The seasons may change, but my heart remains true. It is you I love most of all.
Your slow sunlit days that are heady with change. When you begin to paint the trees with shades of crimson, gold, and ginger – creating a feast for my eyes.
You make the grey day glow and the sunny day is beyond all imagination, thanks to the vibrancy of your chosen color palette.
The nights you bring can be warm and sweetly mild – in Autumn Summer’s sweet embrace. Or they can be crisp and cool that are the perfect partner to a roaring fire.
You entice me to sip Manhattans with their smoky warmth.
And, when the falling leaves create a carpet so glorious on my lawn – I know you time here is fleeting.
My greatest joy is to savor you completely, because when you are gone it is you I miss most of all.
This week’s prompt was to write about Autumn and Carole and I would love it if you would join us on our Think, Write, Thursday journey. Signing up is easy and you can do that here.
But, really, won’t you share what you love about fall?
When a citizen gives his suffrage to a man of known immorality he abuses his trust; he sacrifices not only his own interest, but that of his neighbor; he betrays the interest of his country. – Noah Webster
Robocalls are over, although the ones from Barack and Michelle Obama are pretty darn awesome, the others not so much.
The media will again focus on what is going on in the world we live in, not just politics!
But today, 96 years after the ratification of the 19th Amendment, I will vote as I have done every single election since I was 18. However, this time will be different. Today, I will cast my vote for her. Gladly. Emotionally. Proudly!
I really hope you will be joining me and voting today. It is the most important thing you will do today!
Therefore, rather than dealing with Monday and all its Monday-ness, I am going to just relive the weekend.
Perhaps it will make Monday just a bit shorter, which is always a good thing!
The weather was divine. Clear, sun-filled, blue skies – which made the crisp weather so much more palatable!
As you can see in the photo above, the leaves are almost all gone from our tree in the front yard. BONUS in that Steve raked (or used some motorized device) and removed them all while I was at church on Sunday. I know. YAY!!!
I made the most amazing martinis on Friday, and I mean amazing. With gin. Yes, gin!! And, for my Michigan pals – Grand Traverse Distillery Barrel Finished Gin is TO DIE FOR! Anyways, a dirty gin martini with a Gorgonzola stuffed olives…I think I heard angels singing as I sipped it. It was such a special moment.
We visited our favorite farmer – Jose Quiroz Farms for his last week at our local Farmers Market. This week, in his words, he will be heading back to “where all those bad hombres are”. And, really – that statement is just so sad for so many reasons. It is my fervent hope that the candidate who won’t build a wall will win the election tomorrow. Because, really – we need Jose’s friendship and his produce in our lives.
I did some knitting – I finished a hat for Steve’s mom. We can be fraternal twins when we vote on Tuesday. And, yes – I am wearing my hat to vote! I also got to the sleeve decreases on Rock the Lobster! All this production knitting was courtesy of Michigan Football! 8-0 people, 8-0!!!
I started a new “record keeping system” for spinning. We will see if this works before I share all the details with you. However, I am so hopeful!
There was a wee bit of retail therapy – and new and SMALLER jeans were procured! Only one pair though, I am hoping they last at least through the end of January.
And, there was one extra hour!!
Finally, a reading update:
The Year of Living Danishly – 5 stars. I simply loved this book. I laughed, I learned, and I yearn! Things I learned: I am probably not neat enough to live in Denmark (but I might be able to fake it until I make it?) I want to have hygge in my life – and I think it might be the perfect thing to make winter better! I think that arbejdsglæde or work happiness is fascinating – and, really, who would not like an 18-and-a-half-day work month? I would have to step it up to “fit in” fitness-ly speaking – they are an exercising nation! They are also recycling fanatics, like I am, and they love to sing! And, they do Christmas right, and they start early – so yes, please – sign me up! I highly recommend this book!
The Girl on the Train – 2 stars. I thought the book had some great moments, however, the entire book was so disjointed. Perhaps my problem was listening, because if I was reading, I could easily flip back to figure out what was going on. That was not so easy listening to it. Sadly, I do not recommend this book.
He Who Fears the Wolf (Inspector Konrad Sejer Book 3) – 3 stars. I liked it, but it was not fascinating reading. Although, I did not know who “did it” until the end, the writer did not show the work that Inspector Sejer did to figure it out. I am on the fence as to whether or not I will read any more of her books at this time. My recommendation is read at your own risk.
That is all I have for today, but what I really want to know is how was your weekend?
And, we are a cat free house, so #caturday is not an option.
However, there is Sherman…and even though he is no fan of being photographed, this month I am going to try and capture what is uniquely him.
So Saturdays will now be Sherm-turdays!
And, he would like to remind you to turn your clocks back one hour when you go to bed tonight. And, that extra hour is just fine by Sherman since sleeping is what he does best!
Every once in a while, life is abundant in little bits of sunshine. This was one of those weeks. And, among the bits of sunshine a sweater was born!
Sigla is a ray of sunshine all by itself because knitting a Mary Jane Mucklestone sweater is really a joy! Thirteen days start to finish and while I did not beat my Stopover time of 35 hours; at the conclusion I have a sweater that I am in love with! I made some modifications to the pattern which you can read about here. Sigla is on her way to becoming a well-worn old friend! (And, thank you Steve for taking pictures just before the downpour began!)
If you have not yet knit one of Mary Jane’s patterns, I strongly urge you to do so! And, for speed of knitting – a lopapeysa is just the thing to ignite your sweater fire!
Now on to the Friday Links, which today are all about gift knitting:
Grose Cowl (which could easily be a Grellow Cowl if pink is not your thing!)
Now to round out the links – there is a very interesting MKAL that will be starting on November 25 to coincide with the Netflix release of the Gilmore Girls Encore Mini-season. There is no way I will get to this before Christmas, but it might be a good Christmas break knit! Who’s interested in joining me?
That is all I have for today, but the good news is that I will see you here tomorrow! NaBloPoMo marches on! My wish for you today is that your knitting is fast and easy and that your beverage of choice is chilled perfectly! Happy FriYAY everyone!
