Looking away back – to my first published design, which appeared on the cover of the first issue of Knitting World (succeeded first by Knitting Digest, then Creative Knitting). The sweater is still here somewhere.
Meanwhile, back at home, it looks like spring has finally made it, after several hiccups. Lots of things in bloom, and I’m really wanting to get going on the garden.
Redbud by the house.
Passing through.
And saving the best for last 😉
High speed dog!
hope someone’s here – things have stayed busy and the poor blog has been seriously neglected for much too long! The garden’s long gone, though some of it (mostly green & wax beans, and roasted tomato sauce) lingers on in the freezer, knitting projects have come and gone, and of course more’s on the needles.
The most recent one I can talk about, Tangerine Leaves can be found in Knitter’s K113, and was lovely to knit!
We got a pretty good snow (for us – probably 6-8″) starting on Thursday, and it’s been Bird Central, with cardinals, juncos, chickadees, titmice, canaries, some rather unexpected robins, bluebirds, yellow-rumped warblers, a couple of pileated woodpeckers and swarms of cedar waxwings, which are going after the berries on the cedars, and the year’s bumper crop of persimmons.
Cedar waxwings feasting on persimmons
Toby’s been loving the snow, in fact it’s been hard to get him to come in, even when it’s been in the teens & 20’s, and he comes in with snow sticking everywhere, including ice balls in his feet 
Maggie’s more into cozy spots – here’s why it’s hard to get the bed made around here 😉 
We’re trying to get ready for the holidays, but there’s always something more to do! 
It’s raining again today – about 2½” when I looked earlier, and no signs of stopping for a day or 2. The creeks and rivers are up again (some of the low water bridges were covered), though it’s not nearly as deep as a couple of weeks ago. I just hope it doesn’t quit entirely like it did last summer! Things have gotten so green it’s amazingly beautiful.
Red buckeye in full bloom.
Kitchen herbs.
I decided to add more cooking herbs in the end of the bed closest to the door, so I planted more chives, cilantro, 2 Italian parsley, and dill next to the first clump of chives and the thyme on the right. There’s also more thyme, oregano and mint in another bed even closer to the door 🙂
I had a supervisor while I was working with the plants.
On the knitting front, I’ve added a jacket and tank set, Chesapeake Twinset, to Patternfish – please take a look!
We still have lots of birds on the feeders – the grosbeaks and orioles are still around, along with all the “usual suspects” (cardinals, goldfinches, chickadees, titmice, nuthatches and small woodpeckers). 
Also most or all of the wren houses seem to have been claimed.
House wren.
 
Phoebe feeding Brood #1 under the deck.
The big excitement this week has been centered around the bird feeders. In previous years, rose-breasted grosbeaks and orioles have made brief stops in the yard, but never stayed. So far this year, they’ve been hanging around. The grosbeaks seem to like both the sunflower and safflower seeds, and the orioles (at least 2 pair – yay!) started out with the suet cake, which they’re still working on, but have also decided the grape jelly feeder is a good deal.
Oriole on suet cake, grosbeak on seed feeder.
I finally tried a recipe I found a while back for Spicy Chicken Thighs with Apricots and Olives.
Fortunately I’d saved it in Pepperplate, so I could find it, and it turned out as good as it sounded – I was a bit careful with the heat level and will add a bit more the next time. It’s really easy, as you put the chicken in a bag with the marinade and let it sit for 24 hours, then cook it in the oven, and serve over rice or cous cous – yum!
Toby went to the groomer today, so he’s nice and soft and a bit less furry – when I picked him up, there were drifts of fur out in the reception area that had just rolled under the door from the grooming area 😉 
Another bit of spring – the sassafras trees are in bloom. 
We had a lively Easter weekend — a total of 8 were here; our kids + friend, 4 of 6 grandkids and one of the girls’ friends joined us for dinner. We had a blast, but not many pictures got taken. It also hit nearly on my birthday, so I got flowers, cards and other goodies. The trick with flowers is keeping Amber from munching on them 😉
I’ve been yarn doodling again – I think this may just grow up to be a sweater soon. The part at the bottom is a little bit of a stitch pattern I didn’t like in this yarn, but the top part looks like a winner.
Swatch (Webs Valley Yarns; Southwick (52% Pima cotton/48% bamboo viscose).
The amaryllis ended up with all 4 buds open, and what a display! 
Toby’s been going after moles – unfortunately they mostly seem to be staying ahead of him and making a mess of the yard, but he’s having a great time trying. 
There’s dirt flying in this one!
Trying to go in after it.
And a little more spring …
Forsythia.
Love the little fern next to the quartz rock here.
Joyknits designs now has its own Facebook page for new patterns, published designs and whatever else seems appropriate. My thanks to everyone who’s read promo copy (which doesn’t come easily to me!) and offered encouragement!
Profile photo for Joyknits designs.
And a small teaser of some coming attractions 
Our weather’s still on the roller coaster – on Tuesday we had snow, which Toby really enjoys. As cold as it looks, he wasn’t in a big hurry to come in. By the weekend, it’s supposed to be around 60, then rain.
Then inside today – only someone who lives with a camera-phobic pet will appreciate how hard this was to get; bribery WAS involved. 😉
With the cooler temperatures and some really nice country-style ribs, I couldn’t resist making a big pot of pozole with the ribs, hominy, black beans, tomatoes and southwestern seasonings – yum! And it only gets better after a couple of days in the fridge.
And finally, an amaryllis update – there’s a lovely chubby bud coming up!
8½” and growing!
We had a great time visiting our daughters and families in Kansas City over Christmas, even though 2 storms caused some revisions at both ends of the trip. First there was snow and ice in KC on the way over, then snow at home when we were coming back – we managed to avoid the worst of both.
Christmas morning.
Daisy (dog) and Holly (spooky cat)
Cat game!
We nearly made it back with no incidents when a deer ran in front of us about 10 miles from home – we were fine, though very startled, but neither the Outback (nor the deer) came out of it quite as well 😦 The front grille completely disappeared, the hood, 1 headlight, and the left fender took most of the impact, but the airbags didn’t go off. We feel very blessed to have come out of it so well! We called the insurance company this morning and the adjustor has already (!) called us back, so that’s in the works. Next step is to get an estimate, we hope on Wednesday.
The trip was fun, but it’s also good to be home. After I picked up the pets, Toby went out in the yard and just kept running lots of loops in the snow. Meanwhile we’re still sorting through all the mail 😉
Bringing in all the mail!
Happy New Year to all – hope you all have a great 2013!
My brother Bob*, sister-in-law Hiyam and nephew Eric came for a visit last weekend. We had a nice visit, and cooked up a storm! I had already made a big pan of sweet rolls from our grandmother’s recipe (one of those recipes that starts out “1 cup of water, 2 cakes of yeast, and flour to make a sponge …” – it’s in her handwriting!) – fortunately I’ve made it plenty of times, so it makes sense. We had those for breakfast 2 mornings, and there were still a few left.
Muttie’s rolls.
On Saturday, Hiyam treated us to a Lebanese dinner, hummus, and her Mom’s cookies – wow, what a feast! Hiyam brings her Mom’s cookies when we gather at Christmas; they just melt in your mouth and everyone loves them! I didn’t get a good picture of her, and since I want her to keep on speaking to me, I won’t share the only one I took 😉
Hummus.
Hiyam’s Mom’s cookies.
While we were cooking, Eric (the family roller coaster fan) went up and played at 6 Flags outside St. Louis, but of course he made it back in time for dinner! His dog Buster (a rescue) stayed home with us.
Eric & Buster.
My brother, Bob & me.
*If you’re into action & adventure/pulp fiction, look up Erwin K. Roberts here, or on Amazon 😉
Joyknits! 