About time


New decade…

… new potholders!

Technically the old ones are only seven years old, but they’ve seen their share of spills and burns and the new ones are so pretty and cheerful. 🙂

Also in the fresh start category, a new runner for the front door!

We need something there to keep the pine needles at bay. We’ve had a beige set for about a year and a half that was supposed to wear well, but it’s perpetually grungy, the pine needles stand out way too much, and a dirty beige rug in a white hall is just sort of depressing. The new colors are so vibrant, coordinate with the paint color in the living room, and there’s enough going on with the stripes and the woven-in zig-zags that I think the overwhelming impression will just be “cheerful rug” not “ick”. 🙂 A nice change!

And there’s a matching rug for the back door!

Flowers on Friday

All of the bulbs and plants in our yard are continuing to give me great joy. Last year, our yard was sort of overwhelming to me. This year, I feel slightly behind on the upkeep, but my sense of potential is back full force and I’m excited about all of the growing and planting and doing. Here’s a view of three minutes walking around the yard with a camera on the way to work this morning:

The minidaffodils in the rock wall continue to delight. I need to plant more of these. (This is the third year I’m saying this, but I’m actually writing it in my calendar for October this year, so maybe I will remember.)

Note also the periwinkle (one patch of about fifty).

You can see this crocus/tulip mix from our bedroom – gorgeous.

There are actually two groups of it (one in front of each pine tree) which is probably just as well, since one or the other seems to be in a state of perpetual carnage.

Dumb squirrels.

Our tree by the patio is all pink and blooming! Impossible to photograph (maybe Kevin would have more luck with fancy lenses?) but it’s such a pretty thing to look at when you come into the living room first thing in the morning or at the end of the workday.

Back through the house: the daffodils on the side of the house are starting to bloom! My policy is if they get top heavy and fall into the dirt, then I cut them and put them by the kitchen sink in the vase from our wedding reception. 🙂

Cheerful as all get out. I planted another 40 last fall, but still more would be awesome. I’m not sure there’s such a thing as too many daffodils.

In the front yard on the way to the car, the camellias are blooming!!!

That deserves a multitude of exclamation points, since both of the last two springs we’ve gotten a bloom or two max. Looks like pruning them when I did last year was the right time – I think that was June? Right now most of the blooms are tucked in against the house, but there’s a great view of them from the baby’s room. The white bush is also loaded with buds.

Saturday fun

Shawn and Sanna came over on Saturday so that Shawn could help Kevin reinforce the floor from the crawlspace for our new fishtank! I was so appreciative – I continue to hope I will never have to go down there. Here they are suiting up with goggles and masks:

Poor little William the cockapoo was sort of freaked by the bright white suits and had to retreat between Sanna’s legs:

(He also wasn’t such a fan of the sound of drilling beneath the floor. Poor puppy.) I definitely feel like I got the best end of the deal – got to hang out with Sanna and hear how their wedding planning is going! Meanwhile, Shawn and Kevin finished up in about three hours – pretty impressive (speed and stamina). Shawn was also remarkably cheerful about the chance to do real physical labour – talk about putting the bright spin on things.

Pembroke vest!

This one’s just been waiting for buttons and a good blocking for the last three and a half weeks.

This was a simple project that turned into a much longer one. I’d originally started knitting the six month size, then realized in December after finishing the back that it would be way too small. So I cast on, in the round this time, for the 12 month size. The yarn (Dream in Color Classy, color is Go Go Grassy, exactly as in the pattern sample) is so smooshy and fun to work with. I was expecting the color to be slightly more saturated, but now that my eyes have adjusted I’m a huge fan of the result. I was also expecting to find buttons in the brown/red/orange/wood family, but ended up going for ones that just blended in – subtler was better. The yarn color is funny – I really debated because I loved the sample but thought that part of what made those photos work was having a baby with that red-gold hair color. I did not think our baby would fall in that type, so would the green work? Ordered it anyway, and lo and behold, his hair is reddish blond. 🙂

Here it is on, front:

And back:

A great knit!