gray days and way too many emails

 As the days continue to be gray and damp I sit and knit on Stella's blanket..... getting stiff hands as a result.  Its length grows slowly....

When not knitting I check out my emails... between yesterday morning and this morning I received 494 emails. Mostly political.... yuck... mostly asking for a donation.... more yuck !!  Delete delete delete!!

This afternoon Bob and I drive "downtown" to KC's City Market to pick up cookie decorating kits that I won at a charity auction. I am looking forward to seeing them !  

later... there was lots of traffic on the interstate but the sun came out and the sky was blue. Found our way there and home again!!

Weatherperson was right

 well... surprise surprise ! The weather person was right. It did actually snow early this morning. A whopping  1/2 inch. Mostly on the grass though the newspaper plastic bag on the driveway did have it stick!!

Actually as I looked out the computer room window I see it is snowing again.... very fine flakes and still not sticking to the driveway.

My daughter and her family will be driving to Rolla, Mo  ( about 3 - 4 hours east and south) for a family funeral tomorrow. I am hoping that the temperatures don't go much lower and that things don't freeze on the roads.  I am also hoping that they manage to keep to their plans to wear masks, keep their distances and so on. They will quarantine when they get back here.... so we won't be seeing them .

Still working on Stella's blanket .... it is about 43" wide by 20" long ( so far).  I am coming to the end of a ball but do have another. Shall I keep going ?  I do like the looks of it.

BTW ... now the blanket is a lapful  my cat Tigger the Tripper doesn't want to sit on my lap so he tries to join Jack who sits on my husband's lap ...something Jack isn't pleased about.

gorgeous versus cold and rainy

 Yesterday was a beautiful day... warm ( over 80) and sunny. I went out on the deck and removed all the dead plants from the boxes and readied the boxes for next spring. We have had enough wind recently that the deck and the back yard have loads of dead branches and the leaves are beginning to fall!

 Today is another story. I woke to the sounds of rain and dark skies. The temperature is now getting to 40 and won't get much higher. Things are dark so all the lights are on. I'm sure a second pot of coffee will be necessary.

Only good thing... having Stella's blanket on my lap while I add more rows is nice and comforting! I think I am about half way to be being done!!

Decided I wanted/needed another "ball" of yarn for the blanket so off to Hobby Lobby. Also picked up some Christmas stuff.  I wore my mask.. kept my distance and washed when I got home. But it was nice to "get out of the house"!

different day

 Today was a different one.... Bob drove me into KC to my hair salon where Mark again exclaimed at how long my hair had gotten and what did I want to do with it. After some discussion we had a plan!  

We spent the time chit chatting while he went snip snip. I've been going to him for years so I know all his back story....  I am so glad to have all that hair cut into submission.

Bob sat outside in the car and played Suduko.... luckily he wore a winter coat,

Today was cold , gray and drizzly.... and just like Missouri, it will be back to the 80's on Thursday... and then drop again.  But it was cold enough that I talked Bob into turning on the gas fireplace after dinner! Nice and cozy!!

Still knitting on Stella's blanket.... the plastic handled 32" circular needles are the pits. Yes. the stitches slide nicely but the plastic needle ends snap. I am now using bamboo ones... we'll see if they are any stronger.  The blanket is now about 15 inches long !!

knitting....babies versus teddy bears

My daughter's step-daughter is having a baby!! So I decided to make the baby a blanket... It's been a long time since I knitted for anything other than a teddy bear!! And small bears at that!!  Stella ( the baby) is due in January so I stopped at Hobby Lobby for yarn and bigger needles ( bigger than ones for teddies!).

I cast on 190 stitches and have been working on a pattern that looks like basket weave .. Knit 5, Perle 5 and after 8 rows switch to P5, K 5. There's a knit only border too.  It's looking good but it's "oh so slow"!!   My hands are "oh so tired"!

I stopped at Hobby Lobby this morning for another ball of yarn. Don't want to run out before I get to 36 or so inches long. While there I found some clearance yarn just right for teddies!!

Luckily the temperatures have dropped, it's not too warm for a lap full of knitting.  We are still sunny and the sky is blue.... BUT acorns are dropping like mad  and branches are falling. The wind gusts are strong !!  Sitting and knitting,   the acorns dropping almost sound like gun shots.

Here's Stella's blanket. Not the greatest picture is it?? It's sage green    no baby colors for Stella according to her Mother!

Another gorgeous day plus quilting

 Today has been another gorgeous day so my quilting group decided to meet again  - outside - 6 feet apart - masks for some. One member had been away for the weekend with her family so she wore a mask. Another is back to teaching in school so she wore a mask.

Lots of talking and eating. This will be the last meeting until things get better.  This area is still a red zone with new cases and deaths.

We have been lucky. ... and want to stay that way

My grandson and I were going to check out the U-pick apple orchard... so I called and was told that the trees were picked clean. Disappointing.... good for the orchard owner though!!

soup season

 The weather may be turning... today is cooler than it's been for awhile and the wind is blowing enough for my plastic pumpkin to blow across the front yard and my neighbor's sail above his deck has come "unattached" on one side.

So... the last time I went grocery shopping I bought the makings for split pea soup... tomorrow I will make some. Split pea soup is a family comfort food !!

Spiders !!

here are my spiders and their web.... I've added two more spiders down at the bottom of the stairs.

dragging down the Halloween stuff

 Since we are going to be stuck at home this Halloween I dragged down the box of Halloween decorations from the attic. Bob willingly helped me hang the spider web by the front door steps. I've attached the two spiders to it!! Then I added pumpkin lights down the handrail and a plastic pumpkin by the door wearing a witch hat and mask ... everyone has to wear masks!!

I bought bags of wrapped candy... will be get any trick or treaters? Our cul-de-sac does have a few kids now so... maybe. If we don't... I know some adults who will happily eat the candy!!  LOL

We have had days of non-fall-like weather with super sunny skies and temperatures going as high as 84. Wonder how much longer will this go on?

Burr Oak acorns

 Today is one of those gorgeous fall days... super blue sky... no wind... sunny and in the low 70's. So after dropping off one of Bob's boxes at the UPS store we decided to stop at the park for a walk around the lake. There were twice as many Canada geese "resting" along the paths as when we last walked  and a blue heron standing on the water's edge.

But under the burr oak tree was a carpet of acorns and hulls. I've never seen so many under one tree! I brought home some so I could take a picture !

Each acorn measures close to  1.5 inches in length ! Squirrels only seem to eat the hulls when they are green and not the acorns at all !

The park was busy... lots of walkers ... social distancing was followed but everyone said "hello" .  One dog really wanted to be chasing those geese. I think he envisioned a tasty meal!

ps...I've always thought that these were burr oak acorns... but now that our "parks & rec dept" has posted a sign at the tree, I am sure!!

voted..... no standing in line in November

We decided to do absentee ballots  for the November election. We "ordered" them about a month ago and they came shortly after the ballots were printed ( about the first of October). Bob poured through the instructions... the question of whether or not we needed to have them notarized was a struggle. We decided to follow the sticker on the place where it would have the notary seal which stated we did not need to do it.

So we cautiously and carefully filled in our votes.... didn't want a rejection because we hadn't completely filled in the box ... signed them, added addresses and sealed them. Off tomorrow to the Post Office to mail them.

BTW we checked off the box that said we were in the high risk group for covid... which we are.

Back from the Post Office... the ballots have been mailed. So now we won't have to stand on line in November... and it's making the line shorter for those who will be standing in line!!

 

Road trip completed!!

 Today's weather is gorgeous... sunny, big clouds and temps in the '60's !! We headed out after lunch since the wineries are only open from 1 to 6 pm on Sundays !

Our route was east on US route 24. We passed acres and acres of corn and soy beans. Some of the corn had been harvested... some was still drying. The corn is for silage, ethanol, corn syrup etc.... not for people eating for dinner!! The soy beans are still drying.  When we got closer to the wineries there were huge apple orchards ... people picking too!

We stopped and tasted at two wineries.... One was a typical tasting. We were given a list of wines available and we chose 5 or 6. Our choices were poured into wine glasses and we sipped! Picked two we liked best and bought them. The second was really covid avoidance prepared. One picked a category of wine. We chose semi-sweet and apple. We were given a tray of covered plastic containers of samples labeled with numbers to take outside and try. So try we did... picked two using the numbers and the apple and bought them!   Both wineries required masks and social distancing.

Our trip home we took the old road along the Missouri River and the train tracks ( carries loads of freight from at least Kansas City to St. Louis).  I waved at one of the trains as it past us going East !  We drove through Lexington. Wellington and Napoleon ... river towns. Lexington was also the site of a Civil War Battle and one can still see cannon ball holes on some of the buildings.

BTW ... we had fun not following the Garmin lady's directions.... she did keep  trying to get us to go her way!!

Another get together

 My "quilting" group decided another get together was just the thing for last night!  Two members also brought their high school aged sons who are friends.( they talked and played croquet).

We had loads of snacks ... from fresh fruits to luscious desserts.... and lots of talking!!  The weather made it all do-able since it was in the low 70's and being on the deck in the back of the house we were sheltered from the wind gusts!

You could tell fall was on its way... the garden plants were dying. The chestnut tree was loaded with nuts and a few were on the ground! Split tail flycatchers were squeaking above us flying after mosquitoes... and being quite successful ( thank you !).

We're hoping to do this again in two weeks .. I'm going to suggest we meet an hour earlier. It will be warmer then and lighter!

Wonder being able to see each other... get out of the house... and spend time with my daughter driving to and from!!