Yellow Sweater Done!

I finally finished the yellow sweater I've been working on for much of the summer...

Time to celebrate... and move on!

This is the third sweater I've made using the same pattern in different sizes...

Glad it fits my daughter-in-law better than it fits me - so she now has  it...

(I forgot to take a picture of her wearing it...)

My daughter wears the black tweed one (the second one I made) - and even suggested that she would welcome a pullover in the same yarn, using the same pattern.

A pullover?!

The sweater is knit top down and I'd have to modify the pattern to do it... But I'm going to give it a try.

Rocking Chair "Therapy"

This summer - for the first time - I have noticed an uncomfortable stiffness when I stand up after sitting. It sometimes takes me a few moments to feel I have my balance... So I stand and wait for a few moments before I start to walk...

But once I get going, I'm just fine...

And sometimes my knees hurt... I notice this at night, when I lie down, before falling asleep...

Am I sitting too much? I've been wondering... My favorite easy chair is very comfortable... I sit in it a lot! And I haven't walked outdoors as much this summer as I usually do... 

One day, out of the blue, the thought occurred to me that older people, back in the day, used to sit in rocking chairs...

Would the up and down movement of my feet, moving the rocking chair, help my leg circulation? I wonder if any research has been done... 

Googling the health benefits of rocking chairs - I was shocked to discover that there had actually been studies done on this topic. (I wasn't the first to wonder about it...!)

Their conclusion was that that rocking chairs are therapeutic! Here is just one of the articles that I came across. It's entitled: The Amazing Health Benefits of Rocking Chairs

Convinced it was worth a try, I immediately went out and got a rocking chair!!

Now I'm experimenting...

As I divide my sitting time between the rocking chair and the very comfortable easy chair - I'm paying attention to leg discomfort! Will my balance improve? Will my leg pain go away?!!

(Stay tuned for an update!!)

Those Uncontrollable Vines!

If gardening teaches me anything, it teaches me how little control I have! Especially in my garden...

I plant things - and they grow... or don't! (Like rhubarb, which doesn't do well in my yard these days!)

Other things that I haven't planted just grow... and grow... until they become a real problem.... (Like the wild grape and Virginia creeper, which have been growing out of control... onto trees and the cedar hedge... until it is climbing over telephone lines...)

They are lovely when they turn red in the fall... but they are really a nuisance, creeping out of the soil onto some new plant, and suddenly they overwhelm it.

The plants they have climbed onto (from the wire fence) in this photo are two small trees on the other side of the fence, also my lilac bush... and then up onto limbs of a pine tree, where they are impossible for me to reach.

Every autumn, when they change color - I have a chance to tear away at them...

I may thin them out - but I don't think I'll ever eliminate them.

Nature is definitely stronger than me!

Day Trip to Long Sault

The day was sunny and warm...

We could stay home ...

Or we could take a drive in the country...

I convinced Terry we should take advantage of every sunny day - winter would soon be upon us.

So we headed south to the St. Lawrence River, an hour away by car... and to the Long Sault Parkway.

We enjoyed the view from the site of the 1812 battle on Crysler's Farm.

There is still a cannon pointed to the American side of the river...

Then we continued on to the islands formed when villages and farmland along the St. Lawrence were flooded to create the St. Lawrence Seaway.

The car GPS gave us a clear overview...

A beautiful day! Fun... and educational!

Canadian Thanksgiving Day

Today is Canadian Thanksgiving - the second Monday in October.

I enjoy eating turkey, especially when I don't have to prepare it!

A few days ago, Terry and I had an early Thanksgiving dinner at the Miller's Oven in Manotick with our neighbors Earl and Mary.

The food was delicious - as usual.

On the way home, I reflected on how much I had to be thankful for:

• The weather!!
• Health and strength... (And good doctors to help when needed!) 
• Children who are busy - but still take time to stay in touch...
• A comfortable home and neighbors we enjoy...

The very important basics!!

Autumn Sky

I really have no idea why the sky is red and beautiful some nights, and not others...

The old saying: Red sky at night, sailors' delight... suggests a correlation between red evening skies and calm beautiful weather... (Or would the following day be windy?!)

I wonder... Does this saying date back to days when boats were powered by wind?

No boats in our family - but I would still welcome a beautiful day - wind or no wind!

Bee Season is Ending...

There aren't a lot of bees in our flower beds these days, but our neighbor Mary managed to photograph a few resting on her flowers a few days ago.

I'm not sure how she takes such clear photos... The bee is resting on a pink Cosmos flower in this shot.

It helps, I think, if the flowers a sharp contrast in colors to the bees...

Here the bee is on a white Cosmos flower.

I don't have any Cosmos flowers in my garden... I'm always looking for late bloomers, and these are really pretty.

Here a bee is on a Titonia flower.

I really don't know how she does it, but - like the butterfly photos I posted last week that Mary took, her bee flowers are amazingly clear, too!

Beautiful shots showing bees at different angles!