March Happenings.

Today has been a cozy, at-home-day watching British Murder mysteries, eating chocolate, and spinning. There was a scheduling snaffle at work and I ended up having today off which delights me to no end. Where I work I often find myself chilled to the bone while sitting at my desk so I determined that next year I will have a handspun & handknit lap blanket to ward off the chill. I'm thinking a lofty, woolen spun yarn should be ideal for creating a very warm blanket. All my odds and end skeins are destined to be in the run-up for the lap blanket.

Winter has relaxed it grip and we have warmer temperatures with the promise of Spring in the air. The little bit of snow we did have is gone, and small plants are popping out of the ground everywhere. We've also had quite a few rainy days already. The first portion of this year has flown by, so when I am home and it's raining I'm actually thankful. Then I have time to still  hunker down and do some winter-type knitting. Comfortable, by the fire, with tea.

I recently picked up my 2nd pair of Terpander socks that have been languishing on the needles for a good year. I have no excuse other then that I lost my copied out pattern with notes and don't know where I am in the design. Yesterday I looked at the pattern in the actual book and I am torn between completing it per the instructions, or just throwing on a few inches of ribbing to change things up and calling it good. I'd like to wear these before the warmth of summer has arrived. As you can see in the above photo, I had two different dye lots of yarn and never bothered to switch them between rows. So now I have a dual-colored sock going on. I don't mind, it's unique, if a little odd.

A few weeks ago before the snow had melted I stayed the weekend with a friend and we did some sewing. First up, I helped her make a duvet cover for her bed. It was my first time making a duvet cover and I was pleased with how it came out. We ended up closing it off with twill tape ties and all & all it looks great. Between runs to the fabric store for things we forgot (twill tape), I also picked up flannel to make myself a pillowcase, and then these little squares in the Strawberry Field's Revisited line. I'm not sure what they will end up becoming, but they were too darling to pass up.

Our visit included a marathon of Downton Abbey, and some pleasant winter walks. Also too much coffee, breakfast in bed, and lots of toddler giggles. It was a good weekend. 

A look back in photos: April.

Summer Hiking

This Summer we went on several hikes in the surrounding countryside. The first ten photos here are from a hike that I went on with my brother and his then fiancee. It was a new hiking trail to us and we really liked it. Unfortunately we were on somewhat of a time schedule so we didn't go as far as we would have liked. Maybe if it's accessible in the cold season we can do a winter hike there. It was certainly very pretty in the summer! The beginning of the trail ran along a lake. There were lots of pine trees, wildflowers, patches of moss, various fungi, and other vegetation that made for an interesting hike. 

The last four photos are from a short hike we took the day of our church picnic. The picnic was held in a park with plenty of wooded areas and a swampy pond or two. We tried some trails I hadn't been on before and all in all it was a lovely hike.

Although fall weather has hit and the temperatures are dropping, I am still hoping to do some hiking. My favorite trails (aside from the AT in Tennessee) are about an hour and a half north of here. We've only been up that way once or twice this summer, and I've never been in the autumn. 

How about you? Any particular places or times you prefer to hike?

A Summer in Snapshots :: Part One

1. Haybales in a nearby field. Nothing smacks of summer like the sight and smell a freshly baled hay field

2. Late evening mist over the fields.

3. Brunch on the front lawn. Tea. Oatmeal. Knitting. It was pretty much a perfect morning. 

4. My flower patch was a profusion of colors this year. This is year two for the perennials and they really took off. Purple Cone Flower, Black-eyed Susan, Painted Daisy, Miniature Sunflowers,  Sweet William, Coreopsis, and I know not what else. It was quite lovely and I picked many a bouquet from here this summer. 

5. Knitting. I didn't do as much this summer. But I did design a pattern or two. And I gathered lots of inspiration for the winter months when I do more knitting & designing.

6. Painted my toes aqua. Collected rocks on Holiday. It's impossible to go away to our secret cabin and not bring a few home. Well....we bring a few more then a few. *ehem*

7. Spinning. Lots and lots of outdoor wheel spinning. Out in the cement patio is my favorite place to spin. It's breezy, sunny, I'm surrounded by flowers and the ground is level for my wheel to sit on.

8. Hiking. This summer we went on several hikes. Found some new trails and explored a new area. I'd like to go back someday. There is just something about the smell and silence of a pine woods in summer....

9. Gardening. This summer we had an excellent crop of zucchini,  butternut squash, corn, and peppers.  The tomatoes perished, after yielding a bumper crop of greenness and a few god red ones. They sort of just wilted and rotted away. It was disaapointing. But I was happy for all the zucchini. Eggs with zucchini,  peppers, mushroom, onions, and tomatoes was my lunch most of the summer. So delicious. I wish I could grow a zuke plant indoors all winter. 

10. Celebrating! Watching fireworks from out on the dunes. 

11. Berrying. An abandoned blueberry patch. Picking was free and oh, was it pretty there.

12. Hollyhocks by an orchard. Single-blossom hollyhocks rank in my top 10 favorite flowers. They're so pretty, & elegantly old-fashioned.