Winter’s Antidote
Winter’s antidote.
My sister said she’d gotten some pussy willows to hang the wooden rabbit ornaments on and I’d just written a reply to a comment from Stef,
I can’t wait to post signs of Spring.
The Running of the Deer in the Middle of the Day
Allegheny Cemetery. Pittsburgh PA. Saturday afternoon.
I had to pull over and put my flashers on and try to catch a couple of shots.
They ran like lightning. From what or to where I don’t know.
The structure you see is the mausoleum.
I never saw anything like this herd running. I missed the first group.
I cropped to try to give you a better sense of my experience.
Winter City Reflection
On the way home from the airport. Steve had picked me up. We stopped by the North Shore.
I’d just come from almost 70 degrees weather is Arizona and the winter city at dusk was such a contrast.
The beauty of winter.
Lone jogger on the trail along the Allegheny River.
Bill Mazeroski runs into home plate for a Pirates win- 1960 World Series
A bit of snow highlighted Mr. Mazeroski’s shoulders
From the North Shore.
Knitting Socks – with a little help from experts
This post started with Steve bringing me a bowl of beanie weanies for Sunday night supper.
I looked at the color of the bowl, the sock I was knitting, and the teal of my new robe from Christmas. ( thank you, V- it is very cozy)
I try to keep the blog IRT for the most part.
The last sock yarn I used was for a Sockhead Hat by Kelly McClure Pattern (thanks for the Chocolate and Cherries yarn,Toni).
Then I thought of all the references I am using to tutor myself to knit socks again. Reading about the knitting is good preparation.
I’d started a pair of socks simultaneously on two circular needles about two years ago. (Thanks for the yarn, Molly) but bought new size one double point needles yesterday to knit them singly.
I used to worry about “SSS- second sock syndrome.” Listened to Alicia and Natalie on a Mastering the Knits Podcast talk about socks and yarn and more socks and felt inspired.
Also, my long time friend, E, brought me a Christmas gift. A book –Knit Socks! –shaped like a sock -by Betsy Lee McCarthy
The two books have exclamation marks in their titles. 
Additional References pictured above
-The glare of the Round white OTT light -so I can see on a winter night
– Susan B Anderson “How I Knit My Socks”
Susan’s Blog link
-Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Knitting Rules!
Yarn Harlot link
Now-
Now a photo a day for a week to capture the present. As it is, right in the moment. The Weekly Photo Challenge. NOW
Lego building.
Puppies.
Christmas lights.
New Jammies. A log on the fire.
Thinking of a Friend
Keeping you in my heart.
Anchoring the Snowman on the Rooftop
My daughter Laura spotted this scene. We’re in Rockford, Illinois.
I was driving.
Pulled into the parking lot and she rolled down her window, took a few shots for the blog today!
Happy Place: Weekly Photo Challenge
Krista Stevens at WordPress challenged bloggers this week with this prompt “Have you ever felt like the world was being a bit too rowdy? Where things and people were pushing in, crowding out your quiet thoughts — the ones that need time and space to surface?” Yes, Krista, yes.
My number one Happy Place? cuddling a grandchild in my arms, getting them to smile or the growing up grandchildren sitting next to me on the couch, reading a book or playing a game. Laughing with grandchildren is the best.
And there’s the knitting I go to-another happy place- a form of meditation, the repetition- but this post shows my kitchen where I can ward off winter chills (or autumn chills) and feel all is right in the world. (Even if it’s not.)
——————————–resposted from original December 2011———————-
First Day of Winter Still Life in My Kitchen
Friends joined me for tea, even though they weren’t in Pittsburgh.
You can see out the kitchen back door window to the back porch and garage, the bare trees. The shortest day of light. Winter officially here.
Two dear friends in KY sent a shipment of fancy English muffins and the Fed Ex man delivered them Wednesday afternoon. It seemed a good time to split one, toast it and spread some butter (with my Grandmother’s silver butter knife) and spoon some apricot preserves.
Went to fire up the kettle to brew tea but I’d burned the kettle dry on Monday so boiled a pot of water to make the tea. Pulled out the camera on the phone to capture the scene
Oranges were on sale 10 for $2 today and lately they were almost a dollar apiece.
A faithful blog reader in Virgina, C, (and best friend of a my good friend J in Omaha) made me the little quilted mug mat last year and it was J who gave me the lidded butter dish another year. The Botanic Garden mug matches my mother’s cereal bowls.
I was home alone but in the presence of friends and family remembered. Finding the joy of winter. My neighbor called to report a vibrant rainbow spotting and perhaps I could photograph it. i went outside and it was still raining and saw the colored arch across the street. I photographed it but it didn’t make the cut for posting but i appreciate when people see something and I come to mind. There was thunder and lightning, too.
Yes, that is a stack of woven potholders on the left counter top.
Tulips in the Sun
Last week I borrowed Erika’s pink tulips in Ohio and put the vase outside in the snow to photograph the contrast.
Perhaps you saw that post.
My sister is the one who said, “Buy Spring flowers like the Germans did when you lived in Germany” and I took her advice.
This morning I went to the market to get some fresh produce and a bunch of tulips was 4.99 which I thought was well worth it. They’re from Virginia.
What a different feeling a bouquet of Spring tulips can bring to your spirit.
“We lost an hour of winter”, Mary told me when we set the clocks forward.
This afternoon the sun came in through the dining room window but it didn’t hit the table so I put the vase on the floor to catch the light.
Hope for Imminent Spring could be another title.
———————————————
p.s. My sister wrote an early email after she saw the Tulips in the Sun post to ask me “did you remember to put the 3 pennies in the water? It make the tulips last longer. Hint from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.”
and Happy Monday Birthday to my dear friend V. xxoo
Recent Comments