by Kat | May 23, 2017 | General, In This Moment
Reading: After being on the wait list for eons at the library for the second Tana French book, I got the loveliest email late yesterday that it is now available. So, I downloaded it this morning and will start reading it today! I also was stunned to get an email this morning that a book suggestion from Mary for my Book Bingo list came in also. Gah! I have not downloaded it yet… But I did add a few more books to my summer book bingo list. I basically have mapped out my summer reading and I could not be happier. I shared Book Bingo with some friends at church on Sunday and I was thrilled to get an email yesterday filled with excitement about book choices!
Watching: Not much, really. I finally caught up with Call the Midwife and Homefires on PBS. There are things I want to watch, but have no burning desire to sit down and watch them. I had been an avid watcher of The Leftovers on HBO, but this final season has been a huge disappointment. So much so, I am not certain I will finish watching it. Perhaps a plan of 60 minutes in the morning riding the stationary bike and watching something on Netflix or Amazon Prime will accomplish two things at once? Stay tuned!
Listening: My audible book library is chocked full of good things to listen to and all of them are on my summer reading list. I am slowing down on Moby Dick to finish it on Memorial Weekend (and thus giving me my first square!)
Knitting: It seems like every year about this time, Knitting Ennui strikes. I am restless and not much interested in any of the projects I have going. It is indeed a sad state of affairs. However, last night I might have found the cure…I got some yarn to sample from Love Knitting – a lovely cotton from Sweden “MillaMia” and they sent three colors. Hmmm, a method to their madness? I have never knit any creatures so I was unsure how much I would like it. But, I cast on Alex the Mouse to test out the yarn and the pattern last night. So far, so good! I also have finally (almost) finished half of a pair of socks for Steve. I will be finalizing my summer knitting projects today and will share my list tomorrow. Stay tuned!
Eating: All the asparagus, really – all of it! Janoski’s shared yesterday that this is about the end of it. Will there be more next week? I do not know, but they can keep these amazing strawberries coming, please! They also had the most gorgeous Swiss Chard yesterday. The eating is so good in my neighborhood right now!
Loving: So many things!
- To start out – the weather, although we had a couple of days in the 90’s, for the most part it has been the perfect spring.
- Next up, the variety in my garden this year – we have 10 different varieties of tomatoes, 3 varieties of peppers, beans, some kind of squash (thanks to no plant labeling but they are either zucchini or summer squash) cucumbers (thanks to a happy accident at the greenhouse) and we added in a new variety of rhubarb this year! In the perennial beds, we added in some new plants this year as well; all of the deer resistant variety. So far, so good! Although the bunnies are making quick work of the cone flowers and they also love the leaves on the lilies! All this gardening makes me so happy!
- Last, but certainly not least: my stitching! I could not be happier than I am in the few moments I spend each day stitching. I have also been watching Vicki and Kym stitch such beautiful Alabama Chanin garments. I am absolutely intrigued. Perhaps over the summer I will stitch up one of these and see how it turns out and I bet Steve has an old tee shirt I can use!
And, finally: Selling LipSense… and loving it. If there is something you’d like, message me and I will be glad to help you! (Also, I have been using their skin care for over a month now and if you want to hear about the changes it has made, I would be thrilled to share with you!)
That is what is currently my world. What’s in your world right now?
by Kat | May 19, 2017 | General
Hullo, Friday!!
Who else besides me, looked at the calendar and got excited that next weekend is Memorial Day weekend?
This weekend is the kick off to so many good things!
- Summer
- Book Bingo
- My Summer Knit Along
In preparation for Book Bingo I spent a good bit of time yesterday on Goodreads and on my library website looking for books for my squares and I have most of them plotted out. One book has a mile-long waiting list – so that moves to the “purchase” category. Two books have a short waiting list and I got on the list now so I know I will be able to get it before Labor Day! All the others, I am golden on and this is a very good start, don’t you think? I still am pondering a few categories: A Banned Book (outside of the US), a Biography of a royal (which royal will I pick?), About art/artist(s), and recommended by a family member (I am hoping my Blogging Family will chime in and give me a recommendation!!)
Today, the real prep work for Summer Knit-Along begins. I will be going through my projects I want to get done and put them in some kind of order. Unlike last year, where I had lots of things with little bits to finish, this year I have things that are either barely begun or not begun at all to finish! I am hoping that the pairing of knitting with Audiobooks will help kick the knitting into overdrive! And, as you can see above, the KAL knitting is moving along smoothly – I love the fabric this stitch pattern is making! This is not my usual yarns to knit with either, but I love them all stranded together and I am ready to wind another ball of the bamboo yarn.
And, that brings us to summer. We got the rest of the vegetable garden planted yesterday and we had a few surprises…we thought we got zucchini and summer squash, but we got an “unknown squash” and bush cucumbers. Yeah, bravo on my reading skills…NOT! Our neighbor gave us a dozen tomato plants – some of which got in the “deer proof garden” and a few will be testers in a couple of new beds that are not deer proof. This will either be wildly successful (okay, I know I am fooling myself here!) or the deer will get some treats of heirloom tomatoes, but can they possibly eat them all? Perhaps a bit of sharing is an okay thing to do…amirite?
I also have some perennials to add to the bed we did last year. Some things did not make it over the winter, but as you can see – the Foxglove certainly did! It is just loaded with blooms! I probably should have divided it earlier this spring…but, I can’t wait. I also moved a yarrow plant from the front beds that was just not thriving at all. I am hoping this move will be good for it and it is happy in its new home!
So, with lots of things to do today, I think it is time for some links:
That is all I have for this week! See you back here on Monday – have a great weekend everyone!
P.S. Please don’t forget to share your book recommendations! XOXO
by Kat | Apr 24, 2017 | General, In This Moment
It was really a great weekend with some must do things and some fun things – good balance is the key in all things, right?
A big high point for the weekend was the first trip of the year to Janoski’s and the local asparagus was in so of course we loaded up! They also loaded us up with some “free for the taking” hyacinths which were still blooming beautifully! I cut the top-heavy ones off to sweeten my office. They will be planted in the garden along with the paperwhites from January. But, that fragrance! It is so heady. I really love it!
The lilac bush has burst into a tiny bit of color, but the most amazing thing is all the new shoots that came up this year! Great job to Steve from snatching it from the trash pile – it took three years of nurturing, but I think it is going to make it!
I started the MDK KAL on Friday and sadly, by Saturday I knew these colors had issues. They aren’t playing well together at all. To my eye, it looks muddy and even though I love both yarns individually, together…. not so much. So, by Sunday Plan B was hatched and wound and cast on. I will be joining Mary on the One-Color Yarn Bus. This is not necessarily a bad thing. This is some of my oldest stash that was procured eons ago at the Michigan Fiber Festival (I think it was the first one I ever attended!) Anyway, the colorway is Basil and I think it will work.
I cannot see the stitch pattern at all in the two color version.
Muddy, even in black and white
We even got a tiny bit of work done in the garden as well and that feels so good! There is plenty more to do, but the work has begun.
How was your weekend?
by Kat | Apr 11, 2017 | General, In This Moment
Hi.
Yes, it is Tuesday…and I got nothing.
Not.one.single.thing.Tuesday.
So, I am making a post out of all that nothing.
- Since I told you yesterday about my Rhubarb Dilemma… it has gotten much bigger. Transplantation.must.happen.today.
- The Sweater (apparently from hell) is on the verge of rip-back…again. I am very unsatisfied with the way the increases/decreases are looking. Currently, there is an internal debate raging about whether to frog back and re-do them at a different pace…. Yeah. Excitement for this sweater is nil right now.
- Some weeks this is the truest statement ever: The faster I go, the more behind I get….
- We went from spring to summer in 2.4 seconds, apparently. Now, here is the kicker…. Neither Steve or I were dying from the 80 degree temperatures. We joked about no AC until we went to bed and Sherman was panting and miserable. Perhaps AC and flannel sheets will be all the rage this summer….
- I feel like I have this great cloud looming over me… you know, when you feel like you are forgetting something and have absolutely no idea what it could be? I have triple checked my calendars and journal but I find nothing. Yet, the feeling persists.
- Speaking of persisting…on April 23 I am attending a Tattoo Fund Raiser and yes… I am getting “nevertheless she persisted” tattooed on my person! I am super excited for new ink!
There you have it, a nothing Tuesday post with somethings. I hope your day is filled with more somethings and absolutely no nothings!
by Kat | Apr 10, 2017 | General, In This Moment
My dear little lilacs are hanging in there, despite some frigidly cold temps at the beginning of the weekend. And, then came Sunday… and it was just glorious!
We actually did yard work and I loved every second of it! Sunshine. Birds. Working in the garden!
My Rhubarb needs to be divided and I fear I might have waited too long. Anyway, I want to put it in a container as they show in this video. I don’t have a container yet. But, it is on my list to get done this week. Hopefully, this does not harm the Rhubarb… but it has to be done.
Also, the raspberries are going crazy! And, spreading like mad! Raspberries should be in abundance this year – and last year was not bad either, I was picking enough berries in one day to make a pint of raspberry jam – so, I am really excited!
Outside of that it was a pretty quiet weekend, although we did go and have lunch with friends at Café Dehli (it was my first time there) and holy crap, was it good! So, when they rolled me out of there after we were done…. Yeah, I am not looking forward to weigh-in this week, lol!
There was some knitting this weekend as well, I will share that with you all on Wednesday.
Hope your Monday is full of good things – mine will be more outdoors than in! And, I could not be happier about that!
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