Daisy

Justine and Daisy
Come and get it birdies!!

Justine decided she needed a tree for outside her bedroom window. Something for her to look at and watch grow over the years. She's my "earthy" kid. It was because of Justine we had to switch from paper to cloth napkins at dinnertime. Also, she's always reminding everyone to recycle. She takes care of the animals more than the other two as well. Her new tree is a Dogwood and should have cute white flowers in the Spring. She wanted to make a bird feeder for her tree, too. She has a big shell that she found with MaryLou and Al on their last visit up at Fort Clinch. I suggested she take the shell and nestle it in the branches of the tree. The birds haven't found it yet, but when they do, they'll provide plenty of entertainment for Justine.

She and I decided to take her photo every season to not only show the changes in the tree, but to compare their growth over the course of a year. You can look forward to another photo sometime in April or May.

Oh, she named the tree Daisy.

Joey Turns 13

Happy Birthday Joey!

Well, I officially have two teenagers in the house now. He turned 13 yesterday. Joey and his two best buds are having a great time tonight....pizza, movie and sleepover. They're so cute!

Still wouldn't trade...

This morning it actually looked like it had snowed! The trash cans, grass, roof tops, the cars...all covered with a thin layer of white ice. We had to use a credit card to scrape the windows so we could see out of them. It's so cold! I am getting to wear a lot of my knitted stuff, which is great.

I still wouldn't trade all this cold for a Santa Ana winter in San Diego. This is what Winter is supposed to be...cold. Um...but not too cold. Hey, this is Florida after all!

Picot and Ropes Done!

I'm wearing my new sweater today! Finished all the work on this baby...tons of seaming, hand sewing down the loops on the front/neck band, and then sewing on 8 snaps. Worth the effort though, it fits great and is super comfy. It did shed a bit on my black pants at work, some of the tweedy parts came off. Is that normal for tweed yarn? My first time knitting with it so I'm not sure. I'm hoping with a few wears and washes, it will stop eventually.

25 Things About Me

25 Things you may or may not know about me.

1. I can't watch violent movies (especially Nazi or Mob type).
2. I love to cook, especially baking, but I'm not very creative about it.
3. I read every night before I fall asleep.
4. I have a very large spoon collection that I started in 1982.
5. I've never been skiing, nor do I ever want to.
6. I broke my first bone ice skating at Joey's b-day party when I was 44 years old.
7. I know how to play Craps, 21 and Roulette.
8. My right ear has no feeling in it because the nerve was cut when I had a benign tumor removed behind my ear in 2000.
9. I took a fire arms class and was a pretty good shot.
10. My middle name is for my grandmother...Ruth.
11. Twins run in my family. My maternal grandmother was a twin and I have twin nephews.
12. My sister and I are only 11 months apart. I'm older than her except for three weeks between our birthdays when we're the same age.
13. I'm nine days older than my husband.
14. I had braces as a child.
15. I failed my drivers license test the first time out (on my 16th b-day).
16. I can watercolor paint pretty good.
17. I know how to say "Good Morning" in Japanese.
18. Two of my favorite bands are Oingo Boingo and Bare Naked Ladies.
19. My vision is so bad I'm considered a "severe myopic" and have to be careful for a possible detached retina if my head gets banged (like in a car accident).
20. I have never given blood.
21. My favorite movie is Casablanca.
22. I love Bugs Bunny cartoons.
23. I used to be extremely shy.
24. I love to sing and dance, usually while listening to my shuffle and cleaning the house.
25. I love knitting. (Were you wondering when that would surface?)

Bloomin' Cactus

IMG_2632
Originally uploaded by brenda.pirie

Most of my outdoor plants are brown or black from the recent freezes, but just look at my Christmas Cactus! I put it on the table in the patio when it started to look like it was getting little buds about 1 1/2 months ago. It just loves the long dark nights and being outside...I guess. I can't believe I've kept it alive for over a year, I bought it from some people on the side of the road last January. Ain't it purty?!

Knitting Update

Diagonal Rib Socks
New Toy

Small Project for February

Ropes and Picot almost done!

Here's a knitting date from my world. The Ropes and Picot sweater is ready for the front/neck bands to go on. The seaming went quickly last night while I was watching The Count of Monte Cristo. What a great movie! The whole family actually sat and watched it with me. Anyway, now I'm ready to pick up along the edges and get the bands done. At first I thought I'd do a button band, but after trying it on, I realize that I will be wearing it alone not as a cardi. The sleeves are on the tight side. I'm going to follow the pattern and do snaps along the front for a closure.

The Diagonal Rib socks are such a delight to knit. Very fast and easily memorized pattern. I'm going to do that pattern again for my Small Project for February. Justine reached into the bin and pulled out the bag with the yarn Cammie gave me for a Thank You from her visit. I'm thrilled to death! I was hoping that yarn would show up early so I wouldn't be waiting until November to see it and knit it up. I'm going to finish the two socks I have going then start on my Feb. project.

The scale is my new knitting toy. Several of the ladies in my knit group have one and say it's essential for splitting a ball of sock yarn for knitting two pair at the same time. Currently, I'm not even interested in doing that, but I am concerned about running out of yarn, especially when working with Jitterbug. This, at least, will help me determine if I have enough to finish both socks.

Gotta go knit...