four things | eleven

Posted on March 29, 2025 by Patti_is_knittinginflashes

Pepper and I got four walks in this week. One of them was abbreviated. A new house that is on our walking route is almost finished and the couple who are building it asked if I wanted to have a look around inside. I hesitated since I had Pepper with me but since there is no carpeting, I said ABSOLUTELY! I love newly constructed houses and this one had some really cool features. Of course I have no pictures but two interesting things that I liked were the glass-filled gas fireplace set into the wall and the mirror in the master bathroom. This mirror has the on/off stitch, dimmer and anti-fog “buttons” incorporated into the face of the mirror. I’ve seen pictures of those but never in person.

Yeah, I’ve lived a sheltered life.

what I’m reading

Our Book Club was postponed on Monday. Since there are only four of us and two were unable to attend, we decided to wait until next month.

what I’m watching

Two brothers cut down some twelve dead or dying trees for us. This is tree number 1. The tree with the double orange stripes was the second tree. As you can see nothing grows around that area due to lack of sunlight reaching the ground and the crowded plant life. Plus we have shale and very little soil.

These pictures have the stumps of eight trees. You can probably make out some from the trail of sawdust where the trees were cut into more manageable sizes. Most of the trees were a small diameter 6-9 inches.

The guys will be back another day to take down the other seven trees that are much larger. Three are completely dead and the tops of the other four are dead. I think he called those “widow makers”.

what I’m loving

Both my son and son-in-law celebrate their birthdays today! Happy Birthday, guys!

what I’m working on

Not much. I am the biggest procrastinator. I bought flannel at Joann’s a few weeks ago to make several dozen burp cloths for a baby shower. I washed all the fabric (and got enough lint to fill a king-sized pillow! Well, maybe not that much). Anyway, the folded fabric is sitting on one of the guest beds just waiting for me to get started.

The cutting table has stuff all over it as does the sewing machine table.

Just clean it, Patti. Just freakin’ clean it!

I’ll let you know if I get it done next week….

Happy Birthday!

Posted on October 26, 2024 by Patti_is_knittinginflashes

Today is my brother’s birthday. He was my day-before-my-birthday gift.

He’s a keeper (even if his hair is MIA).

Love you Bro!

The Great Grape Walk

Posted on October 15, 2024 by Patti_is_knittinginflashes

We went to Lake Chautauqua in New York last month for the Great Grape Walk at the Johnson Estates Winery in Westfield, NY. We didn’t participate in the actual walk as the weather wasn’t cooperating but managed to walk through the part of the grape vineyards.

They had harvested most of the grapes and these were some that were left on the vines. I don’t remember exactly which grapes these were. We sampled a couple and other than the seeds, were quite tasty.

Halfway through the vineyard we started to feel sprinkles. We headed back to the main building but were pretty wet by the time we got there. Fortunately it was warm enough that we weren’t chilled and the rain shower didn’t last very long.

They had an outside dining area set up for tastings and charcuterie boards. Mr. Aitch and I shared a flight of red wines and a charcuterie board with foods that would enhance the wines. My brother and his wife tried the dry rosé wines and had a charcuterie board with foods that enhanced their selections. Both had similar items but they were not exactly the same.

Here is another example of the charcuterie boards. (I wasn’t thinking or would have taken some pictures of ours that day.)

It was a great afternoon with wonderful wines, foods, and family.

Northern lights

Posted on October 14, 2024 by Patti_is_knittinginflashes

My brother and wife have a cottage (They call it a cottage but it’s really a house) on the northern end of Lake Chautauqua in New York. The lake is just east of Lake Erie.

Last Thursday night my brother captured some pictures of the Northern Lights, aka Aurora Borealis, that were visible. There was a geomagnetic storm on the sun last week which causes energized particles to interact with atoms of nitrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere, causing them to emit light in various colors, such as green and red. Click here for more information.