Weekending 11/3/25

 Hello My Friends!

Welcome to November!  How are you?  I am well.  I had not intended to take a little break from posting, but I did.  Many mornings last week found me sleeping in and then rushing around.  Anyway, the little break felt good, but now I am back.

Let's see what happened.  We received 2" of rain on Thursday!  And boy did we need it.  And then Friday was super windy - all day.  I'm not a fan of wind because it usually bothers my ears.  I took a Yin yoga class on Friday and loved it.  For those of you who are not familiar with yoga, Yin is a slow practice low down.  Typically it involves a lot of stretching and holding poses for up to 5 minutes.  My joints and muscles are so tight, this class was really good for me.  I am not going to watch Iris this coming Friday, so I will sign up again.  Some folks were in costumes.  My teacher was a cat.

Speaking of cats, Iris was dressed up for Halloween as a cat - too darn cute.  They spent an hour or so walking through their neighborhood where, apparently, folks really go out with decorations.  They all had a great time and Colin said he can't wait to take Iris out next year when she will be walking more (she was in the stroller this year).  We had zero trick or treaters at our house - so glad we had not bought candy to hand out!

Saturday I was back at the yoga studio for another Vinyasa class.  I had wondered how back-to-back classes would feel, but all was good.  I'm planning to do the same this coming weekend.

Once again I was successful in avoiding all chores over the weekend!  LOL. (Today needs to be a little different.) There was stitching and reading and cooking.  (Today will hopefully find me knitting again...but stitching has been calling me more than knitting these days.) We forgot to turn the clocks back Saturday night and were up way too early Sunday morning.  But, I cooked bacon and made some waffles. Sunday night we went over to Colin & Mailing's for dinner.  We had a hearty beef stew with an apple tart for dessert.  YUM!  We finished the evening with a fire in the pit.

Along with tackling some chores today, I'm hoping to get out and choose some new frames and have an updated pair of glasses made for me.  There are donation bags to drop off at our local food pantry as well as a bag of goods to drop at the thrift shop.  Most importantly I want to finish up our Medicare Advantage stuff for 2026.  I have found that some (quite a bit) of the information on various sites is not accurate.  For example, one provider indicated that one of our doctors was not "in network" at the office we use, but is at another office.  Upon checking with the doctor's office, the "other" office doesn't exist!  (And, the office indicated that they DO accept that insurance.)  Geeze - everything needs to be double and triple checked.  It is such a time suck ordeal. 

Wishing you all a gentle Monday as we ease into November!

Tiny Needle Tuesday 10/28/25

 Good Morning!

Welcome to the last Tuesday in October!  Wow!  I don't even know how that is possible.  But here we are, so time for a TNT update.

A bit of progress was made on my large piece.  The Evil Serpent now has a head (that looks rather cartoonish) and a bit of its body.  The creepy crawly thing has some of its legs.

If you click to enlarge, you will see the Serpent's eyes are red.  EVIL!!!

Here's an overall shot of the entire piece as it stands currently.

I might be able to find a bit of time to stitch today, but I'm not sure.  There is already a load of wash going (and Fletch isn't even up yet) and more where that came from.  But, an easy dinner is planned (salmon) which bodes well for some time in the afternoon.  (I should also do some knitting, but that's a story for another day.)

I hope your Tuesday finds you doing something you love.  Have some fun!

Weekending 10/27/25

 Good Morning!

The temps dipped overnight and it is now (at 7 a.m.) about 34 degrees.  I've put the heat on in several rooms and have a hot cup of coffee by my side as I type this.

How was your weekend?  Mine was good.  Another yoga class on Saturday morning was great.  I didn't do much chore-wise at all.  Mostly I read and tried to catch up on some sleep.  Friday was a pretty long day with Iris only napping for 30 minutes or so.  Fletch came over to Colin's Friday afternoon with Thai food for dinner, but he and I left soon after we ate.  Colin & Iris were fairly tired too.

Now that we've come to the last week of October, our Morning Glory plant is showing more and more blooms!

Aptly named "Heavenly Blue" and so gorgeous.  In other garden news, the hibiscus is still loaded with buds, but the leaves are turning yellow, so I doubt we will have more blooms.  There have been no ripe figs for several days  The plant is still loaded with them, but they may not ripen.  The climbing bean trellis has been taken down and some dried beans saved for next year's planting.  The hoses have been drained and put away for the season.  We are still enjoying wonderful greens (red and green romaine lettuce, spinach and chard and several other kinds of lettuce).

Yesterday Fletch and I ventured out in the afternoon to drop off our ballots for the election November 4th.  We then drove to Otts, a wonderful nursery and plant place to get some pumpkins.  There was no parking!  The place was mobbed.  So, we turned around and came home.  I think our grocery stores have some very nice pumpkins (and for a lot less $$$ anyway).

Today will find me back caring for Iris.  I hope your Monday is equally rewarding for you!

Tis the Season!

 Good Morning!

Spotted this on our drive over to Colin's yesterday morning.

The tape across the spare says "crime scene."  The green color of the skeleton cracked me up.  We also passed a number of jeeps with skeletons attached to the front.  All the jeeps.

Here's to a great weekend ahead!

What's For Dinner?

 Good Morning!

The sun is shining brightly here.  It's cool, but lovely outside.  I was able to sleep in a bit this morning and then when I got up I cooked some bacon and made French toast for Fletch and me.  Yum!

As is often the case lately, I forgot to take any pictures, but I wanted to share a dish with you that I made for dinner on Tuesday.  It was so delicious!  I made Creamy Bacon and Mushroom Pasta.  I used regular thick cut bacon, but I think turkey bacon would work also.  Or, skip the bacon completely.  It would also be tasty with sun dried tomatoes added in.  I used light cream instead of heavy and I think milk would work just as well.  Anyway, it was fast, easy and very satisfying.  We had a nice salad with greens from our garden to go with it.  I will be picking more greens for another salad tonight and will be making some spaghetti with clam sauce.  I do enjoy food a lot!  LOL

Later this morning we will head over to Colin's to borrow one of their cars.  The car that Fletch usually drives is in the shop - needs a drive shaft - OUCH!  Still, cheaper than a new car for sure.  That repair won't be done until next Tuesday.  Meanwhile, I need to be at Colin's tomorrow to watch Iris and Fletch has a doctor's appointment in the morning to have some stitches removed.  Thus the need to borrow a car.

Other than that, no plans!  There is a library book that came in for me to pick up and I want to do some stitching and/or knitting.  No chores though!  

I hope your week is winding down nicely.  We are just about at the weekend!!

Unraveled Wednesday 10/22/25

 Good Morning!

It appears that the cooler temps have finally come to Eastern PA.  Today's high is forecast to only be 59.  Luckily I took some chicken soup out of the freezer for dinner tonight.  I wanted an easy dinner since I will be with Iris today.  I'm anxious to see how she is doing (and also Colin) with Mailing away for several days.

It's Wednesday which means it's time to link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk all about what we are making and reading.  Wednesday's blogs are always filled with interesting and inspiring things!

My own knitting (or rather lack of) isn't all that inspiring.  Not much has been knit in the past week.  Only 10 or so rows on a heel flap.

At least there was no unraveling.  And, at least this is a shortie sock.  Not sure I will get anything done on it today, but we shall see.

I've finished 4 books since I last posted any updates on reading.  First up The Crowded Grave by Martin Walker.  This is the 4th novel in the Bruno, Chief of Police series and quite enjoyable.  There were even some laugh out loud scenes.  I'll be requesting the 5th book in this series shortly.

Next I read Kitchen Yarns by Ann Hood.  This book was recommended by a friend of a friend.  A memoir with recipes, I was sure I would enjoy it.  And I did.  Not great writing, but it was perfect for me at the time I read it.  Easy and enjoyable.

Fletch and I finished listening to Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton.  Sarah had thought we would enjoy this and she was right!  Thank you Sarah for the recommendation.  I loved, too, that the book was narrated by the author (such a soothing voice).  We started to listen to Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid, but neither of us could get into the story and we both found the narrators to be annoying.

Last night I finished The Names by Florence Knapp.  Many of you have already read this and raved about it, but I struggled a lot with this book.  The abuse that Gordon (the father) showered on his children and especially his wife was just very hard to read.  There were times I had to put the book down for a bit.

That's it for me!  Hope your Wednesday brings some joy.

Tiny Needle Tuesday

 Good Morning!

I woke up at 3 this morning chilly and had to put an extra blanket on the bed.  And no, I never did get back to sleep.  Oh well, there is time for a nap later today.

I stuck with only using brown thread this past week and just about finished the upper branches and trunk of the tree!

Very soon the upper half of this sampler will be completed!  If I don't nap too long, I might just finish that branch up today.  Then there is a creepy-crawly thing to the left of the moon and a little bit down - a thing just hanging in air (as is often the case with these samplers).  Then, of course, the Evil Serpent will start winding around the tree.  More to come later.

No real plans for today other than grocery shopping (and, perhaps, a nice nap).  And, perhaps, booking another massage and reviewing the yoga studio classes so that I can figure out when to go again.  Wishing you all an easy Tuesday!