The Waiting Game

A little disappointment this week. Up until Thursday, were pretty sure our loan would close on the new condo by the end of the month, but it looks like that date has been pushed back a week or more now. Moving forward, there are no more trips to see the place in progress, though I did snap an outside photo in full-sun anyway. Look! The siding is done! Oooooo!

The last time I saw the inside, the kitchen was really coming along, with new appliances (oven, microwave, dishwaher-not-yet-installed), and it was looking good!

I know that countertops went in the next day, but I will not see them until our official walk-through next month, and I am anxious for that date to arrive! Until then, I will just keep cleaning up this place...I weeded through the CD collection last week!

So many CDs! How did I even have this many? (FYI, I won a contest in the late 1990s, received every Contemporary Christian "album" released on CD in 1998..they all came on Tuesdays!) There were plenty of other CDs, too. Sweetie and I do love to listen to music of all kinds.

And, of course, there has been some knitting. "Snonk!," the cutest knitted pig-in-a-sweater ever (pattern to be released soon, this was a test knit),

and a new, cotton and lace cardigan for me!

So, knit and wait is the name of the game, and here you will find me, doing just that...when I am not snuggled up to these cuties!

If you are also playing a waiting game of any kind, I hope you brought your knitting!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Love Lifts Us Up

Clearly, according to the musical fates, love lifts us up where we belong! So, what else does love do? 

Love doesn't use the gift, so that it won't get worn out. Love treasures the handmade, and invests in the hands that made it. Love sends that handmade item back to its origins when the original recipient meets Love in Heaven...and Love then wears the gloves.

A few weeks ago, just after Christmas, I told you a bit about my Aunt Mickey. I feel like she left us too soon, and I know I am not the only one. Still, we are grateful for the legacy of love she leaves behind. 

Yesterday, I learned that a gift I had sent her in love has come full circle. On her first trip to Italy, to visit her son and his family, I asked if she might look for some yarn for me please. I sent money (which I think she sent back with the yarn) and told her to pick something that she liked. She brought back yarn that I mostly knit into baby things for my first granddaughter, when we were expecting her more than 10 years ago!

But some of that yarn was knit into a pair of matching mitts, one for me and one for my very generous Aunt Mickey. I sent the mitts with a note of thanks, and I didn't really think about them much until my cousin sent me a pic of the mitts while looking through some of her mom's things in February. Did I want them back? Mom didn't wear them much, she didn't want to stretch them out...she could maybe send them to her sister-in-law, still living in Italy? 

Yes! This sounds like the perfect solution to me, and I am happy to report that the mitts have arrived, back where they started. 

As far as I can see, the note says,

"Cousin Pam made these for Mom as a thank you for the Italian yarn you or Mom brought her on that first trip to visit. It looks like she never wore them, probably didn't want to ruin them by stretching them out.

Let's not hold on to use things for "someday".

You can get good use of them for at least 6 months out of the year!"  

Love, Mar

Good thoughts, Mar. Let's not wait to use things. Let's wear the gloves, use the crystal punch bowl just because, eat with the good silverware and sit right on the couch. Let's live life abundantly, loving one another, as life is meant to be lived. Let's not wait for someday.

I know it is a pandemic, but how can you show someone your love today? Make the phone call. Write the letter. Speak the kind words. Feed the sheep. 

All the love to you, readers. Whether you are family, friend or internet acquaintance, all the love to you!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Baby Sweater in Italian Yarn, 2011

Holding on Loosely

Well, still no countertops, but the electrical work is about done!

Woodwork stained,

and floors are nearly finished, too...even in the bathrooms!

Yes, it is coming along nicely, and I love stopping in each week to see the progress (and sharing it here)! There are even shelves hung in the closets and laundry nook, so we are definitely getting there. 

Next week, I will have to think a little about window treatments, because I will have these beauties to dress! Which of you friends has great ideas for windows? :)

This week, while cleaning out a current closet, I found some fun goodies in with the dust bunnies. Like, remember all those years that I cross-stitched? Yeah, I don't remember them that well either, but apparently I did!

I even cross stitched my babies (the boy was Friday's child, and dear daughter was born on a Saturday night).

For a long time, these hung in their bedrooms, but they've been in the closet for decades now...so, there you have it. I used to cross stitch. 

In the coming week, it's music on vinyl and CD's that will be pared down. If any of you are collectors, or even remotely interested in what I might find, please reach out. Otherwise, I'll look for someplace to donate or sell cheap...we listen to all of our music digitally these days. I tossed 5 bags of goodies on Thursday...how many can I find for the next haul?

Thanks to all of you following along who have commented and liked the FB posts. Moving after 26 years here is a wild ride, but I'm trying not to hold on too tightly to too much as we go! If I don't even remember that I have it, it must not be that precious to me...so I will hold on loosely, 'cause (according to 38 Special) if I cling too tightly, I just might lose control! 

What is precious to you, friends? I am finding that my most precious items are dear to me because of the memories they evoke. Memories of friends and family that are no longer around, and memories that I still share with some of you reading this today. It is good to have a shared past with so many, and I am really looking forward to sharing my future with friends and family as well!

At some point, I will blog again about knitting. For now, I'm off to clean another closet and play with some cuties! I hope your day is bringing you joy, and that you are well!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

A Tale of Two Kitchens

So, last week I broke the news, with a little trepidation. This week, I am going to wander out on the ice a bit farther to tell you my tale of two kitchens. For the last 26 years, this has been my kitchen, and I kinda love it...at times.

It is a tiny kitchen, so small that for some years we did not even have a tall fridge in that space. We got by with a counter-height fridge for the basics (milk, eggs, butter, lunchmeats), and we had our full-size fridge in the basement. It wasn't that bad, actually, and I was in better shape for running up and down those stairs every time I cooked...or baked...or did anything involving food in the kitchen (like, yanno, feeding people).

These days, we are back to a larger fridge, one that fits into the space provided, and this kitchen has served me well for years of regular days, holidays, candy and cookie making, and gingerbreading. I will miss it...a little bit. This week, I joked that I am going to have it made into a locket as a remembrance. Well, that may be taking it a bit far...but look at the progress in my soon-to-be-finished new kitchen!

I know! OMGosh! I was going to count the cabinets in both kitchens, for comparison sake, but I keep losing count in the new kitchen...lol! So many cabinets and counters...I will no longer need to clear the tiny kitchen table in the corner to roll out a pie crust or decorate gingerbread, relegating the cookie jar, napkins and placemats to the basement craft table. I will just do what I need to do, then wipe down my counter and move on. (Cue songs of angels in my new kitchen.)

As a bonus, if I go into the kitchen to make a cup of tea for a friend (or for me) I will no longer have to miss out on everything going on in the other room. Our next season of holiday treats is going to be so much fun to put together! I can even lay all the cookies out to dry on the counters, if I want...without having to stow them in the basement, or a bedroom, or the garage! (Disclaimer: I have never stowed homemade goodies in the garage to keep them out of the way and away from the cats...no, never. It might have been a good idea some years, but the icy walk to the garage would likely have done me in!)

Ok, one more photo, then I think I'm done for today. This one is a photo of our actual unit! (There are 4 condos in this grouping.) Still waiting on siding, and some other outdoor details, but isn't it lovely?

Yes, it is safe to say that I am getting excited! Still hoping that I am not jinxing us, and enjoying the parts of the process that I can as we continue to pack up the starter home. I have finally taken down most of the photos that were on our walls, so here's a new one that I have not yet framed. Look at these boys grow!

Now it's time for me to go find something to knit. Lately, I am crushing the neutral dish-/facecloths! Between projects, between homes, I hardly know what to do with myself! Lol...so I just keep knitting!

Whatever you are in the middle of, thanks for stopping by today! Oh!, and Knit in Good Health!