Anacortes

I have an amazing husband.  He gave his blessings for me to take a couple of days off.  I drove up to Anacortes yesterday, all by myself, and checked into a B&B.  When I got there, I didn't know what to do with myself.  No one to take care of, no chores to do - so I took a little nap.  Then I got up and went on a hike at Washington Park.  It was a good test for my recently repaired ankle.  

That evening I finished the book I've been reading for the past month, knitted, and wrote in my journal.  I slept like a log!  No one woke my up during the night, and I slept in as long as I wanted.  After a leisurely and peaceful breakfast I explored some of the views around the area and walked around town.

 
I bought some wonderful fabric at a quilting store, and some yarn and a pattern at a yarn shop.  (Of course, hubby insists that I finish the projects I have started before beginning new ones.)  After lunch, I felt like I had spent enough time away.  It was time to go home to my snuggly children and adoring husband.  Thanks, Dear, it was just what I needed!

 

Sick Cat

Our poor cat is sick again.  She had a serious illness last year at this time, and it has returned again.  Apparently when some cats get "stressed out" they stop eating.  Jaz' body burned fat to survive, but her liver couldn't process it and got plugged up with fat cells.  Her liver stopped working right, she got sicker, and ate even less.  It is a downward spiral that is fatal if not treated aggressively.  Jaz had to have a feeding tube put in and we have to give her food, water and medicine every couple of hours.  She is starting to perk up a little bit, and her skin is not as jaundiced, but she has a ways to go yet.  It is stressful having to remember her routines and keep an eye on her.  Poor kitty.

Growing Up

When did my little boy grow up so big and mature?  Here he is in my sister-in-law's wedding last weekend.  Seeing him in his little suit made this mama feel all nostalgic.  He's so handsome!  

And speaking of growing up, how did Laura get to be old enough to marry?  When I met my husband, she was just a little girl, maybe 8 or 10 years old.  Now she is a grown woman with a life and a husband.


 

My hubby got to walk her down the aisle.  Now that gave me a lump in my throat, too.  I don't know if it was just missing his dad (whom I never got to meet) or visions of future aisle-walking, escorting our daughter to her future husband.  Well, he is pretty handsome, too.  It was a wonderful wedding.

Annika will be absent from this event in our photo album.  She got the chicken pox and had to stay with the other grandparents.  Oh well!  That's life, I guess.
Here she is in the dress she was going to wear, and getting her first real haircut in preparation for the big day that she couldn't enjoy.

Tidbits

I've posted a more complete story of our hike to Lime Kiln Trail Friday on nwhikers.net.  Click on the link if you want to read more.

We got snow again today.  It melted by mid-afternoon, but it sure accented how much strange weather we've been having this winter.  I can't remember having this many snow events.  We had some giant flakes falling for awhile.  I kept catching myself gazing out the window, watching flakes fall, wind blow, light change and such.  

Annika's coloring has changed lately.  She has begun being more deliberate in her markings, and is starting to tell stories about the pictures.  This one has whales ad fish on it.  The whales are really happy.  The fish are, too.

I hope your weekend was refreshing and that your week goes well!  Thanks for stopping by.

Lime Kiln Trail

Yesterday a friend and I took our kids for a hike.  Here are a few photos from the day.  I haven't finished writing up my report yet, but I'll share more details when I do.

We had lunch at the trailhead.

The kids counted tree rings.

One of the prettier portions of the trail.

Annika picked off icicles to eat.

Best Friends.

Ant watching.

We found an old bird nest.  It had some coarse animal fur woven in what used to be the bottom.

Hot cocoa awaited us at the car.

Shifting Light

The sun has shifted in the mornings now, so that it shines in through the back door.  It made even the pile of laundry look more cheerful.

Random Thought for the Day

"What would you do if there was only one pickle left in the whole world?"

Discuss.

Man, I wish I had written down what we talked about when we had this conversation a few days ago!

Handy Mommy

Last week we had a plumbing emergency.  The part underneath the kitchen sink that screws the pipes onto the drain hole literally cracked and fell off.  Luckily, we discovered there was nothing holding the pipes to the sink before a major disaster occurred.  Since hubby was going to be gone all day, and I really needed to be able to use the kitchen sink, I took it upon myself to fix it.  I unscrewed everything (finding more cracked pieces in the process) and put all the yucky parts in a plastic sack to bring to the hardware store.  I got someone there to help me figure out what to get, and came home to fix the pipes.  Of course, I was missing one piece, so I had to wait until after nap time to go pick up the piece.  But then I was able to put it all back together.  Well, everything except I made one little mistake and then ran out of time before I could fix it.  Hubby helped me with the last details.  It was interesting, and I learned a bit about plumbing.  It's a good feeling when I can take on a project I know nothing about and take my time and piece it together.

How Many More Weeks of Winter?

I guess the groundhog was correct when he said we'd have six more weeks of winter.  The past few days have brought snow showers punctuated by the driving forwardness of spring.  I stepped out the back door this morning to photograph the powdery snow that had dusted the yard, when I found a surprise - several violets hunkering down under the miniature drifts.  These violets came from my neighbor across the street when she was cleaning out one of her beds and these had taken over.  They've hung on through two or three years of neglect.  I didn't remember them blooming so early.

We had such interesting snow today.  We had powder, pellets, floating down like dust motes in a sunny window.  We had large conglomerations of flakes falling heavily to earth.  We had sun that melted the snow as fast as it was accumulating.  We had blustery wind that made me think we lived up north somewhere, as it blew the snow sideways.  

Annika and I opted to walk to the library for storytime today, getting all cold and snowy but enjoying the fresh air and brief path through the forested greenbelt.  Annika mentioned how quiet and peaceful it is in the forest with the snow coming down.  I thought it was interesting she would notice such a thing.

We came back home to find a surprise on the doorstep - some Amy Butler notecards I won in a giveaway on CraftStylish a while back.

 I felt special to have something so fancy delivered to me. They are another reminder of spring on its way, no matter what color the ground is today.

Knitting Update

I realized I was seriously behind on showing off my knitting, so here are a few photos of what I've finished in the last month.

A hat for Annika.  It has a neat swirl on top.  It is the Family Rolled Brim Hat.

A hat for Gabriel.  It's OK, but I should have used softer yarn.  I gave it to him on the last day of school before Valentine's day.  

A hat for hubby.  He thinks it's a little short for his liking, but the yarn was so soft and gorgeous. 

And finally, some booties to go with my first ever hat, which I made for a friend's new baby.  These made me wish I had taken up knitting before I had children, so I could make them a bunch of teeny tiny booties and hats and other stuff.  Oh well!

My current project is a shawl for myself.  I'll let you know how it goes!  I'm about a third of the way done.  Hopefully I'll finish while I can still wear it this year!