Apparently People are still here!

 Firstly, let me say that I am sorry that apparently there is something wrong with being able to comment on my posts.  I haven't looked into what setting I have wrong, yet, but will so that you can talk to me here, rather than hunting me down on other social media platforms to say "Yay, glad to see you back!  Can't wait to see more from you!  More pictures, please!"

 

You want pictures, I've got pictures.

 

This year we started a whole bunch of seeds early in the year to take to our local libraries plant exchange, cat not included! (Say hello to Pinto, an FIV positive cat who joined my family in 2025.) I plan on doing it again this next year, and hopefully dropping off (again) more than I bring home with me.

 

As I said before, we upgraded our "lazy gardener" raised beds with actual raised beds, and I updated the deck to have a whole bunch of raised planters in the hopes that the rabbits/chipmunks wouldn't find my leafy greens. 

 

You can see how well that worked out, and entire bed of various kale and all the leaves eaten and just the stems remain!

 

New toys!  I got an electric pressure canner and now want to pressure can all the things. (If you have only used, or been scared to use, a regular pressure cooker, this is a game changer!  I got mine because Frida, my induction range, doesn't like pressure canners.)

There has also been a ton of knitting.  I am leaning heavily into my Skill Builder patterns, and while I had a disappointing set back in my "all the short rows"  pattern/tutorial I have so many (with punny names) planned that I hope you follow along!

 

 

Then there are the cats!

 

They look like siblings, but are not.  There is at least a year difference between them and Pinto (on the right) was a Humane Society 

Sadly this year we had to say goodbye to Skittles.  She was an unusual cat in that she had a type of cancer that is more commonly seen in dogs, and by the time we realized what was going on (through multiple vet visits and tests) it had already affected her liver.  (One of two organs that no mammal has a "back up plan for")  But, Pinto and Toast are now best friends.

Toast was dropped off by the cat distribution society and Pinto was a "I had been here a really long time" Humane Society Adoption.  Both are very much loved and love each other, although Pinto does have this really bad habit of walking up to people and nipping their legs!

This upcoming week will be all about photo tutorials for knitting for me, and possibly giving you some tips if you want to be a designer for how to write things (or things not to forget) in your patterns.

 

But tell me, (once I get the commenting figured out) what do you want to know?

 

Until next time....

 

Happy Knitting, Gardening, Cooking!

 

~Mary 

 

 

 

 

 

It's been a while and so much has changed!

Hey there!  Did you miss me?  I'm guessing not, because the people who know and love me, in general, know me in other venues that blogger.

 

But it has been suggested I try journaling for a while, and this was, once upon a time, my journal.  But, mostly about my knitting life only.  Now, for more life, I guess.

 

The changes were all started with little, tiny things, most of them tracking back to 2020.  A pot of tomatoes here, a jar of sour dough there, and suddenly...I am that person.

 

The person with 6 raised veggie beds,  5 raised planters on my deck, so many pots of various squash!

 

The person who decided to put her flour and sugar in mason jars when a certain (adorable) cat decided that scratching open the flour and sugar bags was So, Much, Fun.  And created so much mess, which led to putting more and more in mason jars.

 

A dryer that was making a horrible noise, so the kids and I took it apart.  It doesn't make the horrible noise any more, but it also doesn't dry as efficiently, so we have been line drying our clothes.

 

One adult child doing an elimination diet to see what her migraine triggers were, making me make more of our "easy to pull off the shelf and eat" goods because MSG is everywhere!

 

I am not a trad wife!  Lack of a husband would be your first clue.  But, the world out there is a scary place and I am leaning more and more into being self sufficient where I can.

 

And....still knitting up a storm!

Want to join me on my journey?  Stay tuned, or I can keep talking to the void. 

 

It's Socktober,  so this month I will be releasing a sock pattern with a heel/toe that has a bit of a twist?

 

If you have it in you to put some good vibes into the universe, DD has *another* biopsy today, hoping that this one comes back "a-typical, benign" like the last one.

 

Until next time.

 

Happy Knitting/Growing

 

~Mary