Hello, November | 2022

Hello, November | 2022

Last month, I copied Carole’s idea to welcome the new month… I liked it. It kept me focused. And it was semi-successful! Ha!

So, Welcome November!

In November, the smell of food is different. It is an orange smell. A squash and pumpkin smell. It tastes like cinnamon and can fill up a house in the morning, can pull everyone from their bed in a fog. Food is better in November than any other time of the year. — Cynthia Rylant, In November

Yes to all of that! I am all about the November eats! Pumpkin pie, stuffing, turkey. Yes please! Haha! And even though I cook for a “scaled down” version of Thanksgiving. I still like to have all the parts! November, you are so good!

But food aside, there are some things I want to accomplish this month and I do have a couple of “carry overs” from October’s list as well! I put them up top on my list so they are sure to get done (or at least started… see Steve’s socks! lol)

The List of More has some really good things on it:

  • More Studio Tunics, please! Yes, I have two corduroy tunics to sew! The fabric arrived the day before we left so I have a good excuse for not getting them done, but as soon as I have the fabric washed, the sewing will begin!
  • I have one sock to knit… still. So Steve’s Sock gets a spot again. Sigh. My excuse… I lost a needle (and I have torn the house apart looking for it…grrr!) I can knit the sock with 4 needles, but I prefer 5. So I need to get another set of needles. This yarn is thin and really needs a size zero, so I need to make a stop at JoAnn’s and pronto!
  • It’s November which means I have a new Gnome to knit! The Eleventh! And I have selected Gnemo for this month! Colorwork, a sweater, and a curly beard!
  • There is a fun new thing to add this year… watercolor Christmas cards! Yes, instead of buying cards this year – I bought card stock to paint on! I am even contemplating doing a painting for Steve’s Mom and Dad for Christmas. Stay tuned!
  • And speaking of watercolor… yes, I start another class today! Kym and I are committed to keeping each other painting and I am so glad! She inspires me and I just love how painting makes me feel.
  • The tomatoes were are still cranking out tomatoes before we left for Erie, so I left them (and came home to find a bowlful to pick!) but I will be pulling them this next week (we are having a week of temps in the 60’s here, so maybe they will keep on cranking out tomatoes and in the dark o’clock to take Sherman out it looked like more were ‘on the verge’ of being ripe!) But they will get pulled – eventually – so I can put their pots to bed for the season.

Now for the Less is More category… because you know that November needs to have at least one thing that I need a lot less of, right?

  • Christmas… yes, in November. I like to decorate once Thanksgiving has happened…so Black Friday? Well it’s Trim the House Friday in my house! But this year I am contemplating downsizing the volume of decorating I do. Perhaps a Less is More approach and I don’t know how I feel about that, but I have some time to contemplate…I am generally a person who embraces change but Christmas decorating is all about the care of a little girl who missed out on all that fun. I grew up in a house that put up a tree on Christmas Eve and it was gone the day after Christmas. So I think you can imagine that because of that, I take Christmas to the top… and then push it over. But I am not that child anymore (or at least I hope I am not) and this year of really thinking about what a Full Life is… and is not… has me thinking about full not meaning all.the.things. but perhaps having the all the best parts…and finding joy in them. I have tried to do this in previous years and I have always felt like so much was missing. So my goal is to view this from a different approach this year and achieve success… I hope. Ha!

And with that, I have my “November Lists”… What’s on your list this month?

See you all back here on tomorrow with some Unraveling!

P.S. In case all you readers out there are in fear of a solid month of blog posts… never fear, there will be no #NaBloPoMo for me again this year. Whew, right?

 

Looking Back | November 2019

Looking Back | November 2019

I have come to regard November as the older, harder man’s October. I appreciate the early darkness and cooler temperatures. It puts my mind in a different place than October. It is a month for a quieter, slightly more subdued celebration of summer’s death as winter tightens its grip. — Henry Rollins

Henry Rollins certainly has November pegged! This month saw the most dramatic changes, I think. From colored leaves to bare trees. From gently warming days to repeated frosts. And, rain… a colder wintry rain, no longer the warm rains of summer and early fall! There was one day (the 6th) that the photos were so spectacular, I could not pick just one! It was a month that in looking back upon, there was much to be full of gratitude for, which if you asked me before this post – I would have been was hard pressed to say there was much to find gratitude in at all! I am profoundly grateful for these images that have helped me refocus.

November in 58 seconds was not bad either!

There was moving my body – indoors and out! There was so much good food and even a bit of snow! I sadly missed one day of video – so you get a double dose of Steve in his Jerome Bettis super-special and amazing jersey… only in Pittsburgh is this such a big deal! (Also, please note that though Steve hates modeling knitwear, he is eager to show off his jersey… just sayin’ lol)

I hope your November was spectacular as well! See you all back here tomorrow for a bit of Unraveling!

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