Category Archives: Holidays

friday frivolity: halloween recap, and some new knitting

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Halloween was a bit of a disappointment – the forecast was clear, but the weatherpeople were not correct. By 7:30 PM or so, the winds had picked up and the rain was pelting. We were expecting a flood of kids, pent-up demand from the past year, but we had a small turnout and the weather put a damper on festivities. We have LOTS of candy leftover which is terrible for my discipline and self-esteem.

the kiddo and brandon making the most out of her costume

I took Monday off and put away the Halloween decorations, smashed the pumpkins under our birdfeeder and filled them with sunflower seeds. The birds, deer, and other yard wildlife (we have possums and a raccoon) enjoy the smorgasbord. It’s turned colder so the flannel sheets are on the bed and the woodbox is filled. The kiddo and I had dentist appointments this week, on Tuesday Brandon & I went to vote the short local ballot (city council), and work has been a bit stressful. I had a call with Japan one evening that I spent a lot of time preparing for and feeling anxious about and now, here on Friday, I am drained and bloated and sugar-hungover and ready for a weekend of lots of water and fresh, clean food. I haven’t been able to muster the energy to run in the newly cold mornings, which seem increasingly dark, even though I do really like cold-weather running and I have all the appropriate gear, so I have to conclude that I’ve just been silly and have not done the best job at self-care this week.

Vlogtober is OVER and I am bummed out. I so enjoyed following two of my favorite vloggers with their daily updates. Gayna from Tales from Cuckoo Land and Ali from This Little Wonderful Life are just a joy and being able to climb under a blanket with my iPad and watch them every day was a balm for my busy October. Ali is pretty regular so I expect to see her again soon – and I think she’s already committed to Vlogmas – but Gayna has intimated that she maybe won’t be able to film again until the New Year and as I really enjoyed her Vlogmas last year, this is a crushing disappointment. I really need Christina and Red Bank Mike from Chelsea Knits to commit to a Vlogmas so I can fill in my Gayna loss. (Their house and chickens are so fun, and I love her planner vlogs too.)

On the knitting front, now that the Halloween socks are finished, I have turned my attention to a couple of other projects. I cast on a hat for the kiddo – the SImple Pleasures hat by Purl Soho. It is fantastic. She picked the grey tones and the yarn is absolutely luscious to work with. For the ribbing, you hold two strands of the wool, and once you get into the body of the hat, you cut one strand and replace it with a strand of the kid mohair. I’m considering doing another one for myself, maybe in one of the plum tones. I also got myself a little gift for Thanksgiving knitting – this tiny stitch marker from Sucre Sucre Miniatures. It’s the most perfect, detailed, immaculate slice of pumpkin pie and the artistry is amazing.

gah!!!

I’m also winding yarn for the Snuggle Down Cowl by Jooles Hill. This has been on my short list for awhile, and I’m finally winding up some of my mini-skeins from last year’s Legacy FIber Artz Advent calendar. I’m pairing them with a silk mohair in a pink shade from one of my new favorite indie dyers, Casual Fashion Queen, who is up in Ironwood, MI, where it’s already snowing.

So there’s my Friday update for you all. I hope you are well and safe, warm if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, and cool if you’re under the Southern Cross. We change our clocks back this weekend so the long days of dark are upon us. Be well, be kind, and enjoy. xo

21 days of horror 2021!

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I think we had our best year yet with 21 Days of Horror, achieving 19 out of 21 targeted films. Without further ado, here are our picks for notable watches, with the full list at the end of the post. A note on our categories: we have a Best of Season, a Worst of Season, and an additional category of Rewatchable. A Rewatchable is a film that for us becomes a classic that we can go back to year after year.

Sara’s Picks:

Best of Season: Terror Train, 1980. Unusually, the first film we watched also ended up being my favorite for the season. It’s not strictly a Halloween film, as it takes place over New Year’s; a fraternity books a picturesque old sleeper train for an overnight masquerade party. Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, it’s a standard ‘revenge’ plot, but gets many extra points from me for cool costumes, an aura of ‘Murder on the Orient Express’, and magician David Copperfield in a peculiar guest role.

Worst of Season: Chopping Mall, 1986. Brandon disagrees but in my opinion this film was wretched. A small group of kids (with a random young married couple thrown in to buy beer) decide to have a sex party in a mall furniture store after hours. Meanwhile, a lightning storm scrambles the wiring of the experimental robot security team. Transformed into rogue killing machines, the murderous wheelie bins slowly scoot around the mall stalking and zorching the sex crazed teens. The virginal nerd kids slowly and ineffectively dispatch the completely not scary robots and live to hold hands for another day.

Rewatchables: Halloween, 1978 and American Werewolf in London, 1981

Brandon’s Picks:

Best of Season: Sleepaway Camp, 1983. 80 minutes of terrible movie, but the twist at the end of the 81st minute makes this one very memorable.

Worst of Season: The Mutilator, 1984. Released as Fall Break, a terrific example of dumb choices made by people under duress.

Rewatchable: American Werewolf in London, 1981

  • Terror Train, 1980; Sara’s Best of Season
  • Halloween II, 1981
  • April Fool, 1986; an ensemble cast featuring Biff from Back to the Future.
  • Fright Night, 1985; an excellent turn by Roddy McDowell, some great supporting performances but these do NOT include Marci from Married with Children.
  • Sleepaway Camp, 1983
  • Train to Busan, 2016
  • Graduation Day, 1981
  • Chopping Mall, 1986; Sara’s Worst of Season
  • The Evil, 1978; unremarkable except for a few good 1970’s outfits. Brandon: “Richard Crenna. C’mon, man… Not a bad premise, and somewhat atmospheric, but it started to feel like a TV movie after awhile.”
  • Halloween, 1978; Sara’s Rewatchable
  • Friday the 13th, 1980; who doesn’t remember Kevin Bacon? Altogether a surprisingly solid horror film and may also attain a Rewatchable category from Sara.
  • The Fog, 1980; another surprisingly good movie that had subtle yet undeniable tips of the atmospheric hat to The Birds, even though the plots were not similar.
  • Curtains, 1983; a small budget cult classic with an incomprehensible plot starring several very similar-looking late 1970’s-looking actresses with fluffy hair and aggressively tweezed eyebrows; a lyrical ice skating scene and a really good scary mask.
  • Silent Night, Deadly Night, 1984; this was a strong runner-up for Sara’s Best of Season. Really excellent. Points taken off for the fact that it’s actually a twisted Christmas movie. Brandon: “This has been on my list for well over 30 years. Not bad, and the toys of the era as seen in the toy store where the movie is set offered some wonderful nostalgia.”
  • American Werewolf in London, 1981; Brandon and Sara’s Rewatchable
  • The Mutilator, 1984
  • The VIllage, 2004
  • Hellraiser, 1987; really stands up. Dense plot and a lot of backstory. Brandon: “I probably could not have watched this as a teenager, afraid of the flying fish hooks, but a lot of this plays now as camp. Overall, the most sophisticated story of this genre.”
  • Dead & Buried, 1981; this is another honorable mention as a really strong small budget film starring James Farentino as a sheriff in a small town and the only one who doesn’t know that everyone else is a zombie.

And that’s a wrap until next year. I hope your Halloweens are delightfully creepy and atmospheric and your pillowcases are full of candy and your masks still allow you to see oncoming traffic and any lurking masked figures around hedges. Be well and Happy Samhain!

halloween socks 2021!

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Last year, I was madly casting off and stitching the toes up on Halloween, this year I finished my Halloween socks a full week early!

These are the Hermione’s Everyday Socks pattern by Erica Lueder, knit on Casual Fashion Queen’s plush merino sock in the Spider’s Lullaby colorway (with just some black Patons for toes and cuffs).

The only bummer is that I usually use a 2.0 mm for my socks and this time – following the pattern exactly because they are my first pair of magic loop socks – I used a 2.25. They’re too big for me. I can wear them with another pair of socks underneath but I need a 2.0 Chiao Goo red lace needle for future magic loop projects. These are modeled by my daughter whose feet are bigger than mine.

Happy knitting!

never enough time

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Friday flew by in a welter of activity, and I ran from my home office to the car to the middle school to the high school football field and then home again without missing a beat. The kiddo had school Halloween festivities and then a performance with the high school marching band at that night’s game and it went off without a hitch! Brandon and I were in the stands with a family friend and the other marching band & Scout as well as neighborhood parents and we were a proud cheering section.

The rest of the weekend was dedicated to meal planning and shopping, laundry, carving pumpkins and watching Charlie Brown. Brandon made an amazing beef tenderloin on Sunday and I crashed by 9. It’s another busy week ahead and I’m not mentally ready for it.

Life is good but there’s never enough time for all of the things that I want to do.

I hope you are all well and healthy and safe. Happy Monday.

friday five

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Capping off another work week with a sigh of relief and hoping you are all well – here’s an October Friday Five.

Puzzle season has commenced…

1. 21 Days of Horror – longer term readers will know that every October I delve deeply into the world of horror films. It started out as 31 days, but I couldn’t do 31 horror films and keep a healthy mental balance (and most years we don’t hit 21 either)! On Halloween I will recap the season and unveil our favorite. If you know us, we aren’t big on zombies or torture or overt gore, and tend to lean towards the late ‘70’s and 1980’s genres. Brandon also really enjoys Hammer horror from the ‘60’s. Join us on Halloween for our final pick.

2. Halloween trip to Glenlore Trails with the Girl Scouts. The weather was perfect – cool enough for a jacket but exceptionally mild with a big moon. The Scouts ran off on their own for the roughly 1-mile walk. The displays weren’t scary – mostly lights and projected images – but it was all intended to be family-friendly and it was a nice night to walk in a spooky woods.

3. A real live trip to a movie theater! We saw James Bond “No Time to Die” at our local and had dinner out mid-week. The movie was good but way too long in my opinion. I can watch Daniel Craig forever and a day but I am of the firm belief that we need to get back to the days of 90 minute films (this one was 2.5 hours). We had the theater to ourselves so the teenager was on her phone most of the time ha.

4. The hummingbird feeder is down, washed, and stored, and the seed feeders are up. (I save suet for colder days later in the season.) And yesterday we saw our first dark-eyed Junco, which we also call ‘snowbirds’. They are regular visitors in the snowy months and not around much at all in warm ones, so this is a sign that despite the balmy autumn, winter won’t be delayed indefinitely.

5. I know that I run the risk of jinx but it’s been so nice to have everyone healthy here. I am not taking it for granted. I’ve been back to tracking my food via Weight Watchers, trying to eat well and make overall good choices. Lots of evening kombucha and I’m glad the weather is cool enough for hot tea again. If you like a sweet dessert tea that will give you a post-dinner or pre-bedtime treat, I highly recommend this:

Tonight I’ll be at a football game to watch my kiddo’s middle school band perform a pre-game with the high school band. This is very exciting for me, as I loved band in high school and never miss an opportunity to remind people that I was actually BAND PRESIDENT (#geek). The rest of the weekend – who knows? Lots of relaxing and a couple of runs for sure. I hope you enjoy it and recharge your batteries for the big lead-up to Halloween. Be well – xo.

more rain, more tests, a bit of sun and vlogtober

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The sun came out on Saturday and it was a joy. It feels like it’s been raining for a week straight – nothing dries out and lawns are full of fairy rings of strange mushrooms. I’m a bit concerned that I’m just not ready for the long dark days in winter to come, since these ceaseless days of damp have really gotten to me this week (along with everything else on our plates at the moment). Running and being outside is a necessity, but in our village it is perilous because of the slipperiness of wet leaves and the occasional ankle-turning black walnut hidden therein…I tried to soak up the golden rays and took advantage of the beautiful day to pad out our Halloween decorating scheme.

Jacques is the hanging skeleton for the porch- Gus is the pumpkin head. In Miss L’s world Gus has the voice of a Bronx cab driver and Jacques is a former French aristocrat.

Brandon and I both got Covid tests on Saturday as well and they are both negative! So Miss L came home from her dad’s. And then it rained again.

The rest of the weekend was spent reading and crafting. I am burning along on my Halloween socks and also my little Halloween cross-stitch. This is totally due to the joyous thing on YouTube known as “Vlogtober” in which vloggers vlog every day in October (perhaps that was self explanatory…). A couple of my favorites are participating – Tales from Cuckoo Land and This Little Wonderful Life – so I’ve had a lot of peaceful time with them and my projects.

And that was the weekend. I am hoping for a more normal week ahead but it will be a busy one, with doctors appointments (optometrist and general physical), a Girl Scout activity next weekend and Miss L’s big orthodontist appointment. As well as the usual work from home and normal upkeep of home and family. Onward friends.

the last one of 2020

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We spent the end of the year quite pleasurably up north with my parents. I got out for a trail run and the Michigan lakeshore was like an alien landscape, empty, with high waves and wind and a low, pale sun.

“There are such a lot of things that have no place in summer and autumn and spring. Everything that’s a little shy and a little rum. Some kinds of night animals and people that don’t fit in with others and that nobody really believes in. They keep out of the way all the year. And then when everything’s quiet and white and the nights are long and most people are asleep—then they appear.”
Tove Jansson, Moominland Midwinter

I got dug into a dense book from my dad’s bookshelf and we played a lot of poker.

My parents are wonderful and we love spending time with them. They are gentle, intelligent, funny, and generous. I have so much gratitude for their continued strong presence in our lives, their good health and safety.

However, their cats hate us – they’re rescue cats and they are accustomed to having a very quiet existence with my folks. I’m making inroads, though.

We left for home on a snowy morning that quickly turned to rain, and now we are home, in front of the fire with many blankets and food and wine, to ring in the New Year.

I love some statistics so here’s my 2020 Year in Books.

https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2020/15419153

And my Top Nine of 2020!

Thank you all for reading and following and sharing my ups and downs. There’s nothing else I can say about this year that hasn’t already been said, and said well. So I will end with deep gratitude for what I have and hope for the future. I truly value the connections I’ve made via this blog. Happy New Year to you all and we look forward to a blessed and better 2021.

sweet little things

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I know this was a terrible year and sharing holiday cheer feels somehow wrong. But it is also right to express gratitude for what we have, and take pleasure in the little things when so many big things are very wrong. So here are a few things that brought me some joy this holiday.

The joy we find in our community. Running and walking in our neighborhood, enjoying the sled hill on a snowy morning and our Heritage Park trails and historic buildings, our local businesses and the friends we have here.

Being together. My daughter, Brandon and I spent so many enjoyable hours doing puzzles, art, taking walks, crafting, sledding, cooking and relaxing with each other- we had the gift of time.

Taking great joy in celebrating the holiday with pleasures like a nice meal and a table with a tablecloth and our nice dishes and some candles, even if it’s just the three of us.

Getting outside even on cold days to get some steps, fresh air, clear the cobwebs and do some birdwatching.

Enjoying our furry family.

I hope, even in this awful year, that you were all able to find some joy and peace in this season and if not, know that you are not alone and that things will be better. Until then, we will have to muddle through somehow.

friday five – imported olives edition

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  1. Brandon’s mom got me a gift certificate for a knitting shop and I finally got around to using it. Stitch In Time in Howell, MI is about 30 minutes from where I live and it is just the coolest place. It occupies the first floor of an old converted house and is full of creaky wood floors, polished paneling, old windows and YARN. I had the BEST time browsing and the staff was super helpful and kind. Highly recommend if you are knitters or crocheters and anywhere near Howell. I need more sock yarn like I need a hole in the head, but I could NOT resist the Uneek self-striping and the WSK (Western Sky Knits) Christmas 2020 colorway. I also picked up a skein of Malabrigo for a knitted beanie.

2. Christmas is the season of giving so I ended up purchasing myself an early present. I’ve wanted a pair of Doc Marten ankle boots for awhile (I still kick myself for giving away my Docs from college) and these were the ones I picked – the Flora in patent. I love them and made sure they were roomy enough for knitted socks underneath.

3. Brandon is visiting his parents this week so Miss L and I have been enjoying a girls’ week – dropping little gifts off to her Secret Santa buddy from Scouts, eating comfort food (hello tuna casserole) and watching some festive Netflix. We picked ‘Dash and Lily’, a charming little YA romance featuring two predictably precocious New Yorker teens falling in love via scavenger hunt. The soundtrack is hipster and the cast diverse and the episodes are short and fast-paced. It’s been a good choice. We are also working our way through Dolly Parton’s ‘Christmas in the Square’ which is admittedly a bit of a hate watch. I love Dolly but this is so atrocious that we sincerely and enjoyably loathe it. We watch five minutes a night and that’s usually more than enough. 🙂

4. I usually try to save my books for Show Us Your Books, but I have to share this. I started the week off on the wrong foot by staying up super late to finish ‘Death in the Family’, an Agatha Christie type whodunnit by Tessa Wegert. I couldn’t put it down. I was a bit grumpy the next day (I need my eight straight) but getting a comment from the author on my IG made it worth it. I’m totally fangirling. 🙂

5. For the first time in several years, Widget Central sent out holiday baskets. This brought back fond memories of a previous boss who always sent fruit baskets for the holiday with amazing pears, and we ate them on Christmas Eve with baked Brie. Miss L painstakingly unpacked everything and examined it closely and was thrilled with the contents. She gave me a huge hug and said, ‘You must have done a great job this year, Mom!’ Of course the basket was not specific to me or my performance this year but I was so gratified by her excitement that I didn’t spoil it for her. 😉 “MOM! MILK CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES MOM! AND THE OLIVES – THEY’RE IMPORTED!!!’

I hope you are all well and safe on this Friday morning, looking forward to a short workday and a long peaceful weekend. xoxo