Non-gift

This is the non-gift I decided on. It's a bookmark for a gal who loves to read. I got the cross stitch pattern from a library book, pictured below. It took about two hours to stitch and put together, and the supplies came to less than $1, and were out of my stash, so really didn't cost a thing. Many thanks to my sister, Sara, who gave me the idea to make bookmarks. She made one for our mom a year or so ago. Every time I read aloud to Mom we use Sara's pretty bookmark. I'll be making more!
This book has some delightful patterns in it. Don't you love libraries where everything is free, and you don't have to find a permanent home for it. Of course you do have to give it back, but then someone else gets to borrow it. :>}

Inquiry

What to do?

Have you ever received an invitation to a party that says, "No gifts"? And then when you get there find that there are not only gifts, but a designated table to hold them?

And what if you have a previous commitment and cannot attend? Do you send a non gift anyway?

Untidy houseguests

Our cat is not quite sure what to do about the houseguests. It's a problem for him because he stays inside and they stay outside. They have spent a lot of time building
a really untidy house. Lots of flying back and forth. Lots of carrying building supplies. There is a very neat little nest at the top. I wonder if they think all this trailing debris somehow camouflages their home, making it invisible to predators?

Do you remember?

Do you remember when we used to get out a piece of notebook paper, or if we'd just had a birthday, a pretty piece of stationery, and write - with a pen! - a letter to a friend or family member? We'd find an envelope, look up their address, write it on the envelope, attach a stamp, and take it to the mailbox. A few days later it would arrive in their mailbox. I miss that. It must explain why I enjoy books of essays, or better yet, letters!

"The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" and "Daddy Long Legs" are two of my favorite books. They are made up entirely of letters. I also enjoy books of essays, which are almost like letters.

In honor of a tradition that is nearly extinct, this blog post is a letter to you, my blog friends.

Hi there!

It's 6:30 on Saturday morning, and I have to leave for work at 7. I am eating my cereal while typing, and have yet to pack my lunch, so this will be short. The daffodils did get their third snowfall yesterday, but they're tougher than they look, and manage to bob back up again, with a smile on their faces.

I went to visit Mom yesterday and found her quite well. When I visited on Tuesday we spent the whole time outside in the sunshine and 82 degrees. Yesterday we watched the snow out the window and read aloud. Her memory is not good, so a book of essays is a good choice. She doesn't have to follow a plot.

Have you read any of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's books? They're wonderful! She's the Lisa Boyer of knitting. Lisa has written two marvelous books of essays on quilting, and Stephanie is entertaining us with her insights on knitting.

One of our patients at work brought in some darling little plastic bottles with typed labels saying "stool sample". We see a lot of that in our office, as you can imagine, but these sample bottles had cute little wooden stools with four legs! They're about 3/4 of an inch across and tall, and are adorable. A little medical office humor!

We've had four out of four cars in our family in the shop in the last month. Of course we like to do our part to keep the economy going, but it's much more fun to do so via the quilt shop or yarn shop.

Hoping all is well with you and yours, and do have a delightful weekend. Imagine this arriving in your mailbox in a cheerful green envelope.

Lots of love,
Diana

It's time!

It's time to enjoy the hyacinths - they smell heavenly.
Legend has it that the daffodils have to be snowed on three times. These hardy flowers have been snowed on twice, and I sincerely hope we'll skip the third one this year! LOL.
The yard looks so pretty with spots of color here and there.
It's even time to put away the winter boots and get out the summer shoes. Or is it? When I mentioned it to Daniel he said, "You know what will happen if we do." Okay, so we'll leave the boots out, but I'm still wearing my summer shoes!

Bunny Flop

These are the bunnies. Same directions, just different sizes of yarn and needles. Unfortunately
they resemble fish more than bunnies. I never would have made two after seeing the finished product, except I had been knitting them simultaneously. Ah well, another learning experience. I've had a lot of those lately. :0/

Wishing you and yours a Blessed Easter.

Well. . .

It doesn't look exactly like a pig, but it looks pretty cute on my mom's bed. She likes it a lot.
I'm knitting white bunnies now. Using the same instructions, but different sizes of needles and yarn, they come out MUCH different sizes. This is a good object lesson for me on the importance of knitting my gauge. I tend to be a "let's get on with it" knitter, and knitting a gauge square just slows me down.

I heard from Heckety that she was having trouble emailing me. She successfully sent a message on Facebook, so I now have her address. (Thanks, Heckety!) If anyone else is having trouble, that worked quite well. The aprons are finished and three have been mailed. The rest will go out soon.

Sorry the weekend is winding down - I hope you have a good week.