News from the Nest, August 30

Good Morning, friends!

Wow, August 30! While summer’s temperatures aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, the end of August always has me mentally flipping the page from Summer to Fall. By this time of the year, I am weary of the heat and ready for cooler temperatures, sweaters, football, and comforting food.

• As if I needed a reminder of why I love this wee job of mine, Sandra provided me one last week. She mentioned that she knits hats that are sent to our men and women serving abroad through Operation Gratitude. I was not familiar with Operation Gratitude and so hit the Googler for some information. As the daughter of a career Naval Officer, this is the kind of organization that swells my 💓. Through Operation Gratitude, there are many opportunities to contribute a variety of handmade items; knit hats and scarves, handmade cards, letters, cooling neck wraps, sewn drawstring bags, and fleece neck scarves and caps. And not for nothing, they have a 100% rating through Charity Navigator. So, if you are looking for a fantastic and heartwarming way to use up some of your yarn stash, check out the knitting page for ideas.

• OK, we are now moving to Science Class. I have always been endlessly fascinated by spiders! I mean, not like Tarantulas or Brown Recluse or Black Widows or Wolf Spiders or any of those other mean spiders. But, like your run-of-the-mill garden variety spiders. Maybe it’s the knitter in me, but spider webs are just so intricate and well made!

So this little beauty is known as the Yellow Garden Spider, Zipper Spider, or Zig Zag Spider. Truthfully, it has about 20 names. But let’s talk about that zig zag! Scientists are not 100% certain why they go all zig zaggy in their webs, but two theories are that birds are less likely to accidentally crash through the webs and that it stabilizes the structure. In any event, they are cool and are welcome to spin their webs outside of my window anytime!

• For any of my friends who find themselves awake at 2 a.m. pondering what they should make for dinner April 22, 2023, if they should water their houseplants on Thursdays instead of Fridays or some other equally useless musing instead of sleeping; I have the podcast for you! I use to pay $70/year for the Calm App, but grew tired of the same stories. Then I discovered Boring Books for Bedtime and I am hooked! Everything she reads is in the public domain, so most were written before 1924. Think The Federalist Papers, Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, and Wanderings of a Spiritualist by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Most of her episodes are right about an hour long and I have never made it through one! She has a very soft and calm voice that puts me right to sleep. While technically the podcast is free, she does ask for donations to keep the podcast ad-free.

• Holy Jalapeño Batman! There seems to be a whole lot of Pickled Jalapeños being made recently! My jar-by-jar Pickled Jalapeño Peppers post is (pun-intended) on 🔥!

• Sweet Potato Dog Chews are super easy to make.

• Homemade Food Gifts are the best kind of hostess gift. Check out this list of ideas as you start preparing for fall and winter festivities.

• We are getting ready to hit the road for two weeks! The ‘we’ is my mom, my husband and me. In fact, Terry has named the trip ‘Driving the Daisies’! The trip will be bookmarked by the funeral of a dear family friend on one end and the wedding of my niece on the other end. We will meander around the East Coast/Mid West between the two events. These tips and this printable Packing List (one for him and one for her) are indispensible.

• Back in the day, I published a monthly Five Tips Friday post where I shared 5 Lifehacks to help simplify your life. Let’s take a walk down memory lane and revist those, starting with Episode one of Five Tips Friday.

• Remember the Argyle Baby Blanket I published at the beginning of the year? Well, I recently knit it again for the daughter of a special friend in blue!

Well, friends, I need to get in packing mode and in list-making mode for the friend staying at our home with Flora and Peep.

In closing, to my fellow Americans in the path of Ida and to the families of our servicemen and servicewomen recently killed in Afghanistan, please know I am holding you in my heart.

Many Hugs,

Thanks for making my day by SHARING!!