Stashbusting and Procrastinating~

As you can see from the photo, the day we left Chicago, it was chilly enough for our warm coats. David, though, is tough!

Since we returned home, it's been unusually cold for April with lots of hail and even some snow! However, flowers like these camelias are popping up everywhere. This bush is right outside our living room and a joy to behold.

Rather than fight with Mocha over the registers, Ginger has found a new way to keep warm. Come to think of it, there is a register down there, too. Smart cat!

Last week at my quilt group, we learned a new stash busting block that's both fun and easy. First, you sew strips together. The strips can be any size. Then you cut two squares. ( You can cut the squares from the same pieced strip like I did or two different ones. The squares just have to be the same size.) Put the two squares together, right sides facing, with the strips at right angles. Sew all around the outside of the square. Then cut diagonally X. Voila! You now have 4 interesting blocks!

Since we left Chicago, David has lost yet another tooth. He observed that he has a square in his mouth, and we have realized how quickly he's become a six-year-old.

This week I took a break from the shawls and socks I'm supposed to be finishing to try out the latest pattern from Knitting at Knoon. Peter says, "Happy Easter everyone!"

Signs of Spring

This afternoon on the way to look at tile for the kitchen, we stopped to admire some of the local flowering plum trees. Each year they provide a spectacular show, especially on streets where each yard has a tree. On days like today, which was rainy and cold, they are a welcome sight. (For the first time EVER, I had icicles on my umbrella because it hailed really hard while we were on our walk!) When the blossoms start to fade, the grass and streets will be covered with pink "snow."


Jill sent us a few pictures this week. As you can see, Dick had fun with the grandkids.

Jane had fun reading to Daniel. I wonder what he's saying to her?

After we left Chicago, it warmed up enough for the kids to enjoy playing outside. David caught a toad, but I'm not sure the toad was as happy about that as David was.


I've been working on a couple of knitting projects this week, and while I worked, enjoyed watching the EagleCam.Have you seen it? It's on 24/7 and great fun to watch Mom and Dad care for their young. The nest is high in a tree near a fish hatchery in Decorah, Iowa. Check it out! You'll be glad you did.

This is April?!

When we woke up yesterday, this is how our flowering plum tree looked!

Snow! On April 7th no less! This is Spring, isn't it?

Remember when you could touch your toes?

Not too much else happening here. Still recuperating from "the bug" and packing up for phase two of the kitchen do-over.

Back Home and Thawing Out!

Chicago was cold and even snowy one day while we were there, but we have lots of warm memories. Even though the kids were a bit under the weather with some kind of virus (which we may have brought home), we still had lots of fun. And as an extra bonus, we also got to see my sister and her hubby at Sylvan Lake and my aunt and uncle in Brown Deer, WI. My uncle turned 93 last week! We also went on a field trip with David's class on the last Friday before Spring Break. (No photos of that though)

All three of the grandkids love to hear stories, and they mostly sit still! I must have read The Baby BeeBee Bird a hundred times. Check it out; it's a fun one!


We also created some things with Crayola's Model Magic. It's like clay but dries hard without firing and can be painted. David especially enjoyed this.
While we were creating, Daniel was concentrating on his cars. How do all little boys learn that Brmm--Brmmm sound?

Daniel seems very well coordinated at nearly two. We watched him jump off a little step stool many times, landing upright each time. He even likes to dance but not with partners!

The last couple of visits we've been adopted by our grandcat Jehu. Each night and in between he took over our bed. Nice to have a warm spot waiting!

During naptime and in the evenings, I did work on a couple of knitting projects and put the finishing touches on another prayer shawl for a choir friend.

But what about the kitchen? The cupboards are in, and our weekend project will be to put things back where they belong. Hurrah! It's still not done, but the end is in sight~sort of.

Finis!

No, not the kitchen; in fact, not much cooking is happening these days. We manage breakfast and lunch fairly well, but dinners are pretty much a lost cause.

Progress is happening though. And it'll all be worth it in the end. We already love the new stove!

PerBarbara's suggestion, I've replaced cooking with sewing and knitting---and actually finished several things: socks for David and Daniel, the tutu quilt for Sophia, and a hat for Jill! The fun part will be delivering them in person as we are headed to Chicago soon. (Jill and Michael have a working kitchen!)


Something tells me I could use a better model for my hats than stuffing them with a pair of pjs!

The quilt was hard to photograph, so Dick took a closeup of one of the tutus.


Mocha is a pretty tough taskmaster but tires easily.


Sewing the binding on this quilt gave me time to think. Earlier this week the newspaper, in addition to the tragic news from Japan, carried an article about the Iditarod which reminded me of the story of Balto and the Great Race. Have you read it? A statue of this dog is in Central Park in NYC; we searched it out a number on the way to a family wedding. (It snowed, then too?!)

I also thought about watching this elk herd just outside Crescent City,CA, about a week before its harbor was destroyed by the tsunami that originated in Japan. According to the news on NPR, tourism and fishing are the major industries in this town, and fishing was all but wiped out. The effects of that quake will be felt for a long time in this small town and, of course, on a much, much larger scale in Japan. It sure has made me rethink our family's earthquake preparedness!

UPDATE: We saw the moon on our walk last night! For once we didn't have our usual cloud cover.

Chaos in the Kitchen

Not too much knitting or sewing is going on in these parts. We are updating our kitchen which until a few days ago looked like this:

Gone is that hanging cupboard where everyone has bashed their heads! (One daughter called it the "Shaw initiation.")

Now almost everything else is GONE, and we can't find anything, but progress is happening. Stay tuned!

I've been meaning to post a couple of recent photos from Jill. We are looking forward to seeing them all soon. Here's David all dressed up for something at school. Can you tell he chose his own outfit?

Sophia loves Red Bear which was given to her by our neighbors long ago and is holding up quite well.

Daniel has his own bear. Don't you wish you could sleep this well?

Can't believe it's time to "spring ahead" with the clocks and wish everyone a very Happy Saint Patrick's Day.

Followed.............. (Image Heavy)

Why is it that every time we head to California or meet my sister, it snows? It happened last May and again in November, and this time our destination, Point Arena, California, had snow for the first time in TWELVE years. Are we snow magnets or what?

The snow we left behind you can see in the last post, but who knew it ever snowed this close to the Pacific Coast? While it was just a little on this huge rock, the lady at the yarnshop in Bandon, OR, said they had four inches even though most of it had melted by the time we stopped there. Despite the snow, rain, and unusually chilly temperatures, we had a fun time. We even detoured to drive through this redwood tree. (That's not our car, but it was a tight fit!)

Appropriately, a lighthouse stands on Point Arena but is no longer manned. You can climb it though, for a fee, but we didn't.

It does have a top!

More interesting to me than the lighthouse was this huge rock that was a sunbathing spot for 15 seals. After we left, my sister said the seal population tripled and thought they might be headed up the coast to the spot in Oregon where they give birth.


If you've never driven along Route 1 in California, you've missed an exciting ride. The roads aren't straight for very long and the scenery is spectacular. I wouldn't want to do it in the dark or on a foggy day!

Right after this photo, we hopped in the car and headed for home. (Dick had fun taking this one automatically.)

Before we left California, we stopped to take some flower photos, just to prove that spring really is coming. We've seen lots of daffodils on the roadsides but never calla lilies.


All that riding time meant that several knitting projects were completed. A choir friend is having chemo treatments for lymphoma, so I made her a hat from a pattern called "No-hair Day Chemo Cap." It is indeed "hairy," and our 4-legged hat inspector had to make sure it wasn't alive.

Another completed project is this prayer shawl for another friend who's had a really tough time with the after effects of her chemo regimen. This is a free Lionbrand pattern called Easy Triangle Scarf and is my "go-to" pattern for prayer shawls.

Ginger finally lost her patience with me. I think she means for me to quit typing and pay some attention to her, don't you?