by Kat | Nov 20, 2017 | General, In This Moment
By the time you read this, the ribbon facing will be stitched on and the buttons all sewn in place! Glamor shots coming shortly!
However, the good news is that my Nana’s button collection had oodles of choices. I went with 10 matching buttons (and there are still 5 left for replacements!). This little box is just jam-packed full of buttons of all shapes and sizes!
Some of my favorite are these old shank buttons. Believe it or not, there is an entire bag filled with shanks buttons, with enough for more than a dozen sweaters in need of buttons!
I don’t think that The Button Treasury is still in existence, but don’t you just love the hand typed label? Now my next question is this, why did she order buttons from NYC?
Happy Monday, everyone!
by Kat | Nov 13, 2017 | General, In This Moment
Last week I “pulled the trigger” and started listening to Christmas music on the Sonos. I know, what was I thinking? Except, it was a super grey, super depressing week and I needed a pick me up and the best pick me up I know is Christmas music.
And, even though it is early, it was a much-needed balm for my week. I am not your typical Christmas music listener either. Give me choirs singing so I can pick my part (sometimes Alto, sometimes Tenor) and sing along for all I am worth! That’s right, I am one of those “sing along with every song” kind of people.
I also love just pure instrumental music, that way if the words I know are not the words that they are singing, I have no clash of the lyrics! These things are important, you know! Haha!
Today I am sharing some of my most loved “never too early to sing the blues away” music picks for pre-Thanksgiving Christmas listening:
First up, A Scottish Christmas with Bonnie Rideout. This is truly a beautiful album? CD? MP3? All instrumental and all incredibly beautiful. Bonus in that these are all old carols, which I just love.
Next in my Christmas queue is Welcome Yule! Which features Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols… I mean, if you like to sing, this is a must have!
Finally, The Chieftains, The Bells of Dublin which has an incredibly diverse group of musicians!
There is one dear friend who loves Christmas maybe even more than I do, and she is sharing her Christmas music favorites on her blog today! So, go stop by Beth’s to see what’s on her list! AND, the singing might be a little better in her house!
by Kat | Nov 6, 2017 | General, In This Moment
…are full of gratitude!
The weekend was so full of so many good things. Thankfully the rain held off until late in the day so there was lots of out-door time. The gardens were put to bed. And, the extra hour was used for reading!
Sunday’s torrential downpours did not put a damper on the day at all; Steve watched football and I read some more. I even managed to knit a bit, but more on that later this week!
Over the weekend I also got myself “caught up” with 30 Days of Gratitude and Michelle GD’s Gratitude week kicks off today! I am feeling very ready to immerse myself in gratitude and have the makings for a most grateful month! This is much-needed because I was not feeling the November love at all!
So, Hello Monday! I am feeling recharged, extremely grateful, and ready to begin a new week!
What about you?
by Kat | Oct 30, 2017 | General, In This Moment
The weekend weather made any outside activities a bust (unless you love it cold, windy, and rainy…) but we made it the perfect interior weekend despite the exterior conditions!
Saturday morning, we made our final visit of the season to our favorite farmer who will be heading back to Oaxaca, Mexico soon. The final farmer’s market is always a bitter-sweet experience but, we left with pie pumpkins, Brussels sprouts, onions, garlic, and lots of apples. My kitchen will be busy over the next week or two!
We then moved Swedish Death Cleaning to the basement and liberated some much-needed space and we also unearthed the exercise bike which the forecast is telling me was extremely necessary! I will need it after the eats and treats from the weekend along with the extremely sedentary activities of watching football, and knitting, with an extra ration of reading! Football watching was very good and the knitting was too! I knit a bit on Laura Aylor’s Sand Ripples and listened to What Happened.
The first half of Sunday was busy for me – this year is the 500th anniversary of the Reformation! Which for me meant there was ringing and singing and lots and lots of joy!
The second half of Sunday had more football watching (for Steve) and more knitting and reading for me! However, it is easier to read and knit in the round than it is to read and knit and count rows so I spent a bit more time with Rusty on Sunday. (Pro-tip: large print books are EXCELLENT for knitting and reading!) At the end of the day I found myself with the body completed! All in all was an incredibly relaxed day and there was absolutely no time spent on making a list or planning for the week, so my Monday will be focused on that!
How about you? How was your weekend?
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by Kat | Oct 24, 2017 | General, In This Moment
I took so many photos while we were on vacation, and while a good number of them were taken with my phone – I did take a quite a few with the “big camera”.
Here are my big camera vacation memories. (With a few iPhone photos interspersed!) I hope you enjoy!
Have an awesome Tuesday!
P.S. I saw this on kmkat & her needles yesterday and it is a wonderful cause. And, as kmkat says, the ultimate “potato chip knitting”!
by Kat | Oct 23, 2017 | General, In This Moment
Or, what I did on my weekend.
Who knew that while living worlds apart, Marie Kondo and Margareta Magnusson were traveling the same path. I am well into reading The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning (or döstädning) and it has invigorated me and filled with all kinds of KonMari joy!
Enter the weekend, and so began the dreaded task of closet cleaning.
As Monday dawns, I am sufficiently thrilled at the cleaning, sorting, and shedding of unwanted things. I have a nice stack to take to the resale shop as well as a huge stack heading off to good will. And, this morning my trash man will haul away those things that were relegated to the trash pile!
AND, I managed to finish up the volunteer budget work on Sunday afternoon!!
That is a huge load off my mind and I intend to use that freed up space to plot out my fall knitting and do some swatching and sweater planning this week! I did break down last week and swatched for “Rusty” and after figuring out gauge, I cast on Thursday night and by the end of the weekend I am almost half way done with the body.
This week my “to do” list is so much lighter, it almost feels like no list at all. And, for this Monday morning – that is a very good thing!
How was your weekend?
