Author Archives: Holly

About Holly

fiber person - knitter, spinner, weaver who spent 33 years being a military officer to fund the above. And home. And family. Sewing and quilting projects are also in the stash. After living again in Heidelberg after retiring (finally) from the U.S. Army May 2011, we moved to the US ~ Dec 2015. Something about being over 65 and access to health care. It also might have had to do with finding a buyer for our house. Allegedly this will provide me a home base in the same country as our four adult children, all of whom I adore, so that I can drive them totally insane. Considerations of time to knit down the stash…(right, and if you believe that…) and spin and .... There is now actually enough time to do a bit of consulting, editing. Even more amazing - we have only one household again. As long as everyone understands that I still, 40 years into our marriage, don't do kitchens or bathrooms. For that matter, not being a golden retriever, I don't do slippers or newspapers either. I don’t miss either the military or full-time clinical practice. Limiting my public health/travel med/consulting and lecturing to “when I feel like it” has let me happily spend my pension cruising, stash enhancing (oops), arguing with the DH about where we are going to travel next and book buying. Life is good!

Los Altos

Posted on 2026-07-15 by Holly

today was an out and about. Not that I had particularly done a good job of planning, as you will see shortly. It was more that there was this opportunity to ride a long since George had a board meeting … Continue reading →

Posted in Travel | 2 Comments

Laundry

Posted on 2026-07-12 by Holly

I don’t know about you, but doing laundry is one of those basic tasks that feels like “a gift that keeps on giving.” it doesn’t seem to matter if I do a load every couple of days organize it for … Continue reading →

Posted in Home | 2 Comments

Birthdays

Posted on 2026-07-11 by Holly

I think when you are young, birthdays are very important. As you get older, the milestone birthdays (21, 40, 65 etc) become more important. When you survive past your mid 70s I think there is a balance. There are those … Continue reading →

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attack kitty

Posted on 2026-07-10 by Holly

There is this toy which the cat finds fascinating… nut he can’t watch too long before TEMPTATION! also finished the latest part on Owl Forest’s Sherlock SAL

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Up before five

Posted on 2026-07-09 by Holly

I had no intentions of getting up early. In fact, I had planned on taking the opportunity to sleep in. The cat had other ideas. He started his Siamese howl shortly after 0400 otherwise known as 0dark o’clock. Even at … Continue reading →

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Whose chair

Posted on 2026-07-08 by Holly

I think I have mentioned before that it seems that whenever I am home and leave my comfortable chair in the living room for more than a few minutes – come back to find this – my chair has been … Continue reading →

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There are lemons

Posted on 2026-07-07 by Holly

In the house, Dropped off to friends & neighbors And on our tree. Several dozen in fact still at the partly green stage.

Posted in Home | 2 Comments

Sweet Corn

Posted on 2026-07-06 by Holly

I have been watching the price/ear for a while. Let me just leave it with – it hasn’t been what I would call affordable. Up to $1US/ear just doesn’t make sense to me. Or packages of shucked corn which were … Continue reading →

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Early Morning visitor

Posted on 2026-07-05 by Holly

and rather shocked to see me coming up the stairs toward the front door. Being disturbed wasn’t in her plans.

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No Kings

Posted on 2026-07-04 by Holly

As far as I can tell – only one of my grandparents were born in the US. From George’s point of view, his mother was an emigrant, his father born not long after his mother arrived in the US. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Prose | 1 Comment

Summer?

Posted on 2026-07-01 by Holly

According to the calendar – it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere. In fact, we are beyond the solstice. So why is it below 15*C here and I have out my flannel pjs? It is not that I want to … Continue reading →

Posted in Home | 2 Comments

Summarizing June

Posted on 2026-06-30 by Holly

As you can probably guess, it has been a quiet month. I have been on neither a plane nor  ship. I won’t push the issue and claim no travel on rails – since we used BART to get in and … Continue reading →

Posted in Basketball, Home | Leave a comment

Sherlock Part 5

Posted on 2026-06-26 by Holly

There are times when I get part way into a SAL and decide it is not for me. Or times when I struggle through a section and really wonder why I am doing this to myself. Not so with this … Continue reading →

Posted in Cross-Stitch | Leave a comment

Roll the dice…

Posted on 2026-06-25 by Holly

or die in this case The pattern is called Natural – and came in kit form from ForbiddenFiberCo.  There patter is 3389 by my count (just scanned in and marked off in Pattern Keeper rather than skinned).  The fabric is … Continue reading →

Posted in Cross-Stitch | Leave a comment

Cherries

Posted on 2026-06-23 by Holly

are by far and away my favorite fruit. Which means that I really only indulge for a few weeks every May/June when the orchards in Washington State and British Columbia are in full production. We don’t have our own tree. … Continue reading →

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Short Errands

Posted on 2026-06-20 by Holly

There are days when running errands just doesn’t appeal. Today is one of those. Partly I think it is still being tired from yesterday. Driving to San Raphael is easy; going into Chase Center – not so much.  Home to … Continue reading →

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Place names

Posted on 2026-06-19 by Holly

As I was driving back from San Raphael late this morning I drove past the Bellam Ave exit which was just after the split on 101 for those heading to Sir Francis Drake Blvd.  Now, I think that most of … Continue reading →

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Expansion Teams

Posted on 2026-06-02 by Holly

I am not sure why, but there seems to be something in the brain of those who write various sport columns in papers that think that expansion teams are there simply as fodder for the first few years. That – … Continue reading →

Posted in Basketball | Leave a comment

And then there is Sherlock

Posted on 2026-05-31 by Holly

Continuing the Owl Forest theme, Part 3 was released on the 29th. I started it yesterday and finished this section today. This added two lap posts, the people by the door and the instruments… – This section was only about … Continue reading →

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Stitching in Sunshine

Posted on 2026-05-30 by Holly

Done! The pattern is from Owl Forest. Stitched on Citrus from Forbidden Fiber Co with the called for DMC. Even using B5200, the white doesn’t show up all that well (fabric in the hoop and lace below her feet… 2970 … Continue reading →

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