Getting Ready...

The beautiful Shibui Baby Alpaca went from skein...

All soft in its loveliness...

To be unwound...

And rewound...

From swift to winder...

Into five tidy little cakes...

Waiting to begin...

"Happiness is a sunbeam which may pass through a thousand bosoms without losing a particle of its original ray; nay, when it strikes on a kindred heart, like the converged light on a mirror, it reflects itself with redoubled brightness.  It is not perfected till it is shared."
~  Jane Porter

blessings ~ tanna

Afternoon Armadillo

It was so beautiful yesterday afternoon.  We enjoyed a sunny 79 degree gift in the middle of winter.  I couldn't resist playing 9 holes of golf...  As I was walking along I noticed a little critter rooting at the edge of the fairway.

Yep, it was an armadillo... out digging around at 2 in the afternoon like no one else was there...

He let me get right up to him and I probably could have gotten a photo from the front, but I began to wonder WHY he was out in the middle of the day... like he was the only creature around... and then I considered rabies... (they may not even get or carry rabies... but, your mind will go places when things seem a bit out of the norm.  Ha!).  So, I satisfied myself with this little shot of his hind quarters.  Seeing him was a nice little surprise!  The golf was pretty ugly; but the afternoon was sublime!  AND, I got my walk in while doing something fun.

"Only when your consciousness is totally focused on the moment you are in can you receive whatever gift, lesson or delight that moment has to offer."
~ Barbara De Angelis

Hope you are finding a fun way to get moving this week, too.

blessings ~ tanna
ps TexWis I went to see the red-winged blackbirds on this hole!  NO blackbirds, but an armadillo!

Crossing things off the list...

Eight buttons.  That's what I need to call this one DONE!!  Poor thing... it is a motley combination of yarns and design.  But, I think it is going to become a snugly and comfortable old friend.

I didn't totally escape the crochet obsession... Couldn't help but add a little crochet shell edging to the collar.

The picot edging on the sleeves was part of the original pattern I started using... then there was the addition of a garter border... then slits on the side... then buttonholes... then a shawl collar... then crochet edging to that.  I'm even thinking of some after-thought pockets as it is blocking on the bed.

It really bears no resemblance to the sweater I was originally making... Isn't that how life goes sometimes?

My friend, Patrice, gave me this little ornament for Christmas.  Makes me smile sitting on my desk.

1099s are ready to mail out today.  Sweater ALMOST finished!!  I like it when things get crossed off the list.

"The essential conditions of everything you do must be choice, love, passion."  
~ Nadia Boulanger

blessings ~ tanna

Prayers for the North East tonight...

On busy days, I end up with some kind of one-pot-wonder for dinner.  Just depends on what's in the fridge and pantry.  I'm lucky; my Beloved loves these concoctions, which usually end up veggie heavy and healthy.  Very lean ground beef, onion, bell pepper, fire roasted tomatoes and cabbage... Spices and spices and spices... went into this one.  Warm and filling.  ;)

My heart goes out to our neighbors in the North East tonight and the next few days.  This blizzard is promising to be exceptionally brutal.  Prayers for all...

blessings ~ tanna

"But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear."  Matthew 13:16

MoJo to Go?

I was so excited to get the mail today!!  Such a bag of soft goodness!  Shibui Baby Alpaca...

Enough to see if a sweater can be created to match the image in my mind... I sure hope my MoJo is in there, too!!

I'm down to the placket on the Gardening Sweater...  and feeling motivated to finish.  =)

Have a wonderful weekend!

blessings ~ tanna

On bumps in the road and dropping the ball...

I dropped the ball on having a post every day this month.  Seems we make plans and life sends us a big bump in the road sometimes.  I've had a couple of days of feeling under the weather (does anyone know where that old saying came from?).  Really makes you appreciate how wonderful it is to wake up feeling good.  I am most happy to be doing that this morning!

Along with not getting my post done, I haven't gotten much done on The Gardening Cardigan either!  And, I was hoping to be finished before the Mojo Package got here.  ha!  Well, I'm off to tend things that have been ignored for two days! 

Hope you are all on top of the weather (whatever that might mean... though one must assume it would be better than being under the weather).  hee hee

"A pint can't hold a quart--if it holds a pint it is doing all that can be expected of it."
~ Margaret Deland
blessings ~ tanna

Surround Yourself...

I've always known how important it is to choose the people you surround yourself with wisely.  The older I get, the more I know this is true.   The dreamers and the doers.... the believers and the thinkers... Yep, those are the kind of people I like to be around!!

But, more important than surrounding yourself with these kind of people is attempting to be a person who surrounds others with the same...

As the Little Men would say, you can be a bucket filler or a bucket dipper.  I love when they tell me they were bucket fillers... Just hearing that fills my bucket, too.

May you fill and be filled in the emptying of your own...

blessings ~ tanna

Refuge...

As much as I love sunshine, there is something about a cool, gray, misty, foggy morning that delights my soul perhaps even more...

There is a softness... as though heaven has pressed in just a bit closer... just enough to kiss the earth...

There is a quietness... in sound... in color... in my heart. 

And, the wet, earthy scent... ahhh... Thank You, Father, for this beautiful day.

"Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." Psalm 34:8

blessings ~ tanna

Empty...

My yarn bowl has sat empty for a good while.  Though I've been doing a bit of crochet, my knitting mojo has waned.  I've searched high and low for inspiration... I would see something and almost get interested enough to start... then nope... not feelin' it... almost get interested... then NOPE... nothing. 

Last week, I dragged out a LONG UNFINISHED project (still not The Unloved).  It was a sweater I started in my early knitting days... I used a VERY different yarn than the pattern called for... came out with GORILLA sized arms; frogged and re-did it; and, probably then, realized I didn't have enough yarn to finish it. 

In desperation to get myself moving forward, I found some yarn that will WORK to finish it.  Now, it is NOT going to win any glamour awards.  But, people, I need to get back on the train!  And, function will serve me nicely.  It will be my Gardening Cardigan.  ;)

I NEED to get going again BECAUSE, I have seen ONE sweater that has stayed and stayed and stayed on my mind after seeing it on a TV show.  I don't even remember exactly what the show was... but, the lady had on this gorgeous white sweater... just a bit of lace pattern...

And, I have searched out a yarn I THINK will be like I remember that sweater... and found a pattern, not exact but similar enough... I THINK.  I ordered the yarn and am hoping my knitting mojo will arrive in the same package.  Until then, I'm going to try to force it back with the Gardening Cardigan.  ;)

"You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it."
~ Margaret Thatcher

blessings ~ tanna

Phillipians 4: 8

"... whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things."
Philippians 4: 8

Saddle Up...

The sun is shining!  Saddle up and ride hard into a wonderful weekend!!!

 Blessings ~ tanna

Smiles...

Early morning light on my "woolies"...

Text photos:  Miss B still enjoying her LAST year's Christmas present... a blur of busy-ness!

Our Roo Bear still sporting his last year's hat... holding a Hexibug treasure!  ;)

Just taking a moment to be especially grateful for a few things that made me smile this week...

"I have come to understand that every day is something to cherish."
~ Kerri Strug

blessings ~ tanna

Sweet Heavenly Sunshine...

Sweet Heavenly Sunshine... oh, how I love to see you streaming through my windows...

"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix." 
~ Christina Baldwin

Though I'm slow to most change, I'm very grateful for the weather change today.  Everything's better with a little sunshine!

Blessings ~ tanna

Bah-Nilla to "Not Bad..". Exterior Changes

So, this was the "before" of the Big Bah-Nilla's front door...

Plain white... No shutters... The recessed doorway made it really plain...

The "during"... Enter new doors... These were discontinued at a local lumbar yard, so we got a really good deal.  I have LOVED this type siding forever... there isn't much; but, for me it made all the difference... 

Note:  this was not a DIY project for us... brick had to be knocked out... openings resized... You get the picture.   We used Healey Homes and were very happy with their work. 

The "after"... shutters were made from the same cedar we used to trim out the door.  Siding was painted Anew Gray by Sherwin Williams.  We used Black Fox to tint the stain for the door and shutters.  And, stuck to white trim because of the windows and gutters, which are white.

The entrance is still recessed... But, at least now it makes you want to look a little deeper into the hole... LOL... This was taken before we had put on the new hardware; somehow, I managed to DELETE all my post remodel photos (these are from my phone) and it is just too cold and dreary for me to make more today. 

Where the Big Bah-Nilla used to be just plain Jane... Now, she's "Not bad..." This spring and summer I hope to tackle the landscape issues and create some welcoming features.  The list never ends...

Linking with Kim's Wow Us Wednesdays... A treasure trove of ideas.  ;) 

blessings ~ tanna

Afghan or Jacket?

The little stacks are growing at a slow but steady pace... I have 51 squares and the afghan calls for 77.  Good progress.  Yea!  Then the dilemma... one of the first thoughts I had yesterday morning was that I could probably fashion a kimono-like jacket out of the squares INSTEAD of an afghan.  Why does my mind have to do these kind of things?!

Jennifer at Rose Path was kind enough to order some Madelinetosh in Courbet's Green for me to assemble the pieces... It probably won't be here until March... {sigh}... I can tell I'm going to need another project to keep me occupied.  A long time to ponder... afghan or kimono???

Any thoughts?

"Know what you want to do--then do it.  Make straight for your goal and go undefeated in spirit to the end." ~ Ernestine Schumann-Heink

If only there weren't detours... ;)

blessings ~ tanna

The Wedding Hankie... and Missing Out

We all know what it's like to get "sucked in" to doing something we don't really have time to do... don't really have interest in doing... don't really need to do...

So it was with the Linen Seminar I recently attended... There was only one other lady and me... And, the little lady teaching was so nice... You see how it happened, don't you?

If I had not given in and done it, I would have missed out on this beautiful piece of art...

EVERY stitch is done by hand... in the Appenzell style (see I learned something).  It is simply exquisite in a way I cannot begin to capture... You need to touch it to really "see" it.  My mind spins imagining the time and artistry that went in to this piece.

The linen is so fine... almost translucent... light as a feather...

Makes me wonder about the bride, too... and her wedding... her life...

I couldn't resist this small pink and gray table cloth and four plain napkins... Though it is simple in comparison to the wedding handkerchief, its stitching is pure perfection as well.

Nor could I resist the vintage "Vera" kitchen towels.  I learned that Vera was a designer in the late 1950s and used her Ladybug Signature on all of her designs through the mid 1960s.  I just loved the colors!!  No handwork on these... but, I was captured by color again!  Ha!

I was told that Vera gave a young designer one of his first jobs... his name was Ralph Lauren.

Sometimes good things come of doing things you'd rather not... ;)

Sometimes, you just need to say, "No, thank you."  ;)

blessings ~ tanna

Luke 5: 16

"But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." ~ Luke 5: 16

Sneak Peak and Easy as Pie

In trying to help the Big Bah-Nilla become a little less plain, we changed the front door and entry area.  This is just a little sneak peak.  I love the front after the changes... still need to "decorate", but I'm never very quick at that... I tend to be better at dealing with the bones... not the make-up.  ;)

And, the Easy as Pie is the scarf/wrap I made just before Christmas.  I needed more of my simple-repetitive-task therapy and decided use a H hook, start with 62 fdc (foundation double crochet) and keep going as far as my two skeins of Noro Silk Garden Sock would allow.  I am pleased with the outcome of the simple project...

I love the colors... and the generous size...

And, I already know I will love it for summer, too!  Can you tell I'm still Summer Dreaming???  ;)

"As simple as it sounds, we all must try to be the best person we can:  by making the best choices, by making the most of the talents we've been given."
~ Mary Lou Retton

Sometimes simple is enough...

blessings ~ tanna

Our Little Tomboy: Texas Girl

Do you see those horns on the right... Our Little Viking Princess?  All she wanted from Santa was this BIG black truck!  Yep, our little two-and-a-half-year-old Daddy's girl is a bonafide tomboy.  She is allowing her big Sis to have a little behind-the-wheel-time  while she kicks back and enjoys the ride.

I'll have to share a photo of my favorite old toys (unearthed in the move) one of these days.  Suffice to say, you shouldn't be surprised by her tomboy ways considering her gene pool.  And, she stashes chocolate.  Hee hee.   Just gotta love her to pieces! 

"Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey." ~ Barbara Hoffman

Take the road less traveled... blessings ~ tanna