Yum

In spite of a very sore arm and feeling pretty punky I managed to pull off another St. Patrick's Day dinner yesterday. I don't think my malaise was from the vaccine as much as it was the stress of the day. I was a total wreck from start to finish. I barely slept a wink that night.  A big mug of Killian's at dinner and a full tummy helped immensely. The soda bread was amazing this year. Real buttermilk really makes the difference. So much for being a vegan. I definitely cheated with that soda bread.

While I spent the day curled up on the couch watching St. Patrick's Day movies on TCM The Mister finished his first paint by number. He's already got another one here and ready to start. He really is enjoying it and I am liking all the down time I get while he's painting. Win. Win.

I also had a surprise package show up from my blogfriend Sandflies. There is nothing like having a miserable day and then having a box of chocolate treats show up. Thanks Sandflies! You really made my day. 

 

A St Patty's to Remember

 

The Mister made good on his promise to get me some Killian's for today. We had to go to several drive thru liquor stores but we got some on Monday.

I had planned on spending the day pampering him because his first Covid Vaccine appointment was for yesterday morning at the mass clinic they were holding at the senior center down the road. They hadn't called me yet. We have different last names so I figured maybe I would be coming up later in the month. I've been in no hurry. I've been scared to death of the whole thing. 

We were home about two hours when the phone rang. It was the clinic asking if I wanted a leftover vaccine. I had to get there before they closed up shop so I put on my lucky red underwear, grabbed my lucky crystal and my copy of Claire Weekes for support and off I ran. Ever since The Mister got the call for his appointment last week I've been in one big panic attack so getting it over quickly without time for me to think about it was a blessing. I'm fine- just exhausted from the ordeal and need to calm my silly ass down. Whew......and to think I have to go through this again in a month. 

In case you are wondering about Claire Weekes-she's the woman who got my mother out of the house after almost 30 years of being housebound due to agoraphobia. Anxiety runs in my family like blue eyes run in others. It's just a fact of life around here and this lady and her wisdom made it all a little easier to bear. 

Tiny Needle Tuesday: The Rip It Out Edition

 

My knitting mojo waned a bit over the weekend so I was hoping to have some real progress to share on the Village Quaker but this is the exact moment where I realized I had miscounted the flower and now it's been ripped out. I did enjoy working on the little Quaker corner. If anything had to go I'm glad it's the flower. I am so over stitching flowers. 

I've been working on these flowers for almost 10 years so you can understand why I am over them. The constant switching of colors is a bore. That's what I like about the Quakers. Lots of one color stitching. I just may save that darn flower until the end and stitch it in then. There's plenty more stuff to do with that Quaker pattern that's a lot more fun than flowers. 

See what I mean? 

It wasn't a total waste of a stitching weekend. I got one more block on the squares quilt done. Only 11 to go now. 

I'm also almost finished with another row on the hexie table runner. I have to say that my paper pieces aren't half as good as Dad's were. My papers keep popping out which is annoying. Some people sew right through the paper to hold them in but I know he never did. I wish I knew his secret. 

Sleepless but Not in Seattle

 

I had one terrible night's sleep on Saturday. I tossed and turned but barely got a wink. The only thing I had energy for yesterday was my grocery pick up. Kathy B....look what I got. We traded hilarious emails last week over the lack of buttermilk for soda bread but this year I hit the jackpot. Even without Covid this stuff is hard to find around here but this year I've got some. 

I have raisins and caraway seeds too. I soak my raisins in whisky-fruitcake style. I'll be a soda bread making fool on St Patrick's Day. I love the stuff. 

I also got one of these for The Mister. I had told him not to count on one this year but one showed up in the order-with a sweet little cabbage and some potatoes.

The only fly in my St Patrick's Day order was the cupcakes. The Mister loves these mini cupcakes but they were out of the green holiday ones. He doesn't care about the color and they won't last until St Patrick's Day anyway but it still would have been nice to have them. 

So what's The Mister's contribution to the feast? He better be bringing home the beer.

All At Once

 

The woods haven't got the message yet. It's still winter out there. 

At least there is no ice on the little creek that runs beside the house. We had to clear debris out of it a few weeks ago when it got stopped up by floating sticks and branches. 

The sunny front yard is a different world. It's all in bloom. Both my tiny daffys and my big daffys are putting on quite the show. They've enjoyed the warm days as much as I have. 

The Camellias are also getting ready to pop. They were spectacular last year. If we don't get another hard freeze it's looking pretty good for this year too. 

More Finishes

 

I had about 10 minutes worth of knitting left on the Mosi mittens yesterday so now they are done. As I mentioned before, I'm not a big fan of the pointy top mitten look so my next pair, using my good Icelandic yarn, will be modified. 

It's not technically a finish yet but I have the body of Altheda done. Whew what a slog. I hope the sleeves go faster. It looks like a baby dress here but I assure you it fits. I tried it on.

I am getting closer to finishing Lofoten. That's the yarn I needed for the collar on the right. The Felici jumped in my cart and I can't wait to use it. I love those colors. It's Punch Bug. That needle is a 16 inch circ that I hope will work for the sleeves on Altheda because that unspun yarn is so hard to work with I can't imagine using Dbl points or even Magic Loop. I'm hoping my knitting fever continues long enough to get all this stuff cleared up. It would be nice to have some fresh starts in my future. 

Friday Finishes

 

One of my latest Arne and Carlos socks is done. I like this one. 

The Felici Two at a Timers are not finished but they are separated while they get their heels turned. 

I could have finished the Mosi mitten but I ran out of steam on that last little thumb. I've just got a few rows left but my brain was screaming stop so I did. I'll finish it tomorrow. 

The second arm ribbing is finished on Tracery. Now I have to pick up all around the fronts and the neck. I have no idea how I'm going to do that. It's a lot of stitches. 

In spite of the warm weather all I wanted to do this week was pick up the needles and knit and knit and knit. I never argue with my knit brain-I just do what it says.