Thursday Stuff

 Hello All,

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

It is so dark these mornings, but I think it is this weekend we "fall back" and turn our clocks back, so the mornings won't be quite so dark (at least for a little bit).  Afternoons, on the other hand, will be darker.

Yesterday was super warm and I think there will be more of that today.  Fletch and I sat out comfortably and then he grilled steaks for our dinner.  Yum!

Today I'll share some things with you - a miscellaneous 3 on Thursday (copying Carole) if you will.  First up, I did make both cranberry relish and cranberry chutney yesterday.

The relish (on the right is just cut up/ground up cranberries and oranges.  And a boat-load of sugar.  The chutney is a ground up orange and cranberries (not ground up) cooked on the stove with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, apple cider vinegar and sugar.  I don't process these as they keep FOREVER in the frig.  I made enough to give a jar of each to C&M and I even have an extra jar of the chutney for Fletch to take to a former client.

Because Fletch is going to visit his former client, I had to bake some cookies.  Connie and David LOVE cookies.  I made a batch of chocolate chip with the addition of some cut up uncrystallized ginger.  I think chocolate and ginger go so well together.  Fletch sampled one last night and pronounced it delicious.  I was too full from dinner to try one...but I will today!

Between the cranberry relish and chutney and the cookies, our house smelled like a combination of Thanksgiving and Christmas!

The last thing to share is wine!  You all know that at times I buy wine by the label and the other day was no exception.  I have not heard of Cult Wine from Napa previously, but I picked up a bottle of cab to try.  For some reason, my pictures are not loading...or I can load one but it won't show when I preview my post.  But here is a LINK to what the front of the bottle looks like.  The wine is just ok - not great, but it went well with our steaks.  The label though?  That just cracks me up!

I have no idea if we will get any trick or treaters this evening.  It's always a crap shoot.  Sometimes we get some and many years we have none.  I was remembering that years ago my aunt in Vermont would bake chocolate chip cookies to give out.  She used to have kids (little and big) come from miles around for her cookies.  Today, of course, no one would let their kid have home-made cookies which is kind of sad.

Hope everyone's Thursday is spooky!  Have a good one.

Unraveled Wednesday 10/30/24

 Good Morning!

It is looking to be a fine Wednesday morning here.  Milder than yesterday.  And yesterday ended up being SO busy!  Running around and doing stuff all morning and into the early afternoon.  I really was feeling like a nap would be the BEST thing, but seeing all the tomatoes and peppers on the counter I decided against that and instead buckled down and made sauce.  We had it for dinner and it was quite yummy.  All that is left now on the counter is a small bowl of little green tomatoes.  Not sure what I'll do with them, if anything.  They are too small to make fried green tomatoes and there is not really enough to chop up for any salsa verde (which I know is made with tomatillos, but...).

Today I was going to make a new recipe for baked apple bread, but I think I'll wait on that till Saturday when the kids are coming for dinner.  Today I may focus on cranberries and make some chutney (Fletcher's Mom's recipe) as well as some cranberry orange relish (my Mom's recipe).

And maybe, just maybe today will be the day I get to explore a new trail.  Time will tell.

Meanwhile, it's Wednesday - the last one in October (gasp!) and time to link up with Kat (and Franklin!!) and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk about what we are making and reading.  My Tapped Maple sock #2 is progressing.  Kind of a snail's pace, but progressing.

I took that picture last night after dinner and the foot is roughly half knit.  I managed to knit another 10 rounds, so I'm getting even closer to the toe decrease point.

The mail brought my November Sock Squad yarn from The Farmer's Daughter:

Once again two half skeins and a mini.  I prefer one regular skein, but whatever.  The color way is "Mourning the Abundance" (which I don't get).  I like the purple mini with the silver but not with the other skein and I do like the two half skeins together.  No idea what they will become, but eventually something.  Only one more shipment to come for the 2024 Sock Squad.

Reading has been good.  Fletch and I are listening to The Mind of the Raven by Bernd Heinrich after dinner.  There are lots of funny parts to the book and we are both enjoying it.

On my own I am reading You Are Here by David Nicholls.  I've enjoyed this novel quite a bit - thought I would finish it last night, but with only 40 or so pages to go, my eyes would not stay open.

Well, time for me to pour another cup of coffee and attempt to wake up more.  Here's hoping your Wednesday is filled with delights!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 10/29/24

 Hello, Hello,

Another chilly morning, but gosh!  Yesterday was in the mid-seventies.  We've had snow on Halloween in the past, but that certainly will not happen this year.  Though any moisture would be appreciated.

Well, it's Tuesday which means time for a Tiny Needle update.  The last for this month of 2024.  Progress seems to be slow, but it is steady:

Fence construction was completed and construction on the house has started.  Part of the right wall and one window has been installed.  There is so much solid stitching in this piece that it is slow going.  Thankfully I'm still enjoying it (and hoping no one has gotten too bored with it by this point).

No definite plans for today other than grocery shopping and hopefully making the sauce from the last of the garden tomatoes and peppers.  If time and the weather allow, I'd like to get out for a walk - there is an area of a trail that I have not walked previously...would be nice to add another option to my choices.

Time to pour the coffee.  Have a wonderful day!

Weekending 10/28/24

 Hello My Friends,

There is a bit of a nip in the air and mornings have been quite chilly...but it is supposed to warm up again and possibly even hit 80 by Thursday!  What??!!??  That is crazy weather for the end of October.  It is also terribly dry.  Between the dryness and the wind, our township now has a Burn Ban in effect, so no fires in the pit for us.

How was your weekend?  Ours was good.  Lazy, but good.  We went to CVS on Friday for our Tdap shots.  Amazingly neither of us had any reaction to the shot - not even a sore arm!  I actually felt pretty lousy over the weekend, but that feeling had started Thursday night before we got our shots.  I think I must have had a touch of a little bug, but I'm feeling much better as of this morning.

Fletch spent most of Saturday and some time on Sunday dismantling the garden  taking down trellis pieces, pulling spent plants (tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.). He also did a bit more work on the cold frame.  And, he gathered the last of the tomatoes and (maybe) peppers (pepper plants are still standing and offering some green foliage in the otherwise brown garden).

I guess I'd best whip up some sauce or something with those tomatoes - and add in the peppers as well.

We have a little round metal table at the end of our picnic table and that is where I put peanuts in the shell for the jays and squirrels, etc.  Sunday morning I spotted a raccoon at the table!  By the time I turned around to get my phone for a picture, he had scurried off into the hedge between us and our neighbors.  Mabel went outside looking like she was going to defend our property, but I guess thought better of it - she ended up huddling on the patio by our door (smart girl).

It's been decades since I've seen a raccoon on our property.  We used to have them regularly when we were feeding some feral cats.  Once Cheech and Chong (the ferals) disappeared, we gave up that practice.  I enjoy having them around - and possums, skunks, etc., but I don't want to encourage any of them to be around regularly!

And that's a wrap for moi.  Hope your week is getting off to a wonderful start!

Things From the Past 10/24/24

 Hello Out There!

Still plenty mild here...not sure when the temp will drop.  Yesterday I did manage to get my laundry done (dried on the line - a great breezy and warm day for drying) and switching out tank tops and shorts for warm sweaters and turtlenecks.  While doing that, I also opened a treasure trove of memories.

In my closet there was a plastic bag (the kind you get from the dry cleaner after your comforter or quilt has been cleaned) filled to the ripping (literally) point with things from 35 years ago!  Things that I had saved hoping that one day Colin would have a child.  Ands, that time is nearing!!

First up, a little hat that I knit for Colin when he was a wee one.

I cannot get it to rotate...sorry.  This yarn is so soft.

There were also a few things I sewed for him:  a pair of pants and two overalls.

And then there were two sweaters I made him when he was in day care.  How he hated having these sweaters put on him!  LOL

Again, I cannot get this to rotate.  Blue with nibs of color and cables!!  My first cables ever.

I so remember knitting these sweaters.  Colin was just a toddler and I started going to a yarn shop (no longer in existence) in Chadds Ford.  It's a bit of a drive (an hour each way), but I used to go one night a week to knit with the shop owner and her daughter.

Also found, but not pictured:  5 or 6 hand-knit or crocheted blankets.  They have been washed and dried and folded for Colin to take back home.  Colin's Cub Scout shirt, cap and scarf.  Hahaha - he probably will not want those.  A pewter plate with the alphabet and numbers 1-10 around the outside.  Also a set of Winnie the Pooh dishes - divided plate, cup and bowl.  They have been washed and I hope he wants them.

There were an equal number of things that did not far well in the closet over the decades.  A hand knit outfit, another blanket, some other clothes (the Baby Gap stuff weathered extremely well!).  Tucked away were some things from Fletcher's baby time!  Stuff his Mom must have sent when Colin was born.  Also a toothbrush with a silver handle that Fletch's uncle and aunt sent when Colin was born - we never used it!

All of this, as you can imagine, ate up a good part of the day...but it also brought back a flood of happy memories.  Colin is coming over tonight for dinner and (hopefully) a fire.  Fingers crossed he will take some of these things home with him.

Unraveled Wednesday 10/23/24

 Good Morning!

Happy Hump Day and Happy Unraveled Wednesday.  Time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk making and reading.  Be sure to head over to Kat's place after you are finished here.  You will find loads of inspiration and, perhaps, even a bit of enabling!!

My knitting has been quite slow.  Despite taking projects (yes, plural) on my little get away, I only knit a few rows on my sock.  Since then a few more have been knit, but not a huge amount.

(I like the way this sock looks with my Fall tablecloth.). The leg of sock #2 is now complete and the heel flap has been started.  I'm not sure why this is taking me so long (except my retirement days are surprisingly full).  Usually I knit a second sock much faster than the first.  Oh well.  It will get done.  Eventually.

I had hoped to finish the heel and start on the foot last night, but Fletch and I ended up watching two episodes of Poirot.  I don't knit while watching TV...usually we have all the lights off anyway.  Surprisingly, one of the episodes was one that neither of us recalled seeing in the past (we were sure we have seen them all).

On to the reading.  Since I last posted two weeks ago, 3 books have been finished.  First, Fletch and I finished listening to Clear by Carys Davies last night.  Wow!  What a fabulous book.  I know some of you have already read this (more than once), but if you have not, I highly recommend it.  I may have enjoyed it a bit more than Fletch, but he did like it.  Very spare.  Very stark.  Beautiful writing.  When I woke in the middle of the night last night, this book was on my mind.

We are going back to an audio book (as of tonight) so that I can get some knitting done while listening.  Fletch and I both enjoy nature-type books and I think we've decided on a book by Bernd Heinrich.  I've read a number of his books and they have all been good.  The book we will go with is The Mind of the Raven which looks good - will let you know next week!

On my own, I read The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl.  This was not the food memoir I was expecting (hoping for), but rather a novel (duh she said...it's in the title) about someone going to Paris.  A lot of it seemed like fluff reading to me and not really all that believable, but the descriptions of food did get my mouth watering.

I also read The Stolen Child which is a fairly new novel by Ann Hood.  Again, this seemed a little fluffy and not all that believable, but it was the right book at the time for me to read.  I enjoyed it and would recommend it as just a fun, easy read.

Our temps are forecast to drop by as much as 15 degrees between today and tomorrow.  My plan is to get a bunch of laundry out of the way today and also put away tank tops and the like and pull out my warm sweaters.  And, of course, catching up with blogs at some point.  Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday - get out and have some fun!!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 10/22/24

 Good Morning One and All,

Another mild morning here.  The temps are steadily rising.  Crazy weather.  The tomatoes keep producing and ripening, but they are not really very good.  As far as I'm concerned, Fletch can pull the plants any time.  He has been working on improving the cold frame, so hopefully we will be having fresh greens into the winter.  And garlic will be planted this week.

Since it's Tuesday, it is time to check in on my stitching.  Not much was done in the past week.  I did NO stitching while I was away and only minimal knitting.  Oh well, as I always say, it's not a race.  Here is a picture of where The Blessing stands right now.

The roof is finished!  Time to start construction on the house.  Another sunflower was added and the fence is almost complete.  Still miles to go on this one, but I'm enjoying it (except for the silk thread catching on my very rough skin!).  I'm hoping to finish the fence today and maybe another flower...time will tell.

I have not knit a stitch in days!  Part of the issue is that Fletch and I have been reading "Clear" after dinner...which means I've been reading.  I cannot read and knit - especially read out loud and knit.  LOL. I think we will be finished Clear tonight, so I want to look for an audio book for us and that will allow me 15-20 minutes after dinner for knitting.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!