Eye Candy Friday

March 29, 2019 By Carole

My amaryllis continues to bloom spectacularly as there are now 2 blossoms and 4 (!!!) more buds. There’s possibly another stalk coming, too, but I can’t tell just yet – it could be just leaves. Either way, though, I’m going to have flowers for a while as I have two more amaryllis bulbs that have sent up stalks with big fat buds on them.

Our temps are decidedly spring like right now with the promise of even warmer temps tomorrow. I’m going to get out there and enjoy it and I hope you’re enjoying whatever is going on in your world right now, too.

Happy Weekend!

Thursday Things

March 28, 2019 By Carole

Hello and Happy Thursday! Today I’ve got 3 things that are connected because they all begin with the letter P.

Pocketbook. Can someone please (another p) tell me how to keep my pocketbook from constantly sliding off my shoulder? Seriously. It slips and drives me crazy. I know I could wear it cross-body style and I do sometimes but for quick in and out of the car stuff that’s just not practical. This is my bag and I love it but it slips. Maybe I just have super sloped shoulders? I don’t know but if you’ve got a hack to make it stay on there I’d love to hear about it.
Podcasts. I listen to podcasts every day and some of my favorites include Happier and Happier in Hollywood as well as The Daily and Up First. There’s a brand new one that I’m loving that I think you should check out. It’s called How To Be American and it’s recorded by the Tenement Museum – and you know how I love the Tenement Museum. It’s very enjoyable and has already given me a lot to think about. The only downside? The most recent episode was about pizza and now all I can think about is good New York style pizza and how I want some!
Postcrossing. I signed up for this on Kym’s recommendation and it’s super fun. I’ve sent out 8 postcards so far and they’ve all arrived except for one that’s been on it’s way to Russia for 37 days now. Ahhhh, the irony, it burns, yes? I’ve received 4 so far and they’ve each been unique and exciting, coming from the Netherlands, Germany, Canada and Hong Kong. If you haven’t tried this yet I really recommend giving it a go.

And there you have it. Three Things That Begin with P.

If you wrote a post for today please include your link below. As always, thanks for joining us!

Unraveling

March 27, 2019 By Carole

Today, sadly, I have actual unraveling. Well. Let me clarify . . . there is unraveling to do. I haven’t actually done it yet but . . . see for yourself:

My finished Stopover 2.0

At first glance, all appears to be fine. But wait. Take a look at that upper left.

Here. I’ve circled it for you. Damn.

Let’s flip it over and see if that was just one repeat out of wack.

Nope. The entire frigging thing is off.

And it just gets worse.

Sigh.

When I was knitting I had one row where things were a little weird. The decreases didn’t work out but I counted when I finished and I had the correct number of stitches. I looked at the color work and thought it looked fine so I just kept going. I was so close to finishing and I wanted to be done. It wasn’t until I blocked it that I saw the errors and once seen, well, they cannot be unseen.

I’ll be fixing it at some point but not right away because deadline knitting.

Reading, thankfully, is going much better than knitting, at least in terms of forward progress. This week I finished One Day in December and The Red Address Book. Next up? The Dakota Winters.

What are you knitting and reading this week? Be sure and hop over to Kat’s to see what our fellow unravelers have been doing.

P.S. Thank you all for your lovely comments yesterday. I promise I have no intention of discontinuing the blog!

One Little Word, March 2019 Update

March 26, 2019 By Carole

Time to check in on my One Little Word 2019 Journey.

My word, if you recall, is story, and I think that quote card that I got from Ali Edwards, the creator of the whole One Little Word thing, is pretty perfect for how I think the word story fits into my life.

I am a storyteller. I always hesitate to call myself a writer because that sounds so . . . official and important. Thinking of myself as a storyteller, though, is much sweeter. For one, I’m a librarian so I make my living because stories exist. And for another, I’m a blogger and what is a blogger if not a storyteller?

The stories I share with you are how you have gotten to know me over these last 14 years. Thinking back, I realize that there have been so many stories! Deaths and births and job changes. Wins and losses, happiness and pain, struggles and disappointments, trips and vacations and blogger meet ups and lots and lots of mundane details about my life and even knitting. And you keep coming back. YOU are a part of my story.

Sometimes I think about not blogging. I think about the time that would free up. I think about how blogging is self indulgent and how maybe the world wouldn’t be diminished if this blog no longer existed. I think about how maybe we’re all just humoring each other and patting each other on the back by reading and commenting. But then I think about how you are my friends . . . and think about the idea that all of us are part of a network of stories. And I think about how much I like it when you share your stories with me and I learn more about who you are. And I know that all of this storytelling makes my life better.

So. For now, and for at least a while longer, I will tell my story through blogging.

Blogging is part of my story.

Weekending

March 25, 2019 By Carole

I told Dale yesterday that we’re in a rut. Our days are predictable. Our weekends are routine. The pictures I take show the same things over and over. And yet, when I look back at the photos I took this weekend . . . I feel like it’s a pretty lovely rut. I mean, what would I change?

Would I want to not have had Friday afternoon with Jack? Especially when it was an afternoon where he napped on me for over 2 hours? Nope.

Would I have skipped Friday Night Snacks and my favorite way to wind down after a hectic week of work and meetings and commitments? Nah.

Would I want to have not taken Patrick and his girlfriend out to dinner Saturday night to celebrate their birthdays? Would I not have wanted to go to our favorite local restaurant and had fabulous seared tuna? Of course not.

Would I not have wanted Sunday to be a full day of clutter clearing and to not have celebrated the mild(ish) temps by having drinks and snacks on the deck for the first time this year? Clearly, no.

I guess, even if the photos are predictable and the things we do are ordinary, they are pretty awesome and I’m grateful for the moments we have.

What did you do this weekend?