Using up energy

As Scooter and I were surveying our backyard this afternoon, we were delighted when we discovered our first lilac!!! A couple of years ago, when visiting my father-in-law in southeast Idaho, I asked "pops" if he thought it would work to transplant some of his lilacs to our yard in California? He told me "oh hell yes sugar doll (his pet name for me), these things will grow anywhere. He went and grabbed a few Hefty lawn bags and began shoveling some up. We came home with about 4 good sized plants (yes, I'm well aware we crossed the border illegally with them), cleared a flower bed specifically for nothing but lilacs, and have watched them flourish ever since, but with no blooms. Sigh. Then my husband did some research and learned that if you want them to bloom you have to stop fertilizing them. He stopped doing that, and now, I have a beautiful, very fragrant flower, with more buds about to open. I am excited with such joy, and can't wait to show "pops"!

 

This past week, I had so much fun spending time with my grandchildren while my daughter had to run some errands. I think I mentioned they have moved around the corner from us, and their new home is amazing!! It's huge with an even larger backyard. You can't keep the little guys down, not that I would want to. I love that they have so much fun playing with each other outside, rather than being in front of a tv or playing on the Wii. At four and five years old, they have an abundance of energy to burn off before bedtime. They kept me laughing the whole day I spent with them, and we're anxiously looking forward to being with all of them this weekend. Their older brother turns 11 tomorrow, so that means a birthday party with a bbq and lots of friends over!

 

 

 

 

This past Wednesday, at my knitting group night, I cast on for a shawl/kerchief, out of my own handspun. Can I just tell you how awesome and luxurious handspun yarn feels to knit with? Ohmygosh!!! I joined a Knit A-Long with the Doubleknit podcast gals, Erin and Jessica. I chose to knit 'The Age of Brass and Steam', by Orange Flower Yarns, and I spun a BFL two ply sport to dk weight yarn to knit it from. It's an easy pattern that I've had queued for a couple of years now, and I'm happy to finally getting around to knitting it!

 

The whole idea behind the KAL, is to get our queues on Ravelry cleaned up. I managed to narrow mine down from 14, to a mere (sarcasm) 11 pages. I love that they are doing this!

Have you taken a look at the size of your queue lately? If it's gotten away from you, you might consider joining the Doubleknit podcast group on Ravelry, and get some of those items knitted or crocheted. It just might be the motivation you need. I know, it was for me!!