Unraveled Wednesday 1/31/24

 Good Morning!

Happy end of January!!  It's above freezing today, but not by much.  I had let Mabel out at 6 a.m. and just let her back in and she is a little wet.  I looked out the window at the cars, and they are a bit wet too, so we might have had a little rain recently.  I can't tell if the sun is not up yet or it's just grey outside...the sky is pretty dark, I think we have some cloud cover.  Oh well.

Inside I have some brightness...some pretty:

My Christmas cactus that started as a cutting from the GIANT one my Grandmother had in Vermont.  Her plant was huge - easily a couple of feet across.  Anyway, I've had this for years and for years it didn't bloom.  Dee suggested it wasn't in the right location, so I moved it to my office where it gets some sun but it is also cooler (I rarely put the heat on in the office room).  Last year it had two flowers.  And now this year it has many more and a bunch of buds.  If you click to enlarge, you will see that the blooms are doubles!  (To take a picture of it, I moved it onto Mabel's "ledge" where she will try to pounce on birds at the window...it is back on a bookcase out of Mabel's way now.)

Well, here we are the last Wednesday of January for Unraveled Wednesday.  Let's link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk Making and Reading.  Fortunately there has been no unraveling this week.  I've made slow, but steady progress on my crescent moon sock (the first):

The heel has been turned and I am moving down the foot.  I've fairly large feet, so still a way to go but the journey is pleasant.  The Farmer's Daughter yarns are very, very nice.  Of course, this is the January yarn and...my February yarn arrived Monday (along with my Sock Squad Journal which was missing from my January package).

The colors are so pretty (and I love the journal).  But, I need to let them marinate a bit on my desk and in my head to figure out what to make with them.  The blue skein is the mini.  The other two are what I call half skeins - 50 grams each - roughly 230 yards each.  I don't think I want to use this yarn for socks, but I may do a cowl or maybe a shawlette.  Again, I will let the yarn marinate in my head...any suggestions from you?

Reading is still a bit slow for me.  I did read an excellent book Winter Solstice by Nina MacLaughlin.  What beautiful writing!  Very soothing to read.  I'm looking forward to "Summer Solstice" by her, but am saving that for a bit.

Carolyn had mentioned reading "Rooted" by Lyanda Lynn Haupt.  My library did not have that, but it had another book by the author:  "Mozart's Starling."  After close to 100 pages read, I am giving up on it.  I don't need another book about someone walking around with a bird on their shoulder pooping down their back!  The title of this book should be Lyanda's Starling as there was almost nothing about Mozart in those first 100 pages.  I'm dropping off the book at the library when I go out to get my hair cut this morning.

Fletch and I, thankfully, are still thoroughly enjoying The Ride of Her Life - we're almost 100 pages in.  Most chapters are just 7-10 pages long - the perfect length to read after dinner.

That's it from me this Wednesday!  Be sure to head over to Kat's to see what others are making and reading.  Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 1/30/24

Hello and Good Morning,

Our temps have dropped (below freezing now) and I think/hope that the wind has stopped.  Yesterday was so windy.  It was a good day to stay inside, so I did.

We are at the last TNT for January 2024 and I have a finish to show you!  The Cactus Triptych was finished last Friday and I love it.

 Obviously not ironed yet, but it will be because folks, I am actually going to have this one framed!!  I plan to hang it in my office room where I will see it regularly.  I'm thinking just a plain skinny black frame will do nicely.

Of course I needed to start another piece and I did that yesterday afternoon.  The design is from Blackbird Design's Honeybee Hill and I am stitching the bee which will be made into a pincushion.

My start.  See the cute zippered bag Fletch bought for me?  I'm keeping threads in it.

And here is what it should look like once I am finished stitching it.

The designers call it "Her Majesty," but to me she is "Queen Bee."

As I mentioined, we had such a windy day yesterday and by the time the sun was getting ready to set we wondered if we were in for some stormy weather.  This was the view out my west-facing kitchen window while I was getting dinner ready.

Pretty ominous looking, but we never had any storms.

And, another view from last night.  Our very own Queen enjoying her cactus filled with catnip!

Fletch and I have been enjoying Mabel's reactions to sounds and pictures on the TV.  A crying baby will make her sit up and look.  Last night it was some animals on a nature program we were watching.

Time for me to pour some more coffee and then dry my hair (my head is cold!).  Here's hoping that your Tuesday will bring some fun!

Weekending 1/29/24

 Good Morning All,

Well!  We made it through the last weekend in January!!  Our days here in eastern PA are noticeably longer (meaning more daylight hours) - even on days like yesterday when it rained ALL day long.  So much rain over an already saturated lawn.  We had standing pools/lakes/whatever in our backyard.

How was your weekend?  Mine was very nice, thank you.  Dee and I met up Saturday morning for some quality chatting and knitting time.  Sunday was spent learning something new!  I'm here to tell you that an "old dog" can learn new tricks!

That's a pretty crappy picture of my new MacBook!  My first Apple thing and I love it.  (I still have an android phone...but for how long???)

I've only been using my work laptop for the last 4 years.  My personal laptop died so long ago I can't even remember when.  But with retiring (YAY), I needed to get a personal one and Colin convinced me to go with a MacBook.  I have not found it easier or harder than a windows "machine," just different.  But what I do know is that I love it.  Colin came over yesterday morning and got me all set up and I spent some time pulling up sites and adding my password (new device and all that stuff).

What I had not realized is that is has NO USB ports!  But, I've ordered a multi-port adapter that will have not only a USB port, but also an HDMI port so that I can plug in my monitor (and thus have a BIG screen).  Ordered the adapter yesterday and it will be here tomorrow!

We also ordered and downloaded Microsoft Office so that I can have word and excel.  I have a lot of stuff (personal) in excel and use word for some things...I wanted those since they are familiar and I'm comfortable with them.  At some point, I may switch to the Mac programs, but not initially.

Today has been nice.  I'm posting later than usual because I slept in and made breakfast for Fletch and me.  Kind of practicing what it will be like when I retire.  I guess I'm kind of semi-retired now...or as my brother labeled me over the weekend, I'm a "short timer."  I'm also happy!!

I've put a fresh tablecloth and napkins on the table and have a first load of wash going.  I'm planning an easy day with making and reading.  Oh and I received notice that my next (February) shipment of Sock Squad yarn from The Farmer's Daughter should arrive today.  Hooray!

May this week find you enjoying life and doing something fun!

An Art Tour!!

Good morning All,

It is raining here and mild (44 degrees).  Most of our snow is gone.  There are still a few clumps in the yard here and there, but for the most part it vanished overnight.

Today I want to show you some of the art that we saw on Monday.  Fair warning - there are quite a number of pictures, so if art is not your thing or you just are not interested, please skip this post.

Al West, the former CEO of SEI (Colin's employer) has been a huge collector of art.  When he started, his daughter was studying are in NYC and he gave her funds to acquire pieces she thought were important/good/interesting, etc.  She mainly focused on artists who were not that well known (though many of them are now very well known).  Over the years a collection of around 4,000 pieces of art have been amassed and the West Collection was formed.  

The SEI campus is pretty large - there is both a North and South campus and we toured both.  Some art has been there from the beginning.  Other pieces are rotated out and new ones brought in.  One interesting thing:  There is a "Hot Hall" where art that is found offensive or unpleasant (for any reason) can be placed.  When a new piece of art is placed in one of the buildings, people are free to say that they find it offensive, or they don't want it near where they work, etc.  It is then moved to the Hot Hall.  Sometimes someone will request that a Hot Hall piece be brought back out.  We did see the Hot Hall and though I did not care for the works of art I didn't really find any totally offensive (I also didn't spend a lot of time studying them...and did not take any pictures).

I didn't take pictures of everything (there was so much!!), but here are some of the works we saw:

Shark Tank - sharks are made out of tires.  I should have taken a picture from the outside of the "tank" or room so that you could see both sharks...but I didn't.

A sculpture made entirely out of phone books.  I wish I had taken a picture of the backside where the pages are visible.  This artist has also sculpted busts of famous composers and they are scattered throughout the building.

Origami Cranes

Kamper Kart.  The artist, Kevin Cyr, has a web site (https://www.kevincyr.net/) and there is a page about Kamper Kart (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1719609460/camper-kart-project).

Everyone is familiar with the painting by Vermeer...his one looking upside down is made out of something like 5,000 hanging spools of thread.  But, when looked at through the sphere in front of it, the work appears right side up!

A life-size Lambroghini - everyone's dream car - made out of used lottery tickets.

Of course I loved this one!  A paperbag puppet.

Mad Cow!  Please click to enlarge and look at the pink helmet hanging on the right handlebar.  This motorcycle does run and is covered in real cow bones to resemble a running (or flying?) cow skeleton.  Our guide told us that the artist sometimes wears a cow costume when riding this!

There were a number of embroidered pieces in the collection, but I found this one to be simply beautiful.

If you are still here, thanks for sticking around for the art tour!  I found it fascinating and a lot of fun.  Although Colin is a "permanently remote" worker, he has a very interesting and beautiful office to go to on occasion.  Most of the employees are back to work 3 days a week and both campuses are entirely open spaces - there are no individual offices.

And now, I suppose it is time for me to get to work on my stuff!  Have a wonderful Thursday everyone.

Unraveled Wednesday 1/24/24

 Good Morning Everyone!

Well, the big thaw is happening.  It was above freezing all night and I could hear EVERYTHING dripping (thankfully outside and not inside).  When I let Mabel out at 5 a.m. I saw an Amazon box on my back patio!  Yesterday (late afternoon) I had realized I was out of Cafe du Monde coffee, so I ordered several cans.  The confirmation email told me it would be delivered today between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m.  They were not kidding!!

It's Wednesday and I will be going back to the office today.  I swear I am busier at work than I have been in the past 4 years!!  Today I am meeting with Heather - one of the people who will be taking over some of my responsibilities.  We will do a bit of training and hopefully I will be out of there before lunch time.  Yesterday I was also able to finally secure meeting space (and hotel rooms) for Kevin's upcoming meeting in Georgia.  The first two hotels I called were booked solid for meeting space the last week in February which I found surprising and the one I finally found is pretty pricey in my opinion.  Overnight rooms are $239 (nothing fancy, just a regular Hilton) and the charge for the meeting space is over $1,000 for the day plus a guaranteed minimum of at least $60 per person for food.  Back in the day (pre-pandemic) I never agreed to pay for meeting room space - that was always waived.  Times have changed!

Anyway, it is Wednesday which means it's time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers for Unraveled Wednesday.  Let's talk knitting!

I had mentioned last week my woes with the Farmer's Daughter Sock Squad yarn that arrived.  First I couldn't do a twisted rib for the cuff to save my life.  Then I couldn't do a cable pattern for a sock.  Finally it is all coming together.  I sketched out (in Excel) what I wanted and voila!

A basic plain vanilla sock (the yarn spoke and I listened) with a row of crescent moons just under the cuff.  The crescent moons are knit using the mini skein that came with the main skein.  

A little closer view of the crescent moons - my hand is in the cuff stretching it out a bit.  I plan to use the mini skein for the toes of the socks as well.  I have roughly 20 more rows to go before the heel flap.  My plan was to get there by today...or even past the flap and heel turn, but I seem to have spent more time stitching than knitting this past week.  It's all good - making is making!

Reading is still slow for me.  I'm sure it will pick up again once I'm no longer working.  In the meantime, I am still listening to "The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store" and still reading "George:  A Magpie Memoir."  Fletch and I finally finished listening to "Fox and I."  So glad that one is over!

At Christmas, Fletch picked up THIS BOOK for me and we have decided to read this after dinner.  It is great so far!  We are roughly 50 pages in and thoroughly enjoying it.

Time for me to get moving and pour a second cup of coffee, dry my hair and figure out what to wear for my trek to the office.  I hope everyone has a wonderful Wednesday!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 1/23/24

 Good Morning Everyone!

How are you?  Our temps are rising (my computer says 29 as oppposed to the teens) and I can feel the dampness creeping in - I think we will start having some rain tomorrow.

Yesterday's art tour was very nice.  I have pictures to share later this week.  Bonnie and Zhongren were able to join us for the tour, but neither of them were able to go to lunch after.  Anyway, more on that later.

Today is Tuesday which means it is Tiny Needle Tuesday.  I'm excited to show you the Cactus Triptych because I actually stitched quite a bit on it this past week.

I even managed to do the thorns/needles on these.  There are still two more claret cups to be stitched, but I'm confident that this piece will be wrapped up sooner rather than later.  Here's a picture of the piece overall.

I love all the variations of color in this piece - even among each bloom on the cacti there are variations.  Some are subtle, some not so much.  But the overall effect is very pleasing to me.

Yesterday afternoon I spotted this handsome fella walking across our back yard - around the shed and in front of my archery target.  A little unusual to see him during the day, but I was happy to see him and happy that Mabel was inside napping!

Here's to a good Tuesday for all of us.  Time for me to pour another cup of coffee.

Weekending 1/22/24

 Hello Everyone!

How are you?  How was your weekend?  Mine is actually still going on - I'm off today!  More about that later.

We did get snow.  Not a huge amount, but everything was covered and Dee and I decided to not meet on Saturday morning.  As it turns out, we probably could have met up with no difficulty.  I had to run out to CVS to pick up a prescription, and the roads were fine once I was off my street.  Now, of course, all is clear because we had a beautiful sunny day yesterday.

It is still cold (17 currently) and there is still snow on the ground.  And lots of bird tracks in it!

Yesterday while we were having breakfast, Fletch and I got a kick out of watching Mabel walk across the back yard.  Her hind legs kept sinking into the snow so that she almost looked like she was sitting in it.  I wish I had gotten a video of her, but I was too busy shoving bacon into my mouth!

We were able to get over to Colin & Mailing's for dinner Saturday night and that was great!  Mailing cooked a turkey and made a delicious cauliflower dish and chard.  Colin had made a pear tart for dessert.

Yesterday was a stay at home day.  Plenty of time for making and baking and lazing around.

Gingerbread Blondies

As I mentioned above, I'm off today.  The former CEO of Colin's company is an avid collector of art.  Much of what he acquired is still on the campus where Colin's office is (or was - he is permanently remote now but does go in occasionally) and he has arranged for us to have a tour of the art collection.  We are doing that this morning and then going out to lunch.  A nice way to start the week!