Eye Candy

Hi there

I feel it's time for just a few of my favorite new things and some eye candy, which I guess also are my favorite things!!!

                                             Destination for A+A's wedding June 20,2015
      Of course it will be a sunny, floral and summery day (xxxxxxx fingers crossed)

New Reading material

                                                      Lots and lots  and LOTS of FUN

                                                          Yellow tulips and the SUN

                                                               New fabric and buttons

                                           Better views--do you know I collect fabric?!

                                                             Sweater coming along

                                                             New theme for March

                                  Gift to self......love them........love red..........ON SALE!!!!!

                                  Last but not LEAST.........................Eye Candy, the edible kind

                                                                 (lots missing)

Thanks for popping in. Hope you all have a fabulous weekend and get to have some free relaxing time. Love your visits and especially your sweet comments.

xoRobin

and Jack           

P.S. We are off to visit daughter in Maine this weekend, can't wait. Then Storm on Monday  :  (

Photos say a thousand Words

Enjoy my wonderful week with my "Little's"!

I don't think words could say it any better than just some FUN photos

                                                                 Snowshoes and sleds

                                                        Snowshoeing the front yard Loop

                                               Yummy breakfast out---sugar high for sure!!!

                                                      Museum learning and making

                                                                    Abby snow Angel

                                                        Lizzy buried in snow by Sister

                                                                     Snow Bunnies

                                                                     Huge icicle

                                                                      Fort making

                                        Abby loves her sweater and so does Abigail Rose (AG doll)



As you can see it was a full half-week of fun, outdoor fun and play. It's so great to be a grandmother, I just love it!!! I cherish each and every time I get to be with them. Children really are a gift. Thank you so much for visiting my blog and sharing in my world with your beautiful comments and friendship. Life is good with all of you in it.

xoRobin

Getting Ready❤❤

I'm getting excited, "resting up", cooking some and getting projects ready to make!
All for my little Sweet❤'s

Here is one activity we are going to do that I wanted to share.

AND it's all because of the season and where we live. Making the best of all this White Stuff!!!

Just bought the little girls their own snowshoes. I haven't even put the poles together, I was so excited to post about snowshoeing. I have been trying to go out regularly with Jack. It's cold, but if you bundle up and then get moving you actually get warm! It's been fun and exercise for both of us.
Take a look.

 I love snowshoeing because you can just wear your own boots and clip yourself in. So easy and fast.

Love this picture and I'm not even a photographer! (sometimes I surprise myself)


Well, the big news is Thursday through Friday we are expected to get 8-12 more inches of snow. So there will be tons of snow when the kids come on Sunday! I'll keep you posted.....hope girls will be as excited as Nannie is  :  )

Off to knit some and read some. Take care sweet people, stay warm, keep creating and be well, xoRobin

                Happy Valentine's Day too! This is from a fabulous blogger, author and person (Susan Branch)  You won't be disappointed, I encourage you to visit her❤

Flowers Knitting Baking

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and is having a great start to the week. We had cold temperatures this weekend but we had SUN. It was so nice to see the blue sky, despite the cold weather. I have been seeing Robin's too. Did they forget to fly south?! It's way to early for Spring here, I just don't know, anyone else seeing Robin's who are living in a cold climate.
I have lots of photos to share with you today.
I have been enjoying my orchids of late, they are all doing so well and thriving in one particular window. If they aren't in bloom then there are buds. It so exciting. Here have a look

 Take a close look and you will see the buds too.

Here is my Amaryllis from the first bloom to the fourth and there is actually one more hiding!!

I decided to start a sweater for myself. I had an urge to make a sweater that could be a "go to sweater" and have a little challenging stitch also. This is a lovely pattern with a garter stitch and a Trinity stitch. The stitch is like a pompom and so much fun to make. I'm taking my time in making this and it is becoming a very relaxing project. It you are interested in the pattern let me know and I will let you know where you can find it.



In the winter I get much more domestic and enjoy cooking and baking. I have recently used my bread maker and made a delicious loaf of bread. Take a peek

                                                             So easy and so yummy!




Look what my lucky Jack got from the kitchen. Made on Sunday! My Hb would have rather enjoyed some cookies for humans!!! Can't blame him.....he has to wait for ❤ Day.

                                                            Don't these biscuits look hearty




I'm also reading a new book, "Goldfinch" by Donna Tartt. It is good so far, but I have a long way to go. Anyone else reading this or another good book?

Well, that's all for now. We are scheduled to get more snow on Thursday, so I will be busy with my errands before then, if I get stuck inside! Family coming this weekend and "Little's" staying for a few more days. Happy Nannie and Poppy!!
Thank you for following me and being interested in my blog. I enjoy all of you and all your sweet comments. Take care, stay warm and craft on!!


xoRobin

My new felted hat with dragonfly! It is soooo warm and beautifully made by a Vermont crafter.

❤More LOVE❤

Yes, I have more Love news. AMY and ANDY are now engaged! We are so very happy for them. They are a delightful couple and really compliment each other. Did I mention they are SO CUTE, too!

We started on the wedding location discussion and oh it is exciting. You will be hearing an awful lot of wedding talk in the next year or so.........  this photo was New Years Eve in Boston



We are in the middle of a blizzard today. Lots of snow, whiteouts and shovelling for me. Everything is cancelled except hospitals. Advisories to stay home and off the roads. Spring can't come soon enough for me. I'm forced to buy lots of these. So don't feel sorry for me.

                                                         Flowers A and A bought up

                                                                 Tulips I purchased

                   Making use of the flowers that did not die and featuring the daisies

                                                    The starting bloom of my Amaryllis

                          Love my new tablecloth, had to get rid of the winter seasonal ones!!!

Candles are lite, time to settle in. I see tea, knitting and reading for my afternoon.

Stay warm and cosy all of you. Thanks for popping in and sharing in my happy news. Be back soon with my orchids and knitting.

xoRobin

Sweater Weather

Boy, has it been cold in the New England area of the United States. Negative degrees in the early morning and nights. Most days we are just reaching 12-18F, not too much snow on the ground but we do have some and ice. My husband went off the road the other day, just due to black ice and negative degrees. Not to mention it's so early when he leaves the house they hadn't even sanded the roads yet.

He was fine, by the way, just an inconvenience and a scare when I saw him back at home again, without the car. Oh, forgot to say it happened just half a mile from home and it was in a ditch. We had to call Triple A to get towed out. But all is well and we are thankful it wasn't worse.

 So due to all this icy cold weather I get to wear all my warmest sweaters and have been knitting them too. Great to have yarn as a hobby with winters like this one. I finished (almost 8 year old) Abby's cardigan and am very pleased. Here's a finished photo.

                                                                     Abby's Sweater

Pattern: Heirloom Stitches, exclusively distributed by: deep south fibers   "Ragman"
This was a really fun pattern to knit up, very easy and a very classic design.

Made with size 10 1/2 knitting needles and 10 1/2 double tipped needles, Cascade Yarns 128 Superwash, 100% superwash merino wool
This is a size 10,  6-1 inch Buttons

                                                     Nannie's label, love to put labels on
                           Actually this is the truer color, lighting in the winter is never the best



Then I made this 18-24 month same pattern for a future baby. Planning ahead. It's just such a great pattern and baby sweaters knit up so quickly. The yarn is the same Cascade Yarns 128 superwash chunky.

                                     I added a crocheted border to make it more a baby girl cardi
                                                                            (picot stitch)


I think I'm going to make a sweater for myself next, if I don't get sidetracked with other projects. I can dream!!!

We all need flowers to brighten up our long winter days. Tulips have appeared at my local food shop so they hopped in my cart :  )

        My amaryllis is coming along and my Hyacinth also but it has been extremely slow..........
I've been trying to be patient, really I have........................

                                                                      Shear ICE

                              Forgot to mention there were two cars off the road, not just hb's
                                          (he would be happy I mentioned that detail, hahaha)



Well, "Me Ladies" I guess that's all for now. Do take care, enjoy your day, thank you for visiting and as always thank you for your sweet and cheery comments. They mean so much to bloggers, Right?!

xoRobin

Knittin' Crochetin' and Readin'

Lots of projects have been happening over the pass month or so. My kids sometimes put me to the challenge!! In this case, I received a text from Amy (but also sent to Kate and Leslie) (all daughters) Amy said mom can you make me one of these?! Then my phone keeps beeping, me too, me too. I said REALLY you want one of these. OK, I did a little ravelry searching and oh yes there were many free patterns......... so now I was being challenged. Now I had to try, because really my kids think I can do most everything, hahaha, so I picked out yarn from my stash and got my crochet hook...... within an hour this was created.

                        AND THIS

Why you ask........well I guess beards and moustaches are popular and all the Red Sox baseball players grew real ones, so fans picked up on it!!

 This is what it looks like, chained loops for ear attachment. Really quite a fun accessory for "kids"!
Here is the link if you are interested Beard



Next challenge was from Kate, via text. Amy and Kate and myself, for that matter, are Hunger Games fans of both the books and the movies. So Kate had just seen the second movie with Amy and I guess Katniss is wearing a cowl type shawl in the movie. Yup, you guessed it Kate would love one. Oh my, I didn't even know what it looked like so the search began again on Ravelry. I found a great
you-tube video here,  and the challenge was on! If you go to the frugal crafter, search for katniss cowl, she is great and entertaining too!  Here it is and Kate loved it on Christmas day. Although I don't have a picture, it did fit perfectly. It is both crocheted and knit. Body is crocheted and the cowl is knit.

Being blocked

                                                                         Knit cowl

This is a leaf pattern scarf, made originally from Meredith    It's a great pattern and really fast, easy and pretty.

                                           Knit is progress for Abby on her birthday in April.
                                                           It's a chunky knit cardigan



I said I would share the book I'm reading. It is "Life after Life" by Kate Atkinson. The book has been highly recommended. So far it's not my favorite........ but I will judge it again when I finish, it's only fair!                time passing.....................
OK, I finished the book and I do have to say I thought it was strange and weird, BUT many loved it, so give it a try and let me know.
Basically the main character dies many times and you get to see how things would turn out differently if this happened or if that happened. Just different!!!!!!!


Well, ladies and gents (if there are any) thank you for stopping in, love your comments, treasure you all and your kindness.

Be safe, keep warm and keep creating!

xoRobin

Love this photo, found it on my Facebook newsfeed.........did you know  A cardinal is a representative of a loved one who has passed. When you see one, it means they are visiting you. They usually show up when you most need them or miss them. They also make an appearance during times of celebration as well as despair to let you know they will always be with you. Look for them, they'll appear.

Needless to say, I've seen them in moments of need and I thank my mom and dad  xoxo