Sock It To Me!

I have to be honest with you; I've been outside several times this week, and there is NOTHING yellow coming up yet!! The garlic is up, the daffydowndillies are up, but not doing anything. SO!

Here is my new knitting basket. Margaret (my massage therapist) wanted me to teach her how to knit. She works with wool, and felted this for me. I LOVE it. My new brown jacket goes beautifully with it, but I'm not into changing purses for my outfits. It has become my sock knitting bag, and, Margaret, I get LOTS of comments on its unique beauty. Thank you.

My dear mother knits socks, and before she leaves us I wanted to learn what she is famous for:

Socks!

The above is my first sock. It fits me perfectly. My foot is small, so most store socks, when pulled on, put the heel up the back of my ankle. This one fits perfectly.

You can see the second one of the pair is almost finished. It is easy (once you can understand the directions), and my Little Mither (or Mama Pajama, as I often call her) was ever so helpful with translating what seemed Greek into do-able instructions.

I've ordered more 'fingering' yarn from a place called "Knitpicks" online, and I can't wait for the next batch of yarn to come. Who cares about tulips and daffydowndillies?????

Lunch Upon a Time

Today, as we 'lunched', my DH suddenly sucked in his breath and asked very quietly and rapidly what bird that was outside our dining room window picking at the branches of a tree. I had time to run for the birdbook and camera. This pair of Pine Grosbeaks is having a feast of berries or seeds. Below is the male. This is the female of the pair. As I look out now into the tree there are several more joining the first two. We've never seen them here before, so the feasting of our eyes is truly a lunch upon a time for us!

The other morning, as the sun rose I was treated to this glorious sunrise and sparkling on the dew of the branches. We are truly blessed to live in God's country!

Today is was 5 degrees when I arose from my bed; there was about 3 inches of snow on the gound; and now the sun sparkles on the dry flakes making it look like a fairyland with those Grosbeaks in this very tree.

Shall We Gather at the River?

About a year ago I visited my sister Margy in Battleground, Washington. She took me on a Sunday morning tour of a 'drive-thru' wildlife refuge that I cannot recall the name of today. As we listened to Fernando Ortega sing lovely hymns, which we softly sang along with, we observed the wildlife gathered at the river running through the refuge. I am a birdwatcher from Wayback (which state do you think Wayback is in?), and I was thrilled to see this Great Blue Heron waiting for me.

There were also Egrets in trees, along the bank of the river, and in grassy fields. What a blessing it is to know that on this gray, windy March day with the temperatures rising to more reasonable degrees (39), there is the hope of spring. There is the hope of warm, sunny days with blue skies and birds gathering at the river, the one we to which we will gather in several months!

I am so ready to plant little seeds and watch their little leafy heads pop up. Speaking of which there ARE Daffydowndilliles peeking out this morning in the east garden bed! Hallelujah!!