Flowers!

My Dad sent these to me in an e-mail--sorry the detail isn't great and they're a bit hard to see, but wow. Made from begonias, grass and tree bark, mimicking the pattern in a medieval carpet design. This is something I'd love to go see in person. NOTE TO SELF: Renew passport!

new glasses

Tai's cowl

Tai's cowl
Originally uploaded by kamsarmer

It's Queensland Merino in the Peacock colorway. Some seed stitch at the neck end and drop stitch to open it up near the face. She liked mine so much she wanted one of her own! Happy to oblige.

Yarn!

I made something with this.

Perhaps I'll show it to you........tomorrow.

Will you be mine?

Meet Jellybean. He made friends with the
penguin on top of our telly, but knew he
was destined to give his heart to another......

She said yes!!!!

Marion says I should use this for my logo on softies.....she's a clever one, that girlie!
(He's made from an old sweater and really did have a hole there....)

I've had the mousie idea kicking around in my head for a few weeks now. I was really stumped and couldn't get my head around how to make him the way I wanted. Then, last evening, the sky parted, the heavenly choir sang, and as I trolled my favorite blogs, Molly Chicken saved the day. She is an amazingly creative woman--I love her! Go visit and prepared to be tickled pink by her delightful menagerie.

Happy Valentine's Day! Don't eat too much candy.

Quirky with a side of boring and a smattering of unremarkable.

Tagged by Judith (friend of Mandella and thereby friend of mine), I relate unto you these 6 trivial and unimportant tidbits about your humble narrator. Going to add photos just for fun.

1. When I get off the bus to walk up the hill to work, after crossing the street I always step up onto the sidewalk between the fire hydrant and the traffic light pole.





2. I was the world's pickiest eater as a child. I'm a bit better now. A bit.











3. It's been brewing for some time now, but after watching the premiere of Top Gear's Season 12 and watching far too many You Tube clips, I've finally realized that I have a terrific crush on James May.









































4. I find macadamia nuts to be a waste of time .










5. I am extremely myopic, a perfect candidate for refractive surgery, and after 20+ years in ophthalmology, you couldn't pay me to have it done.







6. On many occasions throughout my life, I have gotten so excited about traveling that I have literally made myself sick.







I know that this one has made the rounds, so I will break the rule and not tag forward, but if anyone is interested in playing along, please do! Thanks, Judith!

TopGear Season 12 Preview

This show is unparalleled. SO. MUCH. FUN!!!!

FINDING JESUS « Lolcats ‘n’ Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger?

FINDING JESUS « Lolcats ‘n’ Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger?

shoes and stripes forever

plaid and stripes.

Peeeeenk

Amarillo

Yellow. Not a traditional Christmas color,
but both of these were taken right
around the big day.

Just outside our house during the storms
that kept us away from work and school
for a few days.














Cookies made by Fran in a successful attempt
to recreate Geri's classic peanut butter kiss
cookies. They were GOOD.






Tomorrow will be interesting. Pink is not
one of my favorite colors, but I'm sure
there's a bit of it in my Flickr photos.....

Idea stolen from here (cool blog) who was inspired by an idea from here (yet another cool blog!)
I'm slow to join the party, but I think the color week idea is so much fun that I'm playing anyway.





Blue for Monday (always a good choice): a knitted/felted backpack I made for Marion way back when she took ballet and needed a bag for her gear.




And Purple for Tuesday: hydrangeas in the backyard this summer.






More colors to come. I'll try to keep up.

knitting

Blue Moon mohair yarn in
Blarney Stone colorway.

Really sumptuous.

Tried 3 or 4 things with it and frogged it each time.

Finally got it right.

Cast on 100 stitches, size 6 circs.
Garter stitch till I had just a little left,
then did some drop stitch rows to open it up near the face.

For me!

Thanks again for the yarn, KT!

Happy Winter

>














Look!
I'm ready to be Gayle's assistant with this arty shot!


And this was under the tree from Marion's Mimi.....
Awwww..














Here is evidence of a happy melding of cultures.
Potato pancakes and our menorah with Christmas chocolates in the background.



Peace and joy to everyone, no matter what you celebrate.
Wishing a wonderful 2009 for all.

Miss M and I made these on Thursday night.
A wonderful find via Eurolush (totally cool blog) to Domesticali (also cool blog) for the idea and directions. (leave me a note if the links don't work--the weather seems to be making the internets unhappy right about now and you really should visit those blogs if you haven't.)




















Today, the redhead and I rescued this from the backyard. That's a ring of ice around the base. It's thawing in the garage now.

















Here's what the wreaths look like at night.




More Christmas preparations are ongoing. Nana's meat grinder was unearthed in a box today--now we can grind pecans properly for little nut balls! Yay!

It's snowing again and very windy. With any luck, I'll be unable to get to work for a few days this coming week.....

Again, I quote Nilsson...

"Here is why I did not go to work today..."

(Go here for a great listen, lyrics, and a shot of Nilsson and John Lennon playing pool.)

Turkey Day note

It was a great meal. The bird cooked magnificently, we gorged on sherry-laced stuffing, delectable caramelized sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts and cranberry sauce. There was a nice Pinot Blanc, a homemade pumpkin pie, and the secret dessert, a raspberry chocolate bombe (the girlie and her grandma whipped that one up).

We're really loving the tradition of the Thanks Box, too. We start writing things down in late October and the box gets stuffed full. The box is opened at dessert, all slips dumped into a bowl and round the table it goes, everyone pulling and reading aloud. I don't want to subject you to all of our craziness, but I'll pull a few out and give you a taste. Come on, you've got a little room left for something small and sweet, haven't you?

*all family members are mentioned, usually several times, and this time was no exception.

Here are a random 10 "I'm thankful for....."

*bosses who don't suck
*good people
*mistaking squirrels for hawks (complicated back story)
*Marymoor off-leash dog park
*any days
*M's music teacher
*pumpkins
*swimming pools without chlorine
*flowers--especially small carnations
*dance

Barack Obama got three slips.

I'm off to check the holiday bus schedule for tomorrow.

Thanks, all. I'm glad to be in November of 2008--last November was none-too-pleasant. Very thankful to see an old welshie snoozing at my feet, dreaming of having the house smell like this all year-round.

Gobble-gobble.

Stolen from bb

(And why wouldn't you steal from her? You know the woman has impeccable taste.)


It’s the picture meme, and here are the rules:

* Go to your Sixth Picture Folder then pick your Sixth Picture.

* Pray that you remember the details.

* Tag 5 others.








It's a very blurry picture of an ever-so-cute wee froggy.


Really, it is.




Please do not ask me why I did not delete this the moment I realized that it was so horrifically out-of-focus. I'm still working out the kinks in using macro (like how to stand still). It kind of looks like the way I see the world when I'm not bespectacled.


I have finished the second Baby Kimono and it simply awaits the dreaded seaming. I said I would do it this evening, but I had to get up uber-early, so I'm not going to.


So sue me.


I'm not tagging anyone as I think that may scare off the few of you who still visit occasionally, but feel free to join in!

Verdant

For Halloween, I was the rainforest. That, or a transplanted Arizonan showing evidence of 10 months of Seattle weather. I had "moss" on my north side and wore my loverly beret . (Moss photo another time)

The recipe was Lion Brand's felted beret. (found via this terrific site--you may or may not have to register with Lion Brand for their patterns--it's kind of goofy).Turned out pretty well, needed two rounds in the washer to felt, and I think my noggin is small (according to my redhead, it is), so it was a little loose, but I like it. Of course, the girlie looks smashing in it.

I'm quite well-pleased with my snail. Happiest (read: shortest) I-cord I've ever done, and no ends to weave! Instant antennae!

And speaking of little crawly things..........

Funny, here's this chappie doing an impromptu palm-reading for Miss M, and way across the globe, suse has snapped his cousin...

Working on the next baby kimono; this time in the prescribed dishcloth cotton. Pictures will follow, but I have to go work on it now!

Shhhhh...be vewy qwiet...

I've sent knitted things to faraway places.
I've sent knitted things to friends.
I've never knitted for a baby before.
Please meet Declan.

I think this could be habit-forming.
(Thanks to Pamela and Bruce for letting me share their gorgeous boy.)