Weekending-Walking Down Memory Lane

After some minor adjustments the anticipated 3 day weekend turned out to be a 4 day weekend which almost feels like a full week off from work!  Friday I already had plans for my Mom to come to our house for the weekend, and when she had to go to a follow up doctor's appointment I was able to schedule it so that we could come straight back to our house and get the weekend started early AND avoid Friday afternoon traffic!

Friday evening my friend Kim came over for cocktails and snacks and of course there was lots of reminiscing about Roswell back in the day.  She found a homework assignment of mine from 2nd grade-turns out I had not done my homework, nor did I have any paper so I did mine on the back of hers!  Oh boy, was I a terrible speller and my hand writing was awful.  Still, it was so cool that she found it and that her mom had saved it since 1975!  We weren't able to do our regular walking time this weekend, and the weather was forecasted to be just too yucky.  Saturday I cooked breakfast and we spent the late morning watching the recorded Westminster Dog Show.  I still have some watching to do, but Mom and I both enjoyed seeing the agility competition-there were some very fast dogs!  Late afternoon was spent getting my hair cut and colored-a 3 1/2 hours later and it was dinner time, some TV and then bed.  I did manage to finish my Essex capelet so now I'm ready for my other projects I've been waiting to cast on.

Sunday we were fortunate to put together an impromptu family reunion.  Lately it seems like we only see family when there is a funeral, so we are doing what we can to get together more regularly just for fun.  In December I visited with 2 of my cousins and an aunt [Sandra, Marcia and Aunt Betty]  Since I knew Mom would be over I was hoping we could get all the ladies together.  Seated are 2 of my Dad's sisters Betty [one, the baby, lives in California, but will  be here in July], my Mom is in the middle and my the sister born after my Dad, Rena, is on the far right.  My Dad was one of 5 and both he and my uncle have since passed away leaving just the girls.  My dad was married 4 times and the sisters always said they liked my mom the best, and they have always been very good to her. 

The next generation is standing behind the mothers, and the young lady on the far left is the daughter of my cousin Marcia-standing next to her sister Sandra, and then Sandra's grand daughter.  Carrie the "baby" of the family is with her mom on the far right.  Marcia is 10 years older than me and was my babysitter when I was little-she was the best!  I loved playing with her very long very straight hair, and she is credited with piercing my ears when I was 8 and she was a nursing student.  We talked about the "Big House" that still stands on Atlanta St, and where my great grandmother grew up and worked.  Turns out she lived in the mill village and later worked at the Roswell mill and the Oxbo Pants Factory, so she spent all of her 103 years in Roswell!  Makes me wish I would have asked her about Roswell back in the day; as a kid we weren't really taught to appreciate the history that the older generation could pass on.  I also learned that my grand parents had moved to downtown Atlanta in the early 30s where my aunt and uncle were born, and eventually moving back to live with my great grandmother at which point my dad and the next 2 girls were born.  It was truly a great time to bring 4 generations together and we hope to do so again soon even if it means we can't all get together. 

So the rest of the "weekend" will be spent running errands, a long walk with the D-O-G and meeting up with Mary's knitting group and getting my breakfast and lunch for the rest of the work week prepared.  We also ordered a piece of furniture that will be delivered on Wednesday-can't wait!  I need to blog about that and the swords and plates that are now put up.  Maybe I'll tidy up and do a photo journal of the house now that we are more settled in- Happy Monday and those of you with glorious weather today-I AM envious!

Weekending

So a fun filled weekend despite the less than cheerful weather!  Getting caught up on blogs-I have to set a timer so I don't forget there are other things to do.

Kim and I met up at the Smith Plantation to see an open hearth cooking demonstration.  The daffodils were glorious throughout the property.

Clarissa and Misha did a great job explaining how cooks used an open fire and what slave life was like in this area of Georgia.

The house on the Smith property was very different than the other founding fathers of Roswell as were the occupants.  Very serious, non-frivilous non non-sense kinda people.  The house was occupied by its owners when I was a kid so it was neat to finally go inside and learn more about the family.

Sunday afternoon was a matinee at the Stage Door Players- Last Night of Ballyhoo with Polly, Ron and Kare.  This play was set in the Buckhead [north Atlanta] area during the late 1930s. It was quite entertaining, but also has some poignant moments as it dealt with the discrimination amongst the Jewish sects in Atlanta.  The performance was excellent and is based on play by Alfred Uhry who also wrote Driving Miss Daisy.  This was followed by dinner at one of our favorite restaurants Novo Cucino-such a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon/evening.

Looking forward to more family time next weekend when my Mom comes to stay for a few days and we'll be getting together with some of my cousins and 2 of my dad's sisters.  Happy Monday y'all.

Three on Thursday-Totally Random

Today was GLORIOUS-it was definitely a top down drive home from work with temps in the high 70s in early February!  I immediately changed and headed out for a walk when I got home.  By the end of my walk Canton Street was crowded with folks who decided to take advantage of the great weather since so many of the restaurants have outdoor seating.

Tomorrow if Friday-I have some fun things planned this weekend which include an open hearth cooking demonstration at the Smith Plantation on Saturday morning.  Sunday is another production from the Stage Door Players and dinner.  Since all my chores are done I'm hoping for some knitting, embroidery and making headway on the rest of the fabric cutting that I've let fall by the way side.

I have swatched for 2 sweaters and I'm nearly finished with my Essex capelet.  I plan to knit Mountain High by Keidi Kirrmaier out of come lovely Madeline Tosh Eyre in Cove that Mary gave me, and I'm repurposing some Swans Island Worsted to knit Chittenden.  Both pullovers and both I probably won't be able to wear until the fall, but that is OKAY.

Amaryllis Watch 2019

I thought about waiting a full month for posting the progress, but these things are growing like CRAZY!  This is last year's amaryllis on January 9th.

This year's plant on the same date.

I've been moving them around since we've had some very gray days so as to ensure they get enough sunlight.  Looks like I might be doing something right!

They are doing great-this was a photo from yesterday and I can't wait to see how the flowers look and I'll be getting out the taller stakes out soon.

Tiny Moment Tuesday

Channeling my inner 3 year old with real cheese toast and apples for breakfast.  Ignore the jumbo coffee cup!

Sometimes Monday

finds me reflecting on time well spent.  Last weekend was a long weekend for me and it got started with a 3pm dismissal from work.  What a great way to end a Friday and start the weekend.  Steve and I had plans with Karen, Ron and Polly that evening, so we met for dinner at a new for me restaurant Local on North and then we went to a theatre production that was a play on the screenplay writing of Gone with the Wind.  The food, company and the play were fantastic.  Saturday included a visit with my Mom, and while the weather was crummy we enjoyed a delicious quiche [thank you Costco] and 2 very cheesy movies on the Hallmark channel - I had time for get some knitting done while she worked on her embroidery.  Simple, easy and no make up required!  Sunday Kim and I were able to get together for lunch an more catching up.  We met up at a restaurant that has been transformed over the years; it was a Burger Chef back in our day.  If you click on the links you can tell that the building hasn't changed at all.  I also got a chance to see her very cute home which I have clocked at 1/2 mile door to door!  Monday my friend Brenda came over, I have't seen her since August and this was also the first time she has had a chance to see our new place.  It was great catching up with her and I know with her daughter getting ready to graduate from college in just a couple months she is going to be very busy.  Sophie and I managed an exploratory walk on Monday, and then come Tuesday work proved to be pretty hectic, and since I had to take a day and a half off for doctor appointments I ended up working over the weekend so as not to get too far behind-this is not the time of year for that!

 This weekend I managed to begin cutting the fabrics for my very hungry caterpriller quilt.  I'm doing much better with my cutting, but did manage to mess up on a couple strips, but I think I can get those sorted without too much trouble.

Sophie and I walked on Saturday and Kim joined us on Sunday and we had a great time reminiscing about where our early years were spent.  We should have taken a selfie in front of our old elementary school-next time!  We stopped at Roswell Provisions for a quick breakfast and since this isn't a real restaurant Sophie could come inside!  We will definitely make this place a regular stop on our weekend walks.  It feels very satisfying to balance out time spent with family, friends, outside and getting things done.  With the pending inclement weather I find myself with an unexpected day off-mmmm I wonder what I can get accomplished!

Crafting Plans 2019

Here's a aerial view of my sewing plans.  I managed to collect a couple kits several years ago, so I plan to start with those since I already have the fabrics.  I have learned that my best approach to quilting should be like my knitting-find a pattern first [except sock yarn] and go from there.  I am much more successful tackling projects this way.  Brenda is coming over next week, so I hope to she'll be able to help me with a few things.  She's been quilting and sewing for a long time, and has even designed some patterns, as well as, design work for Jacquelynne Steves -she is so very talented!

Plans include:
1. A Very Hungry Caterpillar quilt-I have just over half of the required fabrics and I did an on-line order for the rest and hopefully that will arrive by next week.
2. I found a skirt pattern I had bought a long time ago.  I hope Brenda will help measure me and between her and Mary I think I should be able to make at least 3 of these skirts.  Perfect for warm weather.
3.  A Christmas Tree Wall hanging
4. A table topper for my kitchen table [the red poppy fabric]
5. A small quilt using the jelly roll fabric
6. A larger quilt using the green and yellow fabric-I had all the fabric required for this quilt.-it's just a matter of starting it.  I have another complete kit in my stash that I'll save for another time.
7.  Another Christmas project using a panel and coordinating fabrics that I bought forever-ago.

I've also got a cross-stitch project I want to do-it requires a linen fabric, but I can't see the holes very well so I'm going to start over and use Aida 14 count and see how that goes.

I'm inspired by Carole's post about small seasonal goals, so while my list may seem exhaustive I think if I work on things slowly and with purpose I'll be able to get these projects to the point I want them by the end of the year and hopefully sprinkle in other small projects here and there.  I figure if I have my plan, materials, and tools that's half the battle.  I'm going to start by cutting the pieces I need for each project, label them and keep them handy so I can pick up a project and make progress depending on how much time.  One thing I really need to do is to improve my cutting skills.  Once my  new mat arrives I'll begin that process.  I can take the cutting to work as we have several long tables that'll make this job a lot easier.

I would dearly love to deplete my knitting and fabric stash substantially this year, and have completed projects as an end result.  I need to stick with projects that are at my skill level [maaayyyybe a little bit of stretching of those skills] as I'd rather do a few projects that are great than a bunch that are okay, or I'm not really happy with-so we'll see how all that goes-stay tuned