Wintering

I don't mind the winter. I guess because I have so many hobbies that keep me busy in the house. But don't get me wrong, I also love being outside. Luckily I don't mind the cold as I get older. I dress in layers and head out with the dog for walks every day. He needs the walks or he's a crazy man. Ends up I need them just as much as he does. I especially love walking when there is snow on the ground. The bright white makes everything look pretty.

I started spending time quilting again this weekend. My quilt has been a work in progress for two years. I pieced it quickly but it takes me a while to hand quilt. I had to order a new leather thimble because Buddy ate mine...yup. I tried using the metal one I had but I just can't get the stitches right. It felt good to be quilting again. 

My friend Lara suggested a new to me bread recipe and and I made two loaves last night. It's English Muffin Bread. YUM!!!!! Totally different than my sourdough. It's so fast and easy to make! Start to finish was a little over an hour. I should have let it rise a few more minutes before baking. Next time I'll probably let it rise closer to 45 minutes. Added a little butter and jelly and it was perfection!

I enjoyed some coffee and knitting time on Monday with my friends. We're a good group. We cover a few decades of different ages. I love that! We all bring different experiences to the table. I am so happy I got to join back up with them after a few years of missing out. I got a few rows done on my Inspira Cowl. I'm enjoying it. The colors are so pretty. I also picked up a new book at the library. I'm hoping to start it tonight when I get home from band rehearsal. Tonight is our first rehearsal of the season!!! We were canceled the past two weeks due to snow. I usually come home WIDE awake after practice and can't go to bed. So I'll try reading tonight. 

That's it for now. I hope you're all warm and cozy and enjoying wintering too.

Scenes from the weekend

Friday was a perfect snow day! It snowed all day but not the heavy yucky stuff. Just pretty, all day, main roads were fine kind of snowy day. It was lovely!!!!!!

Buddy's first real snow storm. He LOVED it!

I decided to try a new recipe. Sox the cat wanted to "help". He wasn't too happy we locked him in most of the day. This boy loves to be outside!

I made Roasted Mushrooms on Toast by Julia Turshen. It was soooo good!

If you like mushrooms, you'll absolutely love this. We inhaled them.

This is the cookbook the recipe is in. I love trying new recipes from cookbooks I get at the library. I've made a few of her recipes and they've been great! I also made her ricotta turkey meatballs from this book. Another hit and gluten free (my son's gf has celiac so I like to find good gluten free recipes to cook when she visits).

I miss my flower garden so I try to get fresh flowers for the house during the winter. Our local Whole Foods always has pretty selections.

I am back to teaching knitting lessons. It's a nice way to meet new people, bring knitters into our world and also make some extra money. I had a class of 4 this Saturday. They did great! 

I cast on for them, knit a few rows and then they get started learning the knit stitch. Once they're comfortable I teach the purl stitch. Then I go from there...based on how they are doing!

The second lesson is where I teach them to bind off and cast on. 

I finished my Autumn Alpine sweater!

Ravelry notes can be found on the link. I love it!

And the last photo of the post...my mom! Knitting her first real project!

She is going to knit the Guernsey Wrap for Rhinebeck 2024. 

She's jumping right in with a great intermediate project. Everyone assumes she taught us to knit, but she's just learning now. She's so crafty and talented in so many ways and I think she's liking this knitting thing!

 

Snow Scenes

Snowy Sunset

Snowy Sunrise

Super simple pasta lunch for me and my middle kid. Fun shaped pasta, olive oil, butter, parmesan cheese and basil. So simple and delicious on this freezing day!

The snow is still here. We are expecting another storm tomorrow with a few inches. It's so nice to see some snow on the ground again. It's been two years since we got any! 

 

Oh, hello...

Oh, hello there! Yes, it's been a while since I've posted. I was having issues with blogger linking up to my google photos and I didn't have the brain space to figure it out. Like magic, it worked today! So I'm just doing one giant post from what's happened from Christmas until today! Ready? LOL...

Christmas Eve with my family. My mom and dad, all the grandkids and of course Little Dude.

We are so lucky.

A fun trip to Atlantic City to Bass Pro Shops, Carmines for dinner and Aquaman at the IMAX theater! A fun Christmas gift to the little boys from my mom and dad. Liz and I got to tag along. We had a blast.

Lots of walks...

I spent a lot of my holiday break relaxing and knitting my Autumn Alpine Sweater. 

Always enjoy my time at coffee and knitting with my knitting buddies.

My dad was gifted a special big foot!

Spring Lake, NJ. My favorite place to walk Buddy.

Another walk, this time through Allaire State Park. Also a favorite.

Allaire Village General Store

New Years Eve at Liz and Nicks! Liz making her famous bacon, cheese bread apps. YUM.

My kids surprised me with some beautiful yarn from Mother Knitter for Christmas.

And my mom gifted all the girls white yarn from the farm. We're all going to plan to make something very special with it. The yarn is from one of our animals that had to be put down this fall. So it's very special.

Sourdough bread for my boys. It's their favorite.

More sweater update photos and this book!

Oh this book...you can read my review on Goodreads here.

My knitting buddies gathered to celebrate our pal, Paige "Paige the Framer"'s 50th birthday! We are so happy she was born and even happier that we have her in our lives. She's one in a million.

This is Rich, Just Joan's husband. He heard Liz mention the new beer she likes but couldn't find. He found it and made the hour drive across the state to get it!!!!!! What a guy!

Our friend, Lara, is famous for making cakes. Paige mentioned her favorite was a brown derby cake and Lara got right to it! 

The story with this sweater...it's a good one! Ok, here goes. A woman came to the farm store with this sweater in a bag. She knit it many years ago for her brother (who is now 93). His grandson (or great-grandson, not sure which) loves the sweater and wanted to take it back to college with him in Massachusetts. But the edge of the bottom hem was fraying and had a hole. She was hoping we had yarn to fix it. I was there so I ran into my house and found some yarn that was a perfect match. As I started to explain how she could pick up stitches and then knit a new band with the yarn, she asked me if I would do it. I told myself no commissioned knits for a while but she was so sweet! How could I say no?! So I took it home and made the magic happen! I knit the bottom band good as new. She was thrilled. Made me happy to give this sweater a second life.

Temps are getting lower every day! 

My favorite part of Mondays...coffee and knitting. And still the same sweater...

Paige modeling the new test knit hat made by Tracey.

Liz and I received a package from our friend, Kate. We've never met in real life but we're friends! Don't you love how instagram and the internet and zoom can make you friends!? 

She sent us this beautiful package. She hand dyed tea towels with flowers from her garden. My towel contained hand spun yarn! And her dried flowers were in the box. She also sent us a "How to Sew Clothes" book to share. She knows we both want to be better sewers. So sweet and kind of her.

My middle guy and his girlfriend :) We love her! Buddy doesn't want to leave them alone.

We went away! To Florida! Yes, I left the farm! I was convinced it would be cold in Florida in January and my husband thought I was ridiculous for dressing like this to fly. Guess what? He was right. We had record high temps and I had to go buy sundresses.

We stayed on the beach and my morning walks were much different without Buddy! I missed him.

Lots of time just relaxing, reading, eating, drinking. It was really nice.

I knitted an Icehouse Hat for my son while we were away. He lives in Atlanta and he joined us for the trip. He mentioned it was chillier than he expected in Georgia so this hat was perfect. I used some yarn from our farm so he had a little piece of home with him. He's called me since getting home and said it came in handy already!

We finally got some snow here in NJ. First time in a few years. I made some bread and this soup. It's a family favorite. I used Kate's tea towel to cover the dough while it rose.

I also read this book, The Many Lives of Mama Love. I couldn't put it down. 

I promised myself I would read more this year. Put the knitting down every once in a while and pick up a book! I've missed reading. It's good to be back.

A new project is on my needles. Ready for when my sweater is done.

This is the Inspira Cowl in the steampunk size. I bought the yarn at Rhinebeck and it was made for another cowl but I changed my mind and picked this one instead. I made a chunky version for my mom years ago. This is the fingering weight one and will take a while but that's ok with me.

And this sweater has been in a bag for a few weeks. I'm torn...I don't love it. I might rip it out. Not sure. I'll give it more time before I decide.

 So that's it! Whew. It's been busy! But good busy. Here's to a good rest of January.