Will this be a return to blogging?

Being sequestered...it is a semi-introvert's dream.  All of this time to finish up projects, read, nap, work on starting a garden (Victory Garden?  Virus Garden?), and enjoy my little family.  I'm so glad that I live with Megan and Vivian.

I don't know where this image came from, but I "lifted" it from a local jewelry designers Facebook posts...Dharma Cowgirl.  She always posts the most amazing images!

What I am working on...

A "Nightshift" shawl with the KnitAlong started by Vicki "Knitorious"
An A-line dress kit received just in time from Alabama Chanin's School of Making
Old WIPS...and there are oh so many!
Organizing my bedroom...also always a WIP
Cooking...the pantry is pretty well stocked, and I'm trying to keep things interesting

What I'm bingeing on streaming services:

The Newsroom on Amazon Prime
Burden of Truth (as opposed to Burden of Proof) on Hulu
3 bites of Little Fires Everywhere on Hulu...I also enjoyed the book

What I recommend, if you have the CBS app...The Good Fight.  I loved The Good Wife, and looked forward to Sunday evening to watch the new episodes.  The Good Fight is Good Wife on steroids.  So good, and I look forward to the next season dropping.

Stay safe...be well...wash your hands!

February Vacations...they're the best!

After being sunshine-starved, our little family headed to the sunny skies of Key West for a week-long vacation.  This was Vivi's second airplane adventure, but the first one happened when she was just six months old, so it was not really memorable.  This one, however...

 The next picture was taken on the seven mile bridge going to the lower Keys.  It wasn't as dramatic this time...and the last time I was there was 30 years ago.  Megan was almost the same age as Vivian during that trip.

 On the beach at Key West...

 The view from our hotel room...this was a beautiful place.  Ocean's End, Key West, but it was really situated on Stock Key.

 I had totally forgotten about the chickens running loose in Key West.  Amusing, but annoying.

 The Key West Butterly Preserve and Botanical Garden.  Spectacular!

 And of course, the iconic photo in everyone's album from their Key West Visit.

So good...

Life is good.  No bumps in the road, not job stresses,and most important of all, no classes to take until Spring semester.  The most pressing issue I have right now is a Target run on my lunch hour today.  They have the best thin crust pizzas...Archer Farms - Mushroom and truffle oil on a super thin crust.  Believe me, it's divine!  Friday night is pizza night at our house, so Target is a must today!  I absolutely hate the idea of shopping anywhere on a Friday after work, so lunch hour, it is!

I haven't been up to much lately...just schoolwork, work-work, and hanging out at home with Megan and Vivian.  Our summer Netflix watchlist has consisted mostly of watching the entire however many seasons of Grey's Anatomy, with a little Scandal thrown in on the side.  "Crafting" has fallen by the wayside, but I'm ready to start knitting again.  I get the knit bug every autumn, and it fades into obscurity around February.  One of our library locations is having a class on a "Surprise Jacket" for children, and it looks fairly quick and easy.

Spring has sprung...

We're finally having some lovely days here in SW Indiana.  Granted, when the weather turns nice and the trees come into bloom, that's when everyone starts sneezing and sniffling, but at least it is sun-shiny and bright!

 Megan, Vivian and I went to YART a few Saturdays ago.  YART---a yard sale for art.  All pieces are moderately priced, and all are represented and sold by the actual artists.  It's always a fun time, and the weather was perfect this year.  Vivian enjoyed herself, wandering among the artsy booths.

She's kind of a hipster, right?  She loves choosing her own clothing, and nine times out of ten will prefer to be dressed almost like her mother.  Lots of black leggings and t shirts!  She started pre-school a few weeks ago and just loves it.  It's great for her to be around other kids...she's learning lots from both the teachers and the kids.

I love living with Megan and Vivian.  It's nice to be a part of a little family again.

Snow...

Snow...a real snow.  The amazing thing?  It was forecasted to arrive at 4 PM and it did.  That never happens!  According to the roof of my car, we got about 4 inches (also forecasted!!).  The best part about it though, was that the roads were cleared early this morning and there were absolutely no problems getting to work.  The hardest part was getting the snow off of the center of the top of the car!  It was absolutely "mohawkish" for a bit.

It's unfortunate that work was unaffected by the snow...we were all hoping for a snow day today, especially since Saturdays are a bit slow anyway.

Finally found the chairs...

I've been looking for a couple of chairs for my room since Spring.  Found the inspiration picture on Frenchtown Station's Facebook page.  A friend and I visited there a few months ago and the chairs weren't there...things come and go rather quickly in this super-cute little shop.  Anyway, I found the chairs elsewhere, and also a copycat of the ottoman.

I love the spare look of the leather butterfly chairs.  While they aren't the chairs I imagined last Spring--I was more in the market for a huge comfortable reading chair--the chairs paired with the slouchy leather ottoman will be perfect and the set won't take up as much space.  I found the chairs locally (and on Amazon) for not a lot of money, and the ottoman is available on Amazon.  Can't wait...my first big purchase of  2019, coming up!

First snow of the season....

...and I don't care.  We totally skipped autumn here.  We went from blazing hot summer directly into winter, or maybe I should say cold, gloomy weather.  The first snow/freezing rain event happened yesterday on November 14.  Way too early!  The ground is covered this morning, and the road in front of the house looks slick--and it is a curvy, hilly road. 

Here's a view from "the penthouse", through the blind slats.  I'm off work through next Tuesday...combination of birthday holiday and a floating holiday for Thanksgiving next week.  My only thing to look forward to, in regard to leaving the house, is an adventure with my friend Carol.  We're finally going to go to Ferdinand's Christkindlmarkt on Saturday.  We've been talking about going for years!

...as if you're life depended on it.

I wish that I didn't have an interest in politics.  I wish that I didn't wake up in the middle of a somewhat restless sleep and think about the way the world is turning.  But I do.  I care about what is happening here and there...those people "the caravan" will be at our border at Thanksgiving.  Greeting them with armed forces isn't very welcoming, is it?  If we were in a terrifying situation and needed to leave, wouldn't it be nice to think that we have a safe place to go?  Put it in perspective...if you were a battered woman and you needed to get out of that situation (maybe along with your child(ren)), wouldn't you want a safe space?  Thank goodness we at least recognize that problem here in Evansville.  We don't need to be caretakers for the world, but we do need to show compassion, and not vitriol. Vote tomorrow...because your life does depend on it.

September!!

September always feels like the start of a new year.  New experiences, new outlook, and hopefully, "new" weather...crispy, perhaps!

I'm on week three of an online library class.  I need it to keep my librarian certification, since I don't have an MLS (I have a Masters in Public Service Administration).  This online class seems to have a lot of moving parts...lots to keep track of.  I think that I'd perfer an "in person" class, but it is cost prohibitive.  As it is, I pay for this class (and the four others I need to take) even though it is a requirement of my job.  What's the fun in that?

Other projects:

Art journaling.  I love the idea of it, get all of the "stuff" for it--and by that, I mean drag out all of my art supplies--and then I end up staring at a blank journal page.  Draw Your Day is a wonderful "you can do it!!" book.  Beautiful illustrations, and just enough push to get you started.

Other projects:
Pre-Halloween decorating
Reading
Playing with Vivian

Life is fairly smooth now (other than that pesky class!), so I'm grateful for that.

Garden Dreaming...

Frida Kahlo Rose

Now that I will be moving into a house with an actual yard, I've been thinking about gardening.  Mostly vegetable gardening, but then I came across this beautiful rose, so now all I can think about is flower gardening.

I can't wait to get moved...my daughter and her family have started the move, but the previous owners of the house left some heavy unusable furniture in my space.  I have until the end of the month to vacate my apartment, but since I'm off for four days beginning this Thursday, I want to get EVERYTHING ready to go! 

Then...I want to start ordering some plants...herbs, flowers, all of that stuff!  We have window boxes to fill and lots of space for all kinds of gardens.  Can't wait!

The only good thing about snow...

The temperature last Thursday was 64 degrees.  Rainy, but still...64 degrees in mid-January.  I'll take it, right?  Around midnight, the rain changed to freezing rain and sleet.  It then turned to snow sometime after daylight.  Fortunately, I pulled my windshield wipers away from the window and tucked them into little plastic bags, just like they featured on Good Morning, America Thursday morning. Also fortunately, I had a full pantry and refrigerator.  Around 8 PM Thursday evening I was notified by group text that the libraries would be closed on Friday...Yay!!  I immediately sent out a text to the employees at my little branch library.  All were happy.  After all, who wants to drive around in snow and ice?  Friday evening was a repeat...the libraries were closed on Saturday.  Our location is never open on Sunday, and Monday was a holiday.  A four day weekend.  The bad news...no one plowed the parking lot of the huge complex where I live.  All told, we had nearly eight inches of snow over two days...then the temperature really dropped and we woke up to actual -2 degrees yesterday.  Snow is messy...ice is messier.  I finally dislodged my car from the parking place late yesterday afternoon, and managed to drive to work today without incident.

Since I was off, I played around with a few cocktail recipes...the one shown below is a Boulevardier, consisting of bourbon, Campari, and sweet vermouth.  I saw the recipe on Smitten Kitchen's Instagram feed.  Pretty good! A few of my other cocktail creations were a Dark & Stormy, a Negroni, and some plain old red wine.  It's been ages since I've had alcohol, and it was fun experimenting with new to me recipes.

The other thing I enjoyed was having plenty of hot beverages...teas, hot chocolate, and of course, coffee.

The time off from work was excellent, but it's nice to be back around people...I could turn into such a hermit!