Instant Gratification

Ah...isn't it nice when you can get an FO in less than an hour from start to finish?  These little gems are instant gratification.  I busted out 6 of them in less than 5 hours of knitting time.  These are my final FOs for 2010.

Café by Miss T (page 42)

Yarn: Dream in Color - Classy & Malabrigo - Rios

Ravelry

I've been off the grid for a while because I was working on a sample knit.  That sample knit was the biggest knitting project I've ever worked on...ever!  And the longest thing I've ever knitted on a consecutive basis.  I can't post any pics until the pattern is published but I'm very excited to share it!

Happy New Year and here's to many happy FOs this year!

Peony

Fresh cut from my yard.  So pretty.  In a house full of boys, I don't often get pretty.

So far today...

This is where I've been sitting most of the morning, admiring the beautiful weather we've had the last couple of days.  It's so nice being outside before it gets so hot...and the boys love to be outside so it's much more peaceful for me.  :-)

I have my knitting, my coffee, and my computer...bliss!

The girls enjoying the outdoors with us.

Our peony bush is in full bloom...it's beautiful.   

The grand finale!

This post is a little tardy...it took me a while to recover.  The last day of birthday celebrations was on Sunday.  We spent the day at Grandma and Grandpa's...probably the most relaxing of all the birthday festivities.  The boys opened up the last of their birthday gifts, from the family.  It seems the overwhelming favorite this year was anything Star Wars...and anything Star Wars with a light saber...and anything Playmobil came in as a close second.  Here they are anxiously waiting to open gifts.

Yesterday they were playing outside wearing one of the gifts they received on Sunday, knight cape and helmet.

According to the boys, they were showing their mean faces.

And now that the birthday festivities are over and done with, I can get back to knitting.  With all the season finales on t.v. right now, I have almost finished my log cabin blanket!  I'm hoping to have pics up over the weekend.

Let the festivities begin!

Day 1...typically marked by their actual birthday or school birthday party...depending on which comes first.  And depending on which day of the week their birthday falls, it could go on for almost a week.  I feel like it will this year, though it's only day one.  So the next few blogs will probably be full of birthday festivities.  Today, their actual birthday, started with a birthday party at school.  Then presents at home tonight, then almost two hours of assembling Playmobil, then dinner, then bed.  I'm tired...and it's only day one.  Along with a lot of birthday blogging, you're also going to get a lot of pictures of the boys.  (Can you blame me?)  :-)

Today...

You've seen this picture, or I should say, a picture of this spot many times this "Spring".  The forecast for Tuesday night, into Wednesday, is up to two feet of snow.  Seriously?  It's almost the middle of May!

Look...the trees are starting to bloom...the grass is green.  This is really going to wreak havoc on all of our plants! If this snow does happen, that will be my next post! 

I'm new at this...

I'm not a big fan of cooking blogs and I don't typically enjoy reading about cooking.  Maybe because I don't cook and I'm not good at it.  But since my recent unemployed status, I've been testing the waters.  My first attempt was pretty mediocre, not even worthy enough to mention.  My second attempt the week before last was a big hit.  Tonight, I decided to try a little something that I read on JCasa *handmade.  My local market didn't have yukon golds so I went with new potatoes.  I think I would have liked the yukon golds better but the new potatoes worked out just fine.  Don't they look almost as pretty as Jennifer's?  Oh!  Jennifer's tip to rest the potato on a wooden spoon before slicing...genius!!  Works like a charm.

Aaahhh...this is the life!

Spring is finally here...

I give up!

Here's what our backyard looked like one week ago.  This is what the backyard looked like this morning.

I started shoveling the driveway and after about twenty minutes I gave up.  The snow was just too wet and heavy.  I decided to move on to the compulsory shoveling and just do the sidewalk.  This is the first time this winter I wished we had a snow blower.  Have I mentioned that I can't wait for the real Spring to get here?

Are you there, Spring? It's me, Amy.

This has been one of the coldest and longest winters that I can remember.  Today was such a nice reprieve with temperatures in the 50s (Fahrenheit). And the snow has finally melted off the flagstone patio out back.  To celebrate this reprieve, the boys (and girls) and I took a nice long walk on the path behind our house.

 Soon we will be able to enjoy this area every morning.

The girls posing after a nice dip in the creek.

 

The boys making discoveries as we plod along on our adventure.

  
And finally, a picnic in the back yard.