This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Happy Friday!

Joining Amanda Soule - Feel free to join in and share a link to your moment.

Homeward Bound

A picture of my beautiful sister back in her modeling days.

My sister is heading back to LA today. The two weeks sped past as they have a tendency to do when time is limited.  We didn't get to see as much of each other as we'd have liked to because she had a purpose in this visit and for the most part, I think that purpose was accomplish.  It's always interesting to watch the family dynamic adjust to having one of it's members back in the fold....some good, some not so good, but all worth having her here.

Part of the purpose of her visit was to help my Sainted Mother clean out the forty-three years of accumulation in the storage section of the basement. I helped out some, when I could, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  We had great giggles over old love letters from boyfriends past and nostalgic smiles over pictures and letters between sisters that were becoming friends.

There were a few "scores" from this process.  I received this great canister set and matching cake plate that was a wedding gift to my parents from a great aunt.  The copper lids still shine beautifully.  They are currently in the pantry.  But they will find a way out.  Until then, I smile every time I see them in there.

Jazz Hands!!

I made a little more progress than my sister did on our knit along. I finished the Mericash Wrist Warmers and have now moved on the the Neck Warmer. My sister has started the Neck Warmer after much frustration with DPNs.  I'm afraid I wasn't much help. And yes, that is a link to my sister's project page in Ravelry because, you guessed it....I haven't set one up yet.  Go figure.

I'm sorry I've been so absent here and in visiting other blogs but I felt it was very important to be present where I was.  As I said, two weeks just fly by. As we get older and our lives pull us in different directions, that time together is so incredibly precious.  Our siblings move away and our children grow up and leave.  It doesn't matter how many times we say "see you soon" - because I refuse to say good-bye - our hearts break a bit as we get stronger.  *Sigh*

I'm off to play catch up.  I hope everyone is doing well...Oh and Tracey - She's in.  Start looking for that house....or maybe a small compound to accommodate all the crazy ladies ;)

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Happy Friday!

Joining Amanda Soule - Feel free to join in and share a link to your moment.

This Moment - Surpirse!

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Happy Friday!

I think I'll keep him.

Joining Amanda Soule - Feel free to join in and share a link to your moment.

Commitment

Oh my goodness! Look at them. They are so young...and skinny! See that man? He's been by my side all these years. Never wavering. There are things in my life, decisions I've made, that I sometimes question. He's not one of them. Even when things have been tough, he's always been there. Even when we've had our worst arguments, I've never thought twice about how we feel about each other. I've always known that he's mine. I love him dearly. He's not perfect, but then neither am I. And he loves me, our children and the life we've made together.

Some people thought we wouldn't last a year. They were right. Happy 20th anniversary Honey!

Stash Diving

Things have been their normal busy around here. We did house cleaning (ugh!) over the weekend. I have to have everything clean so that I don't have to worry about the "big" cleaning while my sister is here...she gets in tonight - YEA! She'll be staying at my Sainted Mother's house, I just don't want to have to deal with that stuff while she's home. I want my spare time to be spent visiting.

Speaking of my Sainted Mother :)  Her birthday was in March. I always try to make her something and she had dropped hints about wanting a lacy scarf...and since I finally finished it...that's what she gets.  I just finished blocking it and yes, it's a little late, but not as late as some of her other gifts have been.

Here is the artful display....ahem

Here it is before I removed the blocking wires - Just a little sample.  I crocheted it and it's actually a wide scarf (almost rectangular shawl) done with a mohair body and a silk trim.  You know what the greatest thing about this is?  The yarn was in my stash. Score!  I know I already spent the money to buy the yarn, but it's been there long enough that it feels almost like a freebie.  Am I the only one that thinks like that?

And while I was stash diving, I found this great cotton yarn - Patagonia from Araucania. I got it one year at SAFF when we did a yarn swap.  It has been sitting in the cabinet for a couple of years now, waiting patiently. And I decided that I need a new hat and mitts.

Nothing too fancy.  The hat is a feather and fan pattern and the mitts are just standard stuff.  The yarn is really quite pretty with blues, greens and yellows.  I think they'll be great next fall...and soo soft.

While my sister is home, we may or may not (depending on time), have a little KAL.  The Mericash Neck and Wrist Warmers. I think I may have just the right yarn...in my stash....yes, again! It's the little things in life that excite me.

I really have been trying to refrain from yarn shopping.  I have enough fiber in my house that I should be spinning more and buying less. Not to mention that I promised to take my sister to my two favorite yarn stores while she's here....yup, walking straight into temptation. But I will be strong...and live vicariously through my sister. Because it's almost as much fun watching someone else buy yarn as it is to buy it yourself....right?  Do I sound convincing?

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Happy Friday!

Joining Amanda Soule - Feel free to join in and share a link to your moment.

What?!?!

So I tried to take a picture of it because I knew that no one would believe me. But today, April 4th, at 3:44 pm, it is snowing.  And sleeting. In North Carolina.

Welcome Spring! You are a fickle season.

Ni

This pretty lady is my sister. I think I've mentioned her before. Her name is Tina, but my boys call her Ni - long "i."  I don't know why they decided this should be her name, but it stuck. She lives in California and is a makeup artist. She earns her living making the pretty people...well, pretty. And she's coming home next week!!! I cannot wait. She is one of my best friends. Not only do I love my sister, but I really like her, which is really cool. We don't always see eye to eye on everything, but we recognize that our lives are vastly different, so what works for her, doesn't necessarily work for me. She's three and a half years older than me, but claimed that I'm older since I'm the one with children.  However, she still gets to be the older sister because she lives in the L.A. area and I've heard that crazy city will add at least five years to your age ;)

Here's the best part.  My sister is now an avid knitter and crocheter. Yup folks, she's addicted just like the rest of us and I think it's so cool that I get to share this with her.  She's also learning the important art of packing. You know, the priority of bringing enough yarn. She'll be home for two weeks - when you come across the country, you need to make the trip worth while - so we were texting back and forth last night about what she's bringing:

She's even gone so far as to order yarn and have it shipped to my mom's house so it will be here when she gets here....It's makes a sister so proud!