Spring Sprung

Hello, i know i've been mia for awhile. Life has been busy.

Can you believe it will get to 65 today, 70 tomorrow yet last night it hit 25. The lawn has been mowed already twice and monday may be time 3! The trees are all in bud, bulbs well blooming for a few weeks now and the rhubarb is a good ten inches tall (at least) I am considering just sticking the seeds in the garden beds this year and not worrying about making starts inside. Will see, call it lazy or perhaps time well managed, depending on the turn out!

Been knitting! In feb i knit the unique sheeps enchanted shawl with beads in the gradiated colorway of wildflowers. I also did a KAL at our LYS of the Monday Morning Cardigan. That knit up well in cascade 220 superwash Summer Sky colorway. I also finished the cabled hoodie vest from falls knitscene mag. Very economical and i love wearing it! Used just 2 skeins of eco-wool and with the recycled buttons from Joannes ended up under 40$. (luv projects like that!) A few small projects founf their way on and off the needles as well. Spring fever hit and i painted the bedroom (for the third time in 4 1/2 years) and hubbys bar area.

I promise to get the camera program loaded on this pc, still feel like i am catching up some days with the new technology. lol , i know i get set in my ways!

Am down 22 pounds since november, got about that still more to lose but love it. I guess without the stress from work drama it is easier to do. (thanks hubby!)

We lost two family members this past month, grandad just hours before his 94th birthday and my hubbys brother to brain cancer at just 37. Both were sad but blessful at the same time as they are both out of pain now. The upsetting part of it all was hubbys little brother posted the death to his friends on facebook, and that is how my husband learned of the death. (long involved family drama behind that) but it solidified our reasons for not being involved with that side of the family. Now that this brother has passed we really have no reason to have any contact any longer, so be it. I think we all have one of those family "sides". I know i do! LOL

So....... with this warmer weather let's start thinking of the upcoming spring/summer! Fill those birdfeeders, hummingbirds are out (ok, ours never left this winter) decks to be cleaned, seeds purchased, and enjoy!! So who else is having a spring clean out the house yard sale? Enjoy your weekends!

A Bit of Farm Pimping

If you have not read the blog COLD ANTLER FARM yet you are so missing out! And no, this is not because i am a native Vermonter who had more farm animals growing up than friends,nor the sled dogs she has ( i sooo miss mine!) grin, it is a wonderful blog! If you are at all interested in nature, animals, self sufficiency, or maybe even dream of living on a farm someday you will enjoy it as well. If you enjoy her blog be sure to check out her book as well, which is how i found her blog a good year or more ago. (Let her know turtle sent you her way.)

feb 17th

and my mom today tells me that she is "taking a small break from shoveling". As i have been trying to get her to move out this way i did not feel too badly letting her know that our crocus are blooming, the grass needs to be cut and the lilac trees are budding. ~smile

Awe!

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRrlCI-ySqHwbe5csKvgqSG9lfpRlfOehdf5wbXT1G8QkkSQkmajAM6LtTHnjpmjMDUQ3UHpNuf3k-r4M_CF3eiBNGYhI0F_EAwuhGcDSn-1JqBYxlKIaN_vYrsVcqqKPRTRslXYyNY7Ng/s1600-h/Award3.jpg

Thanks Darcy! I am always so happy with the blog friends i have made. A few i have had the opportunity to meet in person and can't wait to meet many others as the years turn. I have finally started meeting ladies in our area who share some of the same interests as i do. I of course got bummed thinking i was making local friends only to move again (as of last week that is no longer happening) but we were almost canada bound!

10 things that make me happy

1. my wonderful hubby, who also happens to be my best friend
2. my fantastic daughter, she is so happy, sweet, smart and not a trouble at all!
3. hobbies, how can they not make you happy
4. our stalker kitty, though finicky at times she makes me laugh
5. our neighborhood. Our neighbors on 3 sides feel like extended family of sorts. We share projects, garden goods, baked goods and many times a drink at the end of the summer day.
6. my extended family. We actually have a fairly small family, but i have family members that are psycho in all the good ways!
7. Hubby having me retire. At 39 ( i have been working since age 12) but hubby encouraged me to retire so when he travels i can just jump and go with him. When he left the military he mostly left to be home for a change. We spend all our time together that he is not at work, and we like it this way.
8. attached to number 7. This gives me time for my crafts, gardens, etc. I love to take care of my family by growing much of our food, canning it, preserving it, etc.
9. Living in the pacific northwest. We have had a nice opportunity to live in various areas many dream of vacationing in. But we both agree we love the change of seasons, the mountains, the waterways.
10. Just being healthy! and having my family healthy.

I am thinking on who to pass this onto, so will post again soon!

How the??

whoa, feb ... really? How did that happen?

Contest Link , extra superbowl fun!

Go visit B and her geek W to see what it's all about! Here is her original post with link:

CONTEST

Okay - we have worked out the details for the new contest! ALL monies donated will be going to Charity:Water to help support their efforts in Haiti of getting clean drinking water to those who have been affected by this terrible tragedy. So, what's better than donating to a great cause and winning some yarn in the process, right?!?!

Here's how it works:

- Go to the Charity:Water website and donate. Each $5 you donate will buy you one square. You can "buy" as many squares as you like. There are 100 total spots available.
- All donations must be received by midnight on Friday February 5th in order to be eligible for the prize giveaways.
- Email us to let us know that you donated and how much by emailing us at theknitwitch@gmail.com. Your name will go in a hat however many times you have donated (if you have donated $10, for instance, your name will go in the hat twice).
- In the interest of compling with any "gambling laws" we will say here that you do not HAVE to donate in order to be entered. If you would like to be entered without donating you can send an email to me at theknitwitch@gmail.com. You will receive one entry into the contest.
- On February 6th Wayne and I will randomly draw the names to place on the grid. Then we will randomly draw the numbers (0-9 on the top and side) to place on the grid. This way, the names are on the grid before we see where the numbers are just to ensure complete randomness.
- At the end of each quarter for the Superbowl on February 7th, we will look at the score of the game and whoever has the 2 numbers that correspond with the last 2 numbers on the score will be the winner for that quarter (for instance, if the score is 10-24 Saints then we would look for the person who has the 0 and 4 square respective to the teams)
- There will be 2 prizes from Knit Witch and 2 prizes from Dragonfly Fibers - THANK YOU KATE!!!
- Kate is donating 2 skeins of yarn and I am donating a skein of yarn and a $20 gift certificate to Knit Witch.
- After we make the grid we will find someway to post it for everyone before the game so that you can all follow along at home!
- We'll make a special thread in the Knit Witch group on Ravelry for football trash talk!! :)

If you have any questions or if there is anything I forgot to mention here - please post a question here as a comment or in the group and we'll get it answered for you.

Now GO DONATE to a great cause and get your chance to win some great prizes and have some fun with your fellow knitters!! Anyone who was not interested in the game will now be interested - this contest will probably make some husbands really happy - in fact, they might offer money for the donation - haha!!! :)

http://knitwitchblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/contest.html

quickie 2010 contest links!

http://alaskanpurl.blogspot.com/ is in need of destashing help, so she's having a contest! A cute read on er stash woes... i so do not have this problem!

also: a month of winners!!! http://yarnstasher.com/

the new pc and i are getting aquainted. soon i will try sweettalking the new camera to the pc. Thanks santa for updating my obsolete equipment!