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!
Is it just me or does it seem like this week is moving a warp speed? My list is not long but it does not seem like I am making any dents at all!
I have no cohesive things this week, like my list – random, rambling, and disjointed!
Thing One:
I think I “caught” Genevieve’s cough and brought it home with me and cold and cough is just the worst kind of fog, amirite?
Thing Two:
Steve tells me this morning he is having a hard time “getting back to work” which I find hilarious because we have been back since Monday night and he has yet to work a full day (and I think he is leaving early again today…)
Thing Three:
Yesterday, Steve derailed my plan for the day (perhaps to get me back knitting his sock?? Ha) He left work early and dragged me with him to do so car shopping. Successful car shopping, as we are now the owners of a brand new 2018 Nissan Murano! The things I do for love… Ha!
That is my ‘brain dump’ for the day! Want to see more lists? Head on over to Carole’s where you will find much better lists than mine!
Today is all about catching up with my knitting, which will be especially welcome after doing grocery shopping, laundry, and cooking yesterday! That is after a long walk and some Pilates – vacations are great for lots of things, but diets? Not so much! Haha!
Very little knitting has happened since last week – although the sock has grown the tiniest bit. One would think in an 8 hour+ car ride I would have MUCH more done. However, the lack of knitting has something to do with a huge traffic jam on the turn pike and a comment about how I could be knitting while someone was so miserable (as if I was not equally miserable in said traffic jam) but there you have it – no knitting on the sock!
However, today I am back to turning this stack of squares into a blanket and with some focused attention, I hope to have both blankets done by this time next week! Although, I have a “training” next Monday because I am going to be an Election Worker in November in my precinct – so maybe a Friday finish is a better guess!
My reading has been so slow, but I should be done listening to Reservoir 13 today. And, the night-time reading has me almost done with The Thing About December as I have less than a third of the book to go.
Hopefully, reading kicks into high gear because I have a bunch of things that just came off hold!
Inspire me, Unravelers… what are you making this week?! And, if you have a post to share, please leave your link below.
Welcome to the Vacation Unraveled where there is not much making of anything but memories going on!
The vacation knitting has slowed considerably, but I did start a vacation sock. This was to be my ‘car knitting’ but I am carrying it with me everywhere! Monday there was some Oral Surgeon Knitting when we were there with my son while he had a little procedure. It was also in Frankfort at the lake, and has been in microbreweries all over the area! It will be a sock with a good story, that is for sure! Haha!
This is all I have knit thus far – but it is super portable and easy to pick up and put down, unlike Tegna which is a bit to lug around!
The reading is doing a bit better though! I managed to finish Everything Trump Touches Dies by Rick Wilson. This might be the first book about this train wreck of a presidency to make me laugh since the Orange Ogre took office, but much of what Rick talks about are things I have heard him speak about or tweet about before – although he does use the best words! I gave it 2-stars.
At night, I am reading a page or two from another Donal Ryan book… The Thing About December. It is the perfect “end of day” read!
Also, I am listening to People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks – and I am actually getting some listening time in because we are walking LOTS!
What are you making and reading this week? Inspire me! Please! If you wrote a post to share today, please leave your link below!
