Martini Knitter

Oh how they grow....

I would guess this little guy has just about doubled in size since last week...but mom wasn't quite ready to leave him on his own.

The littlest bunny

Spring has arrived.  We came home yesterday and spotted this little one by the mailbox.

Sunday Surprise

This was the landscape first thing Sunday morning.  I think we were all a bit surprised!

A perfectly ducky day

Saturday was predicted to be 75, followed by snow on Sunday.  So we decided to take the new camera on an outing that turned out to be a trip up to Evergreen with a hike around the lake. We saw quite a bit of wildlife,  including ducks enjoying the thaw, a family of deer, and a bison herd. We had a nice hike around the lake and  enjoyed watching the ice fishing --I am looking forward to spring.   

Thanksgiving Holiday Recap

Warning Picture Heavy Post ! I can not believe it is December!  We were fortunate to take some extra time off over the holiday and visit both of my grandmothers and my Mom.  We flew into Rockford, IL  very close to my mom's place late Thursday evening (the 15th) and stayed a quick night with my Grandma K (mom's mom).  Mom was extremely generous and lent us her car to make the 6+ hour drive up to visit Grandma E (dad's mom). Grandma E lives in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on Lake Superior,  beautiful country but not the easiest place to get too especially this time of year. Keith and I had a nice drive up on Friday and arrived to the wonderful aroma of homemade stew...sorry no pictures it was gone too quickly.  We had a wonderful visit,  very low key with lots of knitting and visiting.  We woke Saturday to a dusting of snow and headed out to three lovely yarn stores and warmed up with some coffee at Babycakes.  I picked up some Frog Tree Alpaca Chunky  in Ecru and cast on for a The Single Cable Scarf from One Skein ( I did use 4 skeins to make it longer).     Sunday Grandma E and I went out to breakfast and took a drive through Presque Isle and spotted this  red-headed woodpecker.  Whether I travel for business or pleasure, I always enjoy local culinary treats and I have to say no one makes these better than Grandma E,  we indulged in one of my all time favorites, pasties. These are truly a labor of love,  making them is a two day process and the effort is much appreciated.  Keith had forgotten his hat and asked if I would make him one.  After I finished up the scarf we picked up a few more balls of that wonderful alpaca yarn and a set of circular needles.  This was a quick knit after dinner Sunday evening, of course I had to check my decreases and then the finished product .    It was most enjoyable to sit with Grandma E crocheting, me knitting and Keith reading in the evenings.  Grandma knit wonderful hats, scarves and mittens each year when I was younger. 

We headed back down to Illinois bright and early Tuesday morning to visit with my Mom, step Dad, step Brother and stay with my Grandma K and her new furry friends.  Sampson and Delilah are the two newest additions to the family.  They are approximately 8 weeks old and bundles of energy and curiosity. They provided endless entertainment during our stay.  I spent a good deal of Wednesday baking while Keith helped out with a few lingering chores around the house.  Wednesday evening I was lucky enough to join Madame Purl and her regular knitting group for a bit.  And then she was able to come over Thanksgiving morning for some more chatting, knitting, and playtime with the youngsters( they were intrigued by the clear knitting bag).   After the pies finished up we headed over to Mom's house for a lovely Thanksgiving dinner.

Friday was my step brother's birthday and seeing as how he recently moved to IL from GA, I thought a scarf was in order.  And Grandma K also recently moved from TN to IL and that lovely Frog Tree scarf found a new home.

Last Friday of Summer Hours

So Friday started out fabulous....it was the first day of hand knit socks.  I don't usually wear my hand knit socks in the summer,  it's just too hot but the office has been very cold lately and the outside temperature had dropped just enough for me to break these out. They are an old favorite out of a great colorway, Cherry Tree Hills Foxy Lady. September has always been the start of fall for me, everyone heads back to school, the night's get cooler, it starts to get dark earlier,  football season starts, its time to dig through the recipe box for the comfort food and the leaves will change soon.

Keith and I took full advantage of the last half Friday and headed up to Estes Park.  We ran across a whole herd of elk.  I saw one on the side of the road and when we pulled off saw all the rest in the field. Check out the big guy in the back...close up below.  I was taking the picture on the left and they turned and walked right to me. 

After our fill of the elk, we went into the quaint downtown and Keith found the yarn shoppe where I picked up this lovely skein of alpaca.