Lily of the Valley

I have been so happy in the last week to see that my Lily of the Valley had come up and were gettting ready to bloom. It all seemed to happen so quickly. Of course, maybe all the rain we have had has helped to speed up the process.

Lily of the Valley has to rank right up there as my most favorite flower, followed closely by snapdragons! I always thought I should have been born in May instead of June, because I love emeralds and Lily of the Valley.

Maybe two years ago, in the fall, I discovered that my brother-in-law had some Lily of the Valley that grows on the side of the house. We dug some up and I planted it in a spot right near our front door. It has done just fine in that spot.

The only thing that makes me sad is that they really don't last that long and because they are so tiny they are almost difficult to pick because you need such a tiny vase to put them in. My grandma always had some teeny, tiny vase, but apparently when my aunts cleaned out her house, I didn't end up with one of those! (I say this because I just discovered some linens in my linen closet that my aunts "gifted" me with after the cleaning....maybe a small table cloth and some matching napkins that have been embroidered....I'll work on repurposing them this summer!)

My husband and I got married in May, and I carried a bouquet of tulips, but the florist tucked in a few tiny stems of Lily of the Valley for me!

Fond Remembrances

This is a photo of a Morel mushroom. My brother took this photo yesterday...he found the mushroom in his back yard.

It brings back memories of days-gone-by. When I was a child, my family always went mushroom hunting (for Morel mushrooms). It was a big family affair. My grandfather, grandmother, uncle, mom, dad, brothers, maybe a cousin or two.

There was one specific place we would go. I grew up near the Illinois/Indiana border and my grandparents and uncle lived in Indiana. My grandpa had a friend that owned some wooded property in Indiana that was great for mushroom hunting.

We would all put on our jeans, long sleeved shirts, hats (don't want to pick up a tick or get poison ivy, either) and go traipsing off with our bread bags we had saved. We parked on the side of the road, went over/under an electric fence, walked down a hill, climbed on this tree that was sort of grown into another fence and off we would go.

It was always great if you found the first mushroom of the day! I, personally, never ate the mushrooms, but I sure enjoyed looking for them! It was always this time of year that we would go mushroom hunting, too.

Once we got back to Grandma and Grandpa's house, we all had to take showers WITH Fels-Naptha soap (just in case we had in fact come into any contact with poison ivy), and then have our hair check over to make sure we had not acquired any creepy-crawlies in there!

Occasionally, in the course of their work, my dad or brothers will still find some mushrooms. In fact, last year they were working for a bit in that same old area of Indiana and they found a bunch! But, it's a bit odd that my brother, K, found one in his back yard in Illinois. I guess he has a running bet with our brother, J, on who will find the first mushroom each year!

My sister-in-law, J's wife, plans to cook up this lone mushroom for her and my nephew tonight!

How Do You Spoil Yourself?

This morning, Marie asked, "How do you spoil yourself?"

Well, this weekend I made a trip to the local yarn store :-) Through a series of events, we actually managed to get a tax return this year and it was waaay more than we thought it might be. (We usually have to pay since my husband owns his own business.) When we received our return, he said he was going to buy "x" (I don't really remember what it was). However, I quickly saw my opportunity and asked for some money to go to the yarn store!

This is what I came home with.

Some of the yarn is to use in the making of a birthday gift for a friend. The circular needles are needed for the gift, too, but they, at least will continue to keep giving. There are several different hanks of sock yarn in there, some Malabrigo, Cascade, and some Noro Silk Garden (for the gift).

If you look closely, you will see the naughty cat trying to steal some of my sock yarn!

Irrefutable Proof of Thievery...Kitten Mischief Volume #3

Last night, I prepared photo documentation for my husband regarding his kitten's activities. I had to chase the kitten off of the curio stand a minimum of four times. At first, he was looking in the fish tank (thankfully it has a full cover) trying to terrorize the poor fish. Then, he proceeded to make multiple attempts to steal away the fish food. The first time I was laughing too hard to take any photos. Then, it became and attempt to get some clear photos before he escaped the scene of the crime!

Knitting Along.....

I've been working on my sock in bits. Yesterday, I did a bunch of watching recorded television shows and some knitting during that time. I finished the gusset, as you can see, and am working on knitting the foot portion. I thought the foot portion would go a little quicker, but it's probably the t.v. watching that is slowing me down :-)

Progress....Heel Turned!

Okay, so I should be doing some laundry, or washing dishes, cleaning, or several other home related duties....instead, I'm busy taking photos of my sock-a-long progress. After the fiasco the other night when I thought I was going to have to frog all of the sock I had done so far, I have been slowly working on the heel. It really didn't take much time at all.... I did the actual turning on the heel tonight. I made an error somewhere along the way b/c I have this one funky, definitely out of place stitch and I was off at the end and had an extra stitch, but I made my own little correction. These socks will be for me, anyway. What I'm trying to say is I am way too inexperienced tired and lazy too go back and fix it, and I don't much care at this point. I am more focused on actually completing a pair of socks that I can put on my feet, take a photo of, and then happily wear around the house. I might even brag about how I made them, if anyone sees me wearing them!

I am pleased I have been able to get this far on my first sock, and it is mostly due to Marie's great instructions which you can find posted in her side-bar. I'm sure I will be working on part 3A and maybe even 3B over the weekend!

Where have I Gone Wrong???

Help! Where have I gone wrong? I am doing Marie's Sock-A-Long over at Permission to Unwind and obviously, I have not done something right because my sock is all backwards now. Marie has a nice photo of this stage and her needle #1 on the right, with the needle with the yarn attached on the left. How is mine backwards? Did I shift the stiches wrong? I had started on my heel and got in one row of knitting and one row of purling...only to see from the fabric of the sock that the bumpy side, not the pretty stockinette? side??? was on the outside of the sock. So, I painstakingly undid my two rows of stitches and am waiting for instruction! Can I just purl the first row instead of knitting it? I don't want to be a sock failure!

Stay Tuned....

This is the cuff of my sock! I finally made it long enough. Tonight, I will start working on the heel! I'm very excited! It helps that my husband will be working tonight, so I don't have to worry about cooking dinner, or vying for the recliner/television. Woo hoo! We'll see how much progress I am able to make this evening.

Easter Chick...A.K.A. Firefighter Chick

This is what you get when you combine an Easter chick, a ladder truck, and a 3 1/2 year old boy! I thought this was sooo cute! He thought this up all on his own.

Sock-A-Long Progress and more....

I just wanted to supply some visual proof of the fact that I AM making progress on the sock-a-long project. Please excuse the kitten paw in the photo. Tim asked me, "Why is Smokey in the photo?" The answer, "Because I couldn't take a photo and manage to keep him out of it." I think I have about an inch and a half of ribbing done so far. So, I need to do an inch to an inch and half more before I can start on part two.

In my defense, I have also been working on the following project:



It is going to be a small size toddler-type afghan for my niece. I was supposed to be a bunch of small granny square. Then, I realized that I would have to sew/stitch all of the squares together and then weave in all of the ends and I promptly modified my plan! I decided to just make one giant granny square. Then, I will just have to weave in all of the ends. I also plan to back the afghan with flannel or fleece in order to make it a bit more durable and less holey for little toddler fingers. It has to be finished by May 22-ish since that is her birthday!

Kitten Mischief, Volume #2

This is what happened before I went to work this morning. Admittedly, the package of t.p. was not in the cabinet where it should be....but our linen closet already has to store so many things, that the t.p. package is usually too big and can never be stuffed into the closet until there are only a couple rolls left.

Well, I heard the rustling of the plastic this morning and managed to snap a couple photos of Smokey in the package. I walked away and didn't think about it anymore. A bit later I was checking my e-mail and heard the rustling again and just assumed that he was still playing in the package. WRONG! He was attempting to destroy several rolls of t.p.! I showed Tim this afternoon and he said, "Well, we can still use the t.p." I immediately thought, "He can be the one to use it all ripped up, then!"

I swear, I have never had a cat that manages so much mischief as this kitten does. Plus, as a bonus, now you all know what kind of t.p. I use!