I hope you had a lovely week. I’m sure most kids are back to school. That can be a good thing or not. The kids across the street are not liking the early morning routine.
The Thursday Murder Club was made into a film and is currently streaming on Netflix. Unfortunately I don’t have Netflix so… I understand it’s “mostly” true to the book.
what I’m watching
The hummingbirds are constantly buzzing around our three feeders. They are territorial and don’t like any other hummers drinking from their feeder. It’s so fun to watch them dart in and out between the porch posts. They are loading up for their flight to more warmer regions for the winter months.
I take the feeders down when I don’t see any more birds for a few days. Do you have hummingbirds in your area? Do you feed them?
One of my goals for this summer was to do some outside painting but it was just too hot. This week was cooler with less humidity so I painted the outside trim around the garage doors. I still need to paint the outside basement door and trim and touch up the trim around the front door. I’ll tackle those next week, weather permitting.
Don’t let anything bring you down. Enjoy your week to the fullest!
As you probably noticed I didn’t post last Saturday. I was on vacation with my BFF in Hocking Hills, Ohio. I’ll talk about that another time.
This past week has been so comfortable with lower temperatures and less humidity. Mr. Aitch and I could actually work outside without melting into a puddle.
The tomato harvest is slowing down. I think we got over 500 Super Sweet 100 tomatoes this year on the two plants I grew in pots. I’m going to find bigger, heavier pots for next year so they don’t tip over in the windy rain storms we had this summer. Our soil, or lack of it, is the reason I use pots for my veggies. Our property is mostly shale and we are lucky to have grass growing let alone anything that has a deep root system.
My latest harvest — —- —- —- — —- — — — —>
This week is about book club, sewing video, awesomeness, and a finished object!
what I’m reading
Our August book club book was The All Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg. I read the book a few years ago but reread it or rather listen to it while traveling. It’s a fun read with the story line going back and forth between two different times but coming together in the end.
At age 59 Sarah Jane aka Sookie Poole discovers she was adopted. Her mother is a very strong-will, domineering woman and has ruled Sookie’s life as much as possible. Sookie has always felt she was a disappointment to her mother, Lenore. We learn about Sookie’s birth mother and her family and how that helps Sookie grow as a person.
“Here is Solvang, she wasn’t Lenore Simmons’s daughter. For the first time, she was just herself.’
“She learned that being a successful person in not necessarily defined by what you achieved, but by what you have overcome.”
what I’m watching
I’ve spent more time sewing than knitting this year and finished a Catch-All Caddy by Patterns by Annie. I want to make one out of canvas, denim, or other heavy fabric to use a a tool bag. I bought a cordless hammer drill and need a way to carry the drill, bits, battery, gloves, etc. when drilling into some of the tree stumps in our back yard. I’m “helping” the stump disintegrate by drilling large, deep holes and filling them with Epsom salts to speed up the decay.
I’ll use this one for some sewing or knitting supplies. I followed the pattern as written so I can make the necessary changes to fit my needs. Annie has Add-on videos for lots of her patterns and since I’m more of a visual learner, her videos have really helped with the tricky parts.
Check out her website if you find yourself needing a sewing project.
I lost my knitting mojo (how many times have I lost it?!) but needed to get these socks off my WIP list.
I played yarn chicken, meaning I didn’t know if I would have enough yarn to complete the project. And I didn’t. Of course, I didn’t realize that until I looked at the dwindling yarn ball the eighteen unfinished rows of the pattern. Enter yarn #2. Click here for more details.
I alternated about 3-4 rows of the original yarn and the new yarn so it would blend in better. If you look for the difference, you should see it*.
*It’s the sock on the right. But it’s close enough. For my feet.
Wow, this week’s gone by fast! I’ve been busy but do not have many pictures to show my busyness.
Let’s just right to the reading, watching, loving/not loving, and doing…
what I’m reading
I’ve been reading about altering furniture to make it work better for my needs. This is something I’d love to do to my IKEA knitting storage table but I would have to modify one of the drawers to make it fit. I need to think about this some more.
Mr. Aitch and I have been watching the old, old, old Gunsmoke series. I think we are still on the second (of twenty) season and the early episodes are only 30 minutes long. One thing I notice is that the dresses Miss Kitty wears zip down the back.
Zippers that we use today have only been around for a little over 100-years so Miss Kitty’s dresses would not have used a zipper.
Elias Howe, the inventor of the sewing machine, developed an early version of the zipper in 1851 but failed to market it. Along came Whitcomb Judson, who debuted his “Clasp Locker” at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. He patented it but it didn’t have much success. Gideon Sundback improved upon Judson’s closure and patented his version in 1917. That’s the design we know today.
These closure devices weren’t used in clothing but for boots and tobacco pouches. Click here for more information on the zipper.
what I’m loving/not loving
We’ll be attending a party this afternoon. Yay!
It’s a going-away party for our neighbor who is moving after living here for 29 years. Not yay. We understand that her house is too big for just her and there is a lot of upkeep but will be sad to see her go.
what I’m working on
I finally got back into the knitting groove! I started these socks at the beginning of the year and was going full steam ahead until my knitting mojo snuck off during the night. I’m so happy that my mojo is back but she brought an unwelcome friend – the Dreaded Yarn Chicken.
It never occurred to me that I didn’t have enough yarn to complete the second sock.
I have 18 more rows before the toe. I found another yarn in my stash from the same manufacturer and it’s going to be close enough.
The tweed yarn has little slubs instead of little pops of color. These will be going into my sock drawer and they will be good enough for my feet.
I don’t know where this week went but it went fast. We finally had dinner on the deck last Sunday. It was the first not-too-hot-and-humid day we’ve had all summer. Steak, foil packets of potatoes and onions, fresh tomatoes from my plants, and a bottle of cabernet sauvignon.
Quite the feast and quite a most delicious meal.
Onto this week’s reading, watching, loving, and doing…
what I’m reading
Actually I’m listening to Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver because the audiobook was available before the digital version. It’s quite a long listen – over 21 hours. I’m about 3/4 of the way through and it’s taken a dark but not totally unexpected turn.
There are lots of f-bombs, drugs, sex, and more so be aware.
what I’m watching
It’s August. I’ve been watching the days grew shorter and the evenings cooling down (thankfully).
I was outside one morning this week with Pepper and the angle of the sun, the sounds and smells in the air reminded me of my twelve-year-old self thinking of the end of summer and the beginning of school. It was a fleeting moment but so real all the same. School begins next week here and for my grandkids.
When I was a kid, the school year began the Wednesday after labor Day and ended the first week of June. We had days off during the school year but evidently not as many as they have now. I would not want to be in a classroom this early.
what I’m loving
Procraftinating: v. doing craft projects when you should be doing laundry, cleaning, or making dinner.
what I’m doing
When we had our deck flooring replaced a few years ago, the contractor snuck in a wooden piece of quarter round to finish off the seam between the house and floor.
It rotted.
I bought a piece of outdoor (a composite of some sort) to replace it. Voila! The hardest (and most time consuming) part was trying to figure out which way to cut it so the angles would be correct. The contractor should have used the right material in the first place. I detest shoddy workmanship.
I need to paint the screw heads white and add some caulking in the corners but at least it’s not rotted.
May your week ahead be filled with joy and happiness.
Knitting In Flashes 