Holly Baby has been in my life for 44 years.  I got her when I was two years old.  My parents were in a Coast to Coast hardware store when I latched on to her and wouldn't let her go.  My parents each told the other "I'm not going to take it away from her.  You do it."  Neither of them took her away and I still have her.  She is a 1968 Vogue doll.  She has a cloth body and plastic arms, legs and head.  She has gone through countless body replacements.  She traveled with me EVERYWHERE.

There was one incident when we had gone out to eat.  My mom had taken me to the bathroom and my dad paid the bill and was heading to the car.  He picked Holly up by her head and threw her under his arm, like a football.  Some lady ran after him accusing him of child abuse.  Imagine her embarrassment when she realized it was a baby doll.  My dad still gets a chuckle from that one!
Miss C has started playing with Holly.  I also have a bedraggled suitcase full of baby clothes for Holly most of which were mine (some were my brothers).  The suitcase was mine too.  So it's all ancient... or at least 40-something years old.
Sometimes I worry about how fragile Holly is and that something will happen to her.  Miss C does try to be careful of her though.  Although, I"m sure I can find another doll repair hospital if I needed to!

I am still reading The Cirque by Martin Van Pelt.  I am really enjoying his book.  Martin was a pilot I flew with many times before he retired.  The prologue of the book starts in 2032 after the funeral of one of the main characters.  Then the books goes back to 1984.  The book follows the two main characters, Rodney and Jaime who have been friends forever.  The paths parted for a number of years, but they are getting together for a week long backpacking trip to the Colorado high country.  In the other storyline is the group of drug smugglers who are bringing cocaine to a ranch in the mountains.  And that's about where I am in the story.

On Saturday two mamas and I went to the Interweave Yarn Fest in Loveland.  I went with the express purpose of finding yarn for the Stitch Block Cowl that our crafting group is casting on.  I was looking for worsted weight yarn, but found mostly sock yarn.  And some gorgeous sock yarn at that!


 Look at that lace!  This booth was from Fort Collins and had all lace weight yarn.  Most of it was cashmere.  Super soft, but such fine yarn that it would take me FOREVER to knit that beautiful shawl.  One of the mamas bought a skein of black cashmere for a lace shawl she's had queued some time now.

Look at those colors!  This booth had some great kits put together to go with their patterns.

I did find some very nice yarn for my stitch block cowl.  It was made with yak and very soft, but it was pricey.  It was going to cost me over $120 for the yarn I needed which to me was a bit steep (especially when I really want to buy yarn in NY).  So I put it aside and kept wandering.  I did find some great colors at the Fancy Tiger booth.  It is Quince and Co yarn in their Osprey line.  And it was more than half the price of the yak yarn.  SCORE! I think it's kind of funny in an ironic sort of way...Fancy Tiger is about 15 -20 minutes from my house and we drove an hour for the yarn show!

As we walked through, we talked of how it was good practice for us for October when we go to Rhinebeck.  We'll need a group text message so we can check in with each other but still go on our separate ways in our quests for the perfect yarn.  This yarn show was small enough that it was good practice for me so as to not be so overwhelming as I expect Rhinebeck to be!

{this moment}  
A Friday ritual.
A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. 
A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 
If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.


Happy Friday Friends!

*  We had our taxes done this week.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute.  I was bummed to find out we owe again.  The whole experience was rather deflating.  Apparently we are not having enough with held on our paychecks.   And then to top it off, the lady doing the taxes tell Miss C that she is doing such a good job sitting there (I had to take her Oma & Papa and Bryan were out of town) that she deserved an ice cream.  So that's all she could think about for the next 90 minutes.


*  Last Thursday we went hiking in the foothills just west of us.  It's a trail we hike a lot.  We were on the way down, Bryan was leading with Miss C in the backpack; I was next; and our friend was behind me with her 18 month old when she stopped suddenly.  I turned around to ask her what was up when she said, "just keep moving.  just keep moving."  I was standing about a foot away from this 4+ foot long bull snake.  Both Bryan and I walked right by it.  It had been sunning itself on the rocks.  Luckily after it startled me half to death, I realized it was a bull snake and not a diamondback rattlesnake.  Plus I'd like to think if it was a diamondback, I would have at least heard the rattle!

 I finished reading Debbie Macomber's Blossom Street Brides.  I like reading Debbie Macomber books, they are a fun, fairly easy read, but the characters just seem like friends that I'd like to hang out with.  I just started reading The Cirque by Martin Van Pelt.  I've had it on my shelf for some time now and feel bad I've not started it sooner.  Martin was a pilot who I flew with many times and always enjoyed hearing his travel journeys.  I have not opinion yet as I'm only ten pages in.
Happy Yarn Along Wednesday.

Bryan and I decided this past winter that we were going to plant grapes and raspberries.  We have to find a place in the front yard to plant the grapes.  Grapes are toxic to dogs.  Something in grapes (and raisins) can cause kidney failure.  Henley, the Goofy Newfie, eats strawberries out of the planter and apples & plums off of the tree, so I'm fairly certain he would eat grapes off of a vine.  Granted Henley weighs 150 lbs and it might take quite a few grapes, we just don't want to take the chance.  Anyhoo, we have to find a spot in the front yard that would be adequate to plant grapes.


Raspberries...we are getting some from a classmates parents garden.  He researched varieties that grow well in the Colorado Front Range and now has many offshoots that he dug up.  Since they spread (which is why he has so many to give away), we decided to build a raised bed.

We had some 2x6x8's in a stash pile.  We also had some 4x4's in that same pile.  We cut them in foot lengths to attach the boards to in the corners.  The hubs had to go to HD to buy a couple of more boards so that we could finish.    After we moved it into place an attached the end pieces, I lined the bottom with all of the newspapers we had in the recycle bin.  Next I layered chicken coop poop and bedding and compost.  I think we will have to go buy a load of dirt & compost to finishing filling the box.  I've never gardened in raised beds before so I hope this little experiment doesn't go south on me...

is actually a cat bed.

 But this kitty has decided the kitchen sink is a warm and toasty place to sit.

Happy Thursday my friends.

It's Wednesday again and that means it is time for the weekly yarn along.  I'm joining with Ginny and everyone to share yarn and books!   I spent some time trying to figure out the next step in Hitofude.  The problem I was having is that when I learned to knit a gazillion years ago I never really learned to read pattern.  I am more of a visual person and combine pictures with what the pattern reads.  There was no picture of this step in the sweater and I had a hard time trying to figure out what the pattern was telling me to do.  Several people told me to just have faith and I did.  So far it is looking good!
I just finished The Violets of March.  I really liked it!  Fabulous book.  Emily travels from NYC to Bainbridge Island after her divorce is final.  She plans on spending a month with her elderly aunt.  She finds a diary from 1943 in her nightstand but doesn't know who wrote it.  So she starts "investigating."  This book is a good mix of history and romance and mystery.
Happy Yarn Along Wednesday!

*  Last week I uncovered the strawberries.  Considering we had weeks of subzero temperatures that came and went this past winter, I'm surprised we didn't lose  more strawberries than we did.  It looks like we lost 5 plants.  I've been digging weeds in the veggie garden.  Why is it that weeds come up first?  I love that things are greening up, but really?  Weeds?


The rhubarb is coming up quite nicely and so is the horseradish.  Try as I might, I just can not kill my husbands horseradish.  I forget to water it for weeks in the summer.   I didn't mulch it last fall either and look at it...Green.

*  I have used paperbackswap.com for years to trade books with people.  Basically you post your books and if someone wants the book, you mail it to them and then get a credit for the book you mailed.  Then you can use your credit to request one from another member.  I logged on a couple of days ago to find that they'd changed the way the site works.  Now they have memberships.  You pay for the premium memberships, but the "Ala Cart" membership is still free.  Kind of.  With each credit you want to redeem, you have to pay $.49 for the book you request.  For some reason that irked me.  I have 13 credits, but now have to pay for each book that I want.  I've already paid (generally) $2.70 to mail the book I posted to get my credit and now I have to pay for a book?  I can buy books at the thrift store for cheaper than that.  I've decided I'm going to deposit enough money into my account to get my 13 books.  But I doubt I'll be posting anymore books.  OK.  Rant over!

Happy Thursday my friends!

It is Wednesday again and that means it is time for the weekly yarn along.  I'm joining with Ginny and everyone to share books and knitting!  It's been a slow yarn week.  I have been working on Hitofude.  I have learned so much with this pattern.  First I learned how to do a provisional cast on and then I learned how to do a 3 needle bind off.  I have just cast off one sleeve and am getting ready to do the other sleeve.