Early Spring Crafting

Welcome!  I'm so glad you stopped in for a visit and I hope you will leave a comment and let me know you were here.  February had some lovely sunny days and I was happy to see Mount Hood, near Portland, Oregon, peeking over the roof of my unit one day.  It looks tiny, but a few blocks away it is visually vast!  I don't understand the science behind the difference I see here and there.  I just love seeing Mt. Hood in all its snowy wonder and would love for you to see it in person if you haven't.

Bouquets of delightful cheery Daffodils like these at my neighbors are opening in the area around me.

The pretty purple Hyacinths by my front step are opening beautifully although I have not smelled them scenting the air yet.

These trees near where I park my car are beginning to beautifully bloom and I have been enjoying seeing other trees in the area around me fully displaying blooms of pink or white, promising Spring is coming.

My four Dianthus plants defied being frozen in their mid-sized clay pots on my patio this winter, and have been producing sweet-spicy scented blooms since last Spring!!!!  I currently enjoy this little posy of blooms balanced in a little clear jar on my kitchen windowsill.  Amazing!!!!

The facilitator of our once a month worship art group at church challenged us to choose a Bible verse about God as our Refuge and illustrate it.  I thought about the image of God hugging us in His embrace as a mother hen spreads her wings over her chicks.  That image prompted me to remember the chicken range on our research poultry farm when I was a child.  Little chicken coops dotted a fenced in field. They were closer to the ground and not solid wood like I painted, never-the-less whatever they actually looked like they were there so that someone could coax the chickens to huddle inside them at night to protect them from predators.  No baby chicks were ever out there although I painted in the lower right corner of the picture some primitive brown and yellow blobs that are meant to represent a mother hen with her wings outspread to her chicks. The process of meditating on God as my refuge, my Immanuel, with me in all my circumstances even if my pencil sketching, watercolor did not conform to the internal images I imagined, was humbling, comforting, leaving me ruefully smiling.

This past month, my stitching has been invested in five projects.  I added more rows to two blankets not pictured here.  The project on the left is my first attempt to make a provisional cast on for a sock that is to go on a 9-inch circular needle.  I looked at a YouTube video for instruction.  I started knitting another purple dishcloth and am closer to completing it than this photo shows.  Then the completed crocheted double thickness potholder on the right is my one little Ta-Dah!

This Oxalis (Shamrock) plant I purchased last Spring nearly expired.  I noted when reading my friend Teresa's posts that when her Oxalis plant was doing poorly she put it out on her patio to recover and it did! I tried similar treatment for my plant by putting my plant out on my patio in the summer. Can you see the plant's two little white flowers in this photo I took recently?  I like how this view highlights the pretty pink in the underside of the leaves as well.

How are you in the season of life you are in? 

I happened upon these promising words it is recorded Jesus spoke before his death and resurrection.  They encourage me, and I hope will encourage you.

““I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.”

‭‭John‬ ‭14:27‬ ‭NLT‬‬

https://www.bible.com/116/jhn.14.27.nlt

Gracie xx

Closer to Spring

How have the days in your part of the world been?

In Boring, Oregon, USA, we have been marching closer to Spring with rain showers down in the valley and a bit more snow on Mt. Hood.  I stopped by Jonsrud viewpoint in Sandy one misty day when Mt. Hood was barely visible to the east of the Sandy River to take a photo to show you.

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard let me get a photo of them perched on their favorite downed tree in the front pond, but I did not see the Wood Ducks visiting them that day.

Our one Camellia bud is opened a bit more, our Daffodils are still dancing around our tree, and our Forsythia bush is a fountain of gold blossoms.
My youngest SIL cut several branches of the bush for me so that I could wind them into one of my vine wreaths in exchange for the dried prickly Holly I had put on it just before Christmas.

We planted a few more plants on Saturday: two Carnations, some Crawling Mint, a small Lilac bush, two Dianthus and two other new to me plants with long names I can't remember at the moment, but hope they are hardy enough to survive our gardening.

I found a little Shamrock plant at the grocery store and am hoping I can help it thrive indoors year round.

Two year old Rose came to me requesting me to put her hair in pony tails, the other day, and I thought you might enjoy seeing the result :)

Baby Ian, my newest friend in CA was born several months ago, and I wanted to make something for him to celebrate his birth, and found the pattern for a crocheted baseball cap HERE.

Wishing you happy marching into whatever season you are in!

xx
Gracie

Rooted and Grounded in Love

 Happy Leap Year!  As I type to you on February 29, 2016, I am not doing any leaping or following any sort of leap year custom. I am just noting the once in every four year extra day :)

However, at my worship art group on Saturday the theme of our project was being rooted and grounded in love...thus the reason for my post title.  The bottom right picture was the work of our group facilitator.  I think it is fascinating to see how the rest of us launched from her example to our own interpretation. [Mine is the upper middle.]

 Across the street from the church some of the trees are showing pink blossoms, and a Camellia bush has pink blooms.

 I have been experimenting with this recipe, using smaller loaf pans than suggested.

 This yarn leaped into my shopping cart recently because I thought it would make a nice preemie blanket, and it will, but I forgot I was looking for worsted weight yarn and this is fine, so I had to go down from a size 8 to a size 6 of my KnitPicks circular needles.

 This morning my oldest SIL, Jason, alerted me to the presence of ducks on the front pond!  I have seen Mr. and Mrs. Mallard frequently, in the last few weeks.

 However, this morning they briefly had visitors!

 Their plumage is so interesting!

 Our Daffodils are beginning their colorful dance around our tree, even though it is cloudy out.

 The Primroses from last year are filling out beautifully.

 The Hyacinths are opening up although I could not catch their sweet scent this morning.

 The hedge of Camellias across the street at our neighbors are blooming in pretty shades of pink.

This past week I got some more Primroses, too, since they seem to like it here :)

As I type, I know that some of you are dealing with illness or great loss, and I am holding you dear in my thoughts and prayers.

What are you finding rooted and grounded in your lives this week?

Gracie xx

Flowers, Family and Friends Fairing in February

One perfect pink bud is on our Camellia bush which got a thorough pruning last year; while across the street our neighbor's Camellia hedge is becoming a profusion of pink blooms.

The Hyacinth bulbs I enjoyed seeing and smelling indoors last Spring, and then planted outside after the blooms were spent, are preparing to scent the air out in the garden with their pretty purple blooms.

The Daffodils in our yard are leaping up toward the sky to reflect the yellow sunshine as they dance around several trees. [I am a woman of faith in God who believes that He will provide enough sunshine...even in this rainy season in Oregon, so that we will see yellow Daffodil blooms]

A flower pot full of Snow Drops from the kind Kasner's farm will soon be planted in our front flower garden, and a new puffy red crocheted heart from Teresa has joined the loving blooms on my indoor heart bush.

In February I have faired better at receiving than giving gifts. I am grateful for the many lovely gifts [cards, calls, and Facebook notices, too] that have been given to me to help me celebrate my sixty-fifth birthday. I enjoyed making a Queen Anne's Lace scarf out of Knit Pick's Billow 100% cotton yarn to help a good friend celebrate her...much younger...birthday. I finished the preemie blanket I made as a gift, sent off a book and a card, but I have more gift giving to do!

One afternoon, Mary Kathrine, my oldest daughter, made a lovely tea for her four-older-little girls.  The menu included apple slices, raisins, and heart-shaped slices of carrot.  She took a carrot and carved it into a heart shape log which she then sliced.  Brilliant!  I was so impressed.

So far in February, our family friend, Grantie, took me out to tea at the sweet English Garden Tea Cafe in nearby Clackamas, OR.  Another friend treated me to lunch, I met friends at another restaurant for lunch, and my youngest son in law treated me to a delicious lettuce wrapped hamburger from one of our favorite hamburger shops.

 We have had three special dinners at home celebrating birthdays and Valentine's Day in February, and for my birthday for the first time, baby Sarah sat next to me in a highchair while we ate.  Note that she is a girl after this Gramma's heart; she is a sheep hugger!

Thanks to those of you who offered prayers and good wishes for us.  All four of us who caught the last cold virus are much better.

How are you and yours fairing this February?

xx
Gracie

Daffodilly Days

We have some Daffodils in our yard, but our neighbor has a large patch of them and kindly brought over a bucketful to share with us.  These are in my room.

These are in the dining room.

Then he brought more varieties to share with us~~~~lovely fragrance~~~ and sunny colors :-)

This is the park off of Palmquist Ave. where our family has been walking recently.

One of my rewards for walking is catching a glimpse of Mt. Hood which I zoomed in on my camera so you could see better.

In  a previous photo there is a lovely little tulip tree in bloom in the park,  and I enjoyed seeing these trees in bloom on a street adjacent to the park.

The weather has been so beautiful it has been difficult to stay inside, so I recently drove down to nearby Dodge Park to see how Spring is springing up there...not with flowers, but beautiful green in some of the trees and grass and sparkling rippling water that is to me somehow both soothing and invigorating to watch. Do you know what I mean?

Then winding my way home I passed this farm which I have photographed before at this time of year, but I am not certain of what road I was on.  I kind of meander along various roads aimed in the general direction of home and eventually get there, but get so caught up in enjoying viewing the scenery I forget to note the name of the road...maybe next year :-)

My youngest son, Tim, indulged my whim and drove toward Mt. Hood on Sunday after church and I was able to snap this photo.

Last week when Tim was hiking near Mt. Hood he took this photo of a lenticular cloud.  I have seen them several times over Mt. Hood and find them so interesting.

This weekend I have been crocheting and knitting hats for Taci to take to Brazil this summer when she goes to visit her family there.  For years Taci's mom has been providing hats and blankets and such for needy newborns near her. If you would like to send some with Taci, she would be glad to take them.  I used Teresa's pattern to crochet the hat on the right and love it's pretty shell pattern.  To knit the hat on the left, I am using the pretty stitch marker Teresa made for me to help me keep track of the pattern Linda gave me.  I have not used dpn to knit in years and fear that I did not make a tight enough cast on row.  I am thinking I could crochet an edge on the cast on row to finish it off more evenly...what do you knitters-crocheters think?

Wishing you a happy week wherever you are!

xx

Gracie