Goodbye to 2024

Well, we made it. Another year is getting ready to end, and if we are lucky, all of us will wake up tomorrow morning in the next one. But we survived all of the good days, bad days, accomplishments, and disappointments, so congratulations.

Even when a year has been crushing, I try to remember the good things, no matter how small, because I think every year deserves that. 

In 2024, everyone in our house woke up every single day. We were able to live our lives, no matter how boring or mundane it may have seemed - to us and to those looking in from the outside. 

 We laughed when things were funny (OK, and often when they shouldn't have been). We were able to take some small trips, and we got together with family members and laughed ourselves silly. We rejoiced when Kamala Harris was nominated to be the next President, and we commiserated when she didn't win.

We spent time watching the birds and squirrels in the garden be silly, and bird-y and squirrel-y, petting every dog possible (OK, most of the time that was me), saying hello to every cat in the window when we walked by (OK again mostly me). 

We drove each other nuts, and annoyed the heck of out each other. ("Koodle, stop peeing everywhere!''), and at least where the cats are concerned, we had the scratch and bite marks to prove it. We hurt each other inadvertently, and tried to be more considerate after. 

We fixed up some things in our house, and as a result also spent a lot of the money we had saved. We gave Alfie many chances to prove his worth as both a work foreman (forecat?) and snoopervisor. We made the others hide a lot of the time as a result of these fixes, since strangers were coming in, doing noisy and terrible things, and likely would have killed them if they could have. (Certainty there on their parts, not ours.) We got two new trees, which will hopefully thrive and long outlive all of us.

We complained, we snarked, we rejoiced, we cried. We kept our mouths shut, except when we didn't.

We stayed together as our little family unit, always happy that we could do that, and we hope that will continue as long as possible. Because of course nothing is certain.

Basically, it was a year like most. But as time goes on, it becomes more treasured. Being able to live a quiet, happy, safe life, all of us together, makes every year a good one.

Here's hoping that 2025 grants us all of that, at a minimum.

Enjoy. Celebrate. Live. Enjoy.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat. 😉

Happy New Year from me, The Tim, Pip, Milo, Alfie, and Esme! All of us sincerely wish the best for you and yours. 

Last Cast On of 2024

Hello and I hope for all of you celebrating a holiday season, that it has been a good one so far for you. Ours has been lovely.

I thought I'd show you my final cast-on of 2024. Late in the afternoon on Christmas Day, I cast on this sock. I'd been wanting to get a sock going for a while, but between finshing up a gift for The Tim, and then all of the other preparations, I didn't get to it. So I decided to start while I was sitting in the living room and he was in the kitchen fixing our Christmas dinner. 

I got the cuff started on Christmas, and have made some good progress, even since this photo was taken. I'm getting ready to do the heel, and deciding between a heel flap and gusset or a shadow wrap heel. I'm liking the way the yarn is knitting up. And since I started this pair of socks on the first day of Christmas, I'm calling them my 12 Days of Christmas Socks. (Not that they will be finished in 12 days ...)

Have you started any new projects? I have some ideas swirling around in my head of how/what/why I want to knit this coming year, but they are not yet completely clear, so I'm going to work on organizing a very loose plan.

Today I had a DEXA scan - my favorite medical test! You just show up, lie still on a table for a little while, and you're on your way!  You don't even have to change your clothes. 😊 I'm not so sure that I'll get great results this time, but that won't be a surprise.

As for the rest of the day, I want to put away some of my gifts, and pay some bills, so as usual, it's a life of glamour and excitement that I doubt many of you can imagine ...

Enjoy your day!

Christmas Eve 2024

On this Christmas Eve, I wish contentment, comfort, and coziness for all of you. Whether or not you celebrate Christmas, I hope the spirit of the holiday will give you some happy feelings and a chance to just be.

Feels Like Christmas!

Well, at least Christmases as a kid - no snow, though. But it's cold and sunny and bright, which is just perfect.

Our weekend was pretty quiet. We both did little finishing up things to be ready for Christmas, so that the house finally really looks like it's ready to celebrate. This morning I finished any wrapping that I had left, mostly things for the kit kats. 

This afternoon, I'm finishing the last few rows of a top of a hat that I'm making for The Tim for Christmas. It was kind of a last-minute decision, and I had decided that if it wasn't finished in time, I wasn't going to worry about it. But as I said, I realized that I have just a few rows, and then some ends to weave in so I'll finish that up this afternoon.

I've been working away on my sweater, which I had sincerely hoped could be a Christmas sweater, but which I also knew meant that realistically, I should have started in September. But I haven't knit on it much anyway lately, since I've been waiting for a longer needle to arrive. I was just getting frustrated because the needle I was using, which was one I already had, was fine but making me nuts because I had to squish the stitches onto it and it was a pain to keep doing that. My longer needle finally arrived today (that's what happens when you order during the holidays!), so I can return to working on it and get it finished. Technically, it can easily just be a winter sweater, but I'd really hoped it would be a Christmas sweater. And next year, it will be. 😊

I'm pleased because I got a notification yesterday that the last "outstanding" box of gifts I'd send out had been delivered. So that worked out nicely. The rest have been at their destinations for a while.

I also keep getting reports on how successful the little Advent calendar I made for Penn and Oden, my great-niece and great-nephew, has been. Apparently they were/are fascinated by the 50-cent and the dollar coins that have been in a couple of the stockings. So The Tim was right to suggest that. Apparently Oden - who is six- keeps asking my niece Julie if she thinks they will be able to spend "that big money." Which just cracks me up!

So that's the state of things here right now. I hope if you got any snow, it wasn't too much for anything you needed/wanted to do. And if you are also someplace cold, I hope you can stay cozy!

Enjoy the rest of your day, and have a good Christmas Eve Eve (that's especially for you, Kym!)

Fourth Sunday of Advent 2024

Festive Friday Photo

Yesterday morning first thing I walked up to the Trader Joe's near us for some specific things related to their Christmas product lines. It was a clear, sunny, cold day and so a pleasant trip back and forth. On my way home, when I got to the corner of the block before ours, I noticed these Christmas ornaments in the trees in front of one of the houses on the street. I know a lot of the photo is in shadow, but you can see them well enough to get the idea. I don't know if they recently put them up or if they have been there, and I've missed them, but I really like the whole idea. So festive, and I have to think that they make everyone smile when they see them.

Today's plans include baking, wrapping, and checking to make sure that I have everything I wanted to have for both The Tim and the kitties. If not, I still have a few days to get them. I know that I need to get some special food for the cats to have their "Christmas dinner" but that's pretty much a no-brainer and really easy to do. I feel pretty well set otherwise. Though I have to admit that I love to go out and walk around during these last few days leading up to Christmas Day, looking at decorations and enjoying the energy, so I'd be venturing out of the house regardless.

Do you have any weekend plans? We just have a few things to finish up around the house, and The Tim will probably wrap some of the gifts he has, since he'll be at work on both Monday and Tuesday for the regular hours. Sunday is supposed to be super cold, so that's gonna be a good day to be cozy inside with Christmastime things and feelings.

Whatever you are up to, I hope you can stay warm and enjoy your weekend. Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice for those of us in the northern hemisphere, so we'll see what this winter has in store for us. I am quite possibly the only person who hopes it will not be a wimpy winter - I'm sick of those! 

Take care, and I'll see you again soon.

Slightly Thrown Off But No Problem

Hello and yes I'm still here! No big issues, but you know how sometimes you get slightly off track and it's no big deal, but suddenly you are completely off track? Well that was me the past couple of days. Sadly, it was just a change in my routine and because I am such a creature of habit (and old), it just started a series of small dumb things that threw me for a bit of a loop. But now I'm back on track. At least for today. Or even for the next few hours ... 

If you follow me on Instagram, you already saw this photo, but I'm sharing it here anyway. On my way to my volunteer gig yesterday, I saw this house and I had to stop and take a picture!

Now I can truly appreciate the beauty of subtle and elegant Christmas decorations, I can. They really do look lovely and so quietly celebratory. But I have to admit that decorations that scream WE ARE CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS make my heart happy! As I said on Instagram, my inner Clark Griswold rejoiced when I saw this.

My biggest worry is that I sure hope they have that inflatable anchored well on to the roof, because one strong wind, and that sucker could end up in New Jersey ... 

Anyway, over the weekend we finished our tree and decorations. So now I want to clean up everything so we look nice and shiny going forward to Christmas Day. I had planned to do part of it - a *really* small part - yesterday afternoon. I mean it's the easiest part of my cleaning routine, and takes less than half an hour. But due to the fact that I had an appt in the afternoon, I was completely thrown off from my usual routine (see: creature of habit, old), and could not face the effort of extra energy. So that will be the first thing I get out of the way today, and then the rest will follow. I will be thrilled once it is finished, and that is my motivation to do it all TODAY.

On Sunday afternoon, we were finishing up decorating the tree, and between the fact that it was noisy with opening boxes and things, and the fact that The Tim was also doing it and he is so LOUD, Esme escaped upstairs because it was all too much for her. She decided to hang out with other Christmas characters in the guest room.

I guess sometimes you just need some friends who know how to keep quiet. 💞

Third Sunday of Advent 2024

Joy does not arrive with a fanfare

on a red carpet strewn

with the flowers of a perfect life.

joy sneaks in as you pour a cup of coffee

watching the sun

hit your favorite tree

just right

and you usher joy away 

because you are not ready for her

your house is not as it should be

for such a distinguished guest

but joy, you see

cares nothing for your messy home 

or your bank balance

or your waistline

joy is supposed to slither through

the cracks of your imperfect life

that's how joy works

you cannot truly invite her

you can only be ready

when she appears

and hug her with meaning

because in this very moment

joy chose you.

Joy Chose You

-- Donna Ashworth

How Are You Doing?

Hello, I hope this finds you being cozy and taking care of yourselves. The cold or whatever it was that I had seems to at last be starting to move along. The last two nights I've actually been able to sleep three hours in a row, which is a major accomplishment. That's the most sleep I've been able to get for about two weeks. So I've decided I'm on the departing end of being sick, and boy am I glad! For a couple of days, I have to admit that I was concerned it was more than just a cold.

Anyway, it put me behind on what I was hoping to do, and where I hoped to go, etc. and that is annoying. But I can't change anything about it, so I'm trying my best to just go along.

Today is supposed to be rainy around here, but I am hoping to go out during a calm period to pick up something that I ordered and stop at a local market for a few things that I can only find there that we like to have for the holiday season. Yes, I could wait until tomorrow, and will if I have to, but you know how it is when you get something in your brain and want to take care of it RIGHT THEN. 

I thought about doing some cleaning around the house, but I'm going to be digging into various boxes of decorations and ornaments, so that would just be a waste of my time and energy. I'll clean up after the boxes have returned to the basement. There have been years when I have thought Oh well, I'll do it now and then just pick up once the boxes are back downstairs, and let me tell you, that did not work well at all. I ended up doing a major clean twice, and well, nope! Live and learn, you know.

Not much to report, since I have been down for the count. But I'm hoping to get back into the swing of everything starting today. I am less tired than I have been and don't have to spend all of my time coughing violently and/or blowing my nose, so I feel like I can actually enjoy a day of doing holiday things. 

I hope your day goes well, and that you can avoid getting whatever I had, which seems to be traveling around and visiting everyone I know. No one welcomes that kind of holiday guest!

Second Sunday of Advent 2024

 Preparation and Waiting

Festive Friday FO: Broken Garter Scarf

Hello and happy first Friday of December! Our original plan was to go to Baltimore this weekend to be with my niece Amanda and her husband Pat. We were really looking forward to kicking things off with them. But I have had a killer cold and the sore throat from hell since Monday. My Covid test was negative, so I guess it's just an awful cold. I have been so miserable, and though the medicine the doctor gave to me is helping, I knew that it would be a bad idea to still go. I still feel awful, and overnights are the worst. So I if I have to be sick, I'm staying home.

Oh well, a couple of extra days to rest and take my time with Christmastime things.

Do you remember these photos from last November/early December?

 

It was the start of a scarf I was making for The Tim for Christmas. However, I got to a certain point and realized I had not paid close enough attention to the pattern, and one way or another, it was not going to be ready for Christmas. So it got put away until I decided what to do.

Project: Broken Garter Scarf for Tim

Pattern: Broken Garter Scarf - a store pattern from Loop. There are solid color patterns that are similar on Ravelry, you'd just need to decide how to change around the colors.

Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed in the following colorways: Rage (150), Alabaster (197), Seasalter (178), Lotus Leaf (205), Cinnamon (356)

Needles: US 6/4mm

Modifications/Notes: Well, OK I did modify the pattern, but not intentionally. The pattern tells you to do two rows (1-2) with one color, then two rows (3-4) with the next. Then it says to repeat rows 1-4 40 times. Well, when I "finished" with the last color combination, the scarf was not long enough to go around a neck even once. 

Yep, you guessed it - I was supposed to have *80* rows in each section, but I only had 40 rows. Sigh.

No way was I gonna rip it out, even once I decided I didn't need it for Christmas. Because that was already a lot of knitting. So I decided to do the "last" part for 80 rows, and then repeat the other colors and number of rows on the other side. So the middle would be one long section, and the "sides" so to speak, would match.

I finished knitting and weaving in the ends around the middle of November, and I like it. I think I would like it better if I'd done the pattern as written, but I'd also like a million dollars, you know?

I still think it looks nice, and I know that The Tim will like it. That's all that really counts.

I like the colors I chose, but I have to tell you, the red shade (aka 'Rage') is my favorite! Not just the shade of red, but the name - Rage! I enjoyed telling people I was knitting with rage ... Maybe a Rage Sweater is in my future???

It's a little bit wrinkled from being stored in the project bag, but 1) it's a scarf, it's not going to be perfect anyway, and 2) again, it's a scarf, so it's not going to be laid out perfectly when it's worn.

It was an enjoyable knit for the most part, except when I'd be going along and would realize that I had not changed colors - but that's my lack of attention, not a problem with the pattern. 

And now the knitted gift for The Tim is finished and will be ready to wrap. A year late, but then again, Christmas comes every year, you know?

Happy December!

Hello and welcome to December - which is really feeling like December here in Philadelphia. The weather is very cold, but mostly bright, which is just so nice! I'm at home today rather than at my volunteer gig, because right now there are no kitties at the location where I volunteer! Everyone was adopted over the weekend, which is good news. But it does mean that I have to stay home and annoy my own kitties this morning. 😉

Thanks for going along with me yesterday when I posted the photo of our old cardboard wreath, the symbol of the start of Christmastime in our house. I was especially happy that KSD noticed, since I know she gets as much of a charge out of it as I do. When we first bought that decoration, we were living in married  student housing at the University of Notre Dame, and had gotten married the October before that Christmas. Yesterday, I did an inflation tally, and thought you'd enjoy my findings.

When we bought that cardboard wreath in 1978, at the equivalent of what would probably be a dollar store today, it was priced at 39 cents (you can still see the price pencilled faintly on the back). If we wanted to buy that same decoration today, it would cost us - are you ready for this? - a WHOPPING $1.89! 

IS NOTHING SACRED????? 

Yesterday morning I ventured out and stopped at Sephora and Barnes and Noble, to find some gifts for some nieces and to get a couple of books for birthday gifts. My one set of nieces have birthdays on December 18, December 25 (aka Lizmas), and December 29. A lot of people just ignore their birthdays - you know, the "This is for your birthday and Christmas," but I grew up with a mother whose birthday was December 2, and she said that *her* mother insisted that if you were born in December, you still deserved an actual birthday. So that is the way it works. Anyway, I had complete success, and that made me happy for the rest of the day, I have to say.

Today's agenda includes paying a couple of bills, and digging out Christmas cards to get ready. I know we have some, and I want to make sure that we have stamps, etc. Yes, I still send Christmas cards. Maybe not as many as before, since I have had many people tell me in no uncertain terms that they do NOT want a paper card, and who do I think I am, sending cards when the earth is already so polluted. So I just don't send anything to them. But sending cards and receiving cards gives me a lot of joy, and I always recycle ours or use parts of them for gift tags for the next year, so I feel it's OK. 

I'll probably also get out some "easy" decorations - you know, pillows and such that you have for around the house that you don't need to set aside a day to unwrap and organize.

Of course, there will also be knitting and reading. And the taking of cough syrup, since I started with a chest cold on Sunday, and coughed my way through the night last night. 😡

As I mentioned above, yesterday was my mom's birthday. Last night, The Tim and I were drinking a birthday toast to her, and I was saying that if she were still here, she would be 106 years old. And The Tim said, "Oh God, she'd still be getting me to find her cane for her 50 times a day!" and we had a good laugh, because she would "lose" her cane all of the time. And then she'd say, "Tim, I've lost my cane/that person has my cane,* will you help me find it," and he would say, "Geraldine, it's right in front of you," and she would respond, "Oh for God's sake!" and the two of them would have the best laugh about it.

Whereas, if The Tim wasn't around, and it was only the two of us, she would say the same thing to me, and I would say - in a completely normal tone of voice - "Mom, it's right in front of you," and she would say in a truly annoyed fashion, "Well, no one likes a smart ass."

Sometimes you're just not the favorite, and you have to live with that. 😂

*whenever she would "lose" her cane, if we were out somewhere and someone else near us also had a cane, she was always convinced they it was hers and they had taken it ...

It's Time

IFKYK. 

(This year with our new door!)

First Sunday of Advent 2024

 

Sometimes I think about the world being terrible

and then I think of the young boy outside the supermarket, singing Coldplay, his sweet voice in the wind

his father proud

a baby being born; coming home 

an elderly couple holding hands

each time someone says,

"I saw this and thought of you"

A child's expression when they see their parent

in a crowd.

how people make art to understand the world

not for the world to understand their art

acts of kindness among strangers

a dog who waits at the door for you

how most people are good

and for all the terrible, I try to think of the happiness

people still allow into their lives

with open arms and hearts.

How people mend piece by piece,

despite all that is broken.

       -- Jessica Urlichs