Monday, March 31, 2008

Breakfast

I'm going to be honest. This post is primarily for the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other relatives. Why? Because this post is all about the baby eating breakfast. That's right. Below is a six minute video of Celia having breakfast. Why, you may ask, am I even posting this? Because it is dang cute. She eats peas. She holds on to cheerios. She works her two little front teeth and talks and smiles. It is delightful. But it is a baby eating, so many of you won't be all that thrilled. Granted, I have some stunningly witty narrative throughout, but even that may not hold your interest. However, if you are Grandpa or Grandma, I am sure you will thoroughly enjoy this. So, without further ado . . . .


Sunday, March 23, 2008

Happy Easter!

It's Easter today - typically the harbinger of spring around these parts. But with three inches of snow dumped yesterday, it feels more appropriate to wish you a Merry Christmas.

But no - I will banish those thoughts, because two days ago, as I went outside to take my girl to daycare, I saw in the tree a robin redbreast. For sure spring is around the corner! I have even, dare I say it?, taken out my past copies of Garden Gate in anticipation of the upcoming season and the upcoming GARDEN PROJECTS.


Ooooh, I get all giddy just thinking about it. First, you wait for the little plants to poke their heads out of the cold earth which is slowly being warmed by the sun. This is not only very exciting because it is a sign of the warm and long days to come with your hands in the dirt. It is also exciting because, if you are like me, you have forgotten some things that you planted last year, so it is a little like opening presents. Oh! Look, it's a Shasta Daisy! What's that over there? Riiiiiight, I forgot that I bought a phlox and put it over there!


Last year's front garden - much work will be done here this year . . .

The Friends Garden Sale, sponsored by the Quaker's Friends School, is always the first garden event of the season. They send out the catalog a month in advance so you can PLAN. And plan you must.It's HUGE - tons and tons of plants for sale. So big, in fact, it takes place at the Fairgrounds. My friend Beth has a spreadsheet prepared every year, color coded and in order of importance. Last year I made a list and then drew an elevation of what the garden would look like. Well, what do you expect? I am a planner. It runs Friday through Sunday, and you have to prepare yourself for the fact that not all the plants that you want will be there. I normally go on Friday evening, because Friday mornings are allegedly crazy crazy crazy. But - the supply is picked over by Friday evening, so then Saturday they have a second delivery, but then the crowds are crazy on Saturday, so what is a girl to do?

Last year's side garden
Well - I'll tell you. If you volunteer for a shift of the sale you are allowed to go in on THURSDAY EVENING. Oh, yes, that's right. So this year, I am taking Friday off from work to volunteeer so that I can get in early. I am so excited. I have volunteered to work as an "expert" in the perennial section. I am not an expert, that's for sure, but I have many opinions, and the requirements were only that I study their catalog and be familiar with the plants. Uh, OKAY, if you insist. :)
So, only one thing stands between the plant sale and myself: The SECOND SWEATER.

My sister in law is pregnant with twins (yay!) that are due on April 11th. I decided that I would knit the Apples (as they are lovingly called) a couple of cardigan sweaters. I got the first one done just in time for her baby shower. I say just in time because it is garter stitched, and I was not prepared for the time commitment. If any of you are knitters, you will understand that garter stitching takes approximately 50% more yarn than a stockingette stitch, and therefore takes 50% more time. I honestly didn't think about this when I started on the project. Did I mention that there are TWO babies?


So, I have finished one. It's a very sweet little sweater, with nice lace edging. And I am on my way to finishing the second one. I think it will be done for the Apples' birth, but not much before that. Because I will be cutting it so close, there will be NO garden planning, NO catalog perusing and probably little blogging between now and then.













I am posting some pics of some sweaters I knit for Celia, too. They were very fun. I like that baby sweaters go quickly (most of the time!) so they are very gratifying. They are also things that you can keep forever. As you will see from a past post, I still have a handmade sweater from when I was a baby. They hold up well and really are heirlooms.

Little Brown Hoodie



This one is called a matinee sweater. (Celia was about 3 mos here, so wasn't very mobile.)

I am off. Hope you are all well. Sunshine is in the forcast, and hopefully a melting of this snow. I will be feverishing knitting, and thinking of all of the planting in my (hopefully near) future.