Friday Finds | 11.13.20

Friday Finds | 11.13.20

Every Friday, I like to high-five myself for getting through another week on little more than caffeine, willpower, and inappropriate humor. — Nanea Hoffman

Hello, Gentle Readers and Happy Friday!

I hope that none of you suffer from triskaidekaphobia and that today is simply the gateway to the weekend!

Here in the ‘Burgh, its been a week of all.the.weathers! We have had sunny, clear days with temps in the 70’s, we have had soggy, rainy days with loud claps of thunder for extra emphasis, and this morning… a hard frost greeted Sherman and I as we went out for his morning constitutional. This meant it was a very short trip, with lots of those “looks”… yes, his little toes were cold! lol

This week, I found some very good things to share with you all!

First up, contemplating Thanksgiving with a group of your family or friends? You might want to utilize the COVID-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool. It also helped Steve determine the risk for everyone at his office (they have a 27% risk) and thus, lay the law down about mask wearing at all times…no exceptions.

Thanks to Andy Slavitt’s podcast this week, I discovered Livinguard masks and we ordered some! But I found especially useful the parts on grocery shopping, which I confess have become quite lax on the amount of time spent in the store… wandering, looking, dawdling. A wake up call for me…in Allegheny County (where I live) if there are 50 people in the store the risk jumps to 72% (yikes! and there are usually more than 50 people there, so yeah.)

Finally, Good Knitters, TODAY IS YOUR DAY! It is Cardigan Day! I mean… it is a day made for us, amirite?!? That this coincides with World Kindness Day is just the icing on the cake. Because the most famous Cardigan wearer in the world was also the kindest person ever. So get your cardigan on and spread some kindness today! However, you all have LOTS of work to do to beat Sarah! She wins Cardigan Day, hands down!

And with that, let’s get this weekend started! See you all back here on Monday!

TGIF | 11.6.20

TGIF | 11.6.20

Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on. — Thurgood Marshall
Thinking About —

This from the NYTimes. The hardest thing for me is this…58% of white men and 55% of white women voted for Trump. How the eff?

 

 

I don’t know how to heal this, how to get over this, or how to fix it and that is the thing that most upsets me.

Grateful For —

Laughter. It is certainly necessary! I found this most brilliant, and yes…the internet remains undefeated!

Inspired By —

The tenacity of the Black community. Thank goodness, they did not give up! They truly saved this election! I am so proud of Philadelphia, whose wise and wonderful voters just gave Joe a lead of 5,587 votes in PA. (And let’s not forget Detroit either… their final results: Joe Biden, 93.51% and Donald Trump, 5.06%… oh hell yeah!)

I believe that is game, set, match with 273 Electoral Votes! Thank you, Philly!!

Finally —

The Avett Brother’s to start our weekend celebration!

See you all back here next week!

TGIF | 11.6.20

TGIF | 10.23.20

It is me, or do the weeks somehow seem longer. I don’t know why that is, but boy… this week felt so.darned.long! I am chalking this up to the fact that COVID-emic-ELECTION days are some of the longest days ever, amirite? Anyways, this week felt like the perfect time to do a little TGIFing.

Takedown

Obama was in Philly on Wednesday and his speech was exactly what I needed this week! In case you missed it, or you need another dose of glorious Obama Eloquence, here you go!

Grieving

One of the best parts of my morning routine is listening to Tracy K. Smith share some beautiful thoughts and a poem. Sadly, this week she announced that she is leaving The Slowdown and at the end of the month it will go on hiatus until they find a new host. I will miss Tracy’s voice in my morning. I love her perspective, how she expanded my horizons, the poets she introduced me to, and especially how she made me think! I am trying to wrap my head around this change and how it will alter my mornings and mourning this loss.

Installing

Some months ago, the kitchen faucet was dripping. Okay. It was a the tiniest drip which was fixed with a firm shut off to the handle. Enter this the past couple of weeks and that is no longer working. Because, of course…right? End result…Steve is off today, and we are going to pretend we are plumbers and attempt to install a new faucet. Why us? Well, I called around to plumbers to get prices… and about had a coronary. Ummm, for those prices you’d think they were replacing the faucet, sink, and countertop!! Keep your fingers crossed that this goes well (and we don’t kill each other, lol) AND that by the end of the day I have a working kitchen sink with minimal extra trips to the hardware store! Ha!

all the FEELS

I know some of you are seeing your families on the regular, and I am happy for you… most days. The hardest thing I have ever done is this separation from my kids and grandkids. My kids are stressed, which makes me even more stressed. It sucks. But!! I know that I am not alone, there are many in blogland who are in the exact same boat I am and I want you to know I see you, I think about you, and I think about your kids scattered far and wide. My fervent hope is that things will stop being so damned urgent with more rising cases, and that a vaccine will become available that will be safe and effective…soon. Sooner than soon actually. I am not sure how much more I can take.

And that is a wrap for this week! I will be back on Tuesday to join Honoré to share my update on my word.

Friday Things | 10.16.20

Friday Things | 10.16.20

Overnight, the weather has changed…dramatically. Yesterday it was windy and mild… today grey, rainy, and much cooler. It seems that this prediction is spot on, lol… I am shocked because that rarely happens! Oh, and it seems that there is some *snow* in the forecast as well. Sigh.

There are bits of color popping up all around me and I maximized the Fall Feeling by baking Apple Slab Pie this week. My freezer is now stocked with a bunch of “bites” of a little something sweet.

Earlier this week Steve told me there are just six Friday’s left in the year. Wait…wut?!? Ummm, no Steve… including today, there are 10 errr, 11(thanks Karen, lol). Not much better but, my panic level receded a bit! lol

Isabell Kraemer has a new sweater pattern out… oh my it is lovely! I have color work on the brain right now!

Finally, this interview from last Friday really hit home with me. I am on the very short waitlist at my library for Maggie Smith’s new book and I can’t wait!

I hope you all have a great weekend! See you all back here on Monday!

Friday Thoughts | 10.2.20

Friday Thoughts | 10.2.20

Another week draws to a close with its own set of hiccups. I had hoped to have found more nuggets of time to feed my Acorn Obsession, but I think the diversion is one I would not trade for anything. And while I cannot share photos, I can tell you that I have a new granddaughter – Olivia Margaret and she is hale and healthy. Mother and baby are settling in just fine.

Yesterday I started the palest pink BSJ for her and managed to get a good start on it. I am making my way through the decreases and hope to find LOTS of knitting time this weekend so it can be finished next week and on its way to her!

My acorn bowl is sitting on the dining room table and I am eager to return to filling it. I love how I am using up the left over bits from Winston’s sweater. And, with luck, there might even be a pale pink acorn joining soon!

It felt so good to slam the door shut on September, whew… it was a rough month. I am debating with myself about even doing a September Look Back… and the don’t do it voice is winning right now. Thank you all for your kind thoughts regarding my struggle.

This morning I am trying to figure out how best to work on my budding phrenology chart as the days progress. It took me so long to get it set up… lots of erasing, lots of *hard* math because of course October has 31 days, thankyouverymuch. I have been thinking and thinking of how best to make this work in the flow of my days… and honestly, I don’t think a “circle” is the answer. I am toying with ideas… stay tuned.

In the “best Tweet of the Day” Category: @iamKimRL won hands down. This tweet… (and of course she did!)

Because we are all still in the Stay at Home Boat, I really appreciated this Fall TV Preview from NPR. There are lots of interesting things there… something for everyone!

Gudrun Johnston’s Shetland Trader hit my email-box this week with a gorgeous sweater! (Rav Link). There is a woman’s and a unisex version (you get both with pattern purchase!) This green version made me stop, wow! And you can see a Plethora of Porty Pullover’s here on IG!

And my “informed delivery” email from the Post Office tells me that TODAY our mail in ballots arrive! Wahooo! By the end of the day I will have cast my ballot and will be hand delivering it to the drop-off site in Carnegie.  Have you planned your vote? There is still time!

That is all I have for this week! Have a fantastic weekend everyone and I will see you all back here next week!

 

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