happy feet

The weekend has been filled with relaxing days spent riffling through my studio/office as I look for a new project to start now that my socks are finished. I had just enough yarn left over from the socks to make a square for the baby blanket that I've been working on for years.

Every time I let Bree out the back door she spins out like a Tasmanian devil and barks in all four directions. This barking usually abates after about thirty seconds. She was especially amusing this morning. I tiptoed onto the frigid back porch to open the door for her and she immediately sprung out and picked up one of her favorite throw toys and started barking. Of course she couldn't really bark with the toy in her mouth, but she wouldn't drop the toy. Funny and cute. I'm sure the neighbors were relieved.

I made my husband takes pictures of my new socks this morning and Bree had a lot to say about that too. Oh, the joy of having a sheltie.

Hope you have a lovely weekend.

XOXO

Jill

post valentines

Post Valentine's weekend and it's been a busy week around here. The sub ((sub)) zero weather has kept me tucked in tight either at the office or at home. Over the weekend I made a wonderful pho soup that warmed us up through and through. I started with a bone broth base that I simmered for over twenty-four hours, then I added the fresh veggies, herbs and rice pasta. Recipes can be found here and here.

I love a big bowl of fragrant noodles.

The orange roses have kept me cheerful all week. My orchids finally dropped all of their blossoms, so it's nice to see a friendly (blossoming) face. We're gearing up toward the weekend. Hot on our list is filing our taxes and snuggling in for another chilly stretch of February nights. I'm reading a good book right now:  Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald. The 1920's settings in New York, Paris and St. Paul, MN have got me enthralled.

I got the fabric samples from my work. I'm not sure if I can sew them into anything, all of the pieces have different tensions and weaves and I'm not sure how the finish piece would lay out, but I'm going to give something a try. Maybe a dog bed for our puppy? I love the colors. 

Friday tomorrow! Hang in there, everyone.

XXXO

Jillian

painted sky

It's strange how when I'm working on a certain project, I see the colors of that project in the world all around me. Hot pink is a fairly difficult color to pull out of the landscape in February, except for when the sky lights up over the rooftops at sunset.

G had to work this weekend, so I've had the house all to myself. I did some cleaning and then I dove into my knitting and yarn and played around in the kitchen. We got a waffle maker for Christmas from G's brother and we've been using that thing like mad. We discovered blueberry waffles a few weeks ago and it's become a Sunday morning thing. I freeze the leftovers to eat during the work week.

After a season of silence here on the blog, I find myself coming back alive. We had a pretty rough fall on the family-building side of things, but now we feel a renewed sense of hope as new doors - or is that a window?? - have opened up. As soon as hope started creeping into my life again, I felt my spirit lifting and my creative animal starting to stir.

Now I want my yarn and my paints and I want to make a mess in the kitchen all in the name of blueberry waffles and I want to take goofy pictures of the dog - if only she would sit still.

I read a good book this weekend: "First Frost" by Sara Addison Allen. I started it on Friday and finished it on Sunday morning. It's a sequel to her first novel and I really enjoyed following up with her characters a few years down the road.

XOXO

Jillian

winter weekend

We went to a bed and breakfast in Stillwater, MN at the end of January. I have never been to anything like that before, the house was beautiful. We had a fireplace and an hot tub in our room. For dinner in the evening we went to a grill house and had chicken wings and burgers. We stopped by a yarn shop. That's where I got the yarn for those hot pink socks.

I think this is the first time in the history of my blog that I haven't posted for one whole month. Times have been busy at work and at home. G has started up grad school again. With that, his day job and his other activities we've both been running around like crazy people. Our third anniversary was earlier this month.

The winter here in Minnesota has been sorta boring. No large accumulations of snow and no terribly cold weather (except for the past three days) to report. Cold, with no snow - where's winter?

As you can see - I've been knitting. I had to return the pattern book to the library for the mittens that I was working on above. I was so busy at work that I forgot to copy the pattern before the library book came up due. So I had to return it. I'll check it out again to finish off the mittens. For the socks - I know that pattern by heart.

I hope you're having a cozy February night, wherever you are.

XOXO

Jillian

december days

Here's an assortment of photos showing how we've spent this December. There have been trees and cookies and lots of knitting.

We had a great time decorating the tree and discovering ornaments we made decades ago. The one above is one my husband made when he was just a boy. I love the old glitter and glue.

Well, still only two stockings next to the tree this year. Here's hoping we can add an additional one before this time next year.

I didn't get my Christmas wish . . .

Sending love:

Jillian

let it snow

It's kinda weird, but I only like listening to holiday music when I'm riding in the car with my husband. I told him that the other day (as we were driving) and he thought it was funny.

"Why" he asked me. "Didn't you always like Christmas music growing up?"

"Yah," I said, "but I really like sharing it with you, because Christmas has become so special to me now that we're together."
One thing I haven't told him is that there are certain holiday songs that I consider to be "our" holiday songs. I don't think this is too off the wall considering that we got engaged in December one year and married in the January of the next. Some of the most important events in our connected lives have revolved around the holidays.

Christmas trees make me think of my wedding dress and the sparkling gold and silver shoes that I wore on my wedding day (that killed my feet) but they were so pretty. Totally worth it.

Happy December!

Jillian

a walk

Quick, while the leaves are still on the trees, snap a picture! We got out for a walk this past weekend. So many people have commented how wonderful this autumn has been. The leaves seemed to glow bright for weeks and weeks.

It's a rainy and windy day today and the leaves are finally gone. I miss them, but from what I hear we may be expecting a dash of snow this upcoming weekend, so that will add some excitement to the landscape. I've already noticed that the advertising around me is turning to snowflakes and holidays. November is always a month that seems to pass in a flash for me. We have a party at work this upcoming Monday and then the real celebration happens at the end of the month.

I've been making comfort foods. Lamb and spinach lasagna, warm, crusty bread and soups. I love it when a pan of leftovers saves dinner after a busy day at work. All you have to do is pop a plate in the microwave and in a few minutes you have a meal sitting on the table. In just a few weeks we'll all be trying to figure out what to do with the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers. Bring on the turkey and the stuffing!

I've got to find more ways to get both Garrett and myself in these photos. I've realized over the past few months that I'm posting just me and Bree (because Garrett took the photo) or just Garrett and Bree (because I took the photo) or just Bree! I've been trying to get a good shot of us all for our holiday card, but so far I've had no luck.

I'm busy today with home study renewal stuff. We need to go in for our annual sit-down interview with our lovely social worker, Kathi. The biggest thing that happened to us this past year was the adoption of our rescue dog, Bree.

Sending love,

Jillian