Welcome November - posted by Melissa

Got in a quick walk at Big Gulch before the next wave of rain hit this morning.

The woods smell so good this time of year.

Fall hikes are the best.

Homemade cheddar cornbread muffins just out of the oven, football on TV (GO HAWKS!) and my Girasole almost done....maybe today if I buckle down!!

Happy autumn, happy Sunday, happy knitting, happy November!

- Melissa

I just might have the mojo back... - Melissa

“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”

- L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

Husky football, a belly full of hearty soup, a warm cup of coffee and a puddle of knitting (yes, girls and boys, KNITTING!) on my lap.

It's a good evening : )

-Melissa

fog filled friday - posted by Melissa

Spent a misty, foggy day at the beach, walking the shoreline & breathing in the salty sea air.

It was a good day.

Have a great weekend, everybody.

- Melissa

boo ~ Melissa

A sombre yet beautiful and peaceful gloom here pervaded all things ... the shade of the trees fell heavily upon the water, and seemed to bury itself therein, impregnating the depths of the element with darkness.

- Edgar Allan Poe :: from 'The Island of the Fay'

 

joining Ginny and friends in this week's Yarn Along

 

 

Still making an effort to enjoy the little things.  The Halloween decorations are out for the first time in years.  I even have a pumpkin that I plan on carving, if only to have the seeds inside for roasting.

 

 

I did get my leaves waxed, remember these from last week? 

 

 

 

 They're not strung yet and I may just leave them scattered around the house.  They are stunning, each and every one of them (the paraffin worked just fine, don't you agree?).

 

 

  I find myself picking them up and looking at them often.  I think I'll enjoy them more if they're down where I can touch them instead of hung out of reach.  I'm not sure yet.

 

I've chosen my reads for the next few weeks : Stephen King's The Shining and some of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories.  Nothing like a little Poe when the wind is howling and the lights are flickering ~ thanks, Mother Nature, for setting the perfect mood this time of year to enjoy a scary story!

 

 

I'm just about done with my October monthly sock challenge socks and I've got yarn and pattern picked out for November.  I'll share next week...I'm really excited about this pair!

Happy Halloween everybody!

~ Melissa



inhale ~ Melissa

...and everything smoky-smelling and the sky orange and ash gray at twilight, it seems Halloween will never come in a fall of broomsticks and a soft flap of bedsheets around corners.                  

- Ray Bradbury :: Something Wicked This Way Comes

 

 

 



 

 

 

Last autumn is a blur ~ my favorite time of year came and went unnoticed and uncelebrated.  I'm making an effort this season to take in the things around me that I love so much.  The damp earthy smell of the air, the crunchy kaleidoscope foliage underfoot, seasonal baking with local produce - my favorite apple cake can be found here (best right out of the oven with a cool spoon of homemade whipped cream and a dusting of cinnamon), weekends filled with snuggling under a blanket and watching football and the World Series, listening to the blustery winds and the spate of daily rain showers that are part of October and November in the northwest.  I spent an hour today gathering fallen leaves in the hopes of following Ginny's lead ~ I'm finally going to wax and string a garland for our house after bookmarking this post four years ago.  I didn't plan ahead well enough so I don't have beeswax ~ I'm hoping paraffin will work just as well.  I'll let you know.

 

I'm just finishing a perfect book for this time of year, Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury, a favorite from childhood.  I'm also skimming through a new Martha Stewart magazine ~ I was taken in by the cover at the market and it somehow ended up in my basket.  I haven't bought one of her magazines in years but her October and November issues were always my favorites.

 

And I've been knitting.  Alot.  I'm so behind on getting things up on Ravelry - so not like me - but I'll get everything posted one of these days.  I've got three new finished projects:

Ceramic Flowers Cowl (notes here)

Streusel Shawl (link here)

and the Shale Baby Blanket (link here) that I finished last weekend while at retreat (posted here) .

 

I'm getting really close to finishing up the Hemlock Ring Blanket (link here) that I'm making for our second Goddaughter who will be here in just another month or so.  And I'm just casting on the second of my By the Seine River Socks (link here) that are my October set for Liesl's monthly sock challenge over at Buckaloo View (link here) . 

 

I'm so glad to be joining Ginny and everyone again for Yarn Along (link).  It's been awhile!  Looking forward to seeing what you all are up to since the last time I visited!

 

~ Melissa

 

(ack..sorry about all the links - I should have put them all at the end but I'm too lazy to go back and fix it all now! my post is a bit of a mess!)

Seasons Change

Mother Nature at her best ~ boy, she has a good eye for color

happy weekend, all

~Melissa

Indian Summer

Can't you feel autumn just around the corner?  I do.  It's everywhere I look.   ~ Melissa

Spanish Lavender

Budding Morning Glory

Bamboo

Fading Hostas Blooms

Changing Lilac Leaves

Charlotte and her web

Cotoneaster Berries