'm beginning to see it!  My major work of late has been on bonus calculations and I should have the final piece of that wrapped up later today.  I still have other projects that are screaming for my attention, but it will be wonderful to have that piece finalized!

Meanwhile, Fall is definitely here in Eastern PA.  At times yesterday while driving to the office I felt as though I was driving through a golden tunnel.  There were beautiful trees on either side of the road and some of them had branches hanging over the road.

The colors this year are funny.  Some are very muted and rather dull, but then you turn the corner and wham!  Colors are more brilliant and saturated than ever before.  Here is a picture of our crepe myrtle in our front yard.  The blooms (white) were pretty good this year, but now it looks like it is on fire!

 Sorry about the wires, but nothing I can do about them!  Fletch and I both remember this tree as turning gold in the Fall - never a red color.  Amazing!

I passed this scene on my way to work yesterday.  This is just as you enter Valley Forge Park on Route 23.

So much moisture in the air!  This house is decorated each year for Halloween.  Last year it looked like the skeletons were having a tea party.  This year it looks like they are cooking something in a giant cauldron.

The huge skeleton in front of the chiropractor's office is out all year.  In winter it has a scarf on.  I couldn't get a picture yesterday, but now it is wearing a purple cloak and has long grey hair!  It's wonderful.  Hopefully I will drive by when no one is behind me so that I can stop to get a picture.  Yesterday traffic was too heavy.

Finally, here is the view Fletch and I see when we sit on the patio in the afternoon.  We watch all the birds (so many varieties!!) and if we are lucky, Steve the Beav may run across the back.

We've had good rain - the grass is still so green, but it is not growing quickly.  It's been 2.5 weeks since we've had the lawn mowed.  I think the mower told Fletch he usually stops by mid-November, so I'm guessing one or two more cuttings and that will be it!  You can see in the picture above that it finally cleared a bit in the afternoon.  Blue skies returned.

OK!  Time to get to work.  Have yourselves a very lovely Thursday!

Unraveled Wednesday 10/26/22

 Hello My Dear Friends,

Once again Wednesday has rolled around and it is time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers.  Kat is away on vacation, but we are all meeting up together anyway.  I was thinking, though, how lovely it would be if we could all meet up with Kat in Presque Isle along the shores of Lake Erie!!!  Food for thought my friends, food for thought.

So, off to the races to talk making and reading.  Thanks to work (my broken record) not a whole lot of knitting was done, BUT I have finished the leg of Fletcher's 2nd blue sock!

So pretty handsome - I love the flecks of lighter colors that are showing up.  I put the last row of the leg in after dinner last night.  I thought I might start - and even finish (!) - the heel flap, but alas other than an hour break to watch an episode of Poirot with Fletch, I was working until 11 p.m. last night.  Yikes!

As an aside, Fletch and I watched all (we thought) of the Poirot episodes with David Suchet a number of years ago.  Now the Allentown PBS station is airing them every Tuesday at 8 p.m.  Neither of us can remember any of the episodes so far!  And, it's great fun to watch David Suchet as Poirot - what a perfect pairing of actor and character.

Anyway, on to the reading.  I did finish Other Birds and found it to be ok.  Not great literature by any means, but it was the right thing to read at that time for me.  Like all of the author's (Sarah Addison Allen) books, this one was filled with magical realism - not my most favored genre.  But again, it was ok.  I do wish we had Dellawisps around here!

Now I'm in the midst of two books.  First up and on my nightstand is Graceland, at Last by Margaret Renkl.  I'm not far into it yet having only read the introduction and the first two essays, but I am reminded of how much I enjoy Renkl's writing.  This collection of essays was written (I believe) over a period of 4 years or so.  Each are dated at the beginning.  If you read and enjoyed "Late Migrations" by Renkl, I think you would enjoy this book as well.

When I picked up Graceland at the library, I took a turn around the shelves, and this book jumped out at me.  I had not heard of Attica Locke (the author), but since the kids are currently living in Texas, I thought I'd take a turn at reading it.  So far, it is not disappointing.  I've read about 50 pages or so and would have read more but (broken record) work got in the way.  I think she has written another book with the same TX Ranger starring in it.  I may need to look for that once I finish this one.

Fletch and I have started listening to LeVar Burton Read to Us after dinner.  We are enjoying hearing his voice and the stories have been good so far.  I need to figure out how to pick up where we left off though.  LOL  We have not yet finished a full story and the next day when I click on the story to pick up where we left off, it always starts at the beginning.

Well, that's a wrap for me.  I need to wake up and clear the fog in my head as I need to head to the office shortly.  Be sure to check out Kat's blog - she is posting even though she is on vacation - for much inspiration from her and her group of Unravelers.  Happy mid-week!

Tiny Needle Tuesday

 Good Morning My Friends,

How are you?  I am terribly groggy!  Despite waking up a couple of times in the night, I slept soundly and woke up later than usual.  So far the first sips of coffee have not kicked in.  The last week was so busy-busy-busy that I doubted I would have time to do any stitching, but as I mentioned yesterday, Sunday was a very lounging day and I managed to do a little.

First up is the funny bird from Black Bird Designs (title of the pattern:  Gathering Basket).  The beginning of the green vine has been stitched and I'm loving it.

Next up is the "Praise Loudly Blame Softly" sampler from Eileen Bennett.  The large gold acorns are now fully stitched.

Well, fully stitched except that each of those acorn caps have French or Colonial Knots to be done.  I started them several times and each time ripped them out.  The old adage "Use It or Lose It" applies here.  I used to stitch French Knots ALL the time and had no issues.  but, I have not made them in quite a number of years and my lack of practice was showing.  I'll get a scrap piece of linen and practice a bit before trying to apply them here again.

Last up is Ellen Harrison by Needle Work Press.  Being a little weary of letters, I decided to start the dividing band beneath her name.  When I did that, I realized the big red E of her name was off by one single linen thread.  Yup - it was quite noticeable and had to be fixed.  So the bottom half of that red E was frogged and replaced properly.  Then, apparently I can't count, and my white dividing band was off by a thread not once, but twice.  Ouch!  More unpicking.  I think I'm back on track now.

Click to enlarge as the white thread is so hard to see.  Or, see the close up below.

 I can tell this particular piece is going to take me some time (and it is so large!!).  The entire sampler looks like this:

Well - should keep me busy all winter!  LOL

Meanwhile, yesterday was a bit of a reprieve at work.  I did have a conference call at 2 p.m. - regarding a new database we are getting for our legal documents (contracts and the like).  True confession:  I actually dozed during the call!  Yup.  Thank goodness I don't ever have my camera on for work conference calls.

But this morning found an email waiting for me that will mean another hectic/busy week.  Bonus calculations are finished (total number I worked on:  roughly 1,700 plus over 200 exceptions).  Those payouts have now been approved and they all need to go on a separate spreadsheet for our parent company's payroll department.  It's a lot!  And, unfortunately, it is not something where I can just copy and paste.

First though, more coffee is required!  Hope your week is going well!

Weekending

 Good Morning!

It's still dark outside, so I have no idea what the day will be like.  At the bottom of my monitor I see that it is 53 degrees and partly cloudy...we'll see if that's accurate in a bit.

My weekend, thankfully, was so much nicer than last weekend!  I was not slammed with work (though I did do a little bit).  After the last two weeks (including last weekend), I needed a break!

Saturday morning I met up with Dee for our usual session of knitting, chatting, sipping and just catching up.  Since we had missed a week, it felt like forever and was so nice to get together again.  We shared cookbooks and magazines and chatted away the morning.  A little knitting was accomplished.

The day was really lovely.  After running an errand, I came home and then got some stuff ready for dinner.  I made a roast, mashed potatoes and gravy and fresh beets.  YUM!  And the house smelled so good having a beef roast in the oven.  It was such a beautiful evening that we decided to have a fire.

The wok is working out very well as a fire bowl!

Sunday dawned overcast and damp.  I made some pecan waffles for breakfast (along with both sausage and bacon) and confess that I never got dressed ALL DAY LONG!  I stayed in PJ pants and a sweatshirt and it was simply delightful.  The day was relaxed and I found time to stitch, knit and read.  Perfect!

How was your weekend?

Unraveled Wednesday 10/19/22

 Good Chilly Morning!

34 degrees here this morning.  I stood up in the middle of the night to look out the back bedroom window and wow!  The moon and the stars were so bright.  It was blindingly clear and the sky was so pretty.  (Sleep was not so pretty, so there you are.)

Today is Wednesday and before I head to the office I want to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk making and reading.  Between the craziness at work, all the emails and phone calls, I did manage to find time to knit a few rows.  And Voila!

Fletch's first blue sock has been finished and the second one started.  I think as of last night I had completed the cuff (15 rows of 2x2 ribbing) and 15 rows of the leg.  Not too shabby a start.  I have other skeins of yarn wound and I'm itching to start some other things, but I think I'd best wait and when a few moments open up, concentrate on the second sock.

Reading has been a little slow thanks to work.  I did finish Bel Canto by Ann Patchett and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Not really what I was expecting - not sure what that was and not sure why I did not devour this book when it was first published.  But glad I finally got to it.  I'm now about a third of the way through Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen.  This is turning out to be the perfect book for me right now.  I don't have the brain strength to really concentrate on something and this is an easy, enjoyable read.  Like the author's other books, this one is filled with magical realism.

Well, that's a wrap for today.  My head is cold, so I need to dry my hair.  Time also for a second cup of coffee.  An office visit is in the works for me today (hopefully a short one) and I've errands to run.

Wishing you all a lovely Wednesday!