52 Weeks of Happy - Week 25

Short version this week:

I can tell it's summer because my neighbor is putting out the lawn animal ornaments.  More appear each day and they are arranged differently each year.  There are tons of them and they have a big yard!

It finally warmed up and while on the road, I caught this picture of the blue sky and these awesomely huge white clouds.

I finally finished my butterfly socks - yeah!  You can see the butteflies in the close up photo.

With the warmer weather, we've also had several late afternoon thunderstorms which I love!  This is a picture of the clouds earlier in the week.

Hope you had a great week and that summer time weather has arrived for you too!

52 Weeks of Happy - Week 24

This week was very busy and I am finding it hard to focus on remembering to take photos through out the week.  While there are happy moments, I don't always remember to grab the camera to take pictures.

Here's what I gathered for week 14.  First up is an offer contract for the sale of my house.  I put it on the market mid May and the first person who looked at it has made an offer.  It's pending the home inspection but I have the feeling it will go forward.  I never expected it to happen so quickly so now I'm scrambling to find housing for me and my dog.

On Friday, it was Flag Day here and driving down a street on my way home, I was really happy and pleased to see many of these flags displayed.  It's nice to see patriotism in plain view!

We have had such a rainy June that it was a thrill to have perfect weather on Saturday - sunny and in the low 70s without the humidity we had most of the week.  This river was running very high as result of all the rain and the view of the sun on the water was gorgeous.

And finally, this Subway commercial has been making me laugh every time I see it.  The knitted sweater with avocado accents is just something else!  Here's the link as I don't know how to imbed the video


I hope you had a great week and that the coming week brings many happy moments for you and yours!

June TUSAL

Here is my June TUSAL update.  There was a lot of black and brown added from the PS Halloween piece and on the top some NPI silks because I picked up CHS Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow last Sunday and got a fair amount accomplished.

52 Weeks of Happy-Week 23

A much better week this week thank goodness.  Better weather, less stress and just easier all around.  Short version:

1.  Iris in bloom

 2.  Get together with colleagues to celebrate a Masters degree achieved.  So well deserved!

3.  Participation in a well run charity event that raised much needed funds to purchase some vital equipment.  The forecast had been for heavy rains but we were blessed with cloudy but dry!

Hope you had a great week - we're almost to the 1/2 way point of our year so get out and enjoy it.

52 Weeks of Happy-Week 22

This week's happy moments definitely have a green theme without my intending them to. First up is my immaculately manicured lawn. 

We had tons of rain the previous week so I wasn't able to mow and the grass had gotten really tall.  I finally got a chance on Sunday afternoon and I was so happy with how great the yard looked afterwards.  Not a chore I enjoy but the results make me happy.  I do wish it would stay like this without growing though!

My efforts must have inspired my neighbor because on Tuesday this appeared - new border edging!  We share a driveway so I was thrilled with the addition to their yard and it's made me happy each day I've driven into the driveway.

Next up is a photo of the irises in my little front garden.  I had to thin them out this year and move some to the other side and I was really worried that they wouldn't bloom.  Obviously I don't have to worry as I should have some blooms to share next week I hope.  Iris is one of my favorite flowers - I find them so old fashioned.

Continuing the gardening theme is a photo of my porch planter boxes finally filled.  I always go with licorice plant as it thrives but this year I decided to try "million bells" in a deep red to see if they would flow down over the side and provide a nice contrast to the licorice.  We shall see on that. 

And finally - something green of a different sort.  It's been extremely warm for this part of country the last few days (in the 90s!) so I took cover indoors yesterday and gave lots of attention to my second butterfly sock.  I've turned the heel and am heading towards the toe now.  I do hope to finish this soon so I can cast on for another project.

I hope there were many happy things in your week and that the coming week brings many more!

Weekend's Work

I had a luxurious 5 days off this past weekend and despite getting lots done both indoors and outdoors around my home, I did manage to make some needle progress - both of the knitting and the stitching variety.

I've not been able to put down my PS Halloween piece once I've picked it up.  It's nice to be working on larger count fabric (32ct Lambswool) and with DMC which means not having to complete each stitch separately.  I find progress is made much faster on this piece.

I also made some progress on the 2nd butterfly sock.  I have to say I love this Shibui yarn - it is great to work with.  I definitely see more of this in my future.

I hope to put more time into both projects this weekend.  I hope you have been getting some quality crafting time as well!

May WIPocolypse Update

The only WIPocolypse piece that received attention in May was Anne Sandles.  Here is what she looked like when I picked her up:

And where it is at this point. I was able to make a fair amount of progress on it. 

I'm not sure if I will continue to work on this particular WIP or pick something else up.  It's been quite a long time since I picked up CHS Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow and it's kind of been calling my name today.

52 Weeks of Happy - Week 21

I debated on skipping this week because I only have one photo to share.  It was a really tough week and the only time I remembered to focus on the happy part and take a picture was snapping the lilac bush at the library.  The bushes/trees are in bloom all over town, both the lilac colored and the white and I have smelled their wonderful fragrance repeatedly in many different locations this week.

The photo is gloomy because we've had gray skys the past 4 days.  The sun finally made an appearance but the weather was quite cool - only in the 50s and it felt much cooler with the strong breeze.

I hope your week was much happier than mine.  Come back next week because I know I will have more happy things to share I'm sure.

IHSW Progress

This weekend was an International Hermit Stitching Weekend and although I did not formally sign up, I did manage to get some stitching time in this weekend.

I started off the weekend with Ann Sandles and here's what it looked like before I put some time into it:

And where I finished up last night.  This is the first time in quite a while where I devoted some focused time to Ann.  I'm not totally happy with my fabric choice - the color not the 40 ct.  I think I should have gone with a lighter, less yellowy color but the fabric does give it a more aged, samplery kind of look.

And I finally gave in to the urge to start something new.  I've had this kitted up since last summer but just never started it and I wanted something that was totally different from what I've been working on.

The muted colors of Ann and CHS Christmas and all the blue of HAED Story Keeper were starting to make me lose my interest and this PS piece is a great contrast.  It's PS All Hallow's Eve and I love it so far.

Hope you got a lot of stitching in this weekend.  I'm looking forward to next month's IHSW!

52 Weeks of Happy-Week 20

Short version this week as I just didn't have time to take a lot of photos.

My bleeding hearts are starting to bloom.  I have both white and red planted and it's a crap shoot as what will come out.  This one closest to the front porch stairs goes gangbusters but there are two more in this bed that are far behind and I'm not sure they'll actually flower out.  I LOVE bleeding hearts!

The Lily of the Valley is in bloom everywhere and while I find the scent in a perfume or soap too strong for my nose, the real thing in small doses is just lovely.  There's a naturalized field of it blooming along a street where Beau and I walk daily and I couldn't resist picking a stalk and sniffing as we strolled along.  It's spring in New England when the LotV is blooming!

May TUSAL

I'm a few days late in posting my TUSAL photos.  I didn't get as much contributed to the jar as I'd hoped to the past few weeks but it's looking pretty full for early May.

Work has kept me extremely busy so by the time I get home, I haven't had the energy to pick up any stitching.  But I do hope to get back to Ann Sandles soon.  I hope you're finding more time to stitch these days!

52 Weeks of Happy - Week 19

On Monday I went to return a book to the library and picked up another one.  This was on my TBR list but what made me happy was when the library staff person said it was a great book.  I love the community that readers have.

 Next up is a bad photo but what I was trying to do was take picture of the rain puddle in my driveway.  It's been a incredibly dry spring so far and this past week we finally got some rain.  It made me very happy because I need to grow some grass in my yard or I will be mowing dirt all summer long....

Next up was a weekend road trip to visit a friend.  I love road trips and even though traffic was a bit tough, I was happy to be on the road.

And Saturday a friend and I played tourist.  It was a cloudy and sporadically rainy all day but we had fun shopping, at a great lunch with all locally sourced food and locally produced chardonnay so we didn't really mind the weather. 

Spring Green...

Last week I managed to finish sock #1 and on Sunday I cast on for sock #2 in the hopes that I might actually have a pair to give my big sister for Christmas.  They were supposed to be for her birthday last year.....

I've also put a few (very few unfortunately) stitches into Anne Sandles while watching The Voice.  It's moving along slowly.

Belated WIPocolypse Update for April

When I started this post last week, I was having problems getting pictures to load and had to leave it in draft mode.  And then I kind of forgot about it so it's a bit later than expected. 

My plan for April was to work a week on each of my four major WIPs and it went well for the most part with the exception of last week.  I opted to take Anne Sandles with me on a work related trip but I never had a moment to pick up a needle. 

I was supposed to pick up CHS Alphabets the last week but that never happened. 

CHS Alphabet Progress - at the end of March

 And where it was at the end of the first week of April.  I'm not sure if I will pick this up again this month.

 Next up was my HAED Story Keeper which got more attention than it's had in a while.  Where I started

And at the end of the 2nd week.  I am really pleased with the progress made.

And finally is an update on Anne Sandles.  I didn't get a lot of time to work on this but any progress is good progress right?  Where I picked up on this piece:

 

And where I left off in April.  I am planning to work a little more on this during May so I hope to have more progress to share at the next WIPocolypse update.

52 Weeks of Happy-Week 18

This week started off with a very unexpected view of a hot air balloon.  I think it was for the opening day of the local baseball teams but whatever it was for, it made me smile to come upon it all of a sudden.  I wouldn't have minded a ride!

On Tuesday I had to run and pick up some meds for the dog as he's got some kind of abscess on his leg.  On the way I sprang for a large iced tea at the local DD and they made it perfectly.  Hooray for ice tea weather - we've had it all week long.

I also managed to get my first outdoor bike ride in this week and it was just wonderful.  I road on a local rail trail for the first time and there's something to be said for riding on a flat surface with no hills!

On Thursday I finally made it back to my knitting group.  I have not been since before the new year which is very unlike me.  Once I'm home, I just haven't been motivated to go back out again.  I'm really glad I did and plan to keep going.  It was good to be back among such funny and talented women.

And here is one I'm sure will make you wonder what I was thinking.  I had a facial this morning and happened to bring my phone into the room because I'm on call for work and asked my fabulous esthetician to take my picture after she had all my mask stuff on.  Now I know what I look like at this point!   Pretty scary I'd say!

I hope you had a great week and are enjoying some wonderful spring weather.