Category: Unraveled Wednesday

it’s wednesday | 11.27.19 …

Published on by Honoré7 Comments

 

Joining Juliann for 2019 One Little Word Update and Kat for Unraveled Wednesday.

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Both raveling and reading over the past few days have been sporadic, preempted by assorted other activities- just life! I finished Forest Bathing Retreat (shared last week)- really like that book – and have begun the lovely book, pictured, that my friend Laura gifted to me; the card is from my quilting association.

My 2019 word Habit finds me at the half-way point – still working on eliminating some, revising others and creating new ones. I think that’s the way it works. I’ve come to conclude that the hardest habits to get a firm grip on are those I most want to change-up or eliminate. Many are the result of influential (at the time) circumstances; I have no idea as to when/why and how created, evolved or simply showed up. They are just there and require my intention as well as my attention! So, as is my habit – pun intended – I seek and experiment with all sorts of tricks, novel ideas, etc  to make changes … I have been making progress, for the most part, in writing one-off notes in one place.*

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The best news of all: Today, Elias is TWO! and grown enough to fit in big brother Chris’ coat. We celebrate tomorrow!

Wishing you the best Thanksgiving ever.

Cheers~

 

*This requires concerted effort but I sense it is on the verge of becoming a desired new habit! However, looking at my desk, currently, one might question…I do! The name of the game: If you don’t succeed, try, try again!

unraveled wednesday | 11.20.19 …

Published on by Honoré13 Comments

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Nearly twelve hours ago, 7:00 am, I settled in my favorite spot, the dining table in the Great Room (aka as the kitchen/dining area) and proceeded with MSQT – morning solitude and quiet time. I opened my journal and began to write: I am on a quest to create a new habit by eliminating an old one: writing on whatever’s within reach.” The consequences of my current habit: a myriad of notes on a myriad pieces of paper… My goal is to contain random thoughts and reflections, miscellaneous ideas, to do items, forget-me-nots, brain explosions, and lapses, etc in one-to-two spaces/places …only!

Thus, I have spent the entire day – still at it as I pen this post at 5:50 pm – sifting through a few months’ accumulation of random sheets of papers  and transferring thoughts, quotes, ideas, lists, forget-me-nots, etc onto/into one common journal. All of this against the background of today’s Congressional impeachment inquiry hearing, still in process.

In the above photo, a hat I’m knitting – started last winter – to donate; a delightful book on forest bathing that friend Laura introduced at our beach weekend – I love trees, and that’s a topic for another post – and a pretty cool 3-D birthday card…

My stomach’s beginning to growl and the second hearing’s begun so I shall sign off…joining Kat and friends for this week’s unraveled wednesday.

Cheers~

 

 

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 …

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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 Honoré7 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~