Rain, rain go AWAY!

This is where we should be sitting but instead we are couped up indoors! Now while I do completely understand that rain is good for the garden I think my garden has had enough already! Don't I sound like an old grump! It's rainy and chilly and I want some of that warm weather that you are all talking about... send some my way please.
Despite all the rain there are some nice things. This beautiful rainbow appeared in between showers. Kind of reminded me of a ripple afghan... love those colors.
So if I can't potter about in the garden at least I can potter about in the kitchen. Banana Pecan Muffins just the thing to chase the rainy day grumps away.
I can always bring a little sunshine in the house with some lovely flowers. I even crocheted a little vase cover... hmmm I think that the rainy day grumps are going away. I wonder what the weekend will be like?

Well off I go. I can't put it off any longer... grocery shopping! I don't like doing it at the best of times and I really don't like doing it in the rain! Oh dear I am sounding grumpy again... maybe I should eat a muffin before I go. Yes that will cheer me up!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Color and Cravings

Good Monday morning to you! I hope your weekend was spectacular. Mine was once again jam packed with lot's of fun stuff. But now it's Monday and time for me to unwind a little. I do so love Mondays! It's nice to be able to ease into the week with a carefree laid back day. I try not to plan anything on a Monday, including appointments etc. I just sit back and let it happen.
Over the weekend the yummy yarn that I ordered arrived. Wonderful Peruvian wool and it is incredibly soft and great fun to work with. I went straight to work and wound it all up into nicely shaped balls...with a little help from my cat of course!
What could I possibly be making with all that brightly colored yarn you might ask?
This....... my newest crochet project. I have always wanted to make a ripple blanket and when I saw the lovely pattern on Lucy's blog I had to give it a bash! I am really loving how bright and beautiful it is starting to look. What a colorful cheery blanket to chase the winter blues away. If I keep plodding away at it I am pretty sure that I will have it done before next winter shows it's face. Of course I am still plodding away too with my lovely granny squares. I keep making them and piling them into my crochet bag. Maybe, just maybe I will have two scrumptious blankets to sit under... bliss. I find as I am getting older that I crave color more. I always used to like more subdued pastel shades in everything from clothing to home decor. Now it is the bolder the better. Strange isn't it how sometimes your tastes change.

Well color and cravings were my title of this post today and here is what I have been craving..._
... Apricots! Isn't that a strange thing to have a craving for! Believe it or not I even passed up chocolate and ate apricots instead. Unbelievable I know! I will probably eat them until I have had my fill and then I won't want them anymore. We humans are a strange bunch, don't you think? Or is it just me? So how about you... what strange edible thing are you craving lately?

Enjoy your Monday!

Happy!

I have had a smile on my face for the last couple of days. Crochet seems to be doing that to me. My little project that I was working on turned out just perfect thanks to a wonderful pattern from this lovely blog. It's not wonky, befuddled or messed up! I love my crochet bag. Thank you Lucy!

I was asked the other day what made me decide to start a blog. To be honest I haven't a clue! Normally I am a very quiet private person who still blushes embarrassingly when someone gives me a compliment. Silly I know. I am one of those people that likes to quietly sit in the background working away on one little project or other just doing it for my absolute pleasure.

Last summer I took a couple of months away from blogging that I thought were going to be fun. I also thought that I would get a lot more accomplished not having to find things to blog about. Not so! After about a week or two I found myself constantly seeing and doing things that would be "just perfect to blog about". So I think my little blog and I are joined at the hip. Even if no one stops by I think I would still blog just for me. I guess my little blog is a diary of my daily life. Maybe not exciting to a lot of people but just fine for me thank you very much. I can honestly say that I wouldn't change a thing. I am having a grand old time!

Crochet and Me!

Well another wonderful weekend has come and gone. They seem to go so quickly lately. Maybe it's because they are so jam packed with lots to do.

We walked and did some gardening and I crocheted my little heart out. I don't think that I can call myself a "hooker" yet but I am getting there!
My colorful little granny squares are piling up. I am weaving all the ends in as I go along so I am not left with a pile of yucky ends to do once I have crocheted them all. Hubby keeps looking to see if I have made two squares that are alike in color. So far each one is different... don't know how long that will last though. It will be so lovely to snuggle under when winter comes. I can see myself now snuggling beneath one blanket while crocheting another. Drinking tea of course and munching away at something sweet and wonderful. Well I am never one to just do one project at a time. This is another crochet piece that I started over the weekend that was promptly stolen while I was making dinner. Contrary to what the cat thinks it is not a cat bed! I think I will keep it to myself as to what it is just in case it doesn't go as planned. That way if I make a mess out of it and it gets all befuddled then I won't have to embarrassingly show it to anyone... coward that I am. So far though it is going as planned and I am quite thrilled. I must say I am finding crochet quite relaxing and wonderful... who knew!
I finished off another little bag last week and I kept forgetting to take a picture of it. I hung it in our almost blooming Dogwood tree, I thought it was lovely and summery hanging there.
Toward the end of the weekend I realized that I still had these little marigolds to plant. They will have to wait until tomorrow to go in the garden. It's getting late and I am pooped! Besides I think if I listen really hard I can hear my crochet calling me. Do I hear the kettle boiling... could hubby be making me tea?

See you soon.

Perfectly Perfect!

Perfectly perfect is I think the right two words to describe my Mother's Day weekend! Notice how I say weekend and not Mother's Day. We quite frankly deserve more than just one day, don't you think? A bit of a long post today so you might want to get some tea or coffee before you come along.

It actually started on Friday morning when I happened to spot out the window this wonderful bird. Luckily hubby was working from home. I tore up the stairs and managed to utter these three words "bird, garden, camera". By now he knows when I utter those words that it must be something very special and it was.
This a Yellow Headed Blackbird. Apparently quite uncommon in our area. We had certainly never seen one before. He actually stayed all day in our garden, and our neighbors. He would fly up to the top of the tree then fly back down for some food and water. At around 7pm he had his last feed and then flew off over the golf course and then he was gone. What a thrill though while he was here. I like to think of our garden as a pit stop for migrating birds. Somewhere to rest and replenish before continuing on their long journey.
On Saturday morning we were up early and hubby spotted this little bird taking a morning bath in our pond. This is a Black-Headed Grosbeak. First time seeing one of these in our garden too. We watched him for a while taking his wonderful bath. He really seemed to enjoy splashing around in the cold water.
By now we were wondering what else was going to turn up in the garden! We did however leave and went for a walk down at the Wildlife Refuge. The air was cool and fresh, just the perfect temperature for taking a walk. The swallows are back and as usual arguing over something or other.
We also spotted an enormous....
... frog! Yes it's that time of year when they are all looking for mates. They sure do make a lot of noise calling for one.
Anyway back home we came to a nice lunch and to tackle some gardening. I still had quite a few flower plants that needed to go in the ground. I fed my roses and as usual one...
... bit me! That's OK though as nothing could spoil my perfect weekend. We pottered around some more then it was time for tea.
So while I sat here and crocheted Granny Squares my lovely hubby made tea. I must have sat for an hour or two only stopping to eat some of these....... lovely handmade chocolates from my daughter. I would have loved to have shown you them but I had to eat them rather quickly as the sun was melting them quite fast! Of course I just had to eat some strawberries on my perfectly perfect day in the garden and these were perfectly delicious! Finally the weekend came to a close with a wonderful dinner in the garden. I think when I rolled into bed that night I still had a smile on my face. It was indeed a perfectly perfect Mother's Day Weekend!

See you soon.

Quiet please

It was anything but quiet around here yesterday. We had such very strong winds that it even blew the barbecue grill off the deck! Let me tell you when it hit the house it made such a loud noise that I wasn't sure what had happened. No damage though...thank goodness.

This little hummingbird just decided to sleep through it all. He was on the tree outside my kitchen window. Totally oblivious as to all that was going on around him. I was worried that he would be blown out of the tree.
Today is a much better day so I managed to get another one of the bags that I have been making photographed. I quite like the color of this one. Something a bit lighter for summer.
Every year in February I always order my summer hanging basket from Edgewood Flower Farm. They are ready for pick up around the 1st of May or so. Last weekend I picked up this years basket. We have it on a cart right now as it is still a bit to cool to leave it outside over night. It makes it very easy to just wheel it in and out as it is very heavy, even more so after it's watered. In a couple of weeks it will be hung on our front porch. By summer it will be enormous and in full bloom. Of course once again I will fret about it being to heavy for the hook and wondering if it will come down. Never has yet but silly me I still continue to worry!.
This lovely cow was out at the farm and of course we are never without a camera. She looked up just as we were taking her picture. I thought she looked so lovely and peaceful chomping on some grass. I quite like cows. I remember as a young girl growing up in Scotland I always wanted to have a Highland cow as a pet! I can just imagine my poor mother telling me why this was not possible and I am sure I must have kept insisting. She must have gotten through to me though as I don't remember ever having one!

Well now I am off to get some lunch and have a putter about in the garden. After all the wind yesterday who knows what I might find!

Enjoy your day.