Lookin' Up!

Thank you for asking how the arm, wrist and hand are after the barrel won that round.
Things are looking up!
Today's progress is the following:


There are two of these pumpkin pies, now in the refrigerator.


These 7 custard cups, shown baking in the oven, are the leftover pumpkin filling. Custard cups with custard in them! Who would have thought that they had a purpose other than to be stacked in a cupboard?



One thawing 20 pound turkey is now nicely thawed in wait for tomorrow's bread stuffing. (That's chunked bread, 2 sticks melted butter, diced onion, thinly sliced celery, dashes of salt and lemon pepper.) Russ is moving the turkey around for me as the wrist is not ready to support the weight of a frozen 20 pound turkey quite yet.



Can you believe two matching slippers? Yes, I finally finished the second one as wrist and hand allowed.


Finally, but not least, Happy Thanksgiving Thursday to those of us living in the USA or Overseas who celebrate our many blessings.

Barrel 1, Nancy 0

Last Sunday when DH still had to rest due to his port being removed and stitches were still 'fresh', I partially emptied the old burn barrel onto the compost pile, turned the pile, added more, then pulled on the barrel to replace it with new barrel. Sigh. The top third snapped off and so did my arm and wrist. The swelling is nearly gone now, still some bruising and I should be able to knit again tonight....a little.

'Meanwhile back at the ranch', the weather has been beautiful and yesterday DH took the leaf blower and cleaned off the back porch (sweeping is a no-no for the wrist) and blew more leaves from the yard into the garden.



First up, Russ is at the back left corner of the fenced portion of the yard.
(Notice blue sky!)



Second, here's DH's close to the garden. (Notice new burn barrel's shadow. Russ whupped the old one into shape for Mother Nature to finish recycling.)



How deep the new leaves are on Russ' boots!



The garden has been lightly tilled for winter by Brian and his trusty Gravely. We'd put homegrown compost, two barrels'-worth of sheep manure on the garden, then leaves two weeks ago and again yesterday. Uh, no, I didn't help yesterday except to take the progress photos.


Here's a cropped photo of the Gravely at work. This is an older, still cast iron Gravely. Heavy? Oh, yeah. Impermeable? Absolutely. Reliable? Always.

Beautiful November

A
Saturday
in November
in the low 60's!
Even though it has frosted heavily several times, lavender is still blooming! Trees have dropped nearly all their leaves, sparrows are raising their last fledglings. Russ' surgery went well yesterday for port removal and colonoscopy (clear), so we feel very, very blessed.

We'll enjoy this while we have it, knowing winter-like weather will also most likely be ours this month.

Footlet time

November in PA means slipper time and Marilyn Van Keppel's patterns being shared on the SHP KAL are just the slippers!


The KAL gives the option for stranded Scandinavian footlets or solid ones. Marilyn shares that Scandinavians often do not wear shoes in their homes so create these footlets to wear throughout their homes.



Here I'm sharing pictures of one of each. I've posed them in different positions to share that they do, indeed fit! Now, this is amazing considering that shoes and slippers and I have a hard time fitting comfortably. The acrylic ones are good for milder weather, while, the stranded ones are very warm right away. Sounds 'pretty good OK' for this 'grrl' who tends toward cold feet in colder climes.



Details (you do want details, right?):

Solid: Red Heart Soft Yarn (acrylic), Cherry Red

Stranded: Brown Sheep Prairie Silk "Buck" and Paton's SWS "Natural Green"
(Thank you, Yarn Elf!)

Needles: #5 16" circulars, 2 for each footlet;plus, straight #5 and crochet hook size D, tapestry needle for weaving in ends.

The solid ones have three stitches at the beginning of the foot top section while the stranded ones have seven stitches to accommodate the star pattern. The two footlets do fit differently because of this, but only in a good way.

These are welcome additions to my Ugg boots.

Thank you, Marilyn, and SHP for the KAL. Guess I should try out the next footlets, too, right?

More Autumn Splendor

Today is even more gorgeous than the weekend! The following pictures are some of those promised when I'd said I be sharing more.

First up is a Canadian goose at Northmoreland Park with the boathouse in the background. This was all farmland when I went to school.



Fallen logs, mosses and ferns with the lake through the trees at Northmoreland call to me to photograph.


These next two are on Ridge Road, a lake that was built last year.



Right on the edge of Burrell Township and Parks Township, this area has been spectacular every year.

Stranded Faroese Footlets

The other day I showed my solid red Faroese Footlet started for the KAL, the pattern shared by Marilyn van Keppel.
Meg added the written directions in a pdf. for a stranded version with the Scandinavian star pattern shared earlier in the week. I could not wait for the next KAL post or for finishing my first footlets after Meg posted. Plus...

just look at this mini-maple in its glory, peaking through the cyclone fence. I look out the window here in the living room where my laptop is currently resting and I see these leaves. They look like stranded or fair isle inspiration to me.

Details so far:
pattern from SHP KAL
#5 circular(s)
Brown Sheep Prairie Silks in "Buck" colorway and Paton's SWS in 'green'.

Sunday in the Park

Today dawned as sunny as yesterday was cloudy.

A trip to Northmoreland Park is overdue. Just ask Tawny. Just ask Tawny's Fan Club who have been asking for Tawny-Park pictures.

Look at those geese! As we were there, more Canada geese came in. Love those honkers!




Tawny is not excited about sitting pretty. There are too many wonderful, fresh scents to discover and in which to indulge.


Three Mallard duck males are in this inlet. See them? If you click on the picture to enlarge it, the details really show. It was so soggy here. Water was seeping across the brick walkway. I tried to walk down to the water's edge and I succeeded;but, sank into three inches of boggy grass.

On the way back to the truck, Russ and Tawny posed for this shot. Leaves have dropped off 80% of the woodland vegetation, but it is still a lovely afternoon.


We just couldn't resist this lovely tree by the parking lot.

A few more photos are waiting to be shared later on, too!

Leafy, Sheepy Saturday

This is one heck of a burning bush! Isn't it gorgeous?


We've had enough rain, a half inch in the last 24 hours. No sunshine today for leaf peeping, but that didn't stop us this morning!


We needed to return a rope to Amy and the sheep were nearby; so, I couldn't resist a couple sheep pics. In the sheep panorama above, can you spot Chumley in the far right? Chumley is the guard llama. A most handsome fellow, he is. Amy and her Westie (who only wanted to herd and 'help' today, never when Amy wants him to) are feeding "the girls" a treat.

As Russ was driving Ridge Road, he stopped and backed up, saying, "I know you want to take a picture of that log." He's getting to understand a 'photographer's eye'!

This is another favorite spot of Russ' each fall. I showed this area last year from the opposite direction. Since we have been seeing the area the last five years, it is fascinating to compare how differently the leaves change each year. The woodlands are consistent in change. Their evolving micro-environments provide intrigue to those who watch. There are areas that had been farmed, logged, pastured. There are dry, rocky, swampy areas.


Along Chestnut Road near the creek, the ferns haven't been frosted yet and are being covered by leaves while still green. On top of the surrounding hills, the ferns are bronzed and becoming brittle.

Of course there were more photographic exploits. We'll share some more later. All photos are clickable for enlarging.

knitting and gardening

go together like the proverbial horse and carriage in my world. in fact, still have the holes in the garage ceiling from the hooks that held the surrey above the car! until the next footlet post is given on the KAL, the 'summer drooping elm' has had my attention. it has doubled in size since showing it a few days ago. (click pic to enlarge!)

it's been raining most of today, so the leaf pictures are from the inside looking out.

we are both so pleased to have gotten garden and yard work accomplished yesterday.
russ keeps saying how happy he is to have gotten the manure dumped...

and spread yesterday morning.


some prunings, a bit of leftover compost and some yard dirt start off the compost pile after i shoveled the old pile on the garden before the sheep manure. The sheep manure is mixed with chicken goodie and straw. this will give the garden nutritional elements it hasn't seen under our 'watch'.

today's rain after four glorious 'anglo autumn' days is depressing but is standing us in good garden stead.

Which season, including knitting?

Last week a high of 39 and today? 70. The ladybugs are out and about. In droves. Toadstools/mushrooms aren't doing badly, either.


Last Sunday we had some company whose 9 year old wondered what the drum carder was? Well, I had to show him how it operates, right? And what did I have to card? Tawny fur! Then, what does one do with a carded batt? Spin it! Dad and son, in particular, were intrigued by the spinning wheel and how it works. Dad was really curious...Mom was interested but gave father and son room to investigate.

Yesterday started out cool but not even any dew was on the grass. DH decided it was a good time to mow 'for the last time this season'. Uh, I don't think so; but, we'll just nod in agreement at the moment.

Today I went with DH for his mammogram. It's been five years since his mastectomy. And when we got home, what greeted us? This Christmas Cactus is blooming!!! It must really like being transplanted into Miracle Gro potting soil and a new pot, plus its new location! This is the absolute earliest I have ever seen a Christmas Cactus bloom. Plus, this one usually is a Valentine's Day bloomer!

While in the waiting room at the hospital today, I knitted 8 rows on my " Summer Drooping Elm" but today also started the SHP KAL of Faroese Footlets, shared by Marilyn vanKeppel. I'm knitting a solid version first and then, hopefully, a stranded version if I can knit these to fit. I have a terrible problem with footsies fitting, so let's keep our fingers crossed!

elm and leaves

We had our first frost here last night which yielded raining leaves this morning.
While it can, a volunteer elm in the back yard has offered its young limbs and leaves as a backdrop and support for the project I've picked back up this weekend, "Drooping Summer Elm". I'd taken this stole/scarf with us in July but didn't hardly work on it other than to share the cast on at camp. To review, it's a Montse Stanley double loop twist cast on, a pattern from Barbara Walker and Cascade Heritage yarn knit on a #6 Addi Lace Turbo 24" circular.



Nut trees and maples and wild currants are changing colors but mostly they are dropping leaves faster than they can show their splendor. (Click on pictures for detail!)




Eggplants and grapes were hit very hard by heavy frost. The baby white ghost eggplants that were too small to pick yesterday just don't appear possible to develop for a dinner later on. They would have loved the 70 degree weather predicted later on this week, as will we.

Mittday

Terry's fingerless gansey patterned mitts are finished!

It's still 40 degrees, as it has been for 3 days. At least it's not raining or snowing this morning. We didn't have any snow here but the Pittsburgh airport had a trace. Now with these mitts, though, I'm ready!
(Click to embiggen!)


Thanks to DH, we have pictures of the mitts being modeled.

Details of the knit:

*Less than one skein of Cascade 220 in Doeskin

*10" straight needles, one size 5 and one size 6

*pattern is a Mystery knit from HMGA Yahoo group, Terry Liann Morris, designer

Stupid. Weather. 24 deg. below average high.

Today's average high is 63 but we could have flurries with the continued rain tomorrow. State College (where Penn State is located) already has slushy snow on the ground. This is not an Ides of October practical joke. (Beware the Ides of....) Yuck.

Here are some yard pics from today in the rain.



This is the prettiest poison ivy gets! It's been in the hedge for decades.




The cinnamon fern is getting ready for winter.




Here's that recurring October-blooming honeysuckle with maple leaves and witch hazel.

Knitting? I'm knitting on the second Cascade 220 fingerless mitt.