four things | thirty-two

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.

Let’s get right to it….

what I’m reading

A fellow blogger recommended The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman, which I read/listened to and I liked it so much that I started the second book in that series: The Man Who Died Twice.

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?

what I’m loving

Sometimes you win and sometimes you learn.

Rachelle of A Tangled Yarn Knitter

what I’m doing

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!

Patti nona

Q and A time

I don’t think I’ve ever snagged a Q and A before but I couldn’t help it when I read this post by Karen from NothingButKnit.

Her knitting mojo (and mine) is on vacation and she thought this Q and A might help find it.  Feel free to answer* regardless of your craft: knitting, crocheting, sewing, painting, photography, or whatever you enjoy…

  1. What technique were you surprised that you enjoyed?
  2. What technique do you want to love but don’t?
  3. What is your favorite item to make?
  4. You’re only allowed to knit with one yarn weight forever. What weight is it and why?
  5. What item that you made is your all time favorite?

My answers:

  1. Colorwork.  My first colorwork project was the Traveler’s Pocket by Nancy Bush.  I LOVED doing colorwork so much that I designed my own pattern based on her design.
  2. Hmmm.  I’m weird in that I’m not a fan of knitting with circular needles but I use them.  In fact I’ll be trying the 2-at-a-time sock technique soon.
  3. Socks.  And shawls are a close second.
  4. Fingering weight as it is so versatile.  It can be held double or triple to make a different weight.
  5. My Dots and Stripes purse is my all time favorite.  My first pair of socks is my second.

*Answer in the comments or link to your blog.  Thanks!

 

Improvements

While I was procrastinating cleaning the basement and our walk-in closet, I decided to repaint the front door.  And not only repaint but change the color. From a tired, faded, dull-looking red…

…to a deep, rich, shiny, olive green.

Plus I cleaned up the brass hardware.

I’m not sure I like the new color.  Change can be difficult.  I think it’s the shininess that has thrown me.  And I usually have something hanging on the door but I want to let this paint harden before I decorate it.

 

Update for April and May 2017

Well, let’s see.  We are in the process of a kitchen remodel.  It should have been finished weeks ago but as always, something got back ordered.

Like the counter top.

The old counter top was cobbled together so we could use our kitchen until the new one arrives.

So we have the before…

…during…

…and still during but making progress.

The island has been refaced and the range and microwave replaced. Next up: new counter tops, sink/faucet, crown molding and back splash. The entire remodel sparked a cleaning and decluttering frenzy in our house so some of my other projects took a back seat to cleaning, painting and general chaos.

I’m also recovering from a bout of pneumonia.