Life is SO good!
I have been enjoying these longer days and spending every minute I am not working outside. My knitting has taken a back seat to the sunshine, life through my camera lens and playing in my garden. Monkey and i also went to Stagecoach Music Festival with the girls and had a blast! I've been spending time reading the Pioneers Women's book that i won on Hespers blog.



My garden::
So far so good, all my veggies are growing well and no losses by the animals, yet... I do see evidence that they are still visiting during the night but my barriers seem to be working well thus far. I was able to harvest and freeze several batches of Spinach before the heat visited us last week and they bolted. The onions have taken root, tomato plants are about 2' tall, carrots seedlings have be thinned, the squash is blooming and the herbs are happily growing. The only veg that didn't do great earlier this year was my lettuce. I was able to harvest a few heads but not nearly as much as in the past. Overall i am thrilled with the results especially since this was the first year i started seeds in my kitchen instead of buying transplants.



Exciting and busy times::
The music man and i have spent many days visiting where the grape vines grow and are looking forward to our move there soon. Monkey's HS graduation is almost here and we are so excited to finally be able to live in the country. The music man and i have been dreaming and waiting for the day we could get out of the city, have our hands in more dirt, enjoy more elbow room, learn more about making wine and soaking in the magical sunsets at the end of the day. Feels like the theme here is "more". More of the things we enjoy, simply and thankfully, yes life is so so good.


Here's a field of Ranunculus for all you Mommas, I hope you had a wonderful relaxing kind of day yesterday. ((hugs))

I recently read this quote and loved it so much that i had to share.

"Even the predictable turns into surprise the moment we stop taking it for granted"
Br David Seigl

Happy Monday!

These days

are busy but full of such goodness. Here are a few things that are making me happy;

Roses in bloom, the yard smells so good.

My growing veggies. No sneak attacks from critters during the night, my new barriers seem to be working.

Knitting a quick gift.

A good book.

I will be away from this space until next week as i am going on a mini vacation with the girls, I am so excited. Have a wonderful week!

time flies when you're having fun

I can't believe it's been over a week since I visited this space or yours. Our weather was so nice lately that Monkey and I spent all of my free time outside soaking it in.

There were a couple trips to the beach and

time spent watching her surf

dinners out back

walks in the hills amonst the beautiful colors our winter rains brought

a trip to the farmers market to hang out with lap dog and

pick up another batch of my favorite flower,Ranunculus. I love these!

I enjoyed this last week and am thankful for the extra time spent with Monkey on her spring break and that I remembered life IS an adventure, all I had to do was go outside.

Here's wishing you a beautiful week and that you find some time outdoors.

Do you Flickr?

I am in several groups over at Flickr, one of which is called Project 365. The goal of this project is to take a picture everyday for 365 days and capture just a piece of your every day. I am in the process of making a coffee table book from my 2010 pictures and enjoyed it so much that when it ended December 31st I decided to keep it going and am on my 100Th day into year two.

Yesterday I spent the day with 14 girls for a flickr meet up, new friends that live within an hour or so of me (except for one). I feel so blessed to know these generous, talented, creative, strong and kind women. We spent the day on a photo walk cruising around Pasadena's Rose Bowl. The city has a huge Flea Market once a month. Here are a few pics from our walk.


I noticed walking around the market there were several booths that were selling once loved musical instruments. Seeing these guitars hanging up i thought of the music man and how music fills our home. I wonder where these have been, what music was played and where they will spend time next.

I love the sign oldies but goodies it looks like it been around for a while too

And the people, the people were fantastic. So many different styles and attitudes.

I remember having a pair of these when I was small but they were plastic not metal, these are definitely old school.

There are groups for everyday of the week if you wanted. Bench Monday, Tipsy Tuesday, Hand knits Wednesday, dogs, fence Friday, worms eye Sunday and gazillions more. If you are not familiar with Flickr I hope you check it out, it's so fun. The inspiration and talent there is amazing, endless and the friendships are such a gift.

a little of this and that

This is my entry table that greets everyone who swings by our home. I like to change up the items that sit there based on the season. The tulips were a splurge for me and i love them. The bundle was so big that I was able to fill a couple other vases and the pine cones will be replaced will little eggs. Do you guys do anything to welcome the changing of seasons into your home?

This week is going to be very busy for me, in between work and chiropractor appointments I have another round of prolotherapy. I haven't talked to much about it here but over the last seven months I have been receiving spinal injections that hope to strengthen my back. As some of you know I was in an accident a few years ago and broke my back. While years of recovery and fighting back I was rear ended a year ago by a big truck that set me back a bit to say the least. I am getting better everyday and I am hoping this weeks therapy will be my last one and if not, that I am very close. I always have a quiet day or so afterwards. I love that saying about life and lemons and plan to make my "lemonade" by finishing up my summer wrap while hanging low.

Do you know Molly? She is so creative and has an awesome new project called blarter it is so neat and I know will be a great resource for us crafty peeps, you'll definitely want to check it out.

Happy Monday, I hope you all have a wonderful week!

weekending...

Last weekend the music man and I escaped the cold rain and went to the desert with friends. It was cool but sunny and it felt so good to feel the sun on my skin. For us the desert is the first place to feel the seasons warmth and see the flowers in bloom.









I even got a little pink on my cheeks. I'm waiting patiently for warmer days the weather man promised are coming. Until then I'm thankful we had this weekend and for the rain we left behind as my growing garden drank it up.

My Winter recap and Spring awakening

This winter season was sort of a wonky one for us here in So Cal. We had days that felt like summer, followed the next with flooding rains and winds that wrecked havoc. I didn't get as much knitting done as I thought and barely sat down at my sewing machine. Work was busy,thankfully busy, weekly doctor appointments and bad back days left me less time to create. Though we did have many nights with good food, good conversations, visits with friends and family, played games with the kids, finished the place mats for my mom and sister, made a couple trips to where the grape vines grow and started my spring seedlings successfully (hooray). I guess that's life, at least for me I know my "hope to do" list always seem bigger than reality. No complaints, life is SO good!



So here's to Spring! I am so excited for the possibilities this season brings. When I think of you I think of:

longer and warming days
my growing garden
enjoying Pasta Sunday outdoors
flip flops
the Easter Bunny
tulips and ranunculus
ladybugs
fresh strawberry jam

and...

new projects. I got some more fun in the mail recently and have cast on for a summer wrap.


Thanks for stopping by I would love to hear what the Spring season mean to you?

1000 Cranes for Japan

The Terrible events in Japan are a stark reminder to us all to live life and appreciate our blessing as such sadness and devastation can happen in the blink of an eye.

The crane is a mystical, holy creature in Japan and represents luck, good fortune, and long life. The act of folding cranes, specifically, 1000 cranes, is said to make the folder's wish come true. In times of tradegy it is also said that people can help in the folding of cranes and are often seen displayed around an affected area.

The Project of 1000 cranes is sponsered by a group of wonderful people on flickr that gives us, living here a way to send hope and peace to Japan's people.

If you would like to fold a crane and post your picture on flickr you can follow the links here;

1000 cranes
how to make a crane

Sending thoughts and prayers to the people of Japan and everyone on the planet who is suffering.

Lots of good stuff going on around here

I finally finished my slouchy and love it! I know when I finish a sweater I seem to always say that it could be my new fave so I wont this time but... I really love this one! I used Debbie Bliss Cashmerino because it's so great to work with. The cashmere and wool blend is warm and cozy, but light enough to wear on a summers night. I love the light silver gray color its perfectly neutral and will go with everything.

The weather has been warming and Spring is coming I can feel it. I've been out in the garden transplanting my lettuce and spinach, getting my basil and carrot seeds started and soaking in the sunshine. I prefer to have my hands in the dirt versus in a glove so sometimes I get small nicks but I don't mind, I think there is something therapeutic about playing in the dirt. Do you use gloves or just dig in?

I planted my Walla Walla sweet onion bulbs too and am already dreaming of fresh roasted peppers and onions this summer, yum!

There was a little knitting and sewing around here too. I made a market bag for my sister and those few minutes at my machine have my fingers itching to do more, perhaps its time to finish this. This is Jack's grumpy old dog face. He isn't so excited right now but I sure am.

A couple times a month I drive down to south OC close to my sisters for Dr. appointments so we use these days to meet up for a walk and lunch before. Today we walked through this tunnel that led to the beach. It was really neat and seeing this on the tunnel wall made me smile. The new header picture was our amazing view while we ate lunch at a restaurant on the beach.

Life is beautiful and oh SO good!

hello March

I couldn't think of a better way to kick off the month of March then with Jack the brown dog, aka cookie monster, well he's a lab so really any kind of food monster. Ohhh I love this sweet face. He is so full of personality especially when he wants something. This is his "I love cookie treats and would really like just one more please" look. Yep he got one more.

I finally finished my slouchy and am blocking it now. Once done I'll be back with pics to share. Oh gosh i am so close now, whoohoo!

Happy Thursday and Happy March to you!