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!
Think Write Thursday this week is all about teachers – especially a favorite teacher that most influenced you and how.
Teachers can change lives with just the right mix of chalk and challenges. Joyce Meyer
And thus, began the great internal debate – which teacher to use…
I suppose I am fortunate that I had so many great teachers over the years. However, there are two teachers and one very special aide who had tremendous impact on my life as a student and their influence stayed with me far beyond the classroom to my daily life.
To start out – I moved midway through first grade and that meant a new school – Lakewood Elementary on the “north side” of Holland, Michigan. Not much fun at all when you are a child of any age, but it was especially difficult because it was obvious that I was woefully behind my classmates in so many things. The worst of which was reading. I was not reading at all, yet my classmates were. Luckily, I spent time every single day with Mrs. Hayward and it was with her help that I began to read. She opened new doors for me and with her help I became a voracious reader. She helped me get caught up to my classmates and I then just blew past them. It might have been a slow start, but once I got going there was no stopping me! Thank you so much Mrs. Hayward!
The first teacher I want to share with you was my second-grade teacher, Miss Vanden Belt. Until I began to work on this post, I never realized that my second-grade year was her first year of teaching! Miss Vanden Belt was extra-special! She was the first teacher that truly made me excited about learning. I thought she was magical – she dressed just so perfectly, her enthusiasm was catching, and simply put – I just wanted to make her happy so I eagerly did whatever she asked! Now, I went to pre-historic grade school and there was never any homework. But, she kept the fire burning in me for reading and I devoured books – in class, from the school library, and even those great wonders – Scholastic Books! But, perhaps the best thing about Miss Vanden Belt was that she never forgot her students.
Ever.
I could run into her in Meijer’s and she would be as excited to see you as she was when you walked into class each morning. And, when you saw her again, she remembered your last conversation and asked how things were. And, you knew she sincerely wanted to know. I have not seen Miss Vanden Belt in years, but I think of her often.
The last teacher that had a tremendous impact on my life was Mr. Berghorst – he was my high school English teacher. I really loved him and took as many classes with his as I could. He was a very popular teacher with the students. Honestly, I can confidently say that he was everyone’s favorite teacher. As you can see, he was such a snappy dresser and was so different from every other teacher I ever had. He was a bit theatrical and his room was not your typical class room in very conservative Holland, Michigan. Encircling the room were hundreds of New Yorker magazine covers. I had never heard of the New Yorker magazine before Mr. Berghorst and that was just one of many things that he opened my eyes to during the classes I had with him. He taught the importance of critical thinking. His class room was a place that fostered lively discussion and how crucial listening is. He shared that there was a big huge world outside of West Michigan and he encouraged us to discover it with open minds. In his class I learned to overcome my fear of speaking in public, I learned how to write a paper that someone would want to read, and I learned that an open mind is the best thing you could possibly possess.
These very special people all had a wonderful influence on what and who I am today. I am so very grateful for all they imparted to my life.
If you would like to join Carole and I on our Thursday writing journey, you can sign up here.
The sleeves march on, and sadly not as quickly as the Sigla sleeves (which is finished and getting a nice soak this morning for her unveiling later this week!)
I just have miles and miles of blue to go.
The color work is done now just miles and miles of blue knitting.
Good thing I am taking the Gilmore Girls along for the ride. I am thoroughly enjoying them, and only moderately kicking myself for not watching them sooner because, really – they are making this blue knitting so pleasant!
And, for those of you who got the Dave Brubeck nod in the title – yes, Blue Rondo A La Turk is my ear worm today.
Sadly, there has been little reading here this week. I am still not finished with Karin Fossum’s He Who Fears the Wolf, however, I am almost done listening to The Girl on the Train – I have less than an hour to go.
Stay tuned for a nice book review post coming soon with lots of good things in it.
As always, I am joining Ginny’s Yarn Along where there is lots of great knitting and fantastic reads!
It seems like just yesterday that you were here, but then I look back at the year and I realize it has been a very full year. A year full of so many good things but with temps slated to be in the 70’s here again today – it hardly seems like it can even be November!
This has certainly been a lovely autumn.
I have much to be grateful about today beginning with the Halloween festivities of last night. It was not a banner year for visitors – we had less than 30 Trick or Treater’s. However, seeing their excited faces was an incredibly pleasant break in the usual evening activities. And, really – I prefer visiting children to the news of late! So, perhaps for the next week we can just replay last night. Sort of the “I am so sick of politics” version of the movie Groundhog Day.
Several of you kindly commented on the soup from my weekend. I roughly based it on a recipe I found here. Changes I made: I used left over roasted chicken from earlier in the week. I shredded the chicken and added it with the onions as they cooked. I used Trader Joe’s Cuban Black Beans and Cannellini beans (instead of kidney beans). I did not have diced tomatoes or a can of diced chiles. Instead I used a large can of whole tomatoes and crushed them with my hand before I added them and I added a can of Rotel™ tomatoes. Instead of corn, I diced up the last few Anaheim and Cubanelle peppers from our garden. So, I changed it quite a bit! Haha! It was good and will be made again!
Sigla’s sleeve number two is almost done – I just have the ribbing to finish and it will be done! Just in time too, because cooler weather is in the forecast!
Lastly, I am grateful for all of you who read my blog each day! Thanks to Random.org I have a winner – and that is commenter #8 – who is Carole of Carole Knits! This is especially wonderful because it is thanks to Carole’s invitation last year to join her in NoBloPoMo that reinvigorated my blogging and brought so many new friends to my life! Congratulations Carole – MDK’s Stripes will be on its way to your house!
