Joining Kat & friends again this week...

SEWING:

Free time has been limited this week, and I've been prioritizing #dailysewing -- trying to make it a habit. My most minimal sewing goal at this point is to use up one needle's worth of thread/floss each day, which I've met or exceeded every day since I began. There are three sewable "lengths" every time I cut floss, and I've sewn them all a couple of times. On the weekend when I'm home in the daylight, I'll take a photo... there is  LOONNNNNG way to go but I'm beginning to see progress and it's making me happy!

KNITTING:

That's not to say there hasn't been knitting! My PS (Parallelogram Scarf) is growing:

Some more dramatic color changing ought to be happening soon!

I expect to get a fair bit done at Knit Night tomorrow.

READING:

Continuing to read & enjoy Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder (pages). I also picked up Michael Perry's Montaigne in Barn Boots when we were at the performance of Population 485 on Friday, and have cracked it open. I don't usually read more than one book at a time...

I've shelved (returned) the audio/CD version of Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian because the format is just not working for me... I hope it'll be available again someday on Audible or something. I really want to listen to it.

Instead, I've downloaded Mustard Seed by Laila Ibrahim, which more or less picks up where Yellow Crocus left off. I enjoyed that story quite a lot, and Bahni Turpin is one of my favorite narrators.

What are you making and reading??

_ _ _ _ _

A quick shout-out to my mom, who would have celebrated her 80th birthday today!

"Celebrated" isn't quite the word she'd be using here... HORRIFIED is more like it!! Haha. I love you Mom. I miss you every single day.

So, the other day my friend Terry asked whether anyone was participating in the Ravellenic Games this year. I replied that I'd had half a thought... but that I still and will always call them the Knitting Olympics! (That was so much fun, and I still have my 2006 medal!)

Friday was the last day for official team sign-ups, and Terry was feeling bogged down by The Rules.

I said, RULES??? She ran with that... and voila!

We have a team!!

Perhaps you'd like to join us.

A group of knitters who are so distracted by life, grandchildren, jobs, books, that last idea... what was that thought? Anyway. We will knit something, it can be a UFO, a new project, small, large and we will finish or we won't finish. ~Terry

_ _ _ _ _

The XXIII Olympic Winter Games -- PyeongChang 2018 -- will be February 9-25. That means just over two weeks of "training" remain!

Since Friday, I've already purchased & nixed one pattern due to a yarn shortage, and moved on to another. As of right now, I am planning to knit Morvarch by Lucy Hague.

Kate gave me this beautiful Belle Époch Laceweight, hand-dyed in Edinburgh, for my 2013 birthday and that's what I want to use for the Games this year. I've always thought that I should knit something from a Scottish designer and my first thought was Firth o' Forth by Kate Davies. I am significantly short of yarn for that project, though.

I haven't knit cables in a while, and certainly not of the sort that Lucy Hague designs*, and I've really been wanting to knit something with laceweight... not necessarily lace. I will have plenty of yarn, so will probably make Morvarch a bit longer, though I haven't had a good gander at the pattern yet. I should probably just wait and see how it goes before making any big decisions/modifications.

Anyway, I have yarn to wind, a pattern to read through, a bit of swatching to do... it's going to be fun!! I really do hope to finish this project during the Olympics.

Come join our very laid-back team!

*I will consider this training for Iona or Lindisfarne (or Durrow or Kells) from her drool-worthy Illuminated Knits collection.

...or recovery from. It was a busy last half of the week, with the Film Festival on Wednesday, an art opening on Thursday, and a play on Friday. I loved every minute of each of those things, but it's a lot of running around for a home body!

The play was the long-awaited Population 485, and it did not disappoint -- very interestingly done.

(I had time for daily stitching before heading out the door!)

The car was parked in the garage on Friday night and I barely left the house all weekend.

On Saturday, I "went as far" as opening and front door and plucking the mail from the box (one foot & one arm required outside).

The most amazingly bepigtailed kids came over on Sunday (if you haven't seen the video I posted on Instagram... GO NOW) and they wanted to go outside... it was cold, but OK.

We bundled up for a walk and got as far as the house two doors down, then decided just to hang out in the back yard and the playhouse, instead -- both are protected from the wind! Parcheesi has often bundled a kid in a stroller, but yesterday it got caught up in a wheel and there's a hole to repair!

I predict the playhouse will see lots of action this summer! Junah will be helping Rusty build one in their back yard, too.

This is the last and slowest of my amaryllis bulbs. The bulb itself has been a lovely, healthy shade of green for quite a while, so I knew something was happening. It's been hard at work and looks like a bud stem emerging, and not just a leaf... and that's exciting! My other two are nothing but leaves (or leaf, as the case may be).

There will be a bit of socialing this week, too. It's also a long week at work, so I'll be looking forward even more to a 3-day weekend... and it won't be long before Nashville is on the horizon!

Joining Carole and friends again this week for Three on Thursday...

Thing 1:

My Parallelogram Scarf has grown a bit since yesterday (so much brighter!), due to...

Thing 2:

...evening attendance at our friend Pat's 2018 Film Festival! Looking for a way to get through the doldrums of winter and inspired by her sister-in-law's massive movie collection, this is Pat's 5th festival. Usually on Wednesdays, and with a total of around 40 altogether, four or five films are shown each festival day beginning at noon, with :15 breaks between. There is a theme each year -- 2014-John Cusack as lead actor, 2015-Edith Head as costume designer, 2016-Food, 2017-Classic Novels made into Movies -- and this year, it's Steamy, Hot, Summer - Heated Up! There's a healthy mix of genres and nationalities, and festival-goers come and go as they may. It's all about Pat, really; she's just generous enough to send out invitations to her friends.

Wednesday is normally my day off, so you'd think this would be easy, but no... I've hardly been able to attend at all (also, they lived about 20 miles away in 2014-15). And I worked yesterday... however, the last movie on the program, Salmon Fishing In The Yemen, has long been on my list and wasn't due to start until 5:55pm! Rusty and I arrived just as the previous movie ended, with enough time for a bit of socializing over a bowl of soup before showtime. It was wonderful (the company, the soup, and the movie)!

Thing 3:

Here we go!

I had a free :15 yesterday, so began my DAILY STITCHING, inspired by Margene (also as mentioned yesterday). It's a new thing (for me), and I'm not going to get too crazed about it, but I got myself situated and it felt so good to get started, finally, on my Alabama Chanin Car Jacket!

Finally.

Joining Kat & friends again this week...

KNITTING:

I snapped a couple of quick, not real great photos this morning:

I think (hope) this is going to be interesting... there's the first of two "yellow periods" happening right now. There'll be a bit more purple ahead, more hints of green, and then gray.

Can't I knit all day?

Or sew? Margene's post today has me contemplating daily stitching on my Alabama Chanin Car Jacket. One stitch is better than none, right?

READING:

I've begun reading Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder. I did much more knitting than reading while we were away for the weekend, so it's off to a slow start... but it is so very interesting! I can't wait to re-read some of LIW's books (or the whole series).

I've yet to pop one of the library CDs into a player to listen to Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian because... really?? First-world problems, but this is so inconvenient... Why is this not available on Audible?? As much as I want to hear it, I'm afraid it might fizzle...

We had a great weekend away! We went to The Osthoff Resort in Elkhart Lake -- only an hour from home, but in a sort of no-man's-land area of the state for us!

If we were into racing, that might be a different story. Stemming from a brief, popular period of open road racing in the '50s (that must have been something!), Elkhart Lake is now home to Road America, hosting NASCAR and many other types of racing (automobile & otherwise).

It's a tiny, quaint little town with a few other large, historic resorts and several fine establishments for food & drink... but no grocery store! We checked in on Friday evening, went out for a bite, and then drove to the next town to shop for a few things for the fridge. Once that was done, though, we parked the car and didn't even look at it again until it was time to pack up and head home on Sunday.

After enjoying separate massages in the spa on Saturday, we joined up afterwards for a soak in the whirlpool and a few minutes in the sauna. I'll tell you... I have had "hot stone" massages before but this one! Tiny little hot stones between each of my toes!! Your mileage may vary, but for me... that was bliss.

The resort's Elk Room, which boasts a pretty spectacular fireplace and enormous floor-to-ceiling windows with a view toward the lake, was a great place to enjoy a late lunch. It was nice enough that lots of people were out walking -- on paths around the resort, on the pond, and on the lake.

We ended up eating dinner at the Lake Street Cafe both nights! (Not that we didn't try for another, but it was closed for a special event on Saturday.) Rusty even had the same salmon dish both nights! We were on the bar side, and didn't even realize they had a more formal dining room until Sunday morning when we stepped out for breakfast. Oh well, "casual and relaxed" was definitely our mode for the weekend.

Neither of the TVs in our suite was ever turned on; instead we enjoyed the fireplace and read and knit.

I cast on my Parallelogram Scarf twice, and got a good bit done. And while I love that dark ball of yarn, it's just too... dark and there's not enough contrast. I think I would like the resulting striped scarf, but I don't think I would love it. That dark ball kept whispering to me that it would be happier doing something else, and I listened.

So I've subbed that ball for the one above and made some progress last night -- and I like it better! The sequencing pattern is showing more, too. I hope to have a photo to share tomorrow.

We have a new "selfie" for the collection, having spotted a photo booth at the restaurant!

After a quick stop at the store on the way home, I got a pot of Chili All Day on the stove and everyone came over for dinner! We had fun with my glasses and fiberfill... don't ask me how things evolve this way!

I also had yesterday off... an oil change, a meeting with Ali, and helping Kate move some stuff into her new apartment! I also had time for some bookwork, and took a little of that time to begin straightening out my workroom, and to clean off & reorganize one of the kitchen counters. We've begun redecorating in there and it's feeling good!

It'll be two weeks before another day off (other than weekends), so I'm glad it was a good one!

Here's to next year!

We'll be married 33 years tomorrow!

We met in 1983... he worked for a company that needed some occasional typesetting done and, lo & behold, that's what I did!

1984 - Tillamook, OR - cleaning/fixing up the house we rented (photo by my dad)

1985 (with newborn Kate) - Cape Meares, OR

I'm guessing 1990 - Home

Maybe 2005? First selfie of us, taken on my fabulous Razr flip phone!

2014 - Edinburgh Botanical Garden, Scotland

2014 - Timber Rattlers game, Appleton, WI

2015 - Mexico (30-year anniversary)

2016 - McKinleyville, CA - World's Largest Totem Pole

2017 - Lake Worth, FL

2017 - Home

2017 - Tahquamenon Falls, Michigan

Three beautiful daughters later, two grandkids and another on the way, only a few houses/moves, a fair bit of remodeling, a little bit of travel (both solo & duo)... Life Is Good.

We're looking forward to a couple of nice days away to mark the occasion -- reading & knitting by the fireplace; relaxing with a massage, sauna & whirlpool at the spa; enjoying some good food & drink; and more reading & knitting by the fireplace.

I'm realizing that more than half of these photos are selfies and pickin's would sure be slim for this collection otherwise!

Joining Carole and friends again this week for Three on Thursday...

Thing 1:

If you're on Instagram, have you seen/done this?

(There's always Some New Thing to see/do!)

Thing 2:

The sky was on fire this morning!

Thing 3:

Sometimes the old hydrangeas on the other side of those dirty windows are rather ghostly. I cannot wait to watch the garden come alive from this new vantage point, and love that even after 30+ years of living in this house, there are still things like a "new vantage point." Maybe the garden will even get some attention this year!

Joining Kat & friends again this week...

DYEING:

I haven't been knitting much over the past week. I had some half-hearted thoughts about another hat or finishing some slippers, but mostly I've been dyeing. Among other things, I've been preparing for the Parallelogram KAL with Mary!

We begin on Saturday! These are the cakes from which I will be choosing -- I need two for the project.

I think I'm going with 2:00 and 8:00, thus:

I've changed my mind 100 times already (in addition to every time I'd wind a new ball), but there are a couple of reasons for this choice... I really want to knit a bunch of combos!

Or three at a time!

I've really been enjoying my time in the studio, and am looking forward to more -- especially as our days gradually lengthen, and then even more when I can fling open the door and expand operations to the back yard.

KNITTING:

Last night I was tired of not knitting but still not enthused about anything else, and on a whim I gathered all of my Lamb's Pride Worsted into a pile (save for two colors that just "don't go") and cast on a Log Cabin thing that will probably be a blanket. Random, I know -- I'm even using a random number generator to help with decision making. There's no pressure or deadline, and only the vaguest of plans, but I've always wanted a larger knit blanket and, mostly, I'm just very happy to finally have a plan for all of that yarn!

READING:

I am all but finished reading Tender At The Bone, by Ruth Reichl. I am really enjoying this book and will definitely seek out more of Ruth Reichl... open to your recs, if you have any!

Also, quite randomly and while waiting for an audio book on CDs from the library (seems like the dark ages and I hope I can cope), I am listening to Badass Your Brand: The Impatient Entrepreneur's Guide to Turning Expertise into Profit by Pia Silva.

I'm a sucker for these things, so on Sunday morning I downloaded the Google Arts & Culture app (Google Play) (iTunes) to answer the pressing question of the day:

"Is your portrait in a museum?"

Well, of course I'd want to see my artistic masterpiece doppelganger! Wouldn't I??

Haha! Mornings might not be my best time... I even put on mascara!

I kept trying... There were a fair number of not-so-attractive men, but also some interesting children and women. Here is a curated collection.

I tried again later in the day...

It's crazy and uncanny and a little bit weird. I've done it at various times over the past couple of days and it's pretty consistent with the results -- the same images cycle through. I'm not sure of the parameters, exactly, other than than the relationship between facial features.

That last one really resonated with me... I see my much younger self in those eyes. "Vluchtelinge" means "refugee," as far as I can tell, and the painting was done in 1910. I am learning a little bit about Arts & Culture!

I took a photo of Rusty, too, and this was among the results:

So crazy! It blows me away!! Interestingly, that is Gerhard Richter, a German artist... Rusty, an artist, is also of German heritage.

Have you tried it? What do you think?? Are you taking selfies all day?

Yes, I did knit a Pussyhat for a baby doll!

And Snapchatted/Facebooked it, too! This is Lena, one of Maddy's American Girl Bitty Babies from back in the day.

I used worsted weight, a 3 US needle, 72 stitches, ribbing for a dozen rows, 4" overall from brim to crown. I knit mine flat and seamed the sides; or it can be knit in the round and closed/finished however you'd like at the top. It took an evening!

I watched Gin for a while on Friday and we had so much fun! She's such a kid now... and growing! She's not going to fit under that counter overhang anymore... she's had enough close calls (perhaps an actual bonk or two) that she ducks, now, as she goes under. I used to have a display of Depression Glass & whatnot on that little shelf... it's a perfect tot spot, though! Sneak peek* at some of the new paint!

Ali came over with Junah after the birthday outing (which included stops for a haircut and to watch his own custom candy bar being made). I'd picked up some Valentine crafty things the other day, so the kids fooled around with that stuff. We ended up punching holes in all of the felt hearts and redecorating a wire Christmas tree that I hadn't put away yet! Jün had put pine cones and quilted stars on it for the holidays... and now I think we've slipped on that slope and will have a small seasonally decorated tree up all year!

Later, Ali sent me these:

Ginny's fringe ! It was another pretty great weekend -- three days helped.   I hope yours was pretty great, too!

*Rusty finished all the kitchen painting over the weekend! Closet doors are back on, hardware & new electrical plates are installed... there's still the matter of the cabinet over the fridge, but we're working it out!

Anticipating... a super-quick weekend getaway with Rusty to celebrate our 33rd wedding anniversary on the 20th! I wanted someplace warm but it couldn't be far, so we are going to a nearby spa resort hotel type of place (there's a first time for everything)... with fireplaces! And we'll each get a good, long, relaxing massage. I can feel myself loosen up a bit just thinking about it...

Cooking/Eating... Kym posted this morning about The Cooking Light 3-Day Detox that she & Tom just completed.  My comment: While I am continuing with Weight Watchers (and it is amazing how frequently my "diet/healthy" recipes get RAVES), I fell HARD off the WW wagon over the past couple of months and have struggled to get back on. Travel, holidays, birthdays, people & their crazy schedules, and WW rolling out a few changes to their program... it's been tough to pull it together and FOCUS. So I'm going to focus on doing this!

Excited about... Spending a few hours with Gin tomorrow! That hasn't happened very often, but Ali & Rod want to take Jün out for his birthday... so YAY!

Looking forward to... Dyeing... Knitting... I am ITCHING to get some work done downstairs!  I am off tomorrow and will be prepping some yarn this evening. I will be dyeing some yarn, using a new/different (to me) process, for the MDK Parallelogram Scarf KAL that I'm doing with Mary! We're starting on January 20th and would love some company, if you're so inclined. I've had my eye on this pattern since I first laid eyes on Field Guide No. 5 | Sequences!

Organizing... Also, over the 3-day weekend, I'll be getting Christmas put away!! I wish I had it in me to REALLY organize and purge...

Reading... I'll soon finish Tender At The Bone and intended to begin Prairie Fires next, but I think a long overdue re-read of Little House In The Big Woods will happen first. Since all of the Christmas stuff is out of the way, I was able to reach all the books at the back of the closet and fish it out.

Watching... Have you seen The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel?? We started watching a few weeks ago. I found that it's a little slow to build, and I almost lost Rusty early on, but we both stuck with it and finally finished the other night. It's funny, the clothes are INCREDIBLE, casting... Tony Shaloub, and winner of a couple of Golden Globe awards!

1. I love Tony Shaloub and he is from Wisconsin.
2. I didn't know that Rachel Brosnahan was also from Wisconsin, born in the same city as me, in fact... AND we went to the same grade school in Highland Park, IL (she for many grades, me for only first grade)... I mean we're practically related. Haha.

Word... I don't usually "choose a word" for the year. I tried that once. I even created a blog category for all the posts I was going to write about it... and there is ONE POST ABOUT IT. But there is a word that keeps popping up lately, multiple times a day, and that word is SLOW. As in "slow down," "slow down and focus," "you could do that if you slowed down," "you'd have to slow down..." So if I were to be choosing a word, that would probably be it.

Wondering... What's up with you right now??

She begins her way back to New Zealand this afternoon!! You can click through, below, to read her thoughts about NZ Round 2 and other things. I'm going to miss her! It's been great having her around (not to mention she re-painted 90% of my kitchen), but she won't be gone quite as long this time. And then we'll see what new adventures are afoot... I'm pretty sure that a dog will be central (she even refers to her imaginary future dog by name), no matter what!

Junah's birthday is this Friday, but we had an early celebration on Monday night so that Maddy could be a part of it, too!! (photo cred to her)

It was SO MUCH FUN!

Oh my goodness, 4 is going to be amazing.

(That Oshkosh B'Gosh "Sgt. Pepper" zip-up sweatshirt he's wearing? KILLING ME!)

I finished another dress and top for the kids' Sleepy Kittens over the weekend.

I used two somewhat coordinating mini-skeins, and all but used them up! I have a couple others that would work nicely, and will keep them handy... these are nice little projects for in-between and/or mindless knitting.

The "top," above, and the "dress," below. I only did only the first set of increases for the top, but did them in the manner of the second (more spaced out), so it wouldn't be so poofy. I also do quite a few more rows of ribbing than called for.

It just so happened that the kids & their mother picked me up on Sunday morning for a quick trip to the store, so I was able to give them their new kitty clothes. Gin had her new Bitty Baby along and we discovered that the kitten's dress can double as a hat for the doll! It's a little strange at the top, sleeves & bodice & all, but it fit! And now, perhaps a matching Pussy Hat for Bitty Baby is in the cards...

I had a very productive weekend that proceeded at a lovely pace. I did some things that I needed to do, I did somethings that I wanted to do, and I did somethings that flew in out left field. That is my FAVORITE kind of weekend! I feel refreshed.

Also, I slept pretty well.

I spent a bit of time on both days getting my downstairs dye studio in order -- cleaning, assembling a shelf unit, hauling stuff down there & organizing -- and even dyed a couple of hanks. I need to get a feel for the space, equipment, and flow...

I dragged almost everyone down to look at it, and Kate snapped a different view, shared on her IG story.

I'm itching to get back down there, but that probably won't happen until Friday!

Well, I just love this little hat!

It's my first FO -- both started & finished -- of 2018!

• Ravelry Project Page: Windschief for Junah
• Pattern: Windschief by Stephen West
• Yarn: Patons Classic Wool Tweed
• Needles:  US 6 & US 7
• Start to Finish:  January 1-4, 2018

Super cute. Fun & quick to knit, with the twisted rib section adding just enough to keep it interesting. I finished at Knit Night last night, and the kids just happened to be there!

It was knit for Jün and he tried it on, but he did not want photos nor did he want to give it back! (I nabbed it later when he wasn't looking, and then Gin "volunteered" to model.)

Meanwhile, here's a snapshot of knitting accomplished in 2017:

No one is more surprised than me that I finished 24+ items last year!

• Two kittens
• Two polar bears
• Seven+ hats (some never made Ravelry)
• One beard
• Freak flags (double set)
• Three cowls
• Four shawls
• Two pairs of mitts
• One dress & two little sweaters for Gin (one of them started ages ago)
• One ornament
• One adult cardigan -- that had been in the WIP pile for almost 10 years!

(By comparison, I finished a grand total of nine items in 2016. Not my best knitting year.)

I was a fairly monogamous knitter last year, starting & completing projects in reasonable time, with focus & purpose. I think I started only three projects last year that remain unfinished: another pair of Squad Mitts, a gnome, and my Brambling Shawl. I didn't make any big plans or goals, just went with my heart... and I think I'll just stick with that!!

Joining Carole and friends again this week for Three on Thursday...

1 - At this time next week, Maddy will be winging her way to NZ for another stint at the winery! She's been staying with us since Christmas, and will head back to Milwaukee early next week so her friend can take her to O'Hare on Wednesday.

2 - Meanwhile, she's been painting my kitchen! At one time, we were loftily thinking that she'd be able to whack out new paint jobs in both the kitchen and our living area, but hahahahahaha. Did we ever underestimate that, especially given holidays -- and some unexpected dental work. Excruciating tooth pain does not a happy painter (or daughter) make, and when said pains thwarts even NYE celebrations with friends, you know it's bad. We've never in our lives been so happy about a near-emergency root canal!

Anyway, the kitchen is almost a complete reversal -- once-maroon walls are now nearly white, and white trim/woodwork is becoming a warm dark gray. I loved my maroon kitchen, but it was time for a refresh. It's looking rather stark right now, but decor will make a big difference. (Right?)

3 - And we're getting in all the blurry hugs & cuddles that we can!

Well, actually, it came from somewhere...

Ali sent me an Instagram photo of a Windschief hat that she ran across, with a note about how great it would look on Junah, so...

I declined a movie invitation last night in favor of the opportunity to be home alone for more than :25 for the first time in ages! I knit on said hat and watched a bit of TV (catching up on the last of S1 Victoria before S2 begins)!

I have all but finished a subtly striped little kitten dress, and plan to make a shirt for the other kitten with the same yarn (and that might be the end of that... yarn).

Announced in October with seemingly all the time in the world to plot and plan, I was not able to think much about the Fringe Association Log Cabin Make-along, but I haven't given up on joining in, either! I'm thinking fingering weight scrappy cowl or infinity scarf or maybe substantial wrap. Anyway, I'm thinking...

I am about half-way through Tender At The Bone, by Ruth Reichl, and am enjoying it quite a lot! I am listening to an AARP book called Downsizing The Family Home: What To Save, What To Let Go, by Marni Jameson.

Ahem.

Oh look!

Rusty was recently given an amaryllis and it's starting to grow! It's a bit askew & bent, but will probably straighten up a bit.

Obviously, I did not reach my 2017 goal of 25 books. Truth be told, at 20, I didn't even match 2016!

Man, did I ever read some great books, though.

Eleven of the 20 books I read in 2017 were audio books and did I ever pick 'em -- there wasn't a dud in the bunch. I love listening to a person tell/read their own story: Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen, Exit West by Mohsin Hamid, Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, and You Don't Have to Say You Love Me by Sherman Alexie. A cast of characters was right up my alley, too: Lincoln in The Bardo read by an amazing cast of characters! Bahni Turpin became a favorite voice early in the year, reading The Underground Railroad, and I sought her out again with Yellow Crocus (with the sequel, also read by Bahni Turpin, in the queue).

Sherman Alexie is another voice that I will seek, though I'm not quite sure where I will start. I enjoyed (not the correct word) his memoir immensely.

I read two books by Wisconsin author Michael Perry last year, including a recent re-read of Population 485 in preparation for seeing the stage production on January 26th. And I read stories about Alabama, written by Kathryn Tucker Windham (Mary's first cousin twice-removed, if I've calculated correctly), after reading about her on Mary's blog and prior to visiting that state for the first time.

The last book I read in 2017, F*ck That, was the most recently acquired, a belated birthday gift from Annie. Busy in the kitchen on Wednesday night, I enjoyed peeks at Ann & Ali as they perused & giggled... and when I heard Ali say that it reminded her of Sharon, I knew that I'd crack it open that night. Sharon could have written that book!

I've already set my 2018 goal at 25 books again, and... we'll see what happens! Happy Reading!!

That was December. It's hard to believe that all of that happened in one month!

The few days before/after Christmas were truly a blur.

The coffee shop was closed today, so I took the opportunity to spiff up my Make.Do spot:

While the remodel was happening, Rusty re-worked that triangular wire display so that it ROTATES! I was able, then, to eliminate a couple of other display pieces and consolidate a bit. It's simpler and I like it better. Now, to get some yarn dyed & on those shelves!!

I took a few other photos of the shop, too, which I will share (as promised), but for now, some of the collected coffee tins & pots that are used for decor. PLEE-ZING!

I hope you had a wonderful holiday!