Almost caught up

then I fell completely behind. How does that happen? Yesterday I went to bed feeling on top of the world. I put Audrey to bed, came downstairs, set up some chicken to roast so we could eat it tonight for dinner, paid the bills, took out the garbage and recycling, put the first coat of stain on my Kate and bobbins, and cleaned up the kitchen.

Tonight, it's already 9 p.m. and all I've gotten done is the dishes. Huh? Why did I have so much more time last night? I don't get it.

Audrey's sweater just needs a neckline, but I haven't decided yet exactly how to do it. Next up? I don't know. Socks maybe.

Green stuff baby!

Spring! I think it's really here! Time to break out the cotton yarn:
a new sweater (short sleeve) for Audrey. This one is a 50/50 cotton acrylic blend (Plymouth jeannee) that washes and dries very nicely. It's knitting up super quick; I started swatching on April 1st, and now (April 6) I am done with the back, and halfway through the front. I just finished the second ball and expect to use a little over three balls to complete this project.



I didn't get nearly as much done as I planned to this weekend due to the first truly nice spring weekend. And that means....gardening! Still way to early to put new things in the ground, but just right for raking up the rotting dregs of the hostas, the old oak leaves (from next door. Hmpphhh), pruning the ends of the rose bushes, and just generally getting ready for planting time.

We spent a part of Sunday at the garden store, buying a new peach tree. See?



Looks nice on the deck, no? Well, it's way too early to plant it in the ground, as I said. It's going to spend the next couple weeks on the deck so that A) if there is a frost warning I can bring it into the kitchen for the night and B) it is protected from deer. There is a whole mess of lawn furniture blocking the entrance to the deck. I'm guessing the deer will not be so crazy as to jump over the railing and trap themselves on the deck to get at the tree. There's easier food around here.

Here is the tree it is replacing, that we just planted last year. It had more than two branches when we planted it (deer ate the rest), and bark too (white trunk protector was installed after they nibbled off the bark all the way round).



The six-foot tall stakes were pounded in Saturday. After the new tree goes in, the deer wire (like chicken wire, but taller) goes up. They are NOT going to eat this tree!

The cherry tomatoes Audrey planted with my MIL are sprouting on the kitchen counter:



I love spring!

Spring is here!

I know this because there was a ladybug on the ceiling at dinner last night, and the kitchenette at work had quite a few of those teeny tiny ants near the coffee pot. Ahhh, critters.

So, only 2 weeks after a record snowy March storm, spring has finally crept up on us. And like spring, so creeps the WIPs. Despite my best efforts, I now have 3 WIPs. The quilt - I'm doing quite well with the border strips. The center blocks need to be started over. They are just a disaster. I started a summer sweater for Audrey in Plymouth jeannee - a 50/50 cotton/acrylic worsted yarn. And a woodworking project - I ordered a lazy Kate and bobbins to help with plying last Friday night and it arrived Tuesday! Now that's fast shipping - considering it had to travel from California to Ohio. Kudos to Villagespinweave.com for getting it out the door less than 24 hours after I ordered it. I bought the "unfinished" kate and bobbins though, so it's into the basement for me for some sanding and Minwaxing. I was tempted to assemble it and start plying right away, then take it apart later to finish it, but the assembly screws look like they would best be left in place once tightened.

No pictures today - I can't get motivated to take a lot of pictures of partially finished stuff.

Bye!