Breathing a little easier

Today's stock market jump felt good after the last two weeks. I know, I know, we are not out of the woods and I expect lots more volatility, but I feel better about not panicking and selling or rearranging my 401-K. I am a diligent saver with long-term goals in mind, but I am 58 and this period has been pretty painful to my retirement and my gut. Let's all keep our fingers crossed that things calm down and begin to regain from the bottom.



Luckily, I have been knitting from stash and finishing some UFO's. There are lots more hidden around the house, so even if I am totally broke, I will still be able to knit for quite a while. Here is a sock I am rushing through hopefully to give as another gift on my trip east. If it looks a little lumpy, my hand is inside it and not my foot!

I leave on Thursday morning for NYC, then my high school reunion, and hopefully Rhinebeck on Sunday.



Here was a happy surprise. Looking outside in the garden this morning after our first freeze of the fall, I saw this:

Usually I get a whole trellis full of pancake size lavender blooms of clematis in the spring, then nothing for the rest of the summer. I diligently water and feed it, but the vine doesn't get as much sun as it probably needs and gets pretty skimpy after it finishes blooming. I purchased a second clematis vine this spring with deep purple double blooms that is supposed to bloom all summer, so together as they intertwine, I should have some nice color there next summer. Maybe the original vine knew I did this and put out two late season blooms as a peace offering. Whatever, I smiled as I saw them this morning.