Moving…

I’ve decided I’m moving to Maine…

April Fool’s!!!!

Not really – but, it seems everyone else in my life is moving or has moved in the last few days…

My sister and her husband , Michael, just sold the house they have lived in since they were married – (and that’s about 30 some years) – and moved into a three-story townhouse (complete with elevator in their apartment).  They are most happy – retirement years are close by and they don’t want to deal with yard work anymore.  Can’t say as I blame them.  The dogs are enchanted with the elevator!  They think it was put there expressly for them to ride when they need to go out.

My daughter, Tara, is looking for a new place to call home – but, hasn’t quite found it yet…

And, Scarlett  is moving to a new house the middle of May! 

Me, I’m staying where I am and finally claiming it as home!  Have been crazy working on finishing the unpacking that never got done when I moved in – and it is looking good!!!  When I finish – I promise there will be photos…

Elizabeth’s Hat…

There has been knitting on the homefront.  Started this hat while I was at SPA (I’ll tell you more about that in the next few days) in Freeport, Maine.  Wanted something easy – that I could knit and talk at the same time…

Elizabeth furnished the yarn – and I put it all together – it is being mailed to her this coming week…

Pattern – Simple Rolled Brim Hat

Yarn:  Reynolds Lopi (white) and a skein of some fancy yarn.

I think it turned out rather nice…

Weird Weather…

Correct me if I am wrong – Is this not January?  Is this not winter?  Then why do we have no snow in Claremont where I live?  And, why do they have just a little snow in the White Mountains – (Littleton, Bethlehem, and Whitefield?)  And, the cold and wind certainly feels like winter – just no snow! 

The snow did not even cover my feet when we visited the Mountain View Grand.  But, we had a great time visiting their beautiful barn which was full of sheep, alpaca, goats, and llamas.  They were all so cute!

Scarlett and Elizabeth and I exchanged Christmas presents…Two of my favorite gifts were a scarf which was made by Elizabeth and a 2012 calendar that was made by Scarlett.  The calendar has some beautiful photos which she took – and special dates are marked. 

They also gave me a few other things – including the entire series (three seasons) of Beauty and the Beast – starring Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman.  Can’t wait to watch it all again.

Monday…

Today was spent at a birthday party this afternoon.  It was for Jimmy – one of the residents here.  He served some really good lasagna … and a few people brought some covered dishes – so there was plenty to eat along with cake and ice cream.  His mother made the cake and she is an awesome baker.  My gift was a nice skein of wool yarn – in a chunky weight and size 11 needles – 16 inch circulars so he can make himself a hat.  He loves to knit…

Then tonight was my Cornish Quilter Guild – it was fun to get back to the group.  I haven’t been attending the meetings lately…but am back there too.

We had a fat quarter exchange – you could bring up to 10 – and then we went around the table and got to pick one (each of us in turn) until we had picked one for each one that we brought…I took eight – so, I got eight new fat quarters!  It’s a great way to get new fabric without spending any money…(If you use your stash to pick the fat quarters that you take!!!!)

It was fun to see some old friends – and enjoyed the evening…plus there was a bonus – one of our members, Cathy, just had a baby eight weeks ago – and she brought Daniel by to see us.  He’s adorable!

Was I Surprised…

This morning there was a knock on my door – and I found a gentleman holding this:

The note attached said:  “Thank you for being a good friend”…

It really made my day!

My sister…

My sister, Mary Ellen, lives in Tampa, Florida.  She is two years younger than I am, married for over 30 years to Michael, and works for the School board.  We don’t see each other a lot – but, she’s been to visit us when we lived in Tennessee and now in New Hampshire.  Most of the previous visits have been because Mom has been in the hospital…(except for another one when we first moved here)

But, this Easter she came up just because…and it was nice to have her here when it wasn’t an emergency situation. We spent every day going to see our mother.

But, we also managed to have some fun.  We spent an afternoon visiting my friends, Laila and Jennifer.  They own a wonderful farm…and we had the best time going for a ride in a carriage behind Jennifer’s beautiful draft horses.

These are big horses!!!  As you can tell by this photo…

Here we are on part of the ride…

After the ride there were treats to be given to the horses.  My sister said they were so gentle in taking the treat off of her hand. 

It was truly a nice afternoon – and it was nice of my friends to entertain us over a holiday week-end.  Other than spending time with mother, I think this was the highlight of my sister’s visit.

Horse Ride…

That’s my sister on the left; Jennifer Judkins in the center, and me on the right…Going on a terrific horse and buggy ride.  I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow!