Sunday Catch Up

Greetings, fellow bloggers! This morning I’ve managed to wake up nice and early and sit down with a hot cup of coffee. The wind is blowing and, while it’s still pitch black outside, I can hear the leaves falling. This a morning rhythm I’ve missed over the last few months and am hoping to invite it back into my life.

The last week has been full of sick children. As soon as one is on the mend, the next goes down. That means that my nights are full of comforting and cleaning, so I’ve been slow to rise each morning. No early stitching or morning meditation, but that’s just how it goes sometimes. I am happy to say that we still pulled off a full week of school with plenty of learning, baking, and poetry teatimes. It’s a relief to know that we have the ability to put our heads down and push through these hard weeks.

On Saturday we packed a lunch and drove up to the mountains to see the foliage. I think it might have been the peak of color and it was gorgeous. I didn’t get too many pictures, but the picture above was the view for our lunch (and there’s really not even any foliage here!). My favorite lunch place is the scenic stop across from the Mt. Washington Hotel. Is there any better place to eat a ham and cheese sandwich? I think not! But the mountains were crowded with tourists doing the wackiest things to get the best pictures. We saw people standing on their heads in the middle of the highway (not recommended), running at full speed down the side of the highway towards their friends holding the camera, pulling over and crossing in unsafe areas, and people with multiple cameras on tripods set up to get the best selfie angles. I’m amazed at what people do for Instagram!

But who can really blame them? It was gorgeous, relatively warm, and the perfect fall activity. I feel really lucky to live in New Hampshire and so close to the mountains.

In my hands this week:

On Monday I said that I hoped to finish the farmer’s wife on A Plump Wife — and I did! And somehow I also managed to finish the farmer. Don’t be too impressed, he’s much slimmer than his plump wife and took fewer stitches! Now it’s just on to the decorative stitches sprinkled throughout – might I finally finish this for Christmas?

I decided to take the plunge on an appliqúe project. I bought Lori Holt’s first set of Sew Simple Shapes back in 2015 when they were first released but didn’t do anything with them. I’m finally starting the Bloom Quilt that she designed to go along with her Calico Days collection and her (then) new shapes. This picture is my very first effort at this new skill! It’s completely imperfect and I’m very proud of it.

In my teacup this week:

Despite the calendar and the skies, it’s been relatively muggy. But I’m trying to ward off the cold that’s been circulating in my house, so I’ve kept the teakettle and honeypot busy. My rotation this week:

+ Just Elderflower
+ Hope Blend Jasmine Green Tea
+ Pumpkin Spice
+ my trusty Celestial Seasonings Chamomile (not linking to Amazon because it looks like they only have a massive pack for $24. You can find this in your grocery store for a much more reasonable price!)

And of course, lots and lots of honey. We’ve baked Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies and Brownies to go along with our tea. We’ve tried to be as cozy as possible despite all of recent challenges — tea and cookies always helps, right?

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I know I’ve been MIA in this space for the last month or so and I appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding. I’m hoping to find my blogging (and commenting!) rhythm again soon. Until then, please know that I’m reading your blogs and keeping up with you despite my relative silence. And now I’m off to put a chili in the crockpot before everyone else starts waking up. Thank you for visiting today!