I've been busy...

In spite of having 5 WIP's on my knitting needles and one WIP for crocheting, as well as a couple of quilt tops in progress I've been trying my hand at garment sewing.  A few months ago I took a class and made a skirt that we fitted to ourselves to perfection.  It is the 'Manhattan Skirt' from Textile Studio Patterns.  It was billed as the skirt that will make you look 10 pounds lighter and by golly I think it does.  I love it and have plans to make this pattern again.

Next I made myself a "pancake breakfast" apron from 'Simple Sewing' by Lotta Jansdotter.  Every few months I help serve pancakes at our local Son's of Norway pancake breakfast and felt the need to individualize an apron for myself.  Off to the fabric store I went and much to my delight, I actually squealed out loud in the store, there was the perfect fabric for me.  Covered in pancakes dripping with syrup and other goodies was my apron.  It is reversible so I cut out some pancakes and appliqued them to the other side.  Et voila...I can hardly wait to debut my creation at our next breakfast.

Then this past weekend I took another class at my sewing store and made this really cute shrug.  The material is a knit which I've never stitched on before.  I was really worried that I would mess it up but the fabric turned out to be much easier to sew on that I had thought.  So now I want to make this shrug pattern again and again.  You can adapt it for long sleeves and to make it longer in the body. It is an 

e-pattern from http://sewingworkshop.com.

All in all I'm very happy with my sewing so far even if I am...

"a very busy woman and I haven't got all day".  

My favorite line from Ursula the Sea Witch, The Little Mermaid

Perfect end to a nice day

Looking for the silver lining...

Good morning Seattle, today we bring you a dose of rain, followed by more rain.  And did I mention 50 degree temperatures along with a cool breeze?  Well, I should have.

THINGS TO BE HAPPY ABOUT:

• We are not on vacation; we live here.  We didn't awaken in our hotel room to the bitter disappointment of having to look for yet another indoor activity.  Although there are plenty of things to do indoors here because IT RAINS A LOT.  Hiking would be a bit treacherous today but we have done that before, in the rain and snow!  Today is not that day.
• I have lots of knitting projects to keep me busy.  Sewing projects too.  I just have to settle myself down with a warm beverage and decide which to do first.
• I'm going to go to the noon yoga class at 'Twist' because it will be 84 degrees and it will feel like I'm in Florida.  While I prefer the dry heat of Palm Springs, I'll take Florida today.
• It might clear up about 8pm tonight, just in time to get outside and enjoy the sunset.  Maybe take a few photos.

THINGS WE WILL NOT SEE TODAY:

• One of the rarest events in the heavens that will take place today at 3:00pm PST when Venus will pass across the the face of the sun.  It won't do so again until 2117 by which time I'll be long long gone.  DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN OR YOU MIGHT DAMAGE YOUR EYES.  Thank you NASA but there is no danger of that here in Seattle today.

Thank you for listening.

Woe is...

...me!
Sat and knit a row on my Citron Shawl, all 300 and some stitches only to find that I had read the pattern wrong and had to unknit 300 and some stitches.  So then I decided to knit on my Hitchhiker Shawl instead because I was tired of unknitting lace weight yarn.  Got a row on my Hitchhiker done and realized that I was on the wrong row and had to unknit it!

I give up

I do not have good knitting mojo today.  I will not be knitting again until tomorrow.

Nice weather for...

 ...a walk.  Let's go!  I'll show you a little bit of my neighborhood.



As we leave the house, Miss Bibi has claimed her spot in the sun.

Oh look! My peony's will be blooming this week if it warms up again.

This wisteria is amazing and I covet it.  Is that a sin?  I wish it lived in my yard.

The local barbershop is open for business...I don't think we need a haircut though.

Starbucks is crowded, everyone is out for coffee on this lovely morning...

Oooo, day old donuts on sale at the bakery, why didn't we get any??

Let me introduce you to one of my favorite Norwegians

and the "bad dogs".  They aren't really bad but I like to call them that.

A few minutes to watch the local baseball game

And now we're home again.

Thanks for coming with me on my walk this morning, we'll have to do this more often.

Happiness is...

• Scheduling Stanley Steemer to come on a warm sunny day- thank you weather forecasters
• Working in the yard on a sunny Sunday
• Retirement
• Visiting a friend's elderly parents
• Feeding the hummingbirds
• Listening to the bees hard at work in the garden
• Finishing a couple of good books
• Planning for a busy week
• Retirement (oh, I said that already)
• Working at the SON's of Norway pancake breakfast on Saturday
• Anticipating a visit from my MIL - really  : )
• Fixing the yummiest Mushroom Polenta Pie last night for dinner - thank you Moosewood Cookbook
• Getting out for a couple of walks this past weekend - in the sun

I know the rain will be back but it sure was nice not to have it this past weekend!

Oh garden how I love thee...

The sun is shining and so the delightful work outside begins again.  I say delightful because I am a fair weather gardener.  I have a very difficult time motivating my gardening self when it is cloudy.  Sunny and cool, no problem.  In fact all the better.  Got myself a new pair of clippers and heavy work gloves then set to work on my unruly wild roses.  They are now pruned to within an inch of their thorny little lives.  I know, I probably waited a little too long to prune them back but honestly I am not getting out there in February with the wind, rain and slush to prune.  So now it is up to them.  Thrive or 'you're out'.  I'm brutal.

We took out a huge butterfly bush that had grown way to big for it's britches...it was stealing the sun from some other more treasured plantings so, 'you're out'!  This is the Mr.  taking care of the last of the branches while I was pruning another area of wild roses.  I did not prune them to within an inch of their lives as I am performing a nature experiment.  I will report on my findings as the spring and summer progress.

Certain areas have been overtaken by this...I think it is vinca minor.  I would hate to see what it would do if it were v. major!  It is so pretty but it has gone where it was not meant to be and now I am torn.  Pull a lot of it out or let is survive.  Time will tell.

I also (cover your eyes if you love snails and slugs) lay down the law and a huge box of 'slug death'.  Yes, I am the Grim Reaper to the slug population of my yard.  I don't care what anyone says, they are not going to eat my yard this year!  And just to prove how serious I am about this, are you listening slugs?  Because you may want to move along to another yard, I bought another huge box of death at the nursery today.  And I plan on using it.  Frequently.  Unmercifully.  Which reminds me of a story about death to slugs.  Many years ago I worked in the ER with another nurse who not only hated slugs as much as me, she was willing to get down to hand-to-hand combat with the slimy creatures.  Early in the morning when the dew was fresh and the slugs were munching to their hearts content, she would slip out of the house, quietly wielding her scissors and yes!  She ran around her yard maniacally cutting the slugs in half.  Yuck!  This still makes me want to throw up just a little.  She reveled in it however.  She was tough as nails.  I was a little afraid of her.  So my method which is still killing, seems a little less violent.

I love gardening.