It is me, or do the weeks somehow seem longer. I don’t know why that is, but boy… this week felt so.darned.long! I am chalking this up to the fact that COVID-emic-ELECTION days are some of the longest days ever, amirite? Anyways, this week felt like the perfect time to do a little TGIFing.
Takedown
Obama was in Philly on Wednesday and his speech was exactly what I needed this week! In case you missed it, or you need another dose of glorious Obama Eloquence, here you go!
Grieving
One of the best parts of my morning routine is listening to Tracy K. Smith share some beautiful thoughts and a poem. Sadly, this week she announced that she is leaving The Slowdown and at the end of the month it will go on hiatus until they find a new host. I will miss Tracy’s voice in my morning. I love her perspective, how she expanded my horizons, the poets she introduced me to, and especially how she made me think! I am trying to wrap my head around this change and how it will alter my mornings and mourning this loss.
Installing
Some months ago, the kitchen faucet was dripping. Okay. It was a the tiniest drip which was fixed with a firm shut off to the handle. Enter this the past couple of weeks and that is no longer working. Because, of course…right? End result…Steve is off today, and we are going to pretend we are plumbers and attempt to install a new faucet. Why us? Well, I called around to plumbers to get prices… and about had a coronary. Ummm, for those prices you’d think they were replacing the faucet, sink, and countertop!! Keep your fingers crossed that this goes well (and we don’t kill each other, lol) AND that by the end of the day I have a working kitchen sink with minimal extra trips to the hardware store! Ha!
all the FEELS
I know some of you are seeing your families on the regular, and I am happy for you… most days. The hardest thing I have ever done is this separation from my kids and grandkids. My kids are stressed, which makes me even more stressed. It sucks. But!! I know that I am not alone, there are many in blogland who are in the exact same boat I am and I want you to know I see you, I think about you, and I think about your kids scattered far and wide. My fervent hope is that things will stop being so damned urgent with more rising cases, and that a vaccine will become available that will be safe and effective…soon. Sooner than soon actually. I am not sure how much more I can take.
And that is a wrap for this week! I will be back on Tuesday to join Honoré to share my update on my word.
Weeks that feel unending makes for a fly-by weekend…or at least that is how it seemed here. The weekend was over before it began.
But maybe not… because I got so much done! My planner set up is working wonderfully and it feels good to have everything together. (sorry, I had planned on getting a photo this morning but it is dark and dreary and pouring down rain…sigh)
Yes, I am much farther along than this currently, but the light is not conducive to photography this morning!
In a scrolling of Twitter last week, I noticed that Kate Atherley was doing an impromptu sock KAL. I found some yarn and cast on Thursday night while we caught up on Big Brother and I managed to find time over the weekend to almost complete the leg of the first sock! Good thing because the heel is out sometime today!
Making good progress on my comfort-knitting sock. Anyone up for a little KAL? You need sock yarn and needles to get 32 sts in 4 ins/10cm. I am using @CandySkein Yummy Fingering in Ecto Cooler and 2.25mm. pic.twitter.com/rHjZ4ymCh0
— Kate Atherley is coming from inside the house (@kateatherley) October 13, 2020
But the most fun was beginning the process of knitting acorn caps, which I did while watching The Trial of the Chicago 7 on Netflix. It was so good (and perfect for cranking out several little caps!)
Acorns are so much fun, but even more so with special handspun! Thank you, Sarah!
Finally, I want to share my meditation for the week. I saw this late last week on Facebook and have used this meditation many times over the weekend…it is just exactly what I needed so I thought I’d share it with you. I hope you find it a help for your week ahead!
Happy Monday, everyone! See you all back here on Wednesday!
Overnight, the weather has changed…dramatically. Yesterday it was windy and mild… today grey, rainy, and much cooler. It seems that this prediction is spot on, lol… I am shocked because that rarely happens! Oh, and it seems that there is some *snow* in the forecast as well. Sigh.
Here is the temperature outlook as we move into mid-October.
Below freezing temperatures and maybe even some snow showers could occur in portions of our region. Stay tuned for further updates. pic.twitter.com/CMU40i0hsV
There are bits of color popping up all around me and I maximized the Fall Feeling by baking Apple Slab Pie this week. My freezer is now stocked with a bunch of “bites” of a little something sweet.
Earlier this week Steve told me there are just six Friday’s left in the year. Wait…wut?!? Ummm, no Steve… including today, there are 10 errr, 11(thanks Karen, lol). Not much better but, my panic level receded a bit! lol
Isabell Kraemer has a new sweater pattern out… oh my it is lovely! I have color work on the brain right now!
Finally, this interview from last Friday really hit home with me. I am on the very short waitlist at my library for Maggie Smith’s new book and I can’t wait!
I hope you all have a great weekend! See you all back here on Monday!
Last week ended on a stressful note… and then some. Oy.
Friday I had a doctors appointment…a stressful thing in itself…and after making it through the “COVID Screening” to get to my doctors office, I thought it would be smooth sailing from there, HA! Sadly, all my fears intensified when I walked into a very packed waiting room – like WAY too many people in a VERY small waiting room. I had arrived about 15 minutes early for my appointment and still had to wait about 45 minutes… gah! I have COVID fears right now… bad. But, the funniest thing happened in the exam room! My doctor is very soft spoken and wearing a mask does not inspire him to speak louder. I was feeling my age when I kept having to ask what he said over and over and over… yes, in hindsight, it was comical. At the time tho…oy.
From there, it was Flu Shot time! (Slightly shorter wait and, thankfully, way less people)
And if all that was not enough, somehow I thought hitting the grocery store would be a genius idea. HA! Grocery shopping at lunch time on a Friday… not so smart. But at least there is some food in the house now!
Our mail delivery has been sketchy at best, most days we get no mail. No bills, no junk mail, no mail period. I have long been signed up for “informed delivery” and you would think the PO would get sick of me telling them things were not delivered, but nope… it does not matter… I think we have Newman “delivering” our mail. Ha!
So mailing our ballots back to the county was not something I was willing to risk. Saturday morning we headed off to drop off our ballots. Yes, there were long lines! But it was like a well oiled machine! Want to vote? Enter Here! Want to drop off your ballot? Enter Here! So we excitedly, HAPPILY!! cast our ballots on Saturday! And let me tell you how amazing it felt to be voting with lots and lots of Biden Voters!! Hope springs eternal in the voting line!! (but again, LOTS OF PEOPLE!!)
After all that excitement, I was happy to return home and stay there for the remainder of the weekend!
I spent a good bit of time Sunday setting up my new calendar insert…and I am so excited to start this week with it! I have set up through the start of next year and it feels good! Now that laundry is underway I am going to spend some time organizing my inserts! Then I will feel ready to attack the week! I hope to share with you all next week how the new calendar set up is working!
Oh, and I have clean and fill some pens with autumn-y inks on my list today too!
Another week draws to a close with its own set of hiccups. I had hoped to have found more nuggets of time to feed my Acorn Obsession, but I think the diversion is one I would not trade for anything. And while I cannot share photos, I can tell you that I have a new granddaughter – Olivia Margaret and she is hale and healthy. Mother and baby are settling in just fine.
Yesterday I started the palest pink BSJ for her and managed to get a good start on it. I am making my way through the decreases and hope to find LOTS of knitting time this weekend so it can be finished next week and on its way to her!
My acorn bowl is sitting on the dining room table and I am eager to return to filling it. I love how I am using up the left over bits from Winston’s sweater. And, with luck, there might even be a pale pink acorn joining soon!
It felt so good to slam the door shut on September, whew… it was a rough month. I am debating with myself about even doing a September Look Back… and the don’t do it voice is winning right now. Thank you all for your kind thoughts regarding my struggle.
This morning I am trying to figure out how best to work on my budding phrenology chart as the days progress. It took me so long to get it set up… lots of erasing, lots of *hard* math because of course October has 31 days, thankyouverymuch. I have been thinking and thinking of how best to make this work in the flow of my days… and honestly, I don’t think a “circle” is the answer. I am toying with ideas… stay tuned.
In the “best Tweet of the Day” Category: @iamKimRL won hands down. This tweet… (and of course she did!)
Looks like RBG successfully argued her first case before God.
Because we are all still in the Stay at Home Boat, I really appreciated this Fall TV Preview from NPR. There are lots of interesting things there… something for everyone!
Gudrun Johnston’s Shetland Trader hit my email-box this week with a gorgeous sweater! (Rav Link). There is a woman’s and a unisex version (you get both with pattern purchase!) This green version made me stop, wow! And you can see a Plethora of Porty Pullover’s here on IG!
And my “informed delivery” email from the Post Office tells me that TODAY our mail in ballots arrive! Wahooo! By the end of the day I will have cast my ballot and will be hand delivering it to the drop-off site in Carnegie. Have you planned your vote? There is still time!
That is all I have for this week! Have a fantastic weekend everyone and I will see you all back here next week!
I know, I said I was not going to be back until tomorrow, but what can I say. Ha!
Do you ever feel in a rut? Well, I can tell you we sure do! Steve and I have been talking about how we are always doing/eating/listening to the same.things.every.week.
So this week, we changed things up a bit!
Happy hour was Thursday night, sans music, just quiet, some *different* food, and conversation.
Friday we did not have a happy hour, but rather we got take out (Pierogi Pie and beer FTW!) and we caught up on the Big Brother episodes we missed during the week. In hindsight, we probably would have been okay to eat there… it was a gorgeous day and we could have easily sat outside. It was surprisingly not busy, but of course, if we went with the idea of eating there it would have been packed, right? lol
Saturday, we tried to have an “impromptu” micro-happy hour out on the porch, as you can see above. However, we had to bail and head indoors because the mosquitos almost ate us alive! Which is very curious to me, especially since we have had virtually NO RAIN, as you can see from a tweet our local news station shared yesterday…
WEATHER: Today will be the fourteenth day in a row with no rain for our area. Find out when some much-needed rain could be on the way with the latest forecast from meteorologist @MaryOursWx! https://t.co/Qd85YxRkXD
Sunday morning Steve ran to Dunkin’ and brought home a pumpkin donut or two… oh man, are they so good!
The rest of the day was filled with Steve watching Steeler football while I finished the second sock for Winston! And they will be off in the mail today! Hopefully they will fit for at least a minute, lol.
And before we knew it, poof! the weekend was over and now we are looking Monday in the face. I have a substantial list of things to accomplish today, but I have a bright spot for this Monday morning… Pádraig Ó Tuama is back with a new season of Poetry Unbound!
I hope your Monday full of all kinds of good things!
