Lambing Season

After swimming with Teresa  I got this zoomed view of Mt. Hood from the parking lot in Gresham, Oregon

While Mt. Hood has a thick white cape of snow on it, there are signs of Spring in my yard.  The daffodil leaves are shooting up toward the sun and blossoms are forming in their swollen stems. Our Camellia bush must have exhausted itself blooming last year because it has very few buds on it this year, but those few buds are an encouraging dark pink.  Spring in our part of the world is surely on the way!

And guess what the UPS driver delivered to my house today!!!!  Lambs!!!!  Meredith reported that Fluffy Baa Baa [who traveled from here to Florida to join Meredith's household and be loved by her family, including their new son, Buddy] had four little lambs!!!!  Meredith, is convinced that the four little girls in my household will be loving shepherdesses for the lambs.  The lambs' arrival certainly generated a lot of jumping about and hugging!!!!  [These are the best of the blurry photos :) ] Baby Rose was tuckered out by all the excitement, but I think that Meredith is right, the girls will lovingly tend Fluffy Baa Baa's lambs.  Thank you for so generously giving them the chance to do so, Meredith.

Have any lambs arrived around you?

Gracie xx

Captivating [wip wed. 4.24.2013]

Have you a cup of tea at the ready?

I am longing for a visit with you.   

So here I am posting pictures of the beautiful Ruby shawl I am trying to crochet.  And isn't our cherry tree beautiful as it burst into bloom and is now releasing its blossoms in flurries?  And did you see one of our last red camelia blooms?  And then there is Mt. Hood in its beautiful snowy white cape.  And Clara Parkes who publishes the Knitter's Review, and has written some fibery focused books, is also in the interesting process of following The Great White Bale of wool through all the stages of its processing and writing about it. It is a beautiful story, to me, that I hope she will turn into a  beautiful book :-)

For a little over a week, I have been reading [with highlighter in hand]  the New York Times bestseller, Captivating, by John and Stasi Eldredge.  In it  I read, "...it is God who reveals beauty as essential to life.  You are the image bearer of this God.  That is why you long for those things too.  There is a radiance hidden in your heart that the world desperately needs."

What is beautiful in and around you?

xx,
Gracie

WIP 4.3.2013: Meet MMR-S

Meet Miss Maggie Rabbit-Saylor!  Over the warm, sunny Easter weekend, she acquired a pair of bloomers to match her flowered peasant dress.  Her face took on a rosy glow and yesterday she donned the pink, wool, silk capelet I knit for her.  I did not order a Miss Maggie Rabbit kit before Alicia sold out of kits, but I was glad I could easily buy and download the pattern.  I shopped at Craft WareHouse for the materials I needed and really enjoyed the whole process of making Miss Maggie. [Thank you, Alicia] In the first three photos besides Miss Maggie, you can see the beautiful blanket Shari gifted to me which I have draped over a chair by our fireplace when it is not wrapped around someone to warm them....such an incredible present from one of my talented blogging friends.  I will be forever grateful and in awe of her generosity. [Thank you again, Shari]

The weather Easter weekend was so miraculous for the Portland, Oregon, area...a splendid visual reminder of Christ's Good News as we welcomed the warmth and lively blossoms of Spring and turned away from the deadly frost of Winter.  My oldest granddaughters picked and brought in from our yard a bouquet of daffodils for me which infused my room with an heavenly scent~~~~~ My youngest granddaughter happily played near the spot of sunshine in my room in which Shelby Dog had found to bask herself;  and the Camellias, Wild Cherry trees, and Forsythia joined in the celebration as well :)

Such joy, I had to share with you!

xx,

Gracie

wip wednesday 2.13.2013

Sosae Caetano invited others to join her in posting about works in progress on Wednesday.  I do get excited seeing what others are creating and it encourages me to complete my long list of projects, so I decided to try to join in.  On the right sidebar I have links to others who are participating as well and I hope you will visit them.

The first picture in this post is of the moreno blanket I am knitting.  I have posted about it before, but it has grown since the last time I showed it to you...honest  =)  It is just simple straight knit knit knitting.  Most recently I watched Downton Abbey, and the State of the Union Address while knitting it.  I bought it as a kit from Morehouse Farm which is across the Hudson River and a bit south of where I lived for 15 years in Saugerties, NY.  I think that this February would be the perfect time to finish it and decide whether I am going to keep it for myself or gift it to someone.  For the photo I positioned it below the beautiful cotton blanket Shari crocheted and I won from her blog, Lauren's Closet.  She sent it to me around Christmas time along with a beautiful ceramic angel wishing Joy to the World.  I treasure Shari's generous gifts and she inspires me to want to complete more and more yarn projects.

Since tomorrow is a special time for some to give hearts and flowers, and our Oregon weather is a bit gray and misty, I thought I would share my first outdoor blooms of the new year with you, rosy red camellias!  I love that the bush is so close to my front window it benefits from the warmth of the house and rewards us with lovely blossoms in the middle of winter.

So Happy Valentine's Day, Family and Friends!!!

I am grateful for your part in my life.

Love with Hugs from,

Gracie