Not like Bit-O-Honey... that was one of the worst "treats" I could find in my Halloween Trick or Treat bag.

It's been a coupla weeks, y'all. Big disruption/change at work, the extent of which I've/we've not all yet been fully apprised... I believe there's a bit of hashing out yet to be done.

My Happy Jetsetter Birthday Vacation set to begin in (checks phone) 3 days and 1 hour could not come at a better time. I need a breather (and I'm glad it's going to be short)... some fun museum stops, fabulous food, shopping (holiday or otherwise), and London!

Meanwhile, back at home...

I washed my kitchen windows! It's so satisfying. I hung up some cafe curtains, too. I need sturdier rods, but I think they're going to be nice. I was afraid I'd meet some spousal resistance about those, but he actually likes them!

We have fairly roomy windowsills in there and all manner of stuff gathers...

...including my "I'd Rather Be Knitting" license plate frame, which I believe I bought at my first Rhinebeck. Anyway, it's been sitting on my windowsill since we got rid of the Saturn, which Maddy drove for quite a few years, and never even made it onto my Nissan, and finally after two years it's on my Explorer. heh.

Well, I guess that's all the photos Typepad is going to let me upload today. It took hours to get the log-in page to load. Change is comin'.

It took about a week for blog readers to pick up my feeds! I'm pretty sure it was a Typepad thing... I'm about over it/them.

My NC500 medal came in the mail last week!

It's pretty hefty -- the actual medal is bigger than my palm.

I love the unicorn on the reverse! I AM UNDEFEATABLE.

Like Bonny, I don't think I'll be signing up for any more of these challenges. I don't really need a collection of medals. heh. It was very interesting to know, though, that I walked 500 miles between April 5th and September 30th -- just normal everyday steps, though my "normal" day can sometimes include cleaning an Airbnb or two, chasing after a grandchild or four, and/or beating the pavement/grass for 4-8 miles a day in Denver or around standing stones in Orkney or someplace.

We finished buttoning up the house over the weekend -- switched out the rest of the screens for storm windows, brought in tender plants/pots/garden decor. I still have "wash kitchen windows" on my to-do list... it looks like we're in for a mild weekend (after seeing snowflakes fall on two of the last four days), so I'm putting it off until then. Lordy, they're so dirty, and now that the leaves are falling, the sunshine is beginning to blaze through the trees, shining a spotlight right on all that dirt. heh.

I noticed my window of daylight closing yesterday and ran outside with my Temperature Blanket to take a decent progress photo.

Rusty saw me testing this weathered old chair (my laundry basket holder when hanging on the clothesline), which I had deemed worthy for getting an angle on my Temperature Blanket progress (or at least worthy of carefully trying) 🧐… when just as I was about to climb aboard, he popped his head out the back door and asked if I would like him to bring me a step stool. Well, okay, if you’re gonna bring it to me!

I've finally built up a bit of steam for this project, after not knitting a stitch for weeks. As of this time yesterday, I was about 60 rows from finishing my panel and it's even less now!

The next panel will be Kate's. My original idea was that Rusty's panel & mine would flank the girls', but in a waking up/falling asleep dreamy state sometime last week, it occurred to me that since the girls' will all be pretty similar, that maybe we'd break them up! Instead of Rusty-Kate-Ali-Maddy-Vicki, it might go Kate-Rusty-Ali-Vicki-Maddy!

We shall see!

An almost 2-week vacation in Scotland involving planes, trains, a car, and ferries -- and it all went off without a hitch! The weather was... Scotland-in-September-like, but we were prepared and had "drama" when & where we wanted -- missing weather-related ferry cancellations by a day on more than one occasion. We all fared very well during the 1.5- to 2.5-hour ferry crossings.

We are feeling charmed.

Perhaps you've followed along on IG or FB -- #vrkscotland2022. I won't likely rehash all of that here but do plan a follow-up (wordier) post or two and to share a few more photos at some point.

Meanwhile, re-entry has been a bit bumpy but IT'S FRIDAY!! And the kids are coming for a sleepover!

Upon arrival home, I found a few clues that the kids had been there -- earrings in disarray in the bedroom, and these "love notes." I haven't met a kid who didn't love a pad of sticky notes!!

I did a quick check of the garden at first opportunity (Tuesday after work) and loved that the zinnias were still blooming their little hearts out. There's an overnight frost warning, so thought I'd share while I still can!

They're not as spectacular or showy as dahlias, but who cares... all flowers are magical!

I haven't had a chance to catch up and, truthfully, I might just have to mark all as read and start anew... I hope not, but just in case (and if you're willing), I'd love a comment with the CliffsNotes version of what's been going on with you!

Have a wonderful weekend!