It's my time of year

It's my time of year because, not only do I very much enjoy spring, this is also the time of year when I celebrate personal holidays (3) in a short period of time. April 23 is my wedding anniversary. This past Friday my husband and I celebrated our 33rd anniversary! It's hard to believe that it's been that many years. When we got married, we both felt that we had committed for life, but had no idea how long that would be. We were in our early 20's and had not even lived as long as we've been married now! We've had some hard times, we've lost things and people that were important to us, but we dealt with all that, and the happy times, together. We are strong together. We are happy together, and enjoy spending time together. Thank goodness, and thank you, Bob, for everything.

We celebrated out anniversary with a great steak dinner on the day, followed by an ice cream treat (Cold Stone Creamery) bought and delivered by our eldest son. The next day we joined our friends Steve and Cheryl at their house where they treated us to a wonderful day of great food, laughs and time to relax and enjoy each other. Lobster, crab cakes, corn on the cob, chocolate cherry cake with champagne and strawberry liqueur ... We weren't very interested in food the next day. ; )

A few days after our anniversary I celebrate my birthday (tomorrow). I don't hide my age (56) and I do enjoy a celebration of some sort. I'm hoping for chocolate cake .....

In a couple of weeks Mother's Day will come upon us. Normally Bob and I go shopping for the plants that I will plant that year. I enjoy outdoor plants and look forward to choosing the combinations for each box and pot. This year we will head up to NY to spend the weekend with my mother. We'll spend at least part of the time cleaning out her pond (9 feet x 17 ft) for her - it's work but with the three of us working on it, we'll have a good time and probably laugh a lot. Especially if one of us falls in, which, given who we are, is pretty likely. I hope it's warm weather.

I have been concentrating more on spinning than on knitting lately in preparation for the MD Sheep and Wool festival classes. Two bobbins are clear and I'm working on the other two. I've been drop spindling lately, since the bobbins for the wheel were full. I cleared one spindle (putting the soft, silver grey singles onto a paper towel roll) and started on the second batch. That may come with me to S & W for my sitting and resting project.

If you remember, I am participating in the Woolalong that is part of the "Knitters Book of Wool" Ravelry group. Last month's breed was BFL and I knitted the Log Cabin Socks with Rowan Purelife BFL. This month's breed is targhee. My Targhee fiber came in the mail a few days ago. It is a pretty mixture of soft blues and I am anxious to start spinning it. I have to decide, though, what I want to make with it first. Drop spindling will take longer but I'll work on it more often. It will be less evenly spun since I am not as good with the drop spindle as I am with the wheel, but that might be OK, too. Do I want a fine yarn for a scarf or shawl or a DK weight for mittens or a hat? Decisions, decisions .....
Obviously, since I am just starting on the April breed, I will be behind on the May breed. Oh, well.


I did some knitting over the weekend. I needed a brainless project to knit on while visiting with Steve and Cheryl - no counting or following a pattern when you are visiting and drinking. LOL. I searched in my stash for something small, found a sock blank that I had dyed a few years ago and thought that would work. There is enough variation in colors that I would not want to knit a pattern into these socks - I want stockinette. I cast on and did the toes before leaving so that I could just knit round and round. Because the sock blank is knitted with two strands together, I decided to knit both socks at once. I selected 2 sets of DPNs in the right size and I just alternate the socks every few rounds. Perfect! I really like the colors I chose for the dyeing, too. If the stockinette becomes boring later, I can always try adding a stitch pattern on the legs.

I have 8 spiral squares completed! 12 to go for the stole!

I have baby tomato plants, baby green bean plants and baby cucumber plants growing in little peat pots that I hope to get into the ground soon (if the rain ever stops). The rest of the seeds are ready and waiting to go. I think we're supposed to have good weather on Wednesday. Maybe I can get out of work early. ; ))