mermaids and moss

sky, blue and clementine

I saw the most beautiful sky the other evening at sunset. The clouds were perfectly defined pink and purple puffs. I was driving home, past gorgeous silhouettes of trees and the castle-like water tower. I was so tempted to pull off the road and snap a few shots, but I had one kid in the backseat and another who was coming home soon, no time to stop. By the time I arrived home, this was my view of the fairytale sky.

I wanted to share how large this blue blanket has grown since that epic snow a couple winters ago. If you look at the photos from that winter you can see a white blanket of snow covering the upstairs windows. Klaus literally ran and dove onto the blue blanket the minute I laid it on the floor for this picture. That crazy cat. He follows me everywhere... loudly meowing.

Speaking of Klaus the cat, I must share these funny photos of him squeezed into a Cuties clementine box. He is ridiculous, I say. Such a weird cat. He also likes to curl up in the lego bin, when it's filled with legos.

this pink blanket

In addition to trying to finish up the many-colored afghan, I also have two other crocheted blankets, a pink one and a blue one, unfinished and collecting dust. Though I bought five skeins of the white yarn, I've already used it up and still have eight more rows of 12 squares to join together. The store I usually buy my yarn from no longer carries a match for my white yarn. So, I've ordered two different whites from a store online, hoping that one of them might be a match. And in the meantime, to fill my evenings, I've pulled out this pink blanket.

The minute I laid the blanket on the floor for my little photo shoot, every girl and cat living in my house was drawn to it like it was candy/catnip. Hope it's this popular when it's finished.

Zoe, the cat, chose to rumple it up a bit to make it more cosy. Klaus immediately chased her off and sat down for a nap to claim his territory.

Speaking of stolen moments, I managed to sneak away to another nearby yarn shop last weekend. And... I found a pretty close match to the white yarn. Yay. I'll post photos of my progress on the many-colored afghan soon, I promise!

stolen moments

I managed to find a short time, about 40 minutes, for a walk in the woods a few days ago... alone. It was luxury. It felt very strange to be able to choose exactly where I wanted to go and how long I wanted to linger, no complaints from anyone.

But I admit, I did miss my family and would rather to walk with them.

{this moment}

[inspired by SouleMama]

forest dwellers

p.s. I've been drooling over these lovely photos by artist Philippa Stanton. Aren't they gorgeous? She assures me she'll be putting more in her shop soon.

a weekend away

a favorite playground

{this moment}

[inspired by SouleMama]

her writing

She started a new series of drawings about items on heads. I can't wait to see what she'll come up with next. Any suggestions for what should be kept on top of one's head?

the winner

After researching and considering and pondering, I finally found a tutorial on joining granny squares on YouTube that I like. And understand. It shows the flat braid joining technique. It seems to work for me, and it's helping to even out the different sized squares.

My son was is so thrilled that I finally made a decision, and started making big progress on my blanket, that he decided to stand on his head. He's such a good boy. Yay.

In other news, the three-year-old decided to turn the cat into a giant, fluffy Valentine:

I was overwhelmed by the Valentine spirit and prepared a special lunch for said three-year-old. He took one look at his lunch tray and said, "But I want a square one!" And then he cried. This boy likes routine.

And finally, husband was so inspired by all our Valentine creating that's been taking place for weeks, and weeks, that he brought home flowers for all three of us!