by Kat | Apr 17, 2019 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
Greetings Unravelers! The weather here has been decidedly fickle and we went from warm, breezy days to freezing rains mixed with a sprinkling of snow and back to warm breezy days. It was a great reminder that it is not quite time to put away the woolens. I was thankful to have a warm woolly sweater on Monday because I really did not want to turn the furnace on again – but I lost that battle in the early afternoon, despite my sweater. Thankfully the windows were back open on Tuesday with no need for woolens!
The weather has afforded me some nice bits of knitting time though and I am making good progress on Marsa Alam! Yes, I have been monogamously knitting away on it and am just over the half way point of the body. I should be working on my donation shawl, but I have a mistake and I need to do a bit of ripping back to get it on track and so I have been avoiding it.
The reading this week was really good!
My Sister, the Serial Killer finally came through from the library and it was a quick listen! It is a curious story and the book pulls you in from the beginning and keeps your attention as it draws you into this dark, yet at times humorous story. I enjoyed it and gave it 4-stars.
I was really in need of something on my Kindle to read at night and Henning Mankell came to the rescue with Italian Shoes. How is it possible that this is my first Mankell read?? The writing is wonderful and the unconventional story unfolds in a most lovely way. I fell in love with Fredrik Werlin despite himself, his self-deprecating humor is brilliant, ” I keep a diary of a life that has lost its way.” The story tells about how Fredrik begins to make amends for his lost life, and eventually find his way again. I loved it so much, that I got the second Werlin story immediately and am half way through it! 5-stars and I highly recommend!
This weeks reading rounds out with The Light Between the Oceans. This was such a melancholy story – but it is so beautifully written. It is a tale of love and loss – and through the loss, the duration of that love. I wished it had ended as I was hoping it would, but the ending was still hauntingly beautiful. This is a book I will be thinking about for a long time.
That is all I have for this week, and as always:
Thank you for your participation!
by Kat | Apr 15, 2019 | General, Words
Monday’s are never fun, but when Monday and Tax Day fall on The.Same.Day. Well, that should just be against the law, imo!
Happy Tax-Monday…NOT!
So, rather than dwell on the Monday-est Monday ever – let’s rewind the weekend a bit, shall we?
Friday, I managed to get a good bit of knitting done on my sweater, but it did not get anymore “knit time” during the weekend except for a few brief moments on Sunday. Still – borrowing a great idea from a brilliant blogger – I have visible progress! Woo hoo!
Happy hour was fantastic – martini’s with bleu cheese stuffed olives are simply divine! And, the meatballs were not bad either! Haha!
Saturday, oh Saturday… we wondered if Janoski’s might have asparagus in – but alas, it is still a couple of weeks out. So, back to the task of the day… taming the back yard. It took most of the day, but not as long as either of us imagined… which was a good thing. Steve grilled burgers for dinner (which as also a good thing!) Now, here is where our age factor showed up – by 6PM I was MORE than ready for bed – as was Steve. I wish I was kidding… but sometimes reality bites…and early bedtimes are a must! Haha!
Sunday brought rains and Palm Sunday church was wonderful as was the pedicure after church! Remind me to do that next year the day after “Back Yard Clean Up” because that massage chair… oh yeah! The day rounded out with a jump start on laundry, a wee bit of knitting, and omelets for dinner.
The perfect, and simple, ending to a too short weekend!
How about you? How was your weekend?
by Kat | Apr 12, 2019 | General, In This Moment
It was a full week and next week will be more of the same so today I am just taking a deep breath and planning on spending some time today knitting on my Marsa Alam, because I don’t think there will be many knitting moments this weekend – the yard is fairly screaming for some attention and the Yard Work Fairies have yet to show up, darn it all!
But all that aside, it was such a good week!
Thinking about –
Gardening… it is that time of the year! I stumbled across this article about a garden that is still thriving…six decades after the death of the gardener! This makes me think about my yard and garden beds in different ways – ways that are more long term and lasting. I am also reminded of our visit last year to Fallingwater and all the rhododendrons that were planted all over the grounds – the forethought of this truly impacts the beauty of the grounds today. Gardening with purpose is something I always want to do, but I don’t always achieve that. These are good reminders as we begin a new season.
Grateful for –
My library. Truly. It is a place beyond measure. A place to gather with friends, a place for stirring conversation, a place with unending books ready to take you away…and this morning I saw this! This sparks all kinds of joy inside me! I am adding “nurturer of crafting” to the list of things my library does!
Inspired by –
Courtney, as always – and the timeliness of her messages. How does she know? Her words of wisdom about how to deal with being busy – even too busy – are just what I needed this week. I have been thinking about the things I spend my time on – and have been paring some things back. At first these things were hard to “give up” – but after a couple of days I found I did not miss the constant scrolling I was doing on IG – I check it, but only at the end of the day. Am I missing things? Yes, I am quite certain I am. But if you don’t know you are missing something, are you really missing it? I am also not spending hours each day “surfing the net” with much the same results – at first, it was so hard to get up and walk away from my pc! But like the IG phenomenon, after a few days it was not hard to get up at all. In fact, each day it is easier and some mornings I have had to make myself go and sit at the pc! What am I doing with all this extra time? Well, for one thing – my meditation time has really improved since cutting back on my screen time! And that is absolutely inspiring!
Fun –
This weekend Steve and I are heading into the “wilds” of our yard to tame the overgrown bushes. Is this going to be fun – oh, hell no! But!! I am going into it with the following mindset – I am going to be quiet no matter how much Steve yells (and he will be yelling, oh my! lol) I am going to be patient no matter how much I want to be doing something else – my mantra will be, “this too shall pass”, and I am going to be cheerful even when I don’t want to be (because it is hard to yell at a cheerful person right?) Wish me luck!!
And, there you have it! I wish you all a wonderful weekend – full of every little thing you want! See you all back here next week!
by Kat | Apr 11, 2019 | General, In This Moment
I am happily joining Carole today to share three very good things in pictures from this week!
Thing One:
The weather has been perfect for keeping this glorious magnolia in my neighborhood just so… It is so full of blooms and must be so old because it is just massive – it is the biggest magnolia tree I have ever seen!
Thing Two:
All the seeds are sprouting! I am so happy – why even the seeds I sowed outside are sprouting!
Thing Three:
The quilting has begun! I have one place mat to go and my goal is for these to be on our table for happy hour tomorrow!
What about you? What is exciting you this week?
by Kat | Apr 10, 2019 | General, Unraveled Wednesday
My Marsa Alam is moving right along! I have passed the sleeve divide and now it is just “mindless knitting” which makes it the perfect companion for all the meetings I have this week! This is the first pattern I have every done that utilizes seamless set in sleeves and I am truly wowed by the ingenuity of the design! I was worried about how it would all come together, but I followed the pattern and voilà at the end of the increases you have this genius sweater start! I am not doing the body shaping (and no stripes, obviously!!) so I expect this now “mindless” knit to move right along!
I have exactly zero sweaters in my wardrobe this color and I think it will be a welcome addition and look how nicely it will go with my new Willow Top! I am in love with this pattern and I have completed a Willow Dress as well, which I hope to share photos of later this week! If you are a brand new sewist or have been sewing a long time – this pattern is wonderful! It is easy but has really lovely details and the fit is fabulous!
Now, how about some reading? Which, honestly, has not been all that great this week.
I finished three books:
The Little Friend by Donna Tartt. Oh boy. I wish I had some good things to say about this book, but sadly I think the entire premise did not work for me. This is not anywhere near the caliber of The Goldfinch or The Secret History – both of which I really loved. This story does not work for me in a number of ways. It seemed rather convoluted and, for me, fell into the “not believable” realm. And, it was a LONG listen – it just seemed to be never-ending! And, when I got to the end – it felt rather rushed (which is odd after more than 20 hours of listening!) I originally gave this book 3-stars but have since downgraded my review to 2-stars and I sadly do not recommend.
Look Alive Out There by Sloane Crosley. I do not remember where I saw this book, but wow – I wish I hadn’t! This really fell flat for me and the thing I kept thinking about while listening was she is no David Sedaris. At.All! I don’t know whether I am too old to get her humor, or she is just really not funny at all – in fact for me she just screamed “I am the epitome of white privilege and I know it!” and in all the bad ways. She makes doing mundane housework feel like the drudgery it is – fortunately the torture was short. 1-star and I do not recommend.
I also finished reading Robert Bryndza’s third Detective Erika Foster novel – Dark Water. This was a quick read with quirky Erika Foster. There is more character development in this story, and it is a page turner! Bryndza leads you down some twists and turns before you figure out “who did it” and I changed my mind numerous times throughout the novel before he unrolls the ending in a dramatic way! 4-stars and I can’t wait for the next book to be available – I am on a not too long waitlist for it with the library!
That is all I have for this week, and as always:
Thank you for your participation!
by Kat | Apr 8, 2019 | General, In This Moment
Begin with unedited Words of Now…
Lenten devotions, still. Stillness. Meditating. Listening…hard. Open windows and cool breezes. Bird songs and snoring dog. The smell of spring rain. The hint of leaves that overnight burst into reality. Iced coffee. Pilates and a walk. A full week. Planning and list making. Transplanting seedlings. Hallelujah Chorus practicing. Never ending laundry. Knitting. And taxes. Oh, those taxes. TODAY!
What are your Words of Now as you begin the week?
