Don't Disturb the Cat!

It's funny...often, when I want to use a chair in our house, our cat, Duchess, is sitting in it. She's almost always in the office chair when I want to use the computer. She's always on the couch when I want to sit there. And, lately, she's always in the chair by my spinning wheel when I want to spin...


I often sit on the edge of the desk chair or pick her up and put her on my lap because I don't like to make her get off. I'm not sure those solutions would work very well for spinning.

She also likes to sleep on the bed, leaning on my pillow! So, I have to disturb her when I want to go to bed too! What a funny girl! I sure love her though! I can't imagine a house without a cat. A cat helps to make a house a home! :-)

Trees!

When I posted about the wonderful day I had in the mountains last Sunday, I totally forgot to post these earrings. I found them earlier in the day and had tucked them safely away in my knitting bag. Being the tree lover that I am, I HAD to have these! They could even be oak trees...my favorite! I like the fine details in them. So pretty!

Colors of My Walk

Whenever I go walking near our home I see things that I want to take pictures of and that's just what happened when my daughter and I went out for a walk yesterday morning. So, we did a 20 minute loop and then came home to drop off the dog and grab our cameras to walk the loop again. Look what we found...

I love the centers and intense orange of the daisies in this groundcover...


These grow on big bushes. The petals look like crinkly paper...


The red dots look like the were splashed on with a little brush. Amazing...


These pink ones seem like they may be related but they're even more wrinkly. The color is so pretty...


These look like little hibiscus...


This is a type of Butterfly Iris...


It's interesting how they turn translucent at the end of their cycle...


I've always liked this one...Mexican Primrose...


Palms often make fun pictures. I like the shadows on this one and the sprig of Italian Cypress along the right side...


The big bunches of blossoms in these bushes are pretty but they look even more gorgeous with the different colors of leaves that they have right now...


This geranium is climbing up a bush at a house around the corner. I love seeing it everytime I go by...


The Honeysuckle smell very sweet and I like their pretty little curves...


These roses cover the fence of a nearby home and seem to be especially gorgeous about every other year. This is one of those years. I love all the different colors on each bush. Soooo pretty...


We've never seen these birds before...except for the past couple of weeks. I have a feeling they're migrating and just stopping by on their way. This is the closest picture I could get of them down in a drainage hole, surrounded by chain link fence. They make really interesting and different sounds. The cinnamon color, long legs and long beaks are really cool. Does anyone know what this mystery bird is?...


What colors do you see on your walks?

Ooooohhh! Awwwww! Mmmm!

What a wonderful day I had yesterday! My husband, daughter and I got up early and drove up to Big Bear in our local mountains. While my husband and daughter went skiing I enjoyed a relaxed morning of coffee and shopping in town. The weather was perfect, the sun was shining and the sky was so blue! And, I practically had the shops to myself...nice for me but not for the merchants. Look what I found...

Ooooohhhh!...I've been looking for some new jewelry for quite a while. But, being the picky, I want something unique, and I'm not all that crazy about diamonds kind of person, makes it challenging. Last December I found a really nice turqouise ring on our 20th anniversary. I ordered one in my size but when it arrived it was totally different. So, I kept looking. I found something so much better yesterday...


My wonderful hubby bought it for me for our anniversary...a bracelet, pendant, chain, and a pair of silver earrings (not in the pictures). I love it sooooo much! And, it's not only beautiful...it's perfect because we bought it in Big Bear where we spent our honeymoon! The stone is Larimar from the Dominican Republic and that's the only place it's found on earth. I love the colors sooooooo much! I can't stop looking at it!


Awwwwww...I found a little cast metal sheep too. So cute!...


Mmmmm....And, I couldn't leave the store that sold this without buying some. It's Sassafras tea. The scent greets customers at the door and it smells soooo good! I put it on the buffet in our entry and now that scent greets us. In fact, we can even smell it in other parts of the house. Mmmmm!


My husband and daughter had an awesome day on the slopes and afterward we enjoyed lunch outside, a stroll through town to buy my special little finds, and caramel apples. Then, we headed down the mountain, enjoying gorgeous views of snow and pines, wildflowers and rivers...It was a perfectly, wonderful day!

Floral Friday

The Indian Hawthorn bushes in our front yard are covered in pink blossoms right now. Aren't they pretty?

Wishing you a beautiful, sun shiney weekend! :-)

Thoughtful Thursday

I don't have any new crafty things to blog about today. And, to be honest, I've been feeling a bit down and I'm lacking in motivation and enthusiasm for much of anything lately. I think it may have a lot to do with the never ending winter that we're having. My husband told me yesterday that he has noticed how I kind of slow down when the weather is cold and dreary. And, that's exactly what it is right now. Ugh! We thought winter was over and the warm weather was here to stay for a while but we were wrong. We've been getting wintery storms again. We do need the rain though...and I have been able to use my rain boots. :-) I haven't stopped doing things all together, I'm just doing them a LOT slower! Here are some things I've been up to...

1. I've been spinning just about everyday. It's going rather well too. I'm especially happy with how plying is going. I tried a different way of doing it and it not only works better but it's more fun and my last skein hangs totally straight. I've read that means it's "balanced". Yay! I'm working on finishing up the "Hollyberry" yarn I started last year. I hope to have it finished soon and blog it.

2. I've stalled on my vest. I got the shoulder seams sewn but I still haven't found out if I should tie knots. Although, I probably will. I haven't found the courage to pick up the vest and try to pick up stitches for the ribbed neckline. I really have no idea what I'm doing. I've thought about taking a trip to Knit N Stitch to see if they can help me...they're usually really great about that. But, it's not a short drive and going there for a little knitting will take most of a day. I just haven't dedicated a day for it yet.

3. Walking? Not so much. It's been too rainy for the trails and the treadmill can be dreadfully boring sometimes. Although, it does provide guilt free television viewing time. I really need to be consistent if I'm ever to lose these 10-15 pounds. But, I really think that sunshine will be very helpful in this venture!

4. Speaking of television...there are a couple of shows that I've been watching lately that are a lot of fun. I've been interested for a long time in herbs and, also, the idea of wild food. These two shows go right along with that. They are both on the Veria channel. One is called "What a Relief" and each episode focuses on a health issues, various herbs to use as remedies, and demonstrates how to use the herbs in teas, rubs, tinctures, etc. The other one is called "Hot on the Trail" and the host, Sunny Savage, travels North America in search of wild and edible foods. Each show focuses on one thing (like acorns), tells the history of it, nutritional and healing values, she harvests it, and then cooks a meal with it, outside. Fun! Have you seen these shows? I love the Veria channel!

5. Spring cleaning...We've been going through things around the house and pulling out stuff that we no longer like or need. I'm giving away our 109 year old piano, finally. It doesn't work and, even though it's pretty, the only thing we really use it for is to display our Christmas village on during the holidays or to display things for photos I use on my blog and Ravelry. I'm also getting rid of an old dresser and a whole antique bedroom set. I found a home for the piano and old dresser. Our neighborhood is having a yard sale this Saturday and I'm hoping to sell the set then. When all of these things are gone, we have lots of projects planned for the empty spaces. Can't wait!

Well, it's stillll raining. I think I'll go make another cup of Rooibus tea and then get back to spinning. Have a warm and wonderful day! Thanks fo stopping by and visiting. :-)

Wandering Wednesday

We love visiting the Santa Rosa Plateau (near Temecula, California) and have been going there for years to hike, bike, run, relax and enjoy nature. I never get tired of it because it's so beautiful and always changing...the flowers, the colors of the grasses from green to brown and back again, the sky, the animals...it's all amazing.

Since we got our new trail running shoes, we've been going there even more often than before. I haven't been taking my camera...which, I have to admit, is weird and nice all at the same time. That means I won't have pictures for me or my blog...that's a difficult adjustment because I almost always have a camera with me...but, it's relaxing because I can just enjoy my time without thinking about trying to get great shots. Sometimes, however, I just HAVE to take my camera. Here are some pictures from one of my recent visits...we didn't have a blue sky that day but the weather was warm and wonderful...

Welcome to the Santa Rosa Plateau...this is a road near a historic adobe that is on the property. This was once a huge cattle ranch...


The reserve consists of 8,300 acres of beautiful rolling hills, trails, streams, vernal pools, flowers and more...


Here's some evidence of it's cattle ranch history...


Did I mention the amazing oak trees?!...


There are different kinds of oaks on preserve and there's a lot of blooming going on....Some are pink...


Some are frosty pink...


Some are golden and frilly...


The oaks are all looking very happy from all the rain we've gotten this year, with lots of new, green leaves . And, by the looks of all the blooms, I think there will be a bumper crop of acorns. That will be great for some of the wild life...like the woodpeckers. They'll have lots more to put away in their "cupboards"...


Here's a close up of one of their "cupboards"...I think this is a reallly old "cupboard"...


They have rows of them!...


Here's an old, dead tree...but it's full of life because there are lizards and caterpillars crawling all over it...


Speaking of caterpillars...there are more out there this year than you can imagine! The trails are covered with them, traveling here and there and relaxing in the sun. It's hard to walk in some places because there are so many and we don't want to step on any. These are going to become moths...


The flowers are constantly changing on the plateau. Here are a few of the flowers that were blooming when I took my camera out this time...

These are "Shooting Stars"...


There were more of these this year than I've ever seen. They're so cute! Most of them point down but this one was pointing up and down...


I don't yet know what this one is called but aren't these white clusters pretty?!...


The "Western Buttercup"...so bright and cute!...


This is another white flower that I haven't found the name of yet. It looks fuzzy. They grow on vines in the shade...


This one grows mostly in the shade and I think it's fascinating how the little flowers grow up from the center of these cup shaped leaves. The plant is called "Miner's Lettuce" and I found out that it's actually edible...although, I don't think I have the courage to try it...


This isn't a flower but it's a plant that's not to be ignored and it's doing extreeeemly well this year with all the rain...poison oak! It's pretty, but I keep my distance!...


Something else that lives up there and we keep a constant eye out for are rattlesnakes! This one was curled up near one of the entrance gates. The ranger had a chair in front of it and kept a close eye out and gave warnings to stay away. He was pretty big! Yikes!...


This is obviously left over from another season...I'm not sure which one but I'd sure love to see it when it is blooming and see what color(s) it is. It does look good in brown though...


On some of my recent visits, without a camera, I've seen lots of garter snakes, deer, tadpoles, bugs, butterflies, birds and lots more flowers. It's a very special place!

If you're interested in visiting, you can get more info HERE. To see some of the other varieties of wildflowers that grow there, you can visit HERE.

Thanks for wandering by! :-)

Llama Llove

I was just going through some old photos and ran across some pictures of the llamas we use to have. This one is "Carmel Kisses" AKA Carmie Lou. Isn't she pretty?!...


Watching me bring breakfast! I sure miss those llama hugs!


This is a sign I had made and hung over their gate. It's on our patio now...


I llove llamas! And, I really miss my 'girls'! They're so awesome! Too bad I can't have them at my tract house!!!

Vest Progress

I haven't done much knitting over the past few weeks. But, I have squeezed in a row or two here and there. Enough to get my vest to this point...


I finished the front yesterday and got the shoulder seams sewn together...thank's to a great video on YouTube. I haven't tied off the ends from sewing it though because I'm not sure yet how I should do that...time for more YouTube research.

Each shoulder seam has a little jog in it because of how the pattern had me bind them off. I followed the directions for sewing them and I think I did it right...but...being the perfectionist that I am, I'm not sure if the slight little wave/jog at each of those points is ok. Here they are...what do you think? I'd love advice from some of you pro sweater knitters out there. :-)


I'm thinking I need to re-stitch them a little looser too.


As usual, Duchess was there for support yesterday. She almost always lays next to me when I knit. She'd actually like to lay on my lap but that can add a whole new challenge to knitting. lol


It's weird how different the color of this yarn can be from picture to picture. The color is actually somewhere in between what it looks like on the close ups and how it looks in the picture next to Duchess.

Thanks for stopping by and for any advice you may be able to share. :-)

Kitty Eye Candy

Our dear little Duchess loves listening to my daughter play the harp. Whenever she starts playing, Duchess comes running and sits on the piano bench next to her, on the floor in front of her, or on a nearby sofa. What a sweetheart! We love this little girl so much!