Category: Unraveled Wednesday

unraveled wednesday | 11.13.19 …

Published on by Honoré12 Comments

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~full November Beaver moon – 11.11.19~

Today! Our first taste of winter cold: a mere 29 degrees Fahrenheit on a very sunny day! It helps. I am preparing for a 2.5 days’ visit to the beach – go figure in below freezing temps – for a meet up with two friends. Great fun in store !

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Yesterday, my Recent Reads group – there are four of us – met for our bimonthly gathering. I was late to the party (Norman had an unplanned medical appointment)…and oh what a party: we had “high tea,” complete with antique table setting: china; serving dishes; linens; silverware; and a printed menu! So delicious… we were also  given wonderful little boxes to fill with tasty delectables to TAKE HOME.

On the reading front, I finished Stillness is the Key. Really, really like this book: it is filled with information, ideas, vignettes of history’s great thinkers, ranging from the stoics to Winston Churchill to Anne Frank to Tiger Woods to Mr. Rogers… with practical invitations and ideas to assist the reader incorporate stillness in her life (and we all know we need those moments of  stillness).  I am in catch-up mode with Just Mercy; it is not easy reading – wonderful writing but tough content. [deep sigh]. Twyla Tharp  (The Creative Habit)  has a new book: Keep It Moving: Lessons for the Rest of Your Life . She is 78 and still moving!

And I guess I’d better get a moveon, too. Tomorrow will be here before I know it; I have stuff to gather and a bag to pack! Joining Kat and friends for another unraveled wednesday..

Cheers~

unraveled wednesday | 11.7.19 …

Published on by Honoré10 Comments

 

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Totally late to the party…it’s been a busy day, with :

  • laundry – more loads than usual …
  • monthly reconciliation of XPNS (expenses), etc…
  • broken up by a lovely walk this afternoon, accompanied by Gretchen Rubin and her sister, Liz Craft, on their weekly Happier podcast – my favorite walking companion… and
  • text messages – gazillions –  among my nieces and sister. Dolly’s planning a Christmas craft party for Chris and Elias; invited guests are her mom, sisters, grandmother (my sister); best friend and her three kiddos and me…especially since the party will be here. Dolly’s excited and quiet as it’s kept, so am I!

Yesterday, I visited my local Barnes & Noble store: the doors wide open, an invitation to come in and browse…among a totally new display of books and more books, all brand new, multiple copies of a title, both fiction and non-fiction for all ages. Of course, I walked out with a title or two plus a couple gift items…

There are about 8 rows of stitches on my log cabin to knit and then, join the blocks…I’m thinking I’ll add successive rows around the perimeter in the lighter lavender yarn – I have lots of it…and somehow, also add smaller blocks of the various colors…all makes for good practice. I’m still practicing continental knitting…

This morning, I decided to make coffee – decaf! It was very good and a nice break from my usual, green tea. About 4:30 pm, I realized I had a headache! Green tea to the rescue. I am so grateful for the tea…and it tastes great in my reading mug, too!

Off to join Kat and friends…

Cheers~

unraveled wednesday| 10.30.2019 …

Published on by Honoré6 Comments

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~me, 2009~

I made the witch’s hat in 2009 for Kayla, who was then 9.  Fun to see my  then state-of-the-art smart phone. Obviously, I hadn’t (and still haven’t) perfected taking  state-of-the-art selfies…

So, here we are at the end of October…just 62 days left in this year! Where does the time go? How did 303 days unravel so fast in what seems like the blink of an eye? I know this month has almost whizzed by, partly because the last LOAD layout a day challenge for 2019 ends tomorrow. The prompts, based on Tom Hanks’ movies and career, have been not only fun but also informative. I have learned as well as enjoyed the stimulation. Over this calendar year, thanks to LOAD challenges in February, May, August and July, I’ve made a minimum of 97 scrapbook pages: stories of me, people (family & friends), places and things. I am not necessarily (at least I don’t think I am) moved by time-bound challenges: our layouts have to be posted by 3 AM, Pacific Standard Time (I’ve never been up at that hour) to qualify. I generally finish and post by 7 pm EST…however, I do think the accountability metric helps move me to completion. I wonder how I might translate that into other areas of my life?

The next 62 days are going to be busy, busy with birthdays: Norman’s is Friday, mine two weeks after that, two weeks later, Elias will be two, and then two weeks into December, my sister’s! That doesn’t even take into account Thanksgiving and Christmas preparation and celebrations! Nor the 1001 other activities: eye/dental and medical appointments, concerts and events, dates due, general life items, and projects on my calendar/planner.

Clearly, if ever, the time is here for me to call upon my better habits and say out LOUD: YES to NO! No, I won’t add a single solitary bright shiny new activity or project to an already packed list…and to that effect, I am not undertaking NABLOPOMO (even tho’ I don’t think it’s still in existence, I did post daily last November);  I am going to make a gratitude journal but it won’t be time bound, i.e, required to be completed within a 24 hour period! Saying YES to NO! will be a huge contribution to days filled with those activities that light my life and fill me up.

I’m continuing to practice the Continental knit stitch; am reading Just Mercy  and Stillness is the Key; started The Water Dancer and have several books on my phone that accompany me on my walks. I just remembered I (still ) have a Christmas stocking with a few/some rows to finish; guess I’ll resurrect and get movin’ on it again.

Joining Kat and friends for Unraveled Wednesday and Juliann for One Little Word monthly update.

Happy Halloween, y’all!

Cheers~

 

unraveled wednesday | 10.23.19 …

Published on by Honoré9 Comments

 

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I have nearly completed the 9 blocks of my log cabin quilt/throw…debating how I want to proceed:

  • make more squares of the same size? Do I have enough yarn of the various colors to do that? not sure…really don’t think so. I’ll ponder that as continue to knit and join these squares. I definitely think this piece needs to be bigger…time to reconnoiter…
  • I’m also playing with the continental stitch as I knit this last block…thinking it’ll go a tad faster? At least, this is a good practice piece.

Coming up: books (pictured above) to be shared  early November : Just Mercy (the Read With Us blog book discussion group and The Water Dancer ( with my bimonthly Recent Reads friends). Ah, the Water Dancer is lyrical and I do need to get a move on ’cause it’s also l-o-n-g!  I have also finished JOMO (one of the three books that showed up on my doorstep a couple weeks ago); still working on the other two…

Joining Kat and friends for another week of unraveling … do drop over and see what others are knitting and reading.

Cheers~

P.S. It’s a lovely autumn day for a careful walk to the library and coffee shop. On my way, soon.

unraveled wednesday | 10.9.19 …

Published on by Honoré12 Comments

 

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Today goes down in the record books as one of those rare autumn days: perfect, perfect, perfect! A friend and I spent several hours at Marjorie Merriweather Post’s Hillwood Estate, tucked away in NW Washington DC. We went to see the exhibit of famed Life Magazine photographer, Alfred Eisenstaedt,  followed by:

  • a tasty lunch in the Merriweather Café;
  • a walk on the grounds, especially the Japanese Gardens and
  • a stop in the gift shop, of course. I needed a birthday present and found a few somethings.

On the first of the month, the annual and last LOAD Challenge – a daily memory keeping  event – began; I also joined Michelle GD’s Get It Down month long journaling event. The two have basically commandereed my attention and energy; consequently, I’ve not done much knitting, quilting or unraveling; I should be getting back on track this weekend. I did receive my copy of Just Mercy and look forward to joining Read With Us .

Joining Kat and friends for Unraveled Wednesday!

Cheers~

unraveled wednesday | 10.2.19 …

Published on by Honoré7 Comments

 

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~elm leaves~

today, summer decided to return for a brief, very. hot. spell! at 4 pm, we were one degree away from the predicted high of 95° F… the weather’s been really dry this year and I think the trees are quite distressed. leaves -especially oak- fall and crunch underfoot (leaf collection doesn’t begin til 5 Nov). not seeing any color… maybe after today that scenario will change.

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~new books~

progress is slow yet steady on my myriad of projects in the works. the three books pictured above mysteriously appeared at the front door; all are new publications. Start Finishing arrived last week; the other two, yesterday. wonder who keeps ordering these books? hmmm …

joining Kat for another session of unraveled wednesday.

cheers~

 

unraveled wed | 9.25.19 …

Published on by Honoré6 Comments

 

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I’ve not added any new TBRs … On the log cabin front: the green is about 12 rows from done and I’m deciding which shade of blue to use for that last square. In one of my weekly Döstädning bursts, I discovered a few needlepoint canvases from days long gone; this one was nearly done so I finished it Sunday during Friendstitching.  Just in time too ~ Christmas is 3 months away… Just sayin’…

I am now real ... well, almost.  This morning, I went to DMV to renew my driver’s license. After standing in line for an hour, then sitting for another hour (not to mention gathering documents and filling out forms before I even went), my number was called. 15 minutes later, all the information was collected/documented and I left with a temporary paper license, good for 45 days … the real one expected in 15 days. I hope so!

We’re having deliciously cool fall weather, ’cause as Dee sez: It’s Fall, Y’all! Lots of oak leaves on the ground but color changes seem slow – or is it just my impatience? Norman’s off on a walk and I’m headed to my sewing studio to stitch more wonky stars.

Joining Kat and friends for unraveled wednesday.  How’s your day shaping up?

Cheers~

 

unraveled wednesday | 9.18.19 …

Published on by Honoré11 Comments
  • Two Things on my Bucket List

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  • No less than 12+ years ago, attending a library pre-conference, I took a class on paper making. I enjoyed the class and promptly added to my bucket list: take more classes.  Fast-forward to yesterday, 9/17/19: Sorting through old family photos, I ran across the paper and booklet I made plus
    • not only  a photo of me making the paper,
    • but also an article in the March 2015 Washingtonian: The Great Washingtonian Bucket List: 50 Things Every Local Needs to Do!  Some of the items on the list I’ve done, some I know I never will, e.g., “ride through Rock Creek Park on horseback!”
    • There is one thing not on that list but is still on mine: take more paper-making  classes. And that jogged my memory: less than 5 miles away there is a book-making center that offers classes on making paper! Can’t get better than that, agreed?

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This is a picture of a “Wonky Star” quilt block – I have 60+ – each a variation on the theme – that have been on my bucket list for way too long! I needed unifying fabric/s and finally found two pieces that I think will work. The multi-color stripes at the top will be the backing + binding. The other fabric( in between the block and the stripe) will be used as sashing: strips I will attach to all four sides of the blocks and then, sew the blocks together.

And with that I shall hit publish so I can proceed with stitching and also, take advantage  of today’s glorious weather, later, by treating myself to a sit-out at Zeke’s this afternoon, enjoying a pumpkin spiced latté  (I hope they have pumpkin spice) with A Gentleman in Moscow.

Joining Kat and friends for Unraveled Wednesday.

Cheers~

 

unraveled wednesday | 9.11.19 …

Published on by Honoré8 Comments

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memories of  9/11/2001 – that fateful day and following weeks, 18 years ago, are still vivid in my mind and probably exacerbated by the the fact that I live in the Nation’s capital … I need not say more. I caught a bit of an interview with a woman whose husband was a New York firefighter. She and her children – now grown – have put their lives back together and I so appreciate their strength.

my days, thus far, this week have been quite full:

monday, our quilting association reconvened for the start of another year. I didn’t go to any meetings over the summer but I did reappear Monday. I am glad I did for on display, during the show and tell was a lovely quilt made by a member…I do not need another quilt pattern to add to my someday/maybe ever growing never getting smaller list of projects… but I have an idea that I want to try so I’m going to get the pattern and play… After the meeting, I went grocery shopping for on:

tuesday, I hosted our Recent Reads group. We missed the July gathering – yep! we were all looking forward to our September reunion. Our discussions and sharing of books we each had recently read was lively. Three of us have read Where the Crawdads Sing and agreed that it is beautifully written…we decided to say no more until our 4th reader has read the book. We meet again in November.  I added to my TBR list A Gentleman in Moscow. A friend had shared the book with me several years ago and it somehow fell off my radar so I thought I’d give it a try, finally. The third (top) title is new…the author teaches memoir writing and this is her memoir; I’ve not begun reading the book, yet – hoping tonight!

wednesday, today, I ran errands: credit union; post office to mail city taxes due this week and appointments with my eye doctor and physician to have forms completed  – some of the requirements re: the “Real ID”  driver’s license renewal process. Not on my agenda but on my physician’s: flu and pneumonia shots for me – one in each arm. So far, neither has been painful.

I have run out of steam  – unraveled?– all week and was determined today to post… Joining Kat and friends for another round.

Cheers~