Odds & ends

There has been knitting here, though you’ll just have to imagine a dark green sock that’s just had its heel turned, as it simply doesn’t photograph very well 😉 Also, I keep forgetting to mention that I recently put the pattern for Grillework Cables on Patternfish. I’m working on getting a couple more designs ready, but various things have been fighting back.

In spite of having been dropped, the amaryllis seems to be very happy in its new pot. It seems like it’s a bit taller every time I look at it.

Definitely growing!

We’ve been getting some snow (though not nearly as much as other areas) so I was surprised to see that some of the daffodils are starting to open (hope they don’t get buried!), and I’ve been able to pick from a couple of clumps of thyme right next to the porch, in fact I used some of it to fix dinner.

Daffs!

Thyme.

Lemon thyme.

To repot or not …

suddenly was no longer a question when I tried to move the amaryllis the other day. The old plastic pot practically exploded in my hands, unfortunately bumping the tips when it fell, but I hope it will recover.

Before.

In its new pot.

It’s a pleasant change today not to have all the winter storm watches/warnings blaring from the media. While it’s important for people to be warned, I do think they go way overboard, and then there are always those who go out in it anyway, and have to be rescued … never mind, I won’t go there.

Yesterday was quite different – we had this on the TV (we’re in one of the pink areas) and ended up with mostly sleet, some snow and fortunately relatively little freezing rain …and outdoors around noon then about an hour and a half later I was very glad I’d gotten out to fill the feeders the day before this all hit 🙂

We stayed inside and enjoyed leftover sauerbraten, cabbage (would have fixed red cabbage which would have been more colorful, but I only had green on hand) and potato pancakes. It’s a good thing that I like ginger snaps – they’re used to thicken the gravy, but you only need 6-8 per batch, and they only seem to come in 12-oz packages …

Happy Valentine’s Day!

We’re not doing a whole lot for the day, but I did embellish his dessert this noon – it’s the best I could do with a Reddi-Whip can on a small dish, and it IS chocolate underneath 😉

This week I was the delighted beneficiary of Margene’s Month of Letters – her lovely note reminds me just how nice it is to receive something handwritten, an area in which I’m woefully deficient. While we do have some signs of spring outside, I’ll enjoy these flowers in here by the computer. Thanks, Margene!

Paperwhites card.

Right now we’re on the up-side of the temperature roller coaster (supposed to change very soon), so I looked around outside. Due to a couple of pretty heavy rains, there’s actually water in the pond (bluebird house in the foreground, where a pair raised 2 or 3 broods last year) … catkins on the hop hornbeam tree …

Hornbeam catkins.

and snowdrops over close to the house – I really must plant more of these!

Snowdrops.

Trying to catch up …

and it seems like one of those the faster I go, the behinder I get deals. Does that happen to everyone?

The car is back, it looks wonderful, and they completely cleaned the inside too!!! I was almost as pleased by that as by having it fixed 😉

It’s back!

I also finished a pair of socks for a friend – the yarn is Rachel’s Dyeabolical sock (color: Themyscira) – love that the heels are fraternal twins. They were a big hit!

Dyeabolical socks!

I was in the mood for stir fry the other day, so we had a nice big batch of Ma Po’s Tofu – of course now I’m out of tofu, so will have to get more.

Yum!

The critters continue to be great entertainment – this new box has gotten a lot of attention from both cats, though Amber seems to be more interested that Maggie. The fact that it’s probably bison-scented may come into that.

New cat toy.

The weather’s been a real roller coaster, from highs around freezing or below (more normal) all the way up to around 70 (definitely not normal). We’ve had a little bit of snow, more rain, a few storms, and I think there’s more of the same likely in the next week.

I’ve gotten out to trim bushes and see what’s coming up when it’s been nice; found this great little nest (about 3″ across) over near the mail box.  Does anyone know what kind of bird builds like this?

ETA: I think it’s most likely an American Goldfinch’s nest – size and location seem to fit, and we have plenty of them around!