You Should Smell LIke Dirt

I was reading one of my fav blogs and she was talking about the flowers blooming already, it will be a few weeks before that happens here but I love this quote:

“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.”— Margaret Atwood

A Reason to Get Up Early

We were to have rain today but it just seemed to be cloudy.  The sunrise was gorgeous.  I love getting up early enough to see it cos in about 15 minutes it was gone.

Week 9 Texture

Week 9 starts the chapter on texture.  It is everywhere, all around us.  Yesterday I saw pansies out at Menard's and had to have a 6 pack. I know we are still in for that one last snow storm but the need to get out in the dirt is calling to me, so planting a pack of flowers and having a splash of color in the garden is just what I need. The catnip is growing and it is so strong when it first starts growing, and the cats love it.  They get used to the daily dose of catnip Spring through Fall.

There is just something about playing in the dirt that makes you feel good. The feel of sunshine hitting you on the back and knowing that the annuals are starting their new year and the seeds that will be planted in a couple of months.  Each one has a different texture.

In this chapter she says you should buy the most expensive yarn you can afford.  She leans towards the slick and hairy yarns.  I don't like the hairy yarns - mohair, angora, etc.  I prefer I Love This Cotton for baby items.  It gets softer the more it is washed but there is a lot of lint.  I do prefer certain wools for my sweaters, not only for the feel but also the way a pattern or cable looks made in it. 

I have a long hair cat whose fur is like silk.  My short hairs also have very soft hair but not like the long hair.  There is also the feel of squeaky fresh washed hair that has just been conditioned. 

I dont like carpet, I prefer wood floors, the squeaky clean after being washed and the fact that I can slide across the floor.  Same with tile. But then I prefer them mostly for how clean my house feels.  With 3 cats there is a lot of hair and my allergies don't like carpet either.

I have a lot of texture in my house, the brick fire place, the tile, wood and carpeted floors, the suede paint in the living room, the various houseplants, the fibers in fabric and yarn.  There is nothing better than flannel sheets in the winter.

Many won't eat certain foods because of the texture. That has never bothered me but to many it does.

Texture like color is in the eye of the beholder.  The author starts the chapter talking about many today don't understand what texture means to a person because they are so hooked up to their electronics that they don't feel the world around them.  That is so sad because the textures that surround us can make a day better.  Go out in the world and feel your way around it.

My Son

My latest arrival is napping.  He was one of my ferals. Such a sweet boy and very vocal.  I have never had a cat this big and he eats a lot and takes up a lot of room.  But he is full of love and I think he may have been abused where he lived before.  He will find a lot of love in his new home and I hope we have many years together.

April Has a New Baby Boy

Oh the joys of waking up and seeing April is in labor.  We have been anxiously awaiting the birth.  Another boy.  He is so cute, and growing like a weed.  No name yet.

Week 8 Colour

* What have you learned about yourself and the colours you naturally gravitate towards over the past three weeks?

* Are you experimenting with new styles/colours which until now you'd not considered using or wearing?

* What changes might you make with regards to colour in your crafts, home and personal style over the coming year?

 

The last of the colour chapter is about putting colors together that you think twice about, for instance would you put bright pink and yellow together.  Maybe, maybe not, but side by side they are not a bad  color combination.  

 

I find that colors do affect my mood.  A dark cloudy day can make me want to do nothing and want to hibernate in the basement.  A sunny day no matter the temperature makes me want to get up and get a ton of things done.  Wearing color is the same way. I wear a lot of black and gray in the winter it is cloudy here a lot and it just kind of fits the mood.  I wore bright pink the other day on a very cold day and I felt better. I need to wear the bright colors more in the winter.  

 

When I first started taking the wallpaper off the walls in my house I tended towards more muted colors on the main level where people would see my rooms.  Now I am who cares what others think it is my house and I am brightening up the downstairs as the upstairs with turquoise, yellow, etc.  

 

There are a lot of colors out there, pick what you like and learn to maybe pull in the others, you never know what your color combination might be and how much you might actually like it.

2 Beautiful Voices

I got  a lot of catching up to do here and next week is not so slammed but this morning this popped up in my FB feed.  Listening to these 2 just make the day better.  Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChcR2gKt5WM

Cracked Egg at Decorah

Better to lose an egg now than to lose an eagle later.  Writeup from RRP on the possible reason why and why it is better now.  This is a new year at the nest with a new male, so I imagine we will have all kinds of new adventures, both good and bad.

https://www.raptorresource.org/2019/03/11/broken-egg-in-decorah/

Week 7 Colour

** With craft supplies are you the use-it-up and wear-it-out kind of gal or thoroughly modern and more excited by the new styles and things on offer?

** Is there a project in your home which you made a while ago that’s lost its appeal due to your own ‘moving on’ with regards to colour and style? Would you consider re-making it in the colours you love for this season of life?

** Last week and this week we've read and thought a lot about colour. Are you looking at the way you use colour in your creative pursuits any differently? 

** Jane's quite adventurous and open to trying a variety of colour combos and styles even when they're not what she'd normally go for - would you describe yourself that way or are you 'shy' when it comes to change?

 

This week is more color.  I love color the brighter the better.  Winter here is too dark and gray, we can go for weeks without sun and if you have splashes of color in the home it makes it a wee bit better.   The author knit one pillow 10 different ways using 2 colors each.  Some of the colors I liked and thought I might never put them together to wear but in an accessory I would so do this.  Some of the colors made the dots stand out where others they were more recessed.  

I have several afghans made from scraps from projects.  You pick up a ball and crochet til it runs out and pretty soon you have all these little balls of yarn used.  I have a big tub full of little balls from making slipppers for charity that I am gonna work up into scrap rugs to put in front of the garage door when i come in.  It can be machine washed and dried and when it is too ratty it can be pitched.  

I often wish designers would quit coming up with new things because I have not used all I have already.  I need to get busy and try to use up all my stuff before I am gone.  I have recycled some things and depending on the mood I am I get tired of stuff and recycle it.

I did not care at all for the quilt she made from the very mix-matched color.  I looked at it and thought oh dear.  But that is the great thing about color, everyone has their favorites and they way they pair them and it is ok.  We are each unique individuals and our crafts are as well.

We have had  a lot of snow and cold weather this winter, much more than normal and I find myself going to my bright colored yarns to work  with just to feel a little better about the dark gray winter days with snow that never melts and gets covered by the next storm.  

With an impending snow storm this weekend I think I need to find the brightest yarn I have and work on a summer project.

Yarn Bomb

We are almost finished with the Yarn Bomb piece.  Last June one of the local Irish businesses was the victim of a hate crime.  We decided at Fiber Follies at the Irish Center we needed to do something to show support.  We came up with the idea of creating the few blocks between the Irish Center and Browne's and trying to show some love and unity.  The name of our street is Harmony-Ville (the banner for that is almost finished).  Our motto is All of Us Together As One.  We started with the Irish center on the left with some houses, Redempterist Church, VFW, more houses and ended at Browne's.  The 2 hearts will be put together on the right side of the piece.  The 2 banners will be at the front of the left side.  We will also put up sheets on each end that tells the story.  We are almost there and next week we will start putting together the piece on a backing ready for hanging.  We started this last August and it is finally almost done.  While it was fun, it was a ton of work and not sure I would take on something this large again, but then never say never.

Is it Christmas Already

I went to water my plants this morning and look who is blooming, my Christmas Cactus.  Lately she has been blooming around Easter.  Not full on blooms like at Christmas but she has a few blooms with some buds coming on as well.  Maybe the bitter cold and snowy winter has made her bloom all the more.  (My Vinca is blooming constantly as well but she always blooms).

Egg #33

Last night at 10:31pm Mom Decorah laid the first egg of the season.  We all know there is a new male and he is very young.  I hope his eagle instincts kick in and he helps mom out.  I know she will teach him as she was taught by Dad, but he has some tough shoes to fill at this nest.  So the season has began and here we go with new history being created at this nest.  Good luck mom and DM2 on your adventure. 

Round 3

Can we be done with Winter already?  Enough of this crap.  Round 3 hit yesterday with 3" of heavy wet snow on my deck.  This is what they call a heart attack snow, it wears you out to shovel within 5 minutes.  My dad's cardiologist was on TV today and said anyone over 60 should not be shovelling snow.  Well my deck needs to be cleaned but I just get to shove it under the rail.  Love that my deck guy did that so I can scoop it off onto the ground below.

We have some guy in a pickup with some big piece of equipment on a trailor stuck at the entrance of my cul de sac.  You all do know when you enter my street it says DEAD END, did you think you could turn that thing around in the cul de sac behind me. Some people, here's your sign.

My neighbors left their car open overnight, whoops.  They aren't real bright anyway.

 The deer were up again over night looking for food.