By this time next week, it will be November! How is that even possible? My focus for the remainder of 2018 is to slow down and savor these days.
Thinking About – Trees. Yes, that’s right, trees. I am almost done with The Overstory, and I think this might be the most fascinating book I have read all year.
Grateful For – The number of sunny days we have had recently. They are a balm to my spirit and we are getting to the Season of Endless Grey Days – so I would like to bottle up some of the sunshine to open when needed!
Inspired By –Arne and Carlos to make a few geranium clippings to overwinter in the house. Now, let’s see if I can manage to not kill them all… my interior green thumb is practically non-existent! Keep your fingers crossed for them and send some good grow mojo their way! Ha!
Fun, fun, fun – It has been quite chilly the past few mornings on my walk, so I have had mittens on the brain! These mittens certainly fill the fun category and they look super warm as well: En Halv Citron and Spunni!
That is all I have for today – have a great weekend and I will see you all back here on Monday!
This got me thinking… lots! Because there are some things that I recently have said yes to with great joy!
Thing One:
I am saying yes to a bit of Michelle GD as this year winds down. My first YES was to Gratitude Week, which begins on November 5th…this is such a lovely way to refocus and renew (and this is a free offering – her gift to you!) Last year, I did not take part in her December Just Five Things and this year I am not going to miss out on the insight she shares. And, it is the perfect way to slow down December – focus inwardly, rather than being overtaken by the rush of the season. Registration is open, you might want to say yes to this as well!
Thing Two:
Something that feels a little outside of my “knitting” comfort zone is Kid Silk Haze. Yet, I have managed to acquire a sizeable stash of this stuff. Again, with some inspiration from Mary, I am going to participate in Ambah’s ADVENTurer KAL… yes, using KSH. Mary planted the seeds and I think this might be the perfect thing for December – some slow knitting.
Thing Three:
While I said no to the year-long commitment of choir at church… I did say yes to singing one time in December. Our director has made this a super easy thing to do… the music tracks are online, so I have started practicing already and there will just be ONE rehearsal to attend.
And, there you have my ‘yes’ things! But, what about you? What are you saying yes to right now?
Want to see more things? Head on over to Carole’s!
This week the knitting has been focused…and the result is a finished blanket!
Things I learned:
Applied i-cord must be knit with a larger needle than you think…I should have done a practice square. The blanket is currently soaking and ready for its final “blocking” but, imo… the i-cord is a tiny bit tight. BUT… I am not taking it out and redoing it. I believe it will be okay in the finished product, but for blanket number two, I am going up in needle size to accommodate for my tension.
Joining squares and then rows means LOTS of ends to weave in. I was wise and left some of the edges to weave into the i-cord… three cheers to that me from this me! Well done!
Things take WAY longer than you think they will to complete. Blanket Two Assembly is underway…at.long.last.
Reading….
This is where I generally post books I have finished…. Except this week, I have NO FINISHES! I know…so sad. So, instead lets do this weeks current reads…
I am listening to Jon Meacham’s American Gospel: God, The Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation. I am just over half way though and I will hold my commentary until I have finished, but Meacham’s writing is wonderful!
I am reading The Overstory, which is fascinating. It seems to be a collection of stories about different people with the common thread of trees in the story… and as a hater of short stories, I must say I am loving this. Really. A lot! I have less than half to go to finish and I find that I am angry at myself for being tired and needing to put the iPad down. A true sign of a very good book!
That is what I have in progress this week… what about you? What’s on your making and reading list this week? If you wrote a post to share, please leave your link below!
On a weekend where almost everyone was at Rhinebeck and yours truly was sadly not! The best thing to clear out those “I wish I was there blues” is to do something fun and this was indeed a weekend of fun here in Western PA!
Friday Happy Hour was the perfect kick off, and it is my absolute favorite to do that right here at home. It is, imo, best done at home and we have our routine down! And, I have a hot tip to share… if your local Costco sells liquor, the Kirkland American Vodka is a winner! And, it comes with a price that is even nicer! Thank you, Traverse City Costco for having well stocked shelves!
Saturday, we made the big trek to Sewickley, with a stop at Sewickley Yarns where I did some very minor stash enhancement. Lunch however, was the star of the day! We discovered Najat’s Cuisine! This little Lebanese restaurant is a bit off the beaten path, but the food was incredible, and the owners were so warm and welcoming. We will absolutely be back!
We then headed to a local distillery for a few tastes! I figured this would be a good reward for Steve’s patience in the yarn shop… lol. McLaughlin Distillery is unique – it is very small – practically a one-man business. The distiller even makes the barrels he ages the whiskey in and we might have left with a bottle or two…
Sunday was my “nose to the grindstone” day… I powered through the i-cord and got blanket one done, but more on that tomorrow!
And, yet with all that fun we saved the best for last. We headed off into the Laurel Highlands on Monday and it was the most amazingly perfect day – sunny, clear, and yes… dare I say mild! We hoped to see some fall color in our visit to Fallingwater and Ohiopyle! And, while the fall color was very meh, Fallingwater was almost a religious experience. It is more magnificent than its photos! I was unaware of the history of the property, but the 5,100 acres originally were purchased by the Masons for a camping retreat. The Kaufmann family then purchased the property from the Masons in the 20’s with the idea that Kaufmann’s Department Store employees from Pittsburgh could vacation there to get out of the grime of the city and enjoy the fresh and restorative air at the Camp. At that time there was a train that ran with a stop about a mile from the Camp. In 1935 Frank Lloyd Wright designed the home in 1935 and construction was finished in 1937 and it was used by the Kaufmann family until 1963 when it was donated to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy intact – with all the original furnishings! There is a main home and a guest house. And, the rhododendrons… there are thousands of them around the house and along all the walk ways. The grounds are incredible to walk, and it is so amazing to see the house as a living part of the landscape, rather than an intrusion to it. Frank Lloyd Wright’s quote was achieved spectacularly at Fallingwater:
No house should ever be on a hill or on anything. It should be of the hill. Belonging to it. Hill and house should live together each the happier for the other.
We spent so much time at Fallingwater, we only stopped at the Ohiopyle falls before heading back home. It was the best possible ending to a wonderful long weekend!
I am closing with a couple of quick video’s of both Fallingwater and Ohiopyle! I hope your week is going well!
Now I am off to catch up on all your blogs! Happy Tuesday, all!
Houston…we have applied icord!! It was a very rocky start, but I figured it out and have been buzzing right along with it. I have about half of blanket one to do yet, but I am feeling great success!! Woo hoo!
Thinking About – The Instagram conundrum… why do I see all the posts I want to see when I open Instagram in a browser window on my pc but from the app on my phone I must search for friends’ posts? Really, this is making me so mad. Also, am I the only one getting a million “promoted” posts on the phone app? Instagram, you are making me crazy and not in a good way! I have been trying to go through and “turn on notifications” for all the people I want to see however, that is a process in itself! Yes… this is really not a problem in the scheme of things, but there you have it.
Grateful For – The spate of sunny days we have had recently! Even the chilly mornings are easier to take with bright blue skies! I only walked one day where it was a bit “misty” out, every other day was just glorious!
Inspired By – Robin’s Back to the Mat! Yes, this week has been hard (and there are still 2 more days to go!!) but I feel so accomplished when I complete my time on the mat! Note to self… be inspired by your own motivation!
Fun, fun, fun – This weekend is sure to be full of fun, especially since Steve is taking Monday off and we have plans to go and enjoy the southwestern PA sights! I will be back here on Tuesday to tell you all about it!
Things to ponder – The preliminary deets for Project Peace 2018 went up this week!! I did not knit a peace project last year and I really need some peace this year… badly! Proceeds will be donated to Seeds of Peace this year, and I am super inspired to participate. I am hoping that I will have some fellow peace-seeking knitters joining me!
And, that’s all I have for this week! Have a great weekend and I will see you all back here on Tuesday!
My things today are all NEW things we did in Michigan! (Or what not to miss when you visit Traverse City!)
Thing One:
The weather precluded us heading out to Sleeping Bear Dunes, but that might be a good thing. It forced us to discover the TART Trail and did we enjoy meandering on it! Part of it takes you along the West Bay and the day we went was wild! Crazy winds meant crazy waves on the bay! It also then intersects with downtown Traverse City and we stopped in to the Grand Traverse Pie Company to warm up. This was a first for us (I know… how is that even possible that I have NEVER stopped in here!?!) It was love at first bite let me tell you – and we went back for more bites! Ha! This little circuit also makes it convenient to then walk along the Boardman River where we saw even more surprises! The building art just made my day!
Thing Two:
We truly love all the Traverse City Microbreweries and this year our old standbys did not fail us. But, we discovered a new brewery not too far from TC in Cedar, MI – Big Cat Brewing Company – we had a beer flight with our lunch – both of which were excellent! We also spent a good bit of time at Lake Ann Brewing – this is super convenient as Heidi and Sam both live in Lake Ann. Lest you think it was just all beer, all the time (almost, but not quite!) We also hit up the Grand Traverse Distillery for some sampling. We both love their Barrel Aged Gin, but this time they also had Chocolate Vodka that was not sweet, but more dark chocolate-like! Yes, a bottle came home with us and I have some ideas for some holiday beverages percolating in my brain for it! We also discovered a new-to-us restaurant – Maddy’s Tavern and they make a killer Bloody Mary!
Thing Three:
A new and really odd thing… we did stop at Wool and Honey when we were in Cedar and I bought NOTHING. That’s right, not one skein of yarn…zero, zip, zilch, nada… Perhaps I could have used Kay’s spread sheet because my mind went blank and I could think of nothing I needed yarn to knit! I know, what on earth was wrong with me! Absolutely no stash enhancement at all on this trip, boo!
There you have our great trip to MI! Oh, and a shout out to our Airbnb host… we simply LOVED the cottage and will absolutely be back again!
There has been no unraveling at all (thank goodness!!) Which is doubly good since Julia Farwell-Clay posted this most timely Instagram post… YES, I am picking up the stitches correctly! However, I am MUCH slower than she is! I need to learn that yarn management thing she has going on!
While there has been no unraveling… sadly, there has been minimal knitting going on. Although, the sock saw some knit-time this week at Election Worker Training on Monday. Outside of that, I am still on the final seam of blanket number one and might be having some heart palpitations about the applied i-cord edging, but I think it will be a good thing to sit down and listen to my current listen, The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith. It took me a bit to get into this, but I think I have all l the people down which has helped tremendously! It’s a long book so it should be the perfect companion to all that i-cord edging!
There has been LOTS of cooking going on! I have been really jonesing for some autumnal meals – so I made chicken pot pie on Monday and stuffed butternut squash yesterday. But, the showstopper was David Liebovitz’sDorrie Greenspan’s French Apple Cake! I made it yesterday and the smell in the house was amazing! My only substitution to swap out the dark rum for some whiskey. It is a super easy recipe and it tastes like a lot more work than it was!
I did have some finished reads to share this week… so it was not a total bust!
I finished The Immortalists with mixed feelings. However, my thoughts have lingered on several things in the book… but that will not change my rating of 3-stars. I did not like the ending at all. I am not sure what to say about it without giving anything about the plot away but suffice it to say this dysfunctional family beat mine, hands down!
I also finished The Thing About December… this was a tough read for me. So much pain and sadness (these books probably were not the best combination to read concurrently). But the writing is brilliant. This does not beat The Spinning Heart or From a Low and Quiet Sea for me, but I am glad I read it and I gave it 4-stars.
But, what about you? What are you making and reading this week? If you wrote a post to share, please leave your link below!
I started reading The Overstory yesterday. It opens with a selection of poetry and this poem by Bill Niedjie struck me…deeply. I hope it moves you as well.
Tree…
he watching you.
You look at tree,
he listen to you.
He got no finger,
he can’t speak.
But that leaf….
he pumping, growing,
growing in the night.
Fall arrived in the ‘Burgh over the weekend… crisp days, very cool evenings, and yes, someone caved and turned on the heat but it was not me! And, my advice of putting on long pants versus shorts fell on deaf ears…
It was a weekend full of decorating for fall, but especially Halloween! Steve and I have been debating Halloween – do we give out treats? Do we pass? We decided that for the sake of the couple of neighbors with young kids, we will. These are the difficult decisions in life, I am telling you! Ha
It was not a weekend with much knitting. However, I did get my wheel out! I gave it a good tune up and I did some spinning! Saturday, I finished up the last bit of a braid of fiber from David at Southern Cross Fibre and yesterday, I plied it. It just needs a bit of a soak and I will see how much yardage I got. I don’t have enough for a pair of socks, but I think there will be enough for a pair of mitts!
There was also no baking – even though we got some lovely apples this weekend. I am hoping that I can solve that problem tomorrow! Today I have training to be an election worker!
Thinking About – As I am carefully assembling the blankets – I have been thinking about the two people I will send them to. One I know, one I do not but, as I have been joining each square I have been thinking about their struggle as they battle their illness. I have also been thinking about my inspiration for this – Annie has had some difficult days. She starts Round Three on Monday – so keep her in your thoughts!
Grateful For – Being back at home! While I love going away, and especially going to visit my kids – being gone makes me appreciate home much more. You know… your own bed, your own shower, and yes… I might even be looking forward to our “regularly scheduled happy hour” tonight!
Inspired by –Like Mary, I am also inspired by Robin’s Back to the Mat Challenge! I have fallen off the Pilates Wagon and this is just the thing I need to get me back on track after vacation!
Fun, fun, fun – This weekend the things on tap include visiting Janoski’s to get some apples to make an Apple Cake and getting out a few more Halloween decorations – although we are ready for Happy Hour, lol!
