Trees or Eggs

Just a few days ago I woke up to this.....

...and the strange urge to put up the Christmas tree!   Winter has lingered long and hard around here.  I love the snow, but I'm really need some quality outdoor time.

This morning was a bit different.  The sun was bright (after an amazing huge RED full moon last night) and the temps actually have made it up into the low 50s.                           

These tiny little daffodils were poking out of the front flower bed and a few lovely purple crocuses were up in the side beds.  Lovely Mocha made her appearance after being a no-show for 24 hours.  I worry about her.  She's nearly nine years old and has lived all her life as a barn cat.....a neutered barn cat, but  an outdoor kitty none-the-less.  She makes full use of the barn, upstairs and down, has tons of straw, food and water and many, many hiding places.  Well, she must have found one of those places yesterday.  I found the large "perpetual feeder" dumped over and emptied as well as two of the lawn chairs tossed over.  I know the raccoons and possums frequent the cat food offerings, but they usually aren't so destructive.

 

Carmella(below) also enjoys her outdoor time in the sun.  She more then any other of the "house cats" loves to be outside.

 

The sunny weather made my visions of sugarplums and candy canes fade away and I went to work on some eggs.  These are Prairie Schooler book #169 "Folk Eggs".  Don't know how they will be finished up yet.  Stitching has ground to a halt as I am totally out of DMC 3863 and the half-hour trek to Hobby Lobby or JoAnn Fabrics seems a bit of a waste for only that one item.

 

 

My ongoing obsession with Pinterest has yielded this vintage beauty. I love how the Victorians gave animals such human characteristics. 

May the Blessing and Joy of Easter touch all of you!

Welcome Spring (?)

So this is it?  This is Spring?  The view from our upstairs window yesterday morning.  It continued to snow all morning long.  It did manage to melt away in the afternoon "warming" to 37 degrees F.  For the first time in many weeks I actually had a day off on my day off!  Usually on non training days I fill up the afternoons with private lessons.  It had become a vicious fight amongst the parents to"capture" me for those 2 available hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I have temporarily "retired" from lessons.  A cooling off period for my adoring stalkers.

Being so cold and nasty outside meant that the good seats inside were in short supply.  This is just one of many photos where the cat varies in each shot from Roy and Carmella (shown here) to Coal and Twinsy later on and endless combinations of those four.

 

The good seats outside were occupied too.  This is an old cabinet on my porch that I use for garden supplies, bird seed etc.  The neighbor's two chickens have been hanging around our house for ages.  They eat anything they can find and poop everywhere.  Over the weekend they finally gave a little payback by leaving me 12 eggs...and another one on Monday.  Thanks so much to Barbara in Maine for all the advice on exactly what to do with these eggs.  I have been given farm-fresh eggs before, but never had any of my own.  I was so afraid I was going to kill(or worse yet EAT) a potential baby chick!  Barbara gave me all the hints and tips to figure it all out.  She also helped me in indentifying what breed these were.......American Black Copper Marans.

 

The chicken gifties were promptly turned into these.......................

Italian Easter Pies.  An old recipe from my grandmother it is sort of a cross between a quiche and a pizza.

 

On the crafting front I turned some of my Etsy sales money into yet another Etsy purchase.  This lovely yarn (and bonus freebie) are from the Etsy Seller MarigoldJen.  Lovely sock yarn in the color "Strawberry Lemonade"

 

This lovely skein knitted up into these even more lovely socks.

 

From another Etsy Seller SweetEmmaJean I bought the kit for these felt treats.  The package had been sitting around for a while, but with not much to be done outdoors, I started and finished quite a few indoor projects.  I think these cute little felt pies will go on to a wreath.  I have some mini wooden rolling pins to paint and add to it.  Then we need to get to eating some potpies to save the little tin pie pans to add as additional decoration.

 

I started..............

and finished another gymnast design.  This is Mariya Livchoka of Ukraine.  She still needs a Balance Beam beneath her feet.

 

My own gymnasts were able to keep the Balance Beam beneath their feet over the past weekend and win the District Championships for Level 4,5,6 and 8.  The Level 7 group took Second Place.  A marathon weekend of gymnastics, but very successful.  Unfortunately I am never able to get any good photos at competitions because I am right up there coaching.  Maybe I can steal a few from some parents and post them next time.