MIA...but I'm back!

Big apologies to all bloggers. I've missed blog reading and posting for way too long.

But I'm back :D

We left in Feb for the birth of our third grandchild and it's a girl! ABG is a healthy bundle and her big sister loves her so (sometimes just a little too much....lol)

I spent 2 weeks enjoying every moment with the new arrival and of course the oldest grand who is a whopping 2 1/2 yrs old. I'll save details of our fun for another post.

My next stop was to the youngest son and daughter-in-law's home to visit the 2 month grandson. CD is a delight and smiled and cooed while I was there. Funny how it's a big deal no matter how many times you see a baby smile and coo for the first time.

Valentine's Day arrived while I was away but it wasn't overlooked. My eldest son had a beautiful bouquet of flowers delivered and a new curling iron (since mine broke within the first 24 hours of the visit) from the oldest granddaughter (with help from mom and dad).

Apparently it was quite a chore trying to keep me from ordering/purchasing one while I was there.

My youngest son took me to a quaint little yarn shop in his area and I had over an hour to admire, squeeze and smell wool :D. A relaxing bit of time. We had a great time cooking and I tasted fried pickles for the very first time. YUM!!

Chem-girl made a quick trip to visit and the eldest son and daughter-in-law took us to a lovely family owned Italian restaurant for dinner.

The next day the DH arrived to gather me and my stuff for the trip home. We dropped Chem girl off at the dorm on our way. I enjoyed the trip but was glad to come home.

Mr. Bettis certainly did not change while I was gone. I 'lost' a pillow, placemats, a magazine, one rug and who knows what else. I think his owner stashed the rest hoping I wouldn't remember what I had in the first place.

I've been knitting like a firestorm and I'll do my best to post pics soon. Hope all is well with everyone and I'll eventually catch up between pinning on pinterest, my new addiction ;)

He's at it again...

See these two??? Well they're not as innocent as they appear. And yes I reluctantly admit that I believe Little Miss Gypsy Jo was in on the sequin party. (she does like glam)
Life has been busy and hectic and apparently Mr. Bettis decided it wasn't busy or hectic enough so he created some drama.
We were gone for an hour and this is what greeted us.







First up a container of itty bitty sequins was completely destroyed. That is not the original container. I only found bits and pieces of the original and can only presume the rest of the container was eaten. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to pick up itty bitty sequins?








This is the lid to the container or should I say what's left of the lid.













My wedding corsage that was sitting on the antique dresser in our living room and there's only ONE dog who could reach it....yep! Mr. Bettis.
What puzzles me is this has been displayed on the dresser since Sept 12, 2011 and he chose now to destroy it? I just don't get it.
Of course his owner was a wee bit disgruntled but chose to overlook it. After all Mr. Bettis doesn't destroy one thing that belongs to the owner.
Thankfully we arrived home in what I believe was the nick of time because I found one of my bedroom slippers (that was in the bedroom) wet with slobber so I have a suspicion my slippers were about to be destroyed.
By the way: I'm still finding sequins. Maybe I should just ignore them and say they're part of our Christmas decorations.

It's Spring....again

Mr. Bettis barks and barks. All. Day. Long. And this is what has captured his undivided attention as well as the birds, squirrels, leaves...come to think of it, anything that moves.
This rabbit is BIG! Kind of reminds me of Harvey only he's not white.
Gonna be a lo-o-o-ong summer as usual.








It's been rare seeing the sun and today is one of those rare days. I'm a fan of Dandelions. Yup! Good ole dandelions. Nothing like a child showing up at the door hands behind their back clutching a fistfull of yellow dandelions. Brings a smile to my face just thinking of those days. We would choose a special Ball brand jar, fill it with water and put them on the dinner table for everyone to enjoy.
Love the smell of these little yellow flowers and dandelion makes great tea.




Chem girl called and she snagged two more trees. I'm telling ya, we're gonna be hidden in a forest by the time she graduates.
She asked about Chester and I must admit I was a bit concerned. Chester is small and the winter was harsh.
*sigh* So I grabbed the camera and cautiously approached dear little Chester.







Took a deep breath and looked into his tall house.
And there he was dressed in beautiful green finery.












I removed his house to get a better picture. Seems Mr. (or is it Mrs?) has a sprout. It's hard to see but on the left right beside Chester there's a skinny little sprout.
Chester has survived!!

Now to find room for the rest of the forest she's dragging home.

Luck of the Leaf

We have a problem here. I have an allergy to honeysuckle. Mind you, I love the smell of it and way back when I would pluck the flowers and sip the juice from it.
A few years back I developed a sneezing, tear-watering, coughing allergy to the stuff.
So last night I awakened coughing and tears streaming down my face. I sniffed a strong aroma of honeysuckle coming in the window over my head.
This morning I informed the DH that he needs to cut down all the honeysuckle on the property. He headed out the door with the sickle in hand. He promptly returned with sad news.
There's poison ivy and Virginia creeper intermixed in the shrub beds and the bank.


May not sound like anything big however the DH is VERY allergic to poison and the creeper. It requires a trip to the ER for shots so looks like he won't be cutting down much of anything. I'm not allergic to poison or the creeper but can't be anywhere near the honeysuckle.
We could be overtaken with ivy, creeper and honeysuckle.....wait.....where's Little Legs (aka the college kid)? I don't think she's allergic to any of it. :)




While we're waiting for the college kid to whack down the stuff we'll enjoy the scenery on the porch. A lovely pot of blooming flowers.

It's hot and humid here and we're not doing much of anything. How's the weather in your neck of the woods?

Lookin' on the Bright Side

I'm glad this week is almost over. Recovery is s-l-o-w and frustrating. The week began with issues and steadily became worse as it progressed. But I'll spare the details and look for the brighter things in Life.

A package arrived yesterday chock full of goodies.

Jessi sent a trio of books and a beautiful handmade card (which I forgot to include in the photograph). A card magazine full of ideas and it's already dog-eared. No, Mr. Bettis didn't dog ear the book......lol

The Toe-up Socks for Everyone is an excellent sock pattern book. This book is chock full of fun and intriguing patterns for everyone. Yarn is ready and waiting for me to choose the first pattern. Last but not least in this pick-me-up package was the Knitsimple magazine, full of fresh spring knitting ideas.

Thank you, Jessi, these books will keep me off the knee and resting.



Chan introduced me to the world of card making and I dove into another hobby. I know you're thinking I don't need another hobby but....it's so much fun.
The youngest DD owns a few stamps. I put them to good use. The cards are not fancy by any means but I have had so much fun and now the new card book will add to my fun.









I finally finished my Yellow Dandy shawl. I love it. The pattern was a bit of a challenge at first but it soon was a joy to knit. I've already cast on for another one.










The DH showed up with these. He knows I love lilacs.
So on his way home from work he found these growing in a meadow and stopped to cut a few branches. I hope this wasn't a private meadow, he could be a wanted man....LOL
They're cut and in a mason jar (yep, just like my grandmother used to do) Lilacs bring so many happy memories of my childhood. Isn't it interesting how certain smells conjure memories?

I wish all of you lived closer so we could visit and knit for awhile. We could sip some hot or iced tea, munch on homemade shortbread and enjoy the lovely lilac aroma giving way to yet another happy memory.

Firehat!

Would you look at this! A finished item. YAY!!
I love hats but at my age (ahem) most of them don't look as they should. I like the slouch tam/berets. I made one for the college kid and sent it the dorm for her to wear. She loved it! I must admit I tried it on before I sent it packing and I liked it too. So I searched Ravelry and found the Gwen Hat.
The pattern keeps it interesting and it's a quick knit.
I made a few adjustments and posted those adjustments on my project page in Ravelry.



Not quite the picture I would've wanted but I wanted to the show the pattern.












Hubby moved the College DD's Hibiscus bush 3 days before she moved to college. We thought it died but it started to come back to life very slowly and now it has produced 2 flowers. A little late in the season but since husband almost killed the poor thing, it just took a while for it to recuperate.
I emailed the pics to the DD and she was thrilled that it survived.

The Swine Flu is on the college kid's dorm floor and her roommate is recuping from it. She says Lysol cans are being shared from room to room. Disinfectant wipes and bottles of multi vitamins are in high demand according to the college kid.
One more thing for her mother to fret about:)

Meet Matilda

Meet Matilda. The brand-new-suck-up-the-dust-bunnies sweeper. She is lightweight, she sucks up those dust bunnies in a flash and she was cheap. The husband wanted a more expensive gadgety (is that a word?) sweeper but Matilda was begging to come home.




Look what arrived in my house. Aren't they pretty?








Look who was singing "baby come back, any kind of fool could see......." in the backyard.

Is this who sent the flowers?











That broom better watch it, as I know someone who could put it to good use.