Morning Glory Studio

three on thurs | 6.7.18

 

 

 

(Congvergence quilt #1 - on my design wall; still under construction; the circles and the butterfly will be appliquéd on)

1. I am reading (listening to via Audible) Paul Auster's 4321  and enjoying every minute of this story. The writing is so detailed , the narration, excellent and the book a perfect companion to my first Convergence quilt (above) that I began last Thursday, in class. My plan is to make convergence quilts as I read (audible books) over these three summer months... Audible reading provides the perfect background as I learn/practice the technique for making a convergence quilt.  I'm stoked and have selected fabrics - tho' not necessarily companion books - for at least 6-8 more quilts. I should have plenty practice...

2. I took a walk to my favorite local coffee shop and ordered an iced caramel latté. The coffee shop now has 100% -earth friendly- paper straws... they feel strange on the lip...

3. We are not hockey fans in this house but we're rootin' for the Washington Capitals! They are one game away tonight to winning the Stanley Cup...for more years than I can remember, they've come sooo close. If they win, this city/area will go W*I*L*D!!! Send good vibes...Thanks!

Joining Carole and others for this week's edition of Three on Thursday.

Cheers~

 

 

unraveled wednesday | this n that ...

Yesterday, during our all day rain, the sky was peppered with birds...they were small, sparrows, I think...Today, the sky is clear and blue with puffy white clouds. Earlier this morning, I looked out the window and got a glimpse of Canadian Geese, in perfect formation, winging their way south ...tho', it looked like they were going NE...but, perhaps they were just practicing. My they are precise and fast! By the time it registered that the geese were flying overhead and I should get my phone to snap a pic, they were out of sight! Oh, maybe 20 seconds had elapsed? If that many. 

I have finished the Top This giraffe hat and started a fourth one...t'is good practice as I'm trying to establish the habit of knitting practice everyday...and the hats are so darn cute...I will be moving onto somethings a  tad more difficult, in the weeks to come. 

Summer Book Bingo will be extended for me... Today, a friend sent me a note with a news clipping about Louise Penny's newest title, released yesterday. The note said the book will be my birthday present (November)...at the rate I'm reading the novels, she will probably have written her fourteenth by the time I'm ready for the thirteenth! Something to look forward to. My friend is buying all the books - she decided she wanted to reread and add them to her personal collection...so,  I think I have a very available source. 

Time for me to watch the evening news and practice my knitting...plus complete two more loads of laundry...a late start today. Joining Kat and others again this week; do pop over...

Cheers~

unraveled wednesday | 23 aug 2017

 

 

On the knitting front, I finished the second Top This hat (a monkey)  and I'm better than half-way through the third (a giraffe); they are easy and good practice for lubricating my rusty knitting skills. Norman was a good sport to pose for this photo (quiet as it's kept, I'm don't think he was aware that I was taking a photo - shhh, don't tell...).

I'm not sure I'm any further along with my Book Bingo card than I was last week, tho' I hasten to add: fiction reading continues - as that has been my goal: to read more fiction ... To that end, I can say:  thanks to Audible and Louise Penny, I've upped that total to six whole titles. Last week, I started Louise Penney's The Cruelest Month, number 3 in the series which means I'm 1/4th through and Ruth Ozeki's A Tale for the Time Being. In  2015, the last time I was in Oregon for a week-long quilting workshop, that was the state's If Everyone Read the Same Book choice. It is an intriguing story.

Coming up - in two weeks, Sat 2 Sept, the National Book Festival in downtown DC...I'm hoping to go! Lots of good authors will be there. Read more here. And that's about all I have to share this week. Joining up with Kat and others, here.

What's in your knitting and reading queue?

Cheers~

 

 

unraveled wednesday | it's august already?!...

 

 

Joining Kat and friends for Unraveled Wednesday

The last post I shared about book bingo and knitting was July 19!

• I am close to completing two Bingos, possibly a third - currently reading Olive Kitteridge on my walks. I saw the HBO mini series and liked it.. I think I'd like to read, rather than listen to this book...
• I finished the second Top This hat (shown in the above  post), started a third and 
• I've two more in the wings... My plan is to reintroduce knitting into my life - I'd taken a sabbatical around  late 2015 and I've a few projects in the wings that'll fill up fall/winter evenings quite nicely...and dust off/sharpen my limited knitting skills...

I started my friend Pat on the Inspector Gamache series...she's already finished books one and two...she's a binge reader - once she starts and likes, just continues to read to the finish. I told her she was going to have to wait for the third one - especially since I've just barely begun it, myself! 

Saw the delightful yard sign on my walk this morning...

And that's the way it is on 2 August 2017! 

Cheers~

unraveled wednesday | closing in...

 
(next up in the queue) 

"B*I*N*G*O...and BINGO was his name-o !"  This was/is a very popular singing nursery rhyme with little ones...and I'm close to two BINGOs. I have two books  each to read in 2 rows -and one is going to be an audio book as I need a new walking companion. Tuesday, I finished Lillian Boxfish Takes A Walk  and did enjoy her ruminations about her life; the Audible book has an author interview that I have yet to listen to...but it's really been almost too hot to go walking...

I also finished Louise Penny's A Fatal Grace yesterday - in print and ready to start the third in the series (also in print) and that'll be good for another box!  Here's  a great interview with Louise Penny. One of my aims is to read more fiction and I'm pleased with my choices and results, so far...Also, next up in the print queue: Hidden Figures, albeit isn't fiction but that's OK: I need non-fiction titles, too... 

Knitting! Well, I can't say I'm in full swing - possibly that'll be never - but I did resume knitting the Top This hats. My sister has two more grands, both boys and I have three hats -one done; one- half done and one: to be started...soon, colder weather will be here and I'm figuring I'll be done, by then! 

Possibly next week I'll have a BINGO visual to share...Stay cool and read on! Joining in with Kat and others today, too! 

Cheers~

unraveled wednesday | 28 june 2017

 

Hydrangea seen on my morning walk

11 am:   T'is a gorgeous day - I've been out once already for a walk and plan another excursion later this afternoon, especially since we are enjoying the last vestiges of perfect summer weather. Were I a hammock sitter - or even had a blanket and a patch of grass upon which to park, today is perfect day for a picnic basket and a book...

Right now as I pen this post, I'm sitting in my fave spot, staring out the deck doors, enjoying the summer breeze (sans humidity), listening to light jazz vocals, hearing birds chirp. two blue jays perched on the railing and just as soon as I grabbed my camera, of course, they flew away! Do you suppose they sensed I was planning to shoot them? ...

My plan for the day didn't include another trip to the pool but ya know, since it is Unraveled Wednesday, plans too can be unraveled. Agreed? So, I think I will gather A Fatal Grace, my journal and make another afternoon trip to the pool...and listen to Gretchen Rubin's new Happier Podcast on the way there and/or back..

I finished Storied Life of AJ Fikery...and currently am trying to decide what I want to listen to next...debating between Women in the Castle  and  Lillian Boxfish Takes A Walk - though I'm not sure where Lillian will fit on my card...but I'll worry about that later, if ever. The point is to READ more Fiction and this certainly qualifies. 

Tonight I have a concert - it will be a perfect ending to another perfect June day. ..

2:30 PM...I'm off! 

Cheers~

the cleaning lady*...

 

 8:45 am ~ The morning was crisp, sunny and  cool, so the cleaning lady* decided to take a walk before she began work. On today's chores list: laundry; clean refrigerator; mop kitchen floor and vacuum...not much but enough to keep her busy in between short breaks to jot down a note, a thought, add to the grocery list...the larder is rapidly becoming barer, etc. So, grabbing her iPhone - she's started a new book: The Storied Life of AJ Fikry, and a bottle of water, she headed out the door, planning to be gone about 30 min or so...

The morning temperature - low 70s - was even better than she'd expected - relatively low humidity and a breeze! Before she knew it, she'd walked to the Franciscan Monastery, 13 blocks away. And as she expected, the grounds were lovely and inviting...so, she meandered , took quite a few photos, enjoying every second of sights and sound. Occasionally, she laughed out loud at the story in her ears. 

(the Koi pond has been transformed into a lily pond - I  saw one koi but it eluded my camera)

"Time's a wastin'"  she said out loud - to no one in particular - and headed on the path home. She arrived to find the man of the house just about to sit down to his breakfast. The cleaning lady decided she might as well eat, too before she got to work... About 11:25 am,  brunch finished, she started on the chores. The man of the house went to his computer, continuing the work he and his son began Sunday. In the background, as they both attended to their to do lists, classical music was playing - her favorite.

Just before she finished folding the last load of laundry, her most favorite piece in all the world: Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor began playing**. The cleaning lady decided no one would mind if she took a 30 min break and listened...especially since she was nearly done with all the tasks on the list...and she deserved a rest or so. After all: all work and no play makes for a dull day...

 How was your Tuesday?

Cheers~

*Seems that the cleaning lady looks a lot like me!

**I found this YouTube video after I wrote the post...the pianist also conducts the orchestra! I shall return many times, I know! [sigh]

Unraveled Wednesday | 14 June 2017

 

The tale of the needles:  Nothing stitched or knit this past week tho' a second TopThis hat cast on (last Thursday) and that's as far as I've gotten...

On the reading front: The Bookshop on the Corner (an Audible read) finished! Voila! One Book Bingo square completed! I'm not sure which square it goes in, hmmm... Next up in the Audible queue: The Housekeeper and the Professor , recommended by a friend. She says it's just lovely. I'm eager to start  -  I listen primarily when I'm walking or driving...and I'm on chapter 13 in A Fatal Grace.

Also in my queue: two books on writing: Maps of the Imagination: The Writer as Cartographer and Writing With Quiet Hands. Both are fascinating and provocative...in my email this morning was this blog post by Michael Hyatt; I thought  I'd share: GEORGE WASHINGTON SHOWS US HOW LEADERS ARE READERS . 

A concert this evening so I think I'm going to plop myself on the bed and read a tad...or perhaps, even knit a bit.

Joining Kat and others for this week's Unraveled Wednesday; do hop on over to read what others have shared.

Cheers~

 

unraveled wednesday | a grey june day...

            Grey skies greeted us this day, 6 June...but I won't complain for we're headed for a five days of mid-ninety degree weather starting Sunday. Yuk!

My daily walk is being punctuated by listening to audio books for my Summer Book Bingo; currently, I'm  listening to the title below...

...and enjoying it very much. It's set in the UK and the narrator has a definite accent...which is perfectly natural for the story. T'is fun and makes for a good walking companion. 

Once home, I spent the afternoon, in my sewing studio, listening to classical music. All in all, I'd say today has been a  perfect way to spend a grey June Wednesday. And how has your day been?

Cheers~

PS. Look closely at my hand in the photo; any idea what it symbolizes?

watercolor wednesday | this or that?...

 

            Yesterday (Tuesday), I debated about what to do: the hour was late afternoon - 5:15 pm - and I was torn between reading or starting a new knitting project. In my knitting queue I have five possible projects from which to choose...and of course, in my reading queue, I have at least 25 books on the docket for Book Bingo! Choices! Decisions! 

So, I threw a coin, three times and the results were: 2 Heads and 1-Tail. I had declared Knitting: Heads and Reading: Tails. Well, I really didn't follow the coin flip. I did think I'd start the new Transitions shawl but after reading (quickly) through the instructions, decided to read more of Louise Penny's A  Fatal Grace (which is probably what I wanted to do any way, truth be told). 

And so it goes: Today, I couldn't decide which Waterlogue version I liked best: the one on the left is Bold and the Right, Luminous. What's your choice? 

This morning, Mary commented on yesterday's post and asked about a couple knitting projects I've had on needles for quite a long time...the Top This Hat: Finished! The Poncho: one bindoff  to do and then, block the piece! 

I might also add that I had a Eureka moment pertaining to my knit or read dilemma: had I downloaded some of the books on my card that I plan to read via Audible books - or from the library - I won't need to toss a coin. I can multitask! Duh!

Joining in with Kat and others for Unraveled Wednesday.

The sun is shining! YAY!

Cheers~