Wow is it hot in Ohio!!!

After all the rain in April and May we jumped right into August heat and humidity even though it's only the beginning of June.  My projects are moving along slowly....I'm not sure I can blame it on the heat, but it does seem like planting the flowers and weeding have taken precedence over my knitting and quilting....oh, and a little anniversary vacation took place too which was followed by the birth of our newest granddaughter! So, on with the photos and comments....

This is the Noro Summer Cardigan I'm knitting, being used as a blanket by Cosette.  This is the back with the cables.  I love the color of this yarn!



These are my alliums that I planted in memory of my ex-father-in-law.  He used to grow these and I think of him alot when they come up.  As I was weeding around them I felt a tug on my shirt and thought it was Mark trying to get my attention....I was wrong.  No one was there.  It was Bernie letting me know that he thinks of me too.  That's the first time that has happened with him.  It gives you a warm feeling to know their spirit lives on.

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Our trip this year was to Cape Cod.  We had never been there even though we have visited New England and Martha's Vineyard on two other trips.  It rained 5 of the 7 days we were there, but it didn't stop us from doing the siteseeing we wanted.  We drove to Provincetown, Chatham, Sandwich, Hyannisport, Dennis, Woods Hole and we stayed in a cute little cottage in Barnstable Village which was centrally located to all the places we wanted to visit.  The only place we couldn't go to was Nantucket Island because the waters were too rough...oh, well, I guess we'll have to go back another day....sigh.

 The rhododendrons were blooming at Heritage Museum and Gardens in Sandwich.  It was truly beautiful.  If you look hard at the right side of this photo you can see a flume with water flowing over it down into a pool.  What a peaceful place it was.

Here's the flume from the top...just look at the gorgeous color of that rhody!

 Look at this handsome guy I picked up while I was there!

Another rhody up close and personal.

 This is the antique car museum at the Heritage Museum and Gardens.  Mark loved visiting this part.  All of the cars were from the collection of Mr. Lilly, the son of the famed Lilly Pharmaceuticals.

This was the only car that could be touched so of course, Mark jumped right in. 

This was the view out of our cottage window.  There was a pond right there that Mark fished in and I got to enjoy the beautiful lilac tree. 

 

You can't go to Cape Cod and not see lighthouses!  This is the one in Chatham.  It was overcast that day but it was pretty neat all the same.

We cooked lobsters one night in the cottage lobster pot and they were great tasting!  Enough about our trip...on to other things....like grandchildren!

On Memorial Day we went to the Columbus Zoo with Stef, Joel and little Luke who turned 2 yrs. old today.  We saw the polar bears, penguins, lions, tigers and bears and then went into the petting zoo where Luke was fearless with the grooming brush and the goats.

"Hey, Mr. Goat, I'm pretty good at brushing, would you like brushed too?"

The other highlight of his day, after riding the choo choo was riding the carousel.  Look at the happiness on his face!

.....and then there was Haley Marie Swaggard's entrance into our family!

June 3rd was the birthdate.  We had a long day at the hospital waiting for her arrival which had to be C-section after 16 hrs. of labor for her mom.  Here's dad getting ready to go to surgery.

She wasn't too happy about the nurse checking her all out so she stretched her legs out as far as she could which shows how nice and long they will be like her mom's.  She weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz. and was 20" long.

She is just as cute as can be and look at all of that hair!  Her cousin, Maya, is in love with her and wants to hold her all the time.  We're all in love with her and can't wait to see her again.  We are so thankful that she's a healthy baby and that she and mom are doing well.

Until next time.....

Spring has sprung in our neck of the woods.

I'm enjoying the forsythia in bloom, the daffodils and hyacinths and the buds on the weeping cherry are plentiful.  The temperatures are getting milder and we've begun sleeping with our windows open.  Glorious, gorgeous spring!

My finished Breast Cancer socks which I wore to the James Stitching Sisters Annual Quilt Day.  This is the 7th year.  I've been attending this event every year since it started.  This year only one friend could join me.  That was my friend, Linda Henderson, from Salem, Ohio.  She's come the last 3 yrs. to help out and boy does she help out!  She's a quilting animal and machine quilted 3 quilts. 

Linda's first quilt she finished.

 Me piecing a pretty black, pink and white quilt.

This was kind of a collaborative effort.  I had previously pieced this quilt and took it in that day.  Linda wanted to quilt it so this was her 2nd quilt she completed.  I failed to get a photo of her 3rd quilt of the day.

Here's the finished quilt top I pieced on that day.  There were 150 ladies who came out to sew/quilt/iron/sandwich quilts that day.  I think that may be a new record.  There were also 800 quilts brought in by those ladies that they worked on at home.  It's a wonderful project and I hope those chemo patients who get to choose one know how much love goes into the stitching of the quilts.

I'm working on a little baby sweater made out of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino yarn.  It's so soft....it should feel really nice to some sweet little baby girl's skin.

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So, we had another Sue Spargo quilt weekend at our friend, Paula's house.  There were 4 of us there sewing our projects and they were all different.  We usually work on our hand applique for our Magnolia quilts, but Linda H. has this quilt that she's machine quilting to enter into the NQA show coming in June.  I had to take some close-ups to show you how talented she is.  The fabric is silk and she's brave enough to use a different colored thread to make her quilting stand out.  She's amazing and I'm really excited to see this quilt hanging in the quilt show.

Here's the little block I was working on from my Magnolia quilt during that weekend.  I'm almost finished with it.  Lots of hand embroidery and beading over it.

 Another view of the same block.

Here's the next knitting project for myself.  This is the book Mark got me for a Christmas gift.  Since Araucania is no longer making the yarn shown in the photo, I was on a hunt to find the right yarn to do it in.  I was at Knitters' Mercantile here in Columbus where they were having a special sale.  If I donated $25.00 to the Red Cross for the Japan Relief I could get 25% off of any yarn in the store.  Well, I gravitated right toward the Noro yarn which I love!  This is what I chose.  It's silk, cotton and a small amount of wool in a beautiful aqua color.  It's name is Shirakaba which stands for The White Birch Group in Japanese.  There's also a lake named Shirakaba.  I'm excited to get started!

I can't remember if I already posted a photo of my Ruffle Scarf made from some yarn Mark bought me for Christmas....if so, sorry....here it is again.

....and wait until you hear this one....this beautiful sock yarn in shades of blue is made by Lorna's Lace and is called Royal Wedding.  I had to have it to commemorate the big wedding coming up on April 29th.  I bought it from Jimmy Beans website:  http://www.jimmybeans.com/

This is an I Spy quilt I'm working on for Luke to entertain him in the car.  It doesn't look too exciting yet, but it will be.  You'll have to wait to see it.

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We don't have an eternity to realize our dreams, only the time we are here.

                                                         - Susan Taylor

I lost my cat, Tara, this last Tuesday.  Every day when I wake up I think of her.  She realized her dreams.  She was the best hunter and her dream was to be outside chasing chipmunks, moles and mice.  If only life was so simple.  Try to appreciate what you have, before it's too late.



To Chicago we all went.....

February 16th was the 30th birthday for our youngest two.  So we surprised Matt and Little Jenny in Chicago on the 12th when we took turns knocking on Matt's condo door....one couple at a time.  LJ (Little Jenny) and her hubby, BJ went to visit Matt (who is the only one of us who actually lives there) to take her scooter for him to sell.  They were surprised for sure and we had a great day riding the train (Luke's favorite part), visiting the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower), seeing the Bean, ice skaters and Pritzker Pavilion in Millenium Park in the dark.  Several of us ended the evening after dinner at the Rosebud in the Theater District and returned to our hotel.  The rest went on drinking to celebrate the big 3-0.  Fun was had by all and we were so glad we all went there to surprise them.  Nephew Chris and his wife, Bridget even joined us.  There IS something magical about that city.

 Little Jenny, Mark and Matt

Luke was so bundled up that you can't tell how much he's enjoying the train ride.

 Patrick loves Chicago

 Mark doesn't look so happy to ride the train

 Stef enjoying the day

 I am standing out in one of the glass extended boxes on the Willis Tower.

Millenium Park

So that's the story of our trip to Chicago....now on to a few other things.

Isn't it funny how kids like to talk about horses, yet when they get right up close to them they're afraid?  That's the situation we have with Luke.  He always asks his mom to play the video she has on her phone of Marshall, but when we go to visit him he's leary.  Luke would put his hand out, but if Marshall turned towards him, he would pull his hand back.  Marshall is quite a bit bigger than Luke, but he's a very gentle horse.

Now on to more things....like knitting:

The Upside-down Daisy hat I made for our newest grandbaby I told you about.....It's a girl!  I'll wait until she's born before I reveal her name, just in case LJ changes her mind.

 This is one of my finished Breast Cancer socks I made to wear to the James Sisters Stitching Day in April.  I thought it would be nice to wear pink socks along with all the other pink I wear on those annual events.  The other sock is almost finished....I'm working on the toe now.

 I'll bet you can't even guess what this is!  The yarn obviously does not photograph well.  It's the edge of the Ruffle Scarf I'm making with the Ritratto yarn Mark got me for Christmas.  It's a 3 x 3 rib, but that doesn't show well either.  This one is going to take awhile since it's knit lengthwise, but I did cast on less than the 450 stitches it called for.  I'll post photos as I progress.

I think March is going to come in like a lamb since the weatherman is predicting temperatures in the 50s next week......I wonder if that means it will go out like a lion?  Well, I don't believe in those old tales anyway, just like I don't believe a groundhog can predict when spring will come.  The official first day of spring is always around March 21st whether a groundhog sees his shadow or not.....and who in their right mind thinks we would have a February without snow here in Ohio?

We've had lots of snow, but I love it!

You'll see from the photos this time that most of them revolve around snow....even the dogs.  I do enjoy snow and like driving in it too.  After shovelling last year and hurting my back, we purchased a snowblower (Mark secretly has been wanting one for years now)....after all, we aren't getting any younger.  All I've had to do is use a broom a few times.  Mark is really enjoying his new job outside!

 Ivy is enjoying her job....patiently waiting for a squirrel to come down from the tree....

it doesn't happen.

 Lily enjoys eating the snow....

she would rather do that than drink from her water bowl in the house.



On Martin Luther King Day, we went to the zoo and met Anana, the new polar bear who was very entertaining.  Of course, there is glass between her and the kid.  She's chewing on a huge bone.....taking a break from swimming and jumping on a plastic barrel.

Mark with his 'manly' scarf I made him to keep his neck warm.

 

 Me in my purple 'Poppy' sweater from the Yarnplay book.  I never choose purple which was my mother's favorite color...so this is an homage to my mom.  This sweater is made from Noro Silk Garden and Cash Iroha.  It does have wool in it...so another warm sweater to wear in the snow.

 On the hangar....

The back!

The weekend of the 21st and 22nd was a girl's weekend for me.  My old buddies from my quilt guild up north and I, who took the Sue Spargo class, Magnolia.... like to get together every few months to work on our blocks.  It's lots of laughter, food and wine and of course, you can see we do get hand sewing accomplished.  The night before I drove back north for this fun weekend we had 6" of snow. 
Ohio does a great job of keeping the expressways cleared.

 Beth's block

 One flower from my block

 Linda Henderson's house block (the center of her quilt)

 ...another of Henderson's blocks.

 Paula worked on a different Spargo quilt class we took.  She calls it her 'dark' quilt.  It's actually a basket block quilt and very nice.

 Linda Robb's handwork on a netbook messenger bag she's making.

Sue Elze's flower on one of her blocks.

It's so great to share ideas and you can see how creative everyone is!  We use wool fabric, velvet, cotton and beads to make our blocks. 
The weather won't stop me from having fun with my friends...it was so worth driving in all that snow. 
That's it for January. 

Happy Valentine's Day!