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Bloody
Posted on | February 28, 2010 | No Comments
God only knows why, but this was how I felt compelled to spend a chunk of the weekend before my hand surgery: Making a big batch of blood orange marmalade. Bags of these treats show up in our local Trader Joe’s for just a few weeks at this time of year, and I always pounce [...]
Happy Anniversary
Posted on | February 22, 2010 | 1 Comment
My long-suffering husband and I have been married thirteen pretty wonderful years as of today. Last night we went out for dinner to celebrate at a local restaurant where the staff spoiled us rotten; they seemed so happy to see us, and were so attentive that it seemed almost ungrateful to quibble over the weak cosmopolitan that had been described [...]
Texture Is Everything
Posted on | February 20, 2010 | No Comments
And I am especially reminded of this in the spring, when carpets of green hills roll out all around me, dotted with the brilliant yellows of mustard and daffodils in bloom. Closer to home, my garden is a veritable encyclopedia of knitting inspiration; between the color combinations assembled by Mother Nature and the textures of [...]
I’m Knitting As Fast As I Can
Posted on | February 18, 2010 | No Comments
And I am doing so because in less than two weeks I’m having another – and I hope the last – hand surgery. How crazy is it to keep knitting when I’ve already had four of these surgeries? No, don’t answer that. The answer is obvious even to me, obsessed with strings and sticks as [...]
Spring Has Sprung
Posted on | February 15, 2010 | No Comments
That headline will look extremely strange to those of you on the east coast, where you are still enveloped in at least a foot of snow. But out here in the Bay area, today’s temperature is 60 degrees and the garden has taken note: While in transit last week, I got halfway through Hilary Smith Callis’s [...]
Faint Heart Never Won Fair Maid
Posted on | February 14, 2010 | 1 Comment
… sounds like a newspaper headline ripped from the seventeenth century, doesn’t it? Thank you for that romantic declaration, Mr. Shakespeare. My own DH, never faint of heart, surprised me with an addition to my transferware pitcher collection for Valentine’s Day. It was a most unexpected and welcome surprise, since I’ve been on a shopping diet [...]
The Sap Is Rising
Posted on | February 10, 2010 | No Comments
It doesn’t look like much, but the plum tree is budding out. I’m encouraged, since last year it nearly succumbed to a strange infestation of what looked like tiny aphids, resulting in leaf curl much like that which occurs on the peach tree if it doesn’t get all of its sprayings during the dormant season. These [...]
Mellow Yellow
Posted on | February 8, 2010 | No Comments
While I’m out and about visiting family this week, let me share what’s happening in the garden. All the knitting will be accompanying me in my travels, so expect to see more knitting content upon my return. I’m just mad about yellow… especially when it appears in the form of spring’s first daffodil. Let’s take a [...]
Surprises Inside and Out
Posted on | February 7, 2010 | No Comments
There is probably only one regular reader of this blog who will understand the significance of this color combination. Let’s just say a Valentine’s Day surprise is in the works for that individual, with photos forthcoming as soon as the surprise is complete! The daphne buds below could not go unremarked. So much more voluminous than [...]
Gardening in February?
Posted on | February 5, 2010 | No Comments
Well, uh… yes! If you happen to live in northern California, gardening is pretty much a year-round pursuit. Besides the cool weather veggies we grow (that would be Kale, lettuce, radishes, sugar snap peas, and chard), there are the flowers. They actually require little effort from me other than twining the occasional rose cane around its [...]