hello monday

I'm linking up with Lisa Leonard to welcome a new week.  Here are some of the things I'm saying hello to this week:

 Hello to beautiful fresh cut lilies on my dining room table...they make me smile every time I see them.

 Hello to an almost finished quilt top.  It turned out a bit smaller than I liked so I'm adding a border to the outside before quilting it.  Hello to figuring out a way to make it all work!

 Loving the time I got on Saturday night for working on my project 365 album....thanks to not having to run my daughter out to a dance....she drove herself!  Hello to our newest driver!  (and hello to higher insurance rates!)

 Hello to a new dishcloth...just for us.  Love this cool breeze color way!

 Hello to new grass slowly coming up in our front yard....I'll be happy to say goodbye to the sprinkler!

 I'm loving these endless summer hydrangeas....they are gorgeous every day.  I have one pink/purple and one blue...right beside each other!

 Welcome summer...especially with our new !!red!! umbrellas and flag.  The deck is my favorite room in the summer.  I could spend all day out there!

 Hello to a new chalkboard for my kitchen...super easy and fun!  I just painted the inside of a frame with chalkboard paint and painted the frame a happy color!

Hello to cooking dinner with my Kenzie love...we made this corn casserole, quinoa salad, hamburgers, and blackberry cobbler.  So fun to work alongside of her!  Even more fun to eat what we created!

a jumble

I've been absent for a reason...We just returned from a basketball trip to Lynchburg, VA where the Varsity teams competed in the East Coast Homeschool Basketball Championships.  The weather was great and the games were even better.  I'm all in a jumble...trying to get back to our routine.

 The girl's team took the 2A Championship and brought home a banner (along with plenty of bruises!  I don't care what anyone says....basketball is a contact sport!) Our boy's team came in 2nd place in their division.  Everyone got along and it was a week full of memories and special moments.

I always take along some projects to work on while traveling and I found this cute scarf pattern on Ravelry. The directions said to divide the yarn into two equal balls.  I had a huge ball of the sock yarn all ready to go!

  Since I didn't have a digital scale, I improvised and used my second grade balance scale.  I was pretty proud of myself!

But after all that cleverness, I barely stitched 3 rows on my scarf....I would come back after the games and crash...you'd have thought I was playing ball for as tired as I was by the end of the day.  (It's a lot of work being a good fan! )

I did manage to work on my cross stitch while we were riding down to Lynchburg.  I picked this out in January...it reminded me of summer days.

And speaking of summer, we have been enjoying some gorgeous spring days and now that I'm not sitting in the stands with a camera in my hands and a prayer on my lips, I found some time to get outside and capture some of the beauty of the season.

When we were traveling down to Lynchburg, everything was brown...but on the way home, the trees were covered in soft fuzzy green buds!  It was amazing how fast everything popped with a week of warm temps!  

I can't believe it's the middle of March and we're enjoying May like temperatures.  Everything is blooming or sprouting....hopefully the frost and cold temps won't be back.

I feel like we missed winter....like I took a long nap and when I woke up it was spring.  Sort of like Narnia, but in reverse.  Strange.  I'm not complaining though, I love this weather.  

So...there it is....a jumble of things going on...a wonderful jumble!   Enjoy your days!  

(Oh and John noticed the curtain...after he read my blog!  he he) 

simple pleasures

It's been nice to have some things lighten up in our schedule lately and I've found myself with some time to:

*enjoy my neighbor's hellebores.  The common name for these beauties is Lenten Rose.(today is Ash Wednesday....how appropriate!)

*put away packaging from Christmas...this has been sitting by our bedroom door just waiting to go downstairs.  I've walked by it every day for weeks  months and for whatever reason, I finally got it put away!  go figure!?  (does anyone else saving packaging from electronics, just in case?)

*pick up a long lost (started years ago) cross stitch sampler.  This is Harbison Chapel from my Alma Mater - Grove City College.  After all these years, I still really like it and would love to finish it.  Maybe this is the year!

*put away the snowmen....we've barely had a trace of snow here all winter.  I'm done with the snowmen taunting me.  (now it will snow, right?!)

*use my coffee beans in a new way.  With all my snowmen put away I was needing something to fill in a spot, but it's way too early for bunnies and daffodils, so coffee seemed like a good move!

*start on a hat.  You've got to wonder why I'd start a winter hat with a forecast that includes temps in the high 60's but I had the yarn and the pattern...and I got an itch to start a new knitting project.  The perfect storm...yarn, pattern, desire, time!

So, that's what's going on around here... a bit of this and a bit of that.  Hope you're finding time for some simple pleasures as well!  

little corners of my world

When I haven't been running kids to basketball, play practice or baseball games, I've gotten some time to work in the yard...gardening and pruning and planting.  One of my favorite sounds is the sound of the shovel scraping through dirt.  There is something really rich in the way it sounds to my ears.   I don't even mind pulling weeds.

 It just feels good to be out in the sunshine and see an area transformed by some elbow grease.   Last year we did a lot of work in our yard and put in some new beds.  This year, I just want to enjoy what we've got. 

I love to stroll the yard, poking around and watching the changes in the plantings.  It's fun to see empty spaces filled in and blooms where there was nothing.   

I put out a lot of planters and pots around our deck...they make me smile.  They're little vignettes of beauty.  They start off looking rather tame and by the end of summer they are out of control.  Every year I tell myself that I'm not going to over do it with the potted plants but then I get to the nursery and can't help myself. 

John built us a raised bed for some veggies. This year we're keeping it easy with cherry tomatoes and herbs.  Since our yard is mostly in the woods, we just don't get enough sunlight to produce anything bigger than a cherry tomato.  I think I got one cucumber last year.   (That's our bed in the background with the marigolds sitting in pots.)   

So, you'll find me outside whenever I can be, digging in the dirt...transplanting plants and trying to make this little corner of my world just a bit prettier.   And now that school is just about done, you might even find me sitting on the deck with some knitting....aaaah summer! 

Just come on around back and join me!

enjoying

Everything is sprouting and budding and reaching and blooming around here.  We've had a stretch of some nice weather and I've been stalking the yard, poking around and seeing what new beauties have popped their heads up.

I love this time of year, the bugs aren't bad and the humidity is low.  We brought the outdoor furniture up this past weekend and I've been enjoying my quiet time outside all week long. 

I enjoy having my morning time on the deck for as many months as I can...it just feels like a sanctuary when I'm outside in the early morning hours.  The birds are singing, the trees are slowly swaying and for just a while, it's a piece of heaven.   

I've also been enjoying my pleated ballet flats.  They are so comfy and perfect for skitting about the house.  I've been toying with adding suede soles or puffy paint on the bottom for traction, but so far it's not been a problem to just wear them the way they are with nothing on the soles.  I run around all winter in my socks and this feels just the same to me.  Thanks to everyone with their help on my 'hole' issues.

It was the wraps that were tripping me up and this time when I came around to them on the heels, I hid them and all is good!  I knit this pair in Ella Rae classic wool and that was a great choice as they were experimental and I didn't want to screw up an expensive yarn.  So, far they have held their shape and aren't stretching out at all.  It may have been a good choice for durability too!  I barely used one skein and so I'm thinking that I could double the yarn on the soles for a bit of cushion and still get two pairs out of one skein.  I'll keep you posted...I've got another set on the needles now. 

Oh, and they fit perfectly in my crocs, which is what I keep by the door for slipping out into the yard when I feel the need to poke about!  I couldn't resist taking a garden shot while I was out traipsing the flower beds.  I checked to make sure my neighbors weren't around...that's all they'd need to see - me taking a picture of my slippered feet in the garden.  Well, I was so busy checking for my neighbors that I totally didn't notice the garter snake who slithered right by me in his hasty escape.  You should have seen me!  Now, that would have really given my neighbors something to talk about!  oh. my.  Have a great week friends and don't forget to check all your surroundings before attempting any photo shoots! 

bit by bit

I'm not a little bit at a time kind of gal.  I like to get things done and checked off of my list.  Once I get a plan in mind, I'm all about getting it to the finish line.  This can be good and this can be bad.  It's good, because things tend to get done around here, but it's bad because sometimes I don't enjoy the process as much as I could.  I tend to miss out on the beauty of the scenic route while I've got the pedal to the medal and my check list in hand.  I'm slowly learning to work bit by bit.  I am working on enjoying the process and taking the time to reflect and rest in the midst of a project.  

This weekend the girls and I unloaded two truckloads of mulch and dressed several of our beds. (They were a huge help!!  Thanks girls!) We still had energy left (OK...I still had energy left) and there were still plenty of beds left to mulch, but I'm proud to say that I made the decision to stop after those two truckloads.  John even offered to go and get me a third load of mulch before he and John Samuel headed off to a ball game...but I declined.  I knew that even though we didn't finish, we had done enough for the day. 

I was so proud of myself and the purposeful way I called it quits. After my shower, I sat on the deck and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon, reading and knitting (and throwing in a load of laundry or two!).  We'll be back at the mulching again soon, but in the meantime I'm learning to enjoy the process.

How about you?  Do you have a 'bit by bit' or a 'git-er-done' kind of approach when you've got projects that need tackling? 

pure and simple

Just a quick survey of some of the things that I'm finding gratification in these days...pure and simple.

the peonies in my flower beds:: in full bloom

seeing my guy work hard::he made a poster for a party we had for the basketball team, all by himself (without being asked)

the flags waving on Memorial day:: each flag represents 5 soldiers who died in action at the Monocacy National Battlefield

long term knitting projects:: rusted root

short term sewing projects:: cloth napkins for our meals (muffins by kenzie)

seeing my girls enjoy being together:: listening to an ipod and sharing earphones having the windows open and enjoying the warm air:: molly likes it too reading a classic:: just for pleasure, but learning some things along the way

....What things are bringing you pleasure...pure and simple?