Memorial Freeze

Our temperatures dropped below freezing again. Ugh! Annoying to be sure but still expected. We were getting off way too easy with all of the great Spring weather we have had. So to combat some of the frost I put jars, glasses and bowls over my tender plants and I am happy to say every plant has survived. My newest little garden house has a thatched roof and it looks even sweeter with a little frosting.

The Lilacs have gone from from a fresh new green...

to a show of white and a gorgeous fragrance.

Those trusty chives have grown quite a bit and are now blooming.They look a little sad here due to the freeze.

My tiny garden on May first...

My tiny garden 25 days later! Growin' right along. My fabulous hubby is making a new fence and gate so Rugby can play in the garden with me.

Speaking of my Hubby...he took a couple great photos while out fishing/freezing at one of our local lakes early Saturday morning.

Brr...

Well today is Memorial Day and it is already turning out to be a wonderful day. I hope you all have a good one.

Thank you service men and women, present and past, for devoting your lives to secure our freedoms. We honor you this day and everyday and we keep you in our prayers.

Spring Growth

After a long but relatively dry, mild winter it is time to finish up the cozy warm crocheted Afghans and get back to work...outside. We are back to sweeping chimneys today, Rugby and I will be working away from home for part of the day so the indoor crafts will be set aside for weekends mainly.Yep...up off the sofa Ruggie Bear. As I look back at past posts I can see clearly that I create in cycles or Seasons. All winter my creations tend to be indoor comfy type crafts like "Hugo" the fab blanket pictured below. Have you seen the movie "Hugo" yet? The whole thing is done in these colors. Yes, I never know from where inspiration will come and sometimes it is a movie. I am a movie freak. Freak I say!

Once the snow melts however, I am itching to be out in the garden. Oh...my poor garden.

My humble little oasis is once again coming to life and I am full of new ideas.

The Chives are popping up, trusty and tasty they are.

The Crocus is usually the first to bust through the snow but this year everything is coming up all at once!

Daffy's are on their way.

The Lilacs are budding and my Hot Pink Geranium is blooming in the window.

The growing season has begun and if I am lucky I will get 4 good warm months, maybe 5, before the weather changes again and the pine needles start to fall. I am ahead of the game though, you see I started seeds inside on the First Day of Spring and they are sprouting like mad. I have a feeling this is going to be a hot summer so I am going heavy on the flowers this year as well as the veggies. I have Stock, Columbine, Nasturtium,Cosmos, Sweet Peas as well as Yellow Pear Tomatoes, Peppers, and Cilantro coming up in little peat pots indoors and this weekend I am starting Cabbage and Lettuce on Earth Day perhaps. You know how I love to celebrate holidays ;0}
Oh... and I also took shears to my head and chopped off 4 inches.

Ahhh... I love Spring.

Mermaid's Medallions

Ahh...It feels so good to complete an afghan. I just love it and when it is a new pattern I am using I am even happier about it. It still amazes me how simple it is to turn a ball of yarn into a functional blanket or sweater using only a hook...and some skill.

I think I may try knitting again at some point but Crochet just feels right and good in my world.

I get super excited when I have a pile of squares growing higher and higher.

Then the moment I get to put it all together comes and Pow! I have a new afghan. Mermaid's Medallions is her name. She took me appox. 36 hours to make. I am trying to keep track so I can figure out a fair price. Not easy!!!This afghan has a lacy edging. I have never stitched up anything like it before and it was a blast. Looky...

Oh yeah, this one is a keeper.

Of course I already have another afghan on my hook and this one is named "Hugo". ;0)

An Easter Candy First...I think

I have had a hard time in recent years with the commercialization of Easter. When my brother and I were kids, we had Easter Sunday Outfits

Easter baskets filled with candy and toys, Easter Egg Hunts and of course we went to church...in our new clothes.

I mean check out those faces and those sponge curlers. Easter Happiness.

As my son grew up we had fun with all of the usual Easter festivities but now it seems too cute and fuzzy.You know... with all the bunnies, chickies and lambs, although they are a super cute sign of Spring. As a result I don't really decorate for Easter. Which is weird for me because I decorate for every holiday...even Elvis Day.

Today I was at the Rite-Aide drugstore and found chocolate in the shape of a Cross! I don't think I have ever seen Easter candy that actually had something to do with the true meaning for Easter. Have you?

Maybe it is a sign of things to come? I hope so.

Sea Glass Done...

I did it! I have finally finished "Sea Glass and Snow". This beauty took me approx. 24 hours to complete. Is that a long time? I don't know. It will soon be on it's way to my fabulous cousin and his new wife.
I am in love with it, I hope they love it too.


Ah...Breathe...I'm finished...I am finished!
Ok on to the next.
While I was working on "Sea glass and Snow"( ;0) the names are cracking me up...so dramatic) I noticed a new to me color scheme. I pulled out the colors plopped them in a basket and watched...

What did they want to become? An Afghan for sure, but something I have never done before. I have wanted to try a "Squircle" type afghan square so I began an online search for a simple/easy circle turns square pattern.

I tried a few different ones and they all frustrated me,too fussy. So I went to my own hodge-podge crafting library and low and behold I had the perfect squircle afghan pattern all along.It is called Elegant. I however have named it "Mermaid's Medallions".

It is from Afghans Traditional and Modern (1976)
I do not remember when or where I acquired this fantastic book but I am so glad I did. I can't wait to start that lacy border!

So I began by crocheting 63 circles using 5 colors. I doubled up on the 2 blues.

Ah...I love them all stacked up like Pringles.

Then I surrounded the medallions with white.

Well...I'm not done yet, I still have twenty or thirty to go.

It is going fast though, which is good because I already have another basket of yarn I am watching. I am waiting for it to tell me what it wants to be! ;0)

Warm and Mostly Dry

Last week we went to find a little adventure with Rugby. The sun was shining, it was warm enough to wear only a T-shirt and the terrain was mostly dry. Today we have another foot of snow. The storm that blew through last night was a good one, a gusty one. Last week though... Rugby needed a bit of fresh snow to eat. That's how warm it was.

We came across this small pool of snow melt in a rock.

Warm...so warm under our blue sky.

We even left footprints in the sand.

I hope you find some sun today.

Rugby Rue

Happy Mardi Gras!!! I hope you all get to have a little or (a lot) of fun today in honor of Fat Tuesday. Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Oops I did it again!

I started another afghan. I know...but... These gorgeous colors were calling for an Irish Rose type square and I finally found a pattern I liked in a book I have had forever.
Forever Favorite Crochet.

Here it is...

Please excuse the crazy lighting in every one of my photos...nothing is working with this overcast sky and I have better things to do.

Like eat chocolate roses and crochet!

;0)

No Yarn Left Behind

When I start a new afghan I use large 8oz. skeins that I have rolled into balls. The yarn in this basket is intended for my next crocheted project but I have told myself not to start another one until "Sea Glass and Snow" is finished...and it isn't...yet. Mmm...I am lovin' these colors. Melon, sea foam,cornmeal, tan and white. I still need to decide on a pattern.

As I crochet afghan...

after afghan...

after afghan...

and so on...

The balls get smaller and smaller, naturally, and I save them in a pair of jars and a bowl which recently began to overflow their boundaries. So I had to start two new projects! Yes...I had to. The pattern for one of them is again from Attic24, you can get it here. The tiniest balls are only about an inch around and are too small for anything but the inside of this awesome flowery block.
The next size up is the perfect amount of yarn to complete the next round.

See... pretty little flowery circles.

Which are quickly becoming a cozy creation.

The next size up in leftover yarn balls are a few inches around.
Just enough to make a small Granny square for a future project.

After all this tiny work I am still left with a bowl of yarn bits and I happened to see a photo on Pinterest, which I now can't find 'cause I didn't PIN IT,of a suet bird feeder filled with bits of yarn for the birdies to build their nests with. Brilliant I think, so that is what I will do with the last of those 8oz. balls!

Very thrifty I think. Yes...No Yarn Left Behind. ;0)