by Kat | Mar 3, 2025 | General, Welcome
How terrible a time is the beginning of March. In a month there will be daffodils and the sudden blossoming of orchards, but you wouldn’t know it now. You have to take spring on blind faith. — Beatriz Williams
March certainly roared in like a lion here in the south hills of Pittsburgh… for a time on Saturday it looked like a snow globe outside with the flurry of flakes that filled the skies and quickly covered the ground! Couple those flakes with 30+ MPH winds and bitterly cold temperatures and I was reminded that it is still winter despite the signs of spring that are “popping up” everywhere!
I spent some time Saturday afternoon, while the winds raged outdoors reclaiming some yarn from a sweater that never worked (and no, it was not the big cabled sweater… I thought I’d start “smaller” and see how the unraveling process worked.) It went surprisingly fast… sigh. All that reclaimed yarn – an incredible CVM 2-ply – is having a bit of a bath this morning. I have two stacks of things from my latest “closet clean out” that I plucked the sweater from (the “repurpose” pile”) The other is a “repair” pile that I’d like to get to this month… things like hem repairs, button reattachments, and seam reinforcements.
From a sweater to “fusilli” and now having a good long soak to work out the kinks!
Outside of unraveling sweaters, I really want to spend the month thinking about my living “spaces.” This means cleaning out a drawer or two, but also contemplating new furniture arrangements! And maybe a new rug for the living room!
Oh… and that refrigerator clean out from last month? Yeah that did not happen… so maybe I will get to it this month!
What about you? What do you hope March holds?
Header photo by Bich Tran
by Kat | Dec 2, 2024 | General, Welcome
It is December, and nobody asked if I was ready. — Sarah Kay
Hello December,
How are you here already?! I mean, I swear it was just July! I know that I might have silently wished for a cool December breeze on one of the many hot July afternoons… but really, it was just a passing thought!
And I for sure was not ready for you to come roaring in like a much colder and incredibly windier version of a March Lion!
I asked all my kids for “lists” … or ideas… early in November. I am still list-less on all fronts so I think a bit of Nagging Mother needs to be released into the Text-World.
Also… of course I did not get all my bulbs in during the mild November days. I still have 50 varied hyacinths to plant. I am hoping for a bit of a warm up this week, but I think nature has other plans for me because our forecast is full of bitterly cold, well below freezing days. Sigh.
Franklin gets his final puppy shots this morning… and I am hoping to get his “snip” surgery scheduled for January. I have also reached the point of really hoping for him to be done having to go out in the middle of the night. Things I did not consider before beginning this Puppy Adventure: Steve’s unwillingness to get up *even on the weekends* with Franklin. I am feeling very depleted…
This December will be the first in my life that I have not put up the Christmas tree. But I really did not want another task to tackle by myself and I think that in this rambunctious stage of puppy life, putting a tree up is inviting disaster. However, we purchased two small birch trees for the mantle that I hope to get “spread out” and incorporated with the fairy lights before this week is over.
AND… the first day without a single digit windchill, I will take Frankie out with me to get the outside lights up!
The ONLY other things on my December list are to savor the joy of Gnome Knitting as Gnana’s story unfolds. And, perhaps more pressing, I do have a bit of “homework” to accomplish before Felix’s BuJo class on the 6th… I need to ask myself the following question: “What DID I do in January?!” The answer is what I need to “get myself started”… I am hoping for a bit of time this week to look back and think about it!
And that is about all the brain bandwidth I have for things I want to accomplish this month. What about you? What do you hope this month holds?
I will be back on Wednesday and I hope you will too!
Header photo by Luna Lovegood
by Kat | Oct 4, 2024 | General, Welcome
In October, a maple tree before your window lights up your room like a great lamp. Even on cloudy days, its presence helps to dispel the gloom. — John Burroughs
It is the month I eagerly anticipate all year… my most favorite of all!
Although, it feels very off to be delighting in these days as my neighbors to the south are struggling mightily. But we sent off a donation or two… it seems so inadequate to just send off money but I know that all these donations will make a big difference. And despite the enormity of this disaster, there are bright spots that shine brighter than the trees will… stories of people helping each other. That gives me hope… and I hope it brings hope to those affected as well.
My October List of things is short this month:
- We head to Erie next week (and I am so very ready for it!)
- Then… once our Erie Time has finished, we will go pick up our new puppy!
Perhaps that is exactly how it should be to allow for maximum reveling in October days because just 4 days in and I have been doing LOTS of reveling!! The weather has turned nicely this week. We got some rain (we could use more, but I am not complaining!) and the past couple of mornings have been quite chilly! Yesterday morning, I watched the fog roll in (literally, I could watch it roll down the hills behind our house!) and it was incredible to watch! I have pulled out a couple of lopapeysa’s to wear… and they are the perfect woolly layer! Might a Mr. Heater have been nice? Yes… it would. But I have not “done” anything about making that a reality. (Done, as in tell Steve to order something! Ha!)
After taking August and September off from baking sour dough bread, I feared my starter (which, for those wondering, is nameless) would be dead. Not at all! It just needed a bit of “reviving” and 36 hours later was raring to go so I baked bread yesterday and was happy to have a fresh loaf of bread to go with the tomato soup I made!
Now I am off to do a bit of garden clean up on this amazingly gorgeous morning! Happy October everyone!
See you all back here on Monday!
by Kat | Sep 2, 2024 | General, Welcome
September is the other January. — Gretchen Rubin
Hello Sweet September! You are one of my favorite months and have been for as long as I can remember! I love every thing you bring from the return “normal” schedules to the changes that happen with the weather!
So what do I mean by normal? Well, the kids are back at school and I do love watching the neighborhood kids head to the bus stop in the mornings and head home in the late afternoons. There is delight in sitting on my porch in the morning and I confess to eavesdropping on conversations as they wait for the bus. “Kid Banter” about sports… hockey and soccer are big in my neighborhood but sometimes there is a bit of “Dad Advice” to the waiting charges. Dad Advice can be really quite eye-opening… the “make sure you pay attention and listen” talk from last week will be most memorable because I think the squirrel and birds were the only ones listening!
I have noted the shortening of days as August raced through, a shortening that becomes more pronounced in September. I gave in last night and turned on lights in the living room after dinner… sigh. I have softened the blow of the waning light by turning on the fairy lights on the mantel and in the Gnome Hutch but yesterday’s clouds required a bit more light. I am not complaining though because those clouds brought some much needed rain!
September mornings have the most glorious light… it just glows and I am going to savor every morning I can on my porch! Yes, I am not giving up my “outside office” yet… after all, I have an abundance of sweaters to pull on to ward off the morning chill.
I have only one thing on my “list” this month… to make every effort to get that blasted sweater done! (Stay tuned for an update on my woes on Wednesday.) Sometimes sweater knitting is not for the faint of heart… sigh.
Welcome September! I hope you are bringing all the sweater knitting juju my way!
What about you? What are your plans for September?
The above photo by Plato Terentev
by Kat | Jun 3, 2024 | General, Welcome
Summer is a promissory note signed in June, its long days spent and gone before you know it, and due to be repaid next January. — Hal Borland
Hello, June! Hello, burgeoning summer days! Hello, hello, hello!
For those of us who are, like me, wondering how it is June already… this post will be just the thing your June needs!
I have but one thing on my June list… SAVOR! There are only 30 days (and 2 of them are already gone!) and my plan is to savor every moment of each day of June.
— I am going to enjoy coffee and birdsong to begin my day on my porch (rain or shine!)
— I am going to treasure each moment and spend as many moments as I can outdoors!
— I am going to feast on the things June has to offer!
— I am going to love every single day… rain or shine!
So hello to June! What is on your list this month?
See you all back here on Wednesday for some Unraveling!
