I pulled into the driveway last Friday after being away for three days.  Corrine was in the garage with Bryan "helping" him clean.  It hit me as I sat there watching, she is longer a baby.  That realization almost made me cry.
She started walking by herself a week ago and doesn't crawl anymore.  Soon she'll be sure footed enough to run.  All of our friends said to treasure every day they are babies because it goes by so fast.  Isn't that the truth?  We have enjoyed every day of her first year.  She will be an only child so we doubly enjoy her.  She makes me laugh every day.  Now at 14 months she is a proper toddle, toddling about and exploring all the little things life has to offer.

Once again, joining in the weekly Yarn Along.  It's all about books and knitting.  Two of my favorite things.  What are we reading this week?
The Maggie B was one of my favorite books growing up.  It was very hard to find, so I ordered it on Amazon for Corrine.  We got it last week and have read it a couple of times.  I've only just started the book about Elmo.  I look forward to reading it since we are watching a lot of Sesame Street.

What am I knitting?  I finally got around to buying a longer set of circular needles to finish the Radiating Star Blanket.  Each row is taking longer to knit, so I'm guessing it will take a couple of weeks to finish.  But I've started another blanket that will be log cabin kind of blanket.  I'm not sure if it really has a name, but it will use up a lot of the stash in my stash box!  And I really like the randomness of the colors.  Basically I'm using yarn by how much I need for each stripe.  The Radiating Star Blanket is too big to fit in my suitcase, so I had to start another project.  Soon that blanket will be too big as well and I'll need to start something else!
Happy Yarn Along Wednesday!

St. Patrick's Day is a HUGE holiday in our house.  On March 1st, I decorate.  I put up green lights in the window, hang the shamrock on the front door, and put out the green table linens.  I do much more, but it would take forever to list it all.   Occasionally we actually make it to the parade downtown.

My husband and I buy five or so packages of corned beef at the market while they are on sale.  We freeze them and eat them all year.  One year we bought enough to eat one a month.  Did I mention we love corned beef?  Tonight we are going to ride our bikes down to the local pub for corned beef dinner.

Bryan proposed to me on March 15th.  Proposal day had to be it's own holiday and March 17th was already taken!
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Of all the things that survive the winter in the garden are the things I really wish wouldn't.  I spend all spring and summer fighting the weeds only to find those suckers are hardy enough to live through the freezing and the snow.  Today I dug up dandelions and common mallow.  That is just what's coming up now.  Later in the life of the garden I will have common purslane (which apparently is edible and served in salads- not at my house), prickly lettuce and to my horror bindweed.  The bindweed is a gift from the neighbors.  Their yard is covered in bindweed and it spreads to my yard where I am fighting a never ending battle.

Once a week I am in the garden with my butter knife and spade weeding.  If I stay on top of it, then my time is actually very relaxing.  If the weeds have taken over my anxiety level increases.  Gardening is supposed to be relaxing!

Look at the size of those roots!  And of course they reach all the way to China.  There is no way I got all of the root so I'll have more dandelions later.
I wanted to get the weeds out of the way so hubby can rototill the garden later this week (while it is still in the upper 60's!).  That way I can start planting the early, cool weather spring crops!

We have been to the Doctors office everyday this week.  Last week Corrine had an ear infection and we put her on Amoxicillin.  On Sunday she was fussy and wouldn't eat a thing.  Monday morning she woke up like normal.  I changed her diaper and noticed a little rash on her side.  I didn't think anything of it and we went about our morning routine.  An hour later the poor thing was completely covered in hives.  So we went to the Dr. that afternoon.  Corrine is allergic to the Amoxicillin.  Luckily her ear infection had been cleared up.  Off to the pharmacy to buy some Benadryl and hydrocortisone cream.

Corrine had a sleep over with Grandma and Grandpa Monday night.  When she woke up on Tuesday morning she had puffed up and had angry red hives.  I called the triage nurse at our pediatricians office and she said we needed to bring her in right away.  Her poor little face was swollen as were her hands, feet and legs.   They wanted to check on her swollen joints to make sure they weren't going to be bothered.

I am once again joining in the weekly Yarn Along.  Books and Knitting!  Two of my favorite things!  This week I finished the second Aviatrix for Corrine's friend Connor.  I worked on the Radiating Star Blanket.  I decided to do the extended pattern since I used smaller needles (as that is what I had on hand).  Unfortunately I need to buy a longer circular set and haven't had time.  So I put that blanket down and picked up and old stand by.

This is a baby blanket that I started crocheting about two years ago for a friends baby.  I started it with stash yarn.  It is completely random.  I crochet a row or two in whatever color I pull out of the bag.  I like the way it looks and will finish it one day.  Since there is really no pattern or plan to it, I'll work on it until I decide it is big enough.  I'll donate it to the Linus Project since the intended recipient got a purchased gift instead.
I have not read a thing this week.  We have had busy days and by the time I sit down I'm ready for bed.  Happy Yarn Along Wednesday!

Our plan for Saturday was to head up to the mountains to attend Frozen Dead Guy Days (FDGD) and have chili dinner at a friends house.   FDGD's is a quirky little festival to celebrate Grandpa Bredo frozen in the Tuff Shed until he can be brought back to life.  Not kidding.  If you check out the above link there is an "About" page and it explains the whole kit and kaboddle.  They have a parade, coffin races, a polar plunge, music tents, and of course a tour of the Tuff Shed.

I happened to grow up in this quirky, offbeat, odd, beautiful, hippie community called Nederland.   I was living in Western Massachusetts 20 years ago when I read an article in The Boston Globe about Grandpa in the Tuff Shed.  I immediately called my mother to get an explanation about this embarrassing event in my home town.  News that had made it all the way to the East Coast.  I was mortified.  I was young.  Now I embrace this odd little community because growing up there formed me to who I am today.

Anyhoo, back to the plan for Saturday.  I was giving Corrine her morning bottle while watching the news.   Breaking news..."FDGD's outside events postponed until Sunday due to wind."  The wind was blowing (like it always does) with gusts over 45MPH and up to 60MPH.  The beer and music tents were destroyed.  The decision was made on the side of caution.  Disappointing.  But not the end of the world.

We still made the trek to our friends house for chili.  Dee-lish.  And perfect for a cold, windy afternoon.  It was good to see friends.  Some we see every week, others not as often as we would like.