Happy Birthday

.
to our daughter, who has been a delight her whole life long.

Early Quiet

Last Saturday....

With construction workers here early each day and the constant bustle they bring, it has been challenging to sustain focus.  Home invasions, even for a good cause, cannot help but disturb the calm.  Our cats and I are savored the peace of a quiet weekend morning.

In the midst of renovation, a simple needle project helps transport me to a better mental place each evening as I relax before bedtime.  Coupled with catching up on episodes of Call the Midwife, these two activities perfectly mixed activity for the hands, occupation for the mind, rest for the spirit, and delight for the soul.  This blanket pattern, Garter Squish, is leading me thought my yarn basket of leftover balls, creating a stroll down a knitting, memory lane.....

A sweater for Alex formed from that blue, hat and mittens for Lydia from the purple heather, a scarf for me from that now small ball of burgundy, mitts and a hat for Chris from that burnt gold, as well as so many other items crated from this remnant pile of color, accumulated over years of knitting and projects.  Using leftover fisherman's wool from the sweater just finished, I combine these oddballs into one flowing cascade of muted color warmth,  joining satisfaction, relaxation, and  delight all at the same time.

Matthew's World

His world makes sense by

simple patterns, requiring only

slight alterations…

What’s for dinner?

What‘s for dessert?

Tomorrow we have Sunday School.

Whose teaching?

We say the Lord’s Prayer.

Barb is a nice sister, right Mom?

Rob is a nice brother…

Would that I so trusted,

one thing gently falling

behind another;

people remaining constant,

life abiding.

It could be that way…

if I just let it

be. 

Construction Disruption

This is what sat just outside the window of my study this morning....

...and this is what the inside of our bathroom looked like this afternoon.  Can you tell we are remodeling?  It is going to be great when it is finished, but until then we have pounding, and drop cloths, and dust, and dirt, and disruption.  

It seemed to me like a good day to try a new recipe...

So I did.

The perfect blend of two favorites, shortbread and chocolate chip cookies:

Mini Morsel Shortbread Cookies                                

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

¾ cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

2 ¼ cup flour

1 – 12 oz. pkg. (2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips, divided

Preheat oven to 350. In large mixer bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour. Stir in 1 cup chocolate chips. Spread batter into ungreased 13 x 9” baking pan.

Bake 30-35 minutes, just until top begins to brown. Immediately sprinkle remaining 1 cup chocolate chips over top.

Let stand 5 minutes or until morsels become shiny and soft; spread chocolate over top. Cool 10 minutes. While still warm cut into 1 ¼” squares. Cool completely.  Makes about 3 dozen.

Try one!

This week...

...I finished knitting and wrapped myself with this bright, easy garter stitch shawl, designed by my local yarn shop's (Stitch Your Art) owner, Cynthia.   I have worn it three times already, loving how lightly it drapes my shoulders both inside or outside a jacket or vest.

I chose the simplest of the designs included in this versatile pattern, and I alternated between two different colorways of bulky Noro Karuta yarn.  I don't typically wear orange, but I enjoy the occasional stripe of here it as it straddles the purple, fuchsia, and blue.

March is here and while the weather remains a murky gray dulled by the sifting of snowflakes through its clouds, the hope of Spring nears with a turning of the calendar. Soon (and hopefully very soon), this shawlette alone may suffice for our evening strolls around the blocks of our neighborhood.

Being Grandparents

 After I posted some photographs of Jim with Jamie on Facebook, one of Jim's high school classmate wrote, "Is it just me, or is it hard to believe that we are now grandparents?"  His reply: "It is not just you...but isn't it wonderful?" In the span of one week, we managed to have that wonderfulness threefold, fillings our days with all three grandchildren, the ones far away in North Carolina and the one much closer, still south from us although yet in the same state.

This week, Jim accompanied me for my Rosemary day.  Rosie, now a six-month sitting up sweetie was her normal enchanting self.  I dressed her up in a Christmas present to me from her dear mama.

 Because last post, I featured Alex, I include his brother in this post. Now all three of our grandchildren are here with us on this page, just as they were in person during the past two weeks.

Grandparenting really is the greatest thing...

Our Crazy Eight

Alexander turned eight on Friday.  Eight years old!  All boy now, he is growing and changing in delightful ways.  Possessing his own developing sense of humor, he appreciates a good joke, Grandad's sense of humor, and even Nana outsmarting him in Connect Four.  

He delights in discovering new worlds through his microscope and the pages of the chapter books he now reads silently to himself. He independently walks the short lane from the school bus to his house.  He is making a car for the pinewood derby.  Even though he wrote out the valentines for his classmates in record time (all 22 in 10 minutes he claims), he sustains lengthy telephone conversations and composes sweet and thoughtful thank you notes.

 His drawings are detailed and imaginative, summoning Richard Scarry comparisons in some of the scenes he creates.  He knows how to negotiate the iPad and Netflix with greater ease than the rest of us. He makes models and can assemble hard ones pretty quickly with only just a little help. He is a good speller, knows his math facts, and is conscientious about completing his homework. He has friends and loves to hang out with them. He is a really good big brother...

He loves surprises, even though it is still hard to wait for them. He remembers things.  He is gentle. He is loving. He is kind and loyal.  He is our first grandchild, our first grandson, and he is quite adored...

(He also generously indulged his nana by modeling, posing, and mugging for pictures with this hat, her most recent knit!)