Anticipation

I think part of the fun of doing something is looking forward to it.

This weekend I will be visiting friends. Going to their house is like going to a homey, beautiful B & B with two resident gourmet chefs. Their house is a federal colonial that they restored and filled with antiques. It's beautiful decorated and no professional could do a better job of it. Add in all the delicious food they cook and bake, and wow. Both of them are gourmets and love to be in the kitchen. A lot of what they prepare was grown on their land - from the honey, grape juice and jam to the variety of veggies.

There are also some wonderful holiday events in the area that we'll go to on Sunday so that will be lots of fun. I love doing things like that.

The best part will be spending time with friends.

Liesel will have a mini vacation too as she'll spend the time with the owner of the doggie daycare and she LOVES going to her house. She loves her husband and snuggling with him on the couch. She will get to go to the doggie daycare for two of the days to play with her 2 and 4 legged friends. When she comes home, she will be one tired pup.

Hope you have a good weekend and Happy Halloween.

Handknit Socks

I've been knitting forever but never have made a pair of regular socks. Many years ago I knit a lot of red and white tiny socks that were Christmas tree ornaments and most were given as gifts.

Last fall I went to a yarn expo with my super knitting friend. Diane always has a pair of socks in progress in her knitting bag. I decided it was time for me to knit myself a pair. I found one vendor at the yarn expo that had a wonderful assortment of sock yarn. A bright variegated hank caught my eye as it went from lime green to turquoise to medium blue to a deep violet. Love it.

I told myself that I would not start on the sock project until I finished knitting all the little bunnies I'd started the spring of 2009, sewed them together and stuffed them. I now have oodles and oodles of them. In fact, I have a plastic bin of them. They sure are coming in handy as I have lots of baby showers and baby gifts this summer and fall. I am not even making a dent in my supply.

Tonight I stopped at a yarn store and bought my bamboo double pointed size 2 needles and I can't wait to start. I have to ball the yarn and then I'm good to go.

My dog

When I got Liesel over 2 1/2 years ago, I wondered what I'd gotten in to as she was a naughty, naughty puppy and very hyper. Somehow I survived her chewing the kitchen cabinet and old linoleum floor (2 round holes), her fleece blankets in her crate and anything she could wrap her small teeth around. I wished she would curl up with me on the couch and sleep next to me instead of barking at me and using me for a dog chew toy.

We got through that first year and she mellowed a bit. She still does chew holes in her fleece blankets though. She does love to be curled up next to me on the couch now and especially if she's under the down throw. This is my down throw that I've mended many chew holes in from her chewing stage. If I even walk towards the den, she has to beat me there to make sure she's right with me.

Often when I am standing at the kitchen counter working, she rests right between my feet head first. If I sit at the kitchen table and cross my legs at the ankles, she crawls on top of them. Right now she is sitting touching my left leg. She loves to be RIGHT NEXT TO ME.

Yes, we've bonded.

Sunday - Productive Day

I had good intentions of getting up at a decent hour, starting laundry, hanging it out and getting outside to start on yardwork. I planned on working for 4 - 5 hours in my perennial gardens and also pruning.

Well, Liesel and I were lazy in bed and I was absorbed in my book. We did not get up at a decent hour but who cares. I did do a load of wash and hang it out, pruned shrubs, planted spring bulbs and cut back one of the perennial beds. I did work for over 4 hours outside so I accomplished what I wanted. The nice thing is that I am not limping around tonight from the work as I did not overdue.

I actually at dinner at a decent hour. Liesel has abandoned me and is sleeping up on the couch in the den. She had a busy day as she was out on her line watching me and snooping around in the perennial bed as I worked.

Reading in bed in the AM, hanging out laundry and yard work equals a productive day. The weather was gorgeous and it was nice being outside to enjoy it.

Autumn's Colors

As I was out driving today and going up a CT mountain, the trees were ablaze in color - bright oranges, gold and red. The sun was shinning on the trees and I enjoyed seeing it so much. I love fall with the cold air, warm sun, cold nights, snuggling with my pup, cooking yams and acorn squash, making applesauce, wearing turtlenecks and sweatshirts and thinking ahead to the holidays.

Since I hate heat and humidity, I long for fall weather all summer and so once the air turns dry and crisp, I am a happy girl. I even love winter and it's beauty. Looking out on fresh snow coating the ground is beautiful and I really missed it the winter I lived outside of San Francisco. I longed for a snow or ice storm.

I cook differently once the weather turns. I remember my daughter asking for stuffed shells one day in the summer and I told her that I only cooked those during the cold weather. Once it turns cold and the heat goes on, I cook more comfort food - yams, acorn squash with brown sugar, stuffed shells, pork, mac and cheese with ham, apple sauce, cranberry orange bread (for Xmas gifts), casseroles and lots of soups.

Wherever you live, I hope you're taking time to smell the roses or should I say, enjoy the leaves?

Addicted

Who thought that when I started scrapping that it would lead to an addiction? Yes, I have one. I love pretty papers, all kinds of brads, embellishments, alphabets, etc. And if I find them on sale, look out.

This morning I hit two fantastic scrapbooking tag sales. I hit the jackpot with some great papers, letters, a QuicKutz alphabet die cut, vintage embellishments, other embellishments, kits, albums, stamps, brads, etc. Things I "HAD" to have.

The deals were fantastic and I saved soooooo much $.

Now comes the task of putting it all away and finding space for it. That required much reorganizing. Oh, to have a scrapbook room with lots of open shelves with paper holders, baskets, drawers..........

Chilly Part II

I took my furry friend to bed last night as it was cold and she's a great hot water bottle. Now that the heat of summer is over, she's back with me and not in her crate at night. Growing up, I always had a cat in bed. Once I got my first dachshund in 1985, the puppy came upstairs with us.

Every dachshund owner I've met tells me that their dogs also sleep with them. Maybe all dachshund owners are nutty.

I've gotten off track.

Well, since it was only 61 in the house when I got home and damp since it's been raining since last night, I pushed the button and hit the up arrow to 65. The furnace turned right on and within minutes, the warm air was coming out the registers. Liesel went right to the air register and curled up on the floor in front of it. She loves to do that.

I held off until halfway through October so it's not that bad. After all, what is this stupid mind game I was playing? It's mid October and CT.

Toasty or a Little Chilly?

Each October I face the question as to when I should give in and turn on the furnace. Naturally I try to hold out as long as I can - a matter of principle.

Most evenings it has been 65 or 66 inside the house this past week. Tonight when I got home and checked the temperature, it said 63. I have a turleneck on, a lightweight sweatshirt, jammie pants and actually put sox on with my Crocs. If I were going to be sitting at the kitchen table scrapping, I think I'd break down and push the on button. But, I plan to be on the couch under the down throw with the dog so I can put it off for another time.

Do you out there go through the same game each October?

Oh, my aching....

What's happened? I used to jump out of bed at 7:00, have breakfast and do physical work until just about bedtime. The first change was that I'd only work until suppertime. The next change was that I'd only work about 6 hours. The stage I'm now in is to start the actual physical work later in the morning and finally stop 5 hours later. I follow that up with 2 Advil for pain and stiffness. Before bed, I took 2 more Advil and was in bed at 9:15. That's 2 hours earlier than my normal bedtime on work nights. I was beat and aching.

OK, I'm older (and "fluffier") but until about a few years ago, my mind had not accepted that fact. Now my mind accepts it after a day of heavy yardwork, lifting very heavy pots to empty them, push a wheelbarrow full of heavy dirt to dump it, kneel in perennial beds cutting back and weeding, moving around on my knees as I work and the constant up and down. Remember that commercial about the elderly lady on the floor saying, "Help, I've fallen and can't get up."? I have had a few of those moments and I stand up and hope that no one is walking by my house.

As I was working the last few hours yesterday afternoon, I told myself that I can go to work on Monday to rest my body as sitting at a workstation and plugging away on my computer doesn't require much physical work. I did take 2 Advil along with my breakfast this morning and brought the pill bottle in my pocketbook (just in case). I didn't need any though.

Where did all my oomph go through the years?