Back to Work

I go back to work tomorrow and I'm kind of looking forward to it. I tend to do better with some structure, and with so much change happening now, I think it'll be a good thing. That being said, I'll miss my beach days. We had some beautiful days this last week, with lower humidity and temperatures in the eighties. These were taken Monday through Thursday and I can't even tell the difference between the days, they were so uniformly gorgeous.

 

 

 

I have the living room sorted out, thanks to a quick trip out of town. I emptied the china cabinet out on Sunday, but didn't finish culling and replacing everything that was left until Friday morning, right before leaving town for the weekend. I knew I didn't want to walk back into the house tonight to find a mess on the floor. I need to rehang the curtains and maybe add a small rug but I can live with it as-is for a bit.

My friend, Lori, and I drove out to Lynchburg to visit her daughter this weekend, and we visited this adorable yarn shop; it's a converted house and I love the kitchen, with its built-in shelf and Formica from the fifties! The entire place was darling.

Lori's daughter has a French bulldog named Piper, who has the sweetest disposition. We tired her out playing fetch with her. These are my notes from the shawl I'm still working on.

Gracie was glad to see me, following me everywhere when I returned. I've never had a cat but I thought they were generally much more standoffish than she is.

My sweet Gracie.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Carrying On

Now that I'm at the one week mark, I think the most difficult thing I'm feeling is the sense of aimlessness. I can't seem to settle on anything. When I'm at the beach, I'm thinking of what I need to be doing in the house, yet when I'm in the house, I'm thinking it's a waste of time to be indoors. I go into a room, wander into another, pick up a book, pick up my knitting, pick up the phone, or start cleaning something. I know I'll settle into a routine soon enough, especially once I go back to work next Monday, but it is challenging at the moment. Thank you to all who have commented or emailed; it is so lovely to feel your support.

Beach pictures!

I'm not sure why the water has been looking so sparkly lately, but probably something to do with the angle of the sun's rays. These were taken early Saturday morning.

 

I've been weeding all the flower beds, an hour here and there. Can't do longer stretches because of the heat and/or my sore toe, but it is looking better.

 

I will take the winter to decide how to change a few things up so that there is less maintenance for me. I think planting more rosemary is in my future though. Such a great plant for this area.

I like my homemade wreath on the front door, but I think it needs something else; a bow, maybe?

One of the changes inside has been to swap my craft room from the front bedroom to the back one, which is a tiny bit larger and has two windows. And this piece of furniture is now a yarn cupboard. I'm nervous about taking it out of the ziplock bags, but I've put plenty of moth repellant herbs in there.

The room is still a mess, but I'm taking my time. Truthfully, I'm a bit overwhelmed and will work on it when the mood strikes me.

Instead, I've been knitting more than usual. This is the Antarktik shawl, and I'm using two skeins of Sundara yarn that Meredith, my oldest, gifted me a few years ago. It's a pretty intuitive pattern, easy to work on while binge watching Father Brown mysteries.

We had a storm last night which lowered the humidity and temperatures just enough to make it a gorgeous beach day. Again, the water is just sparkling! Lots of waves for the bay, but typical after a storm.

Lori and Martha came over to hang out with me today and it was lovely. I love seeing the sailboats out.

 

That blue!

This photo of Gracie was taken last week on one of our hotter days. I had the ceiling fan and the floor fan going.

And this was last night, while I watched my PBS Sunday night shows; she's just not that interested in Inspector Lewis!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Tender

It hasn't been a full week since Steve moved out and I'm feeling very sad and lost. I know my new normal will come but until then, I'm trying to treat myself gently and with tenderness. The beach is such a restorative place for me and I'm trying to make myself visit it often, but some days it's just too hard to do even that. These photos are a good reminder why I need to go, every day if possible.

 

Can not remember the name of this shore bird, but he's not a regular.

The water was sparkling!

Early morning sun.

I've been cooking too, which for some reason I had stopped doing. This was a quiche that was just so-so, but it looks pretty.

These were also a bit bland, but pretty.

Using leftover beans with an egg, to be thrifty and healthy. I definitely need to find my cooking groove again.

Finished my second Nurmilintu and am quite pleased with it. I ran short of yarn so only did two sections of garter stitch and two of lace but then added a half repeat of the lace and I like it a lot.

I found my yarn from the knitting guild retreat and I think I may use this to finally make the Nymphalidea shawl, although mine would be smaller due to my yardage. I'm also in the process of swapping my craft room and guest room, which is somewhat overwhelming. I have so much stuff. I'd like to reduce what I have but it's so hard to make decisions right now.

But there's always this sweet face to keep me company. And I've been binge watching the BBC Father Brown series while knitting. It's funny but when I first watched an episode a year or so ago, I didn't care for it, but now it seems to be perfect. Am I the only person not watching the Olympics this year? Father Brown, Doctor Blake, and Inspector Lewis are more to my taste at the moment. Comfort television, knitting, and Gracie. Soothing to my soul.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Reset

Working on a second Nurmilintu, using yarn that is the color of Spanish moss. I want to make a Drachenfels next, but need to take the time to locate three colors in my stash that will work together.

Made a very small batch of ginger syrup but I think I let it get too thick. No matter, I've used it up already and bought a large knob of ginger on Sunday to make another batch.

I also made some farmer's market pasta, but something was missing; it was too bland.

There was live music at the farmer's market on Sunday, which I enjoyed with my stepdaughter, Stephanie.

On a cloudy day at the beach, I saw a pooped pup getting carried; she actually fell asleep right after I took this photo.

My daughter, Melissa, met me and two of my knitting friends, Lori and Cofield, to see the documentary, Yarn, Tuesday night, and I won a $25 gift certificate to my favorite yarn shop, Baa Baa Sheep.

 

I also bought this book at the thrift store in Tuesday for only $1; can't believe it's been twenty years since its original publication!

Gracie continues to sleep much of her days away, sometimes in the most unusual poses.

 

 

So why did I title this post, Reset? Because Steve is moving out and we are getting a divorce. I was very sad but not surprised, as we've been struggling to make it work for far too long. Now I've hit the reset button and am looking to a new and different future. All will be well, and all will be well.

 

Posted with Blogsy