Simple apron

It's difficult to put into words how much my daughter is an amazing person. It's never about her; always about others. Checking - are you OK, is everything fine, what can I do to help... Last year she had a request ''when you have time, no rush mom, I would love to have a handmade apron from you''. Last month I made her this apron. Nothing fancy, plain and simple just like she would love it to be. After this picture was taken, I sewed a tiny little red heart button on the front pocket. She is my heart and soul that girl !

Assignment :: lines and movement

I had an assignment as homework for my photography class. Seeing the beautiful day we were having I headed out the door to snap a few shots for my assignment. As the saying goes ''practice makes perfect''. I must point out that I don't edit my photos, what you see is what you get.

Line leading you into the picture. (If I was editing this picture, that stump on the lower right would be gone).

Again, line leading you into the picture. (A couple of hours more, the sun would have been at the perfect location and that shadow would not have been there. Although, it makes for an interesting shape).

Showing movement with a water fall. (Look at all that frozen water).

More gentle movement.

My knitted socks

I've been knitting for about two years now and I have to admit that I am hooked. Every spare minute I have I go for my needles. I've made scarfs, hats, shawls, dish towels, etc. but I've always been scared to take up knitting socks. Don't know, the thought of knitting with 4 needles just did'nt cut it for me. However, I kept the idea of my first pair of socks in back of my mind. I knew I wanted to take up the challenge but did'nt know when. Until, two weeks ago, one quiet night at 10 p.m. I cast on 44 stitches and tonight I present to you my very first pair of wool socks. The following picture was taken a few weeks back when I had the first sock finished. That heel you see there was frogged four times before I got it right. I am a self-thought learner. I like to learn things on my own terms. So with the help of many inspirational fellow bloggers and a few you tube videos here are my wood socks.

I used a nice Paton classic marino in a grey mix. I had one ball but it was a fairly big ball of yarn so I knew I would have enough for two socks. Half-way through my second sock I came to the realization that I wasn't going to have enough yarn to finish the second sock.

So I had to cut it short by an inch. But I am not bothered by this fact at all. I am so proud of these woolen lovelies. And they are for me (I want to wear them as slippers) so I don't mind at all that one is an inch shorter than the other. Plus, when I have them on my feet you can't tell.

Yes, I have already cast on for the next pair. You can see the yarn in the second picture.

Theme party :: glam nite

We had another theme party last night - glam nite/red carpet. These are house parties with a bunch of very good friends wanting to laugh and enjoy life.

Here I am arriving on the red carpet.

Knitted love, mail and frenchy finds

I always have a project on my needles. I just finished this shawl last week. It's not for me, I might give it to someone special. (It looks like someone is modeling the shawl but it's actually drapped over my sewing machine).

Look at what arrived in my mailbox a few weeks ago. It's from here. It was immediately framed and hung in my craft room. If you don't already visit Heather's blog, well you should. She's amazing. She's the second blog I discovered almost three years ago. The way I found out about blogging (I was clueless about blogs) was with this blog. Her soaps are so delicious smelling you want to have a bit. And let me tell you, she has the cutest little boy.

And last but not least - some Frenchy treasures I found in one 10 minute visit last week. Look at all this bright colored fabrics.

And in the same stash, there were these 8 black and white samples. I'm thinking a simple quilt for a teenager maybe...


And a wooden spool holder. My 10 minute shopping spree at Frenchy's cost me $2.25.

I am teaching myself to knit socks, with the help of You Tube videos and very clear and simple instructions from so many inspirational blogs. I'm almost done with the first sock, I'll post pictures. Things are going well so far, fingers crossed please.

Crisp and Clear

A winter storm hit us again. Dumping this beautiful blanket of snow on us yesterday. We got up this morning to a nice crisp air and a nice blue clear sky.

Hope

Sitting - waiting, hoping for Spring and gardening again. Give it time, we need to give the seasons time to do their work. While I wait, I'm making lists (yes, I am very much a list person) of seeds to buy. I buy from two suppliers - this one and this one. We plant in organic soil and use natural pest control so it makes sense that we plant with organic seeds, right !

So here I am, waiting to get my hands elbow deep in rich, dark soil.

Be well everyone.

Moving slowly

These pictures will tell you that it was a perfectly sunny day outside today. Dave and I headed out with camera and picnic basket in hand for some trail walking and fresh clean air. We went to the small village of Margo (a former logging community). It's only a 20 minute drive from our home. Years ago when it was a logging community it was booming but now everything is vacant but still so beautiful.




You see, today we needed to take it a little slower than usual. My weekend did'nt start off too well. Yesterday afternoon on our way home from work we stopped at the vet's office for some meds for our beloved Tabi. Leaving the office I slipped on their very icy wooden ramp and fell on my elbow but it's my right shoulder that's bruised and VERY, VERY stiff. I could move fingers, elbow and arm so nothing's broken. And with beautiful weather like this, who would complain about a sore shoulder...

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Black & White

You would think these snow pictures are black & white but they are not. They were taken in full color mode it's just plain white snow on bare grey branches and trees. We've been having a whole bunch of snow since Christmas. Again this past weekend. I love nice clean snow. And those days that are ''windless'' are so nice for going on long walks.

The one below is where my garden raised beds are. I'm dreaming of Spring ! I'll be placing my seed order soon.

Unrelated but worth mentioning, I made a delicious cream of mushroom soup last weekend. It's my own creation. I never follow a recipe for soup. Does anyone else love soup and sandwich ?

I know I haven't been posting much lately but I promise... I should have a few pictures coming up of a few months worth of Frenchy finds.

Next theme party

I've mentioned here before, I have such an awesome network of friends. It's a small group but we sure kick it up a notch when we're together. We are in the process of planning our next get-together. And as a lot of you know, we LOVE theme parties.

Remember the Cowboy Party back in November ...

Than there was the Ugly Christmas Sweater in December...

Who can forget the Spice Girls for Halloween 2008.

When's the next party you ask ? ... in February. We'll need a lot of bling, bling they say.

Now, where to find a 50 feet red carpet !