SnapShots & WhatNots

Here and now October

How many times have I written the phrase “the last few weeks have flown by” or “life is super busy right now”? It seems like that is always true, I’m not complaining about being busy because life has been anything but boring lately but when I get stressed out by work or feel like there is no time in the day for important things like knitting…..I try to stop and focus on the little moments of fun that make up life here and now.

We went on an adventure up to North Carolina and got to experience autumn. South Carolina has a little nip in the air in the mornings but it isn’t enough to even need a coat yet and it’s hot again by lunch time. So looking at all the beautiful colours of the leaves both on the trees and covering the ground was breath-taking and so much fun to photograph.

I found this really cute post-card to send to my little brother at home in Ireland. The last one I sent him was from Myrtle Beach, he loved it but then took a notion and told me not to bother sending anymore and then changed his mind again (he’s stubborn but fickle – one of the many interesting and at times difficult facets of his special needs). But I knew he’d get a laugh out of seeing this little bear.

Boomer and I started running this week, which has been majoring eating into my evening time knitting but boy are we both sleeping well at night. I’m jealous of the naps he gets to take with his little elephant while I go to work though.

Thanks to the running I can almost justify the amount of bread I’ve been making (and eating) lately. With just the one soft white bread recipe I’ve turned it into baguette rolls, small round rolls and this delicious bloomer style loaf. I even made some little rolls with poppy seeds on top during the week which was fun. If I wasn’t running out of flour I’d probably make more this evening too!

So yep life here and now is busy but fun!

Here and now - september

This week I’m very excited to see Friday arrive. It might have been a short week but boy did it feel loooong! I’m looking forward to enjoying a relaxing weekend – well as relaxing weekend as is possible when you have two cocker spaniels running around the house. We are minding our friends cocker spaniel until Sunday and so far so good; all I have to do is send them out into the yard and they chase each other (and squirrels and chicks) in long laps around the garden until they collapse in a heap on the couch. I’m hoping to get them out for a good long walk along a new trail this weekend.

I am also pleased to report that I finally managed to finish the first sleeve of my knitted jumper last night. It took me 1 week to knit the entire body and then 1 whole week to knit one sleeve…that seems crazy but the smaller number of sleeve stitches knit in the round is fiddly and it just dragged on and on. I’m hoping that I’ve got the hang of it now and that the other sleeve will knit up more quickly. I also tried it on and I love it already!

After the long weekend of eating out and coming home to and empty fridge and pantry I’m excited to cook some real food this weekend. I’ve also been watching the Great British Bake-off and now all I want to do is make elaborate cakes, pastries and breads. Or maybe I just want to eat them…..

Happy weekend :)

Here and now August 2014

Life has put me in a bit of a funk lately – no other way to describe it.

I don’t know if it’s because I feel like I need a holiday, or because I feel a bit caught up in the nitty gritty everyday flow of things and need to step back and remember that overall life is good….but lately I’ve just been feeling off. I’ve been mulling over some things lately and maybe I’ll write a post to help me work through it – or maybe my usual trick of trying to focus on the little positive things will have the effect of making me feel more positive again….it’s worth a try.

Here’s a few of life’s little positives right now.

The smell of freshly baked banana muffins – I’ve made 3 batches of these in as many weeks

Kitty came back….no idea where she disappeared to for a week but she’s back she looks good and she hasn’t left the garden since.

Tiny, tiny little succulents growing on discarded leaves after weeks of waiting

 And last but not least these two. My little family.

It’s Friday, I’ll just booked a copy of Divergent in Redbox to watch this evening and over the course of the weekend I plan to go for a run with the pup, bake some bread, finish the knitted blanket, and maybe do something really fun like go to the zoo. And I’m sure come Sunday I’ll be wondering “what on earth was up with Friday Martina…that was weird!”

Happy Friday!

Here and now (I love July)

I feel as those these photos pretty accurately sum up what live is like around here at the moment. The weather has been really hot (yay!) but so humid (boo) – honestly it feels like every time I walk outside I’m walking into one of those reptile houses at the zoo. The air is actually sticky, and walking around is exhausting so we've been teaching the pup the joys of swimming...he's still a bit hesitant though. This is my first time properly experiencing a humid South Carolina summer, because last year mild apparently, and I can’t say I’m the biggest fan. Less humidity and more sunshine please.

I’m also back on a weightwatchers kick again, it’s been a few months since I properly counted any points and my weight has increased about 6-7 lbs since my goal weight. So I’m back with my calculator and food scales in hand and I’ll be watching my portion sizes very closely again until those extra few lbs have shifted. This is the danger territory where I could tell myself everything is fine but I know that if I don’t get a handle on it now the weight will just keep on creeping up. This is why I made tiny bite size cookies that are only 1 pt – perfect with a cup of tea after dinner.

I’ve also been trying to perfect my soda bread recipe – this one is almost perfect and I’ll share soon once it is. I’ve been slowly piecing together Kathy’s quilt. I’m going for accuracy rather than speed with this one although I should really get my skates on and get the quilt top made so that I don’t have to rush the hand-quilting.  

So here’s hoping for a good weekend – I’ll be celebrating my birthday over the weekend since it falls on a Monday this year and that’s no fun – hoping to go to a drive-in movie and possibly go tubing down the river again. What are you up to for the weekend?

Here and now

There is only one word that comes to mind when I try to describe life right now – exhausting

We’re still in recovery mode from having our guests visiting and our travels to NC last week, so much so that a whole week has gone past and I still haven’t managed to find a moment to edit down the 300 odd photos of waterfalls I took. We’re all so tired and not able to get in the mornings but today is Friday, and it’s been a few weeks since Kathy last ran a race which can only mean one thing…….yep we’re hitting the road again. In a few hours’ time we’re heading off to visit a small town in Georgia that’s quite near a national forest (great for exploring!). Best of all though we’re going to stay in a hotel instead of camping, hip hip hooray! I love camping but I had all the packing and unpacking and putting up tents in the dark etc that goes with short weekend trips.

So here’s to the weekend, I’m packing my knitting, a new book and some of the delicious Irish chocolate that Kathy’s parents brought over, then throw in a hike or two and that’s my weekend in a nutshell.

Happy Friday Everyone!