Happy Easter!

He is risen................He is risen indeed!

All together for church...........it has been a long time since we worshipped under the same earthly roof!

Arrival!

We got to the airport a bit early (by an hour!) so we sat outside and Bill napped while I started a sock!

Here we are at the restaruant on the way home............yes, I see she took a blurry pic but it is all I have for now and will update it later today! (from the left, Krystle, me, Bill, Jared and Jason)

Finishing Up the Prep Work

I started out doing just a little on the weaving. It is good to find that weaving also allows for busy hands and a peaceful mind.

I was enjoying myself so much I ended up finishing it! I washed it, laid it out in the sun to dry and then pressed it with my steam press.............very nice finish that way. I am learning so much about color and thread interplay-can't wait for the next project.

I did the finish work on three pairs of socks........interesting to see the different color patterns that resulted. I am going to buy some beads the right color and make some necklaces out of the remaining yarn-this is merino/tencel blend and feels like a mercerized cotton-very light weight and perfect for a summer sock!

I put on a movie and determined to put in the three hours required to finish the tablerunner I started last month!

I didn't enjoy doing the quilting but now that it is done, it is just incredible so I am glad I perservered!
I also finished spinning the dyed batts from last week. I ended up spinning 2 skeins blended blues and green and the other one just blue. I think they are going to become socks still.....

Yes, Nyki helped me every step of the way! I had a frenzy of fiber pursuits because the next 10 days are going to be frenzied in a very different way and I needed to fill my solitude tanks! We pick up Jared and Krystle and Jason, business partner and friend, tomorrow afternoon! Bring them on!

Anticipation........

Look who's back! They have been here for a week but I kept missing a pic! They are not the only guests returning to Florida...........by the end of week ,we are going to have a full house of the Minota clan! We have not all been in Florida since 1995! They were all children then-yes, even and 18 yr old is still a child, Marsel!

Anyway, we are cleaning and getting ready for everyone and it helps the time fly to keep busy! Continuing on the backyard beautification, I added 2 new slats to this bench and gave it a coat of paint. The wrought iron needs a coat, too, but I don't have what I need so it will have to wait.


I swept and mopped the south addition to make room for an overflow area of sleepers. In between the whirlwind of clean, I warped this and started weaving. It has a warp of acrylic/silk from my stash and the weft is the left over yarn from the socks I made for Marsel when she had her surgery. It is looking pretty good for pink!
Bill picked these for supper.

Look at this color combination...........it is an inspiration for this dyer/weaver/knitter/quilter! I enjoyed every mouthwatering mouthful! (If you like beet greens with the beets, be sure and add a clove or two of garlic-you won't taste it but it does a chemical thing and makes them the sweetest greens you have ever eaten!)

Two New Yard Goodies

We almost gave up on this redbud tree but it has finally produced some buds! Pitiful, yes, but it is alive and so we will keep watering it! (I thought we were watering a dead stick!)

And Bill is excited to see that he has a baby pineapple growing-you can see the damage from the frosts but it is producing in spite of it-The plant is about 2 ' tall and the other 5 are not mature enough to produce yet, but this success helps to keep caring for them!

BackYardMakeover

After a lazy start to our Saturday, Bill and I got to work in the backyard. A facelift was definitely in order as evidenced by this before picture.

We wanted to move the slab of concrete over so it would be in front of the sliding glass doors just down 12 feet from where it now rested. Easy, right? Well, it was really a nice day for a project and we had a nice time!

The slab weighed more than the tractor could move so we made it 2 pieces! Now with a chain we could move it to position.
It looks good-now for piece number 2!
A little sacrete to mend the crack and it will be as good as new or even better 'cuz I power washed the cement and it looks so good now!

I slapped some paint on the swing that our neighbor gave us while I waited for the washed cement to dry.

It was past supper time but we kept working to finish up the back-Bill cleaned up all around his little shed and I put away all the things that cluttered the back area.

Ta-da! The after results looks so inviting and is as pleasing from outside as it is from the inside!
This is a window ornament from a friend --which is a really good thing for our sliding glass doors as Bill has walked into it several times already!
In my spare time, I finished weaving the table mat. (Hmmm, I see it needs a bit of pressing!) It is so pleasing to see the play of the yarns as I weave-the subtle change this time occurred when I used a solid for the warp and a variegated yarn for the weft. (The last table runner I made had variegated warp threads and I used this solid brown for the weft.)

Bill is in his seat watching the Final Four games..........I will go and sit for some knitting (my sunburn is tender, too!)

Catnaps and Weaving

Bill and I went to the vet's to pick up Nyki from her surgery (spay/declaw). She was so glad to be home and went right into the diningroom's sunny spot in front of the sliding glass door and staked her claim.

I went and got a blanket, her food and water dishes and the litter box and made her a nice little nook. She said thank you......
She has slept most of the day and since I wanted to stay nearby, I sat and wove right next to her. I finished the weaving I started on Monday ;

washed it and set it outside to dry.

I warped a new sett on the loom (it took a lot longer doing it all by myself)! I wove about 4 inches before hunger drove me to the kitchen for a burger! Nyki woke up and wanted dinner, too.

It feels like my parents have been gone a long time already........

Bill took a drive south to buy a Welder he saw on the internet. Hopefully , he will come home with a real treasure!

Family Time

Today the boys drove here to spend some time with their grandparents before.......

...they depart to NY again. See how their usually spotless van looks? It is ready to head north. We sat and talked and laughed and played games all afternoon to delay the inevitable goodbyes.........

I dyed some wool in the crockpot off and on all day. I did three batches of the suffolk/alpaca for blending on the carder.

What an Eclectic Monday!

We started out the morning by sorting through the mail and drooling over the package of new yarn which arrived from KnitPicks!

Next, we went out and picked a ton of snow pod peas for supper! So glad they survived and thrived after all the frosts! Had them for supper and they were superb! (Pan fried!)

I bought some stained glass window supplies last week -I told you I was going to! Bill was the hero of the moment today because he told me he had a stash of glass he had salvaged from the shed we tore down on this property several years ago. The previous owners had dabbled in the craft and left a ton of supplies of glass behind. I thought he had saved a single box of glass but for once the packrat husband of mne outdid himself........this is the haul Mom and I stacked on the shelves in the garage! I am amazed and very pleased-I am stocked for life!

See Billy smile-I am not usually so thrilled with his hoarding...............!

Mom and I tried to sort it but there was too much-we just carried each HEAVY little box to the garage knowing that I have a supply of every color available to me!

After lunch Mom helped me warp the loom for my next project. It was a lot easier and more fun with a friend! Thanks , Mom! While we were flitting from one medium to the next, the guys were hard at work knocking out a doorway through the cement block wall from the house to the north addition!

They had to drill holes for the corners of the new doorway and then draw the saw lines on both sides and be sure they matched up-the fun part!

They did it-once the lines were scored on both sides, they knocked out the wall pretty quickly!

The doorway now has a piece of plywood covering it and the washer/dryer are back in place-no escaping kitties allowed! What a great team they make.........too bad my parents are going home in a few days! :'(

This is the new pair of socks on my needles.........ready to turn the heel.

This is what is on Mom's needles.....she is on the last row of this lap robe.

That is all for the day!

A Good Trip and Back Again

We celebrated Abigail's birthday soon after arriving last Tuesday. Here is Abigail with her new doll .......with matching dresses and over her joggies!
David borrowed my camera.......
Marsel did well with her surgery...........I finished knitting her socks to say, "I love you."

Just 5 days away and so many yard changes! The banana plant is making a comeback!

A new amaryllis is in bloom..........isn't it perfect?!

The bromeliad is sending out another bloom, too......this one is called a bird of paradise. The azaleas are all finished and the fringe tree is loosing its flowers and is wonderful aroma....this is a pic I took when leaving the driveway last week. And here is todays view......

The best part of saying goodbye this time was that we will be seeing them in just 2 weeks when they come here for a special visit........more to come later about that!