Burton, like me, really wishes Mother Nature would get her crap together…

While we’ve had some sun this week, but it never really got warm. We’ve been waiting all week because several daffodils have been just on the cusp of blooming. But without any real warmth, they’ve been struggling.

But finally…

…. a couple beauties managed it.

I also have several of this little thing…

It’s called Arctic Bells… and yes, it is a daffodil, though a unique one. It’s very tiny. It only stands about three or four inches high. As you can see, the Coronet is very straight, almost looking like a hoop skirt. And it’s rear petals are thin and spider-like. It’s a delicate little bloomer, and one I’m so glad I added to my garden.

Elsewhere…

There’s still a few snowdrops nodding in the cool breeze. And some White Glory of the Snow has bloomed.

A few of the big Hyacinths are poised to take off. We just need it a little warmer.

And the crocuses are still going. The mix was supposed to provide crocuses for two months… and it will be interesting to see if they actually do!

I’m hoping to get a decent day this weekend to get out and do some clean-up. Not the leaves and stuff – they can stay to keep the moths and caterpillars warm for another month or so… but to get some of the dead stems and seedheads cut and tidied away. The birds have cleared them of seeds, so they aren’t needed any more.

This is Rupert.

You guys all know Rupert. Rupert is weird. Rupert has refused to sleep in ANY pet bed I’ve EVER bought for him.

So when I saw this Squishmallow pet bed…

I had to stop myself from buying it… because I knew! Absolutley KNEW he’d never use it.

And then I come in the bedroom the other day, and what do I see?

That is Davey, my Squishmallow shark he’s on top of.

Rupert has decided he’s just the perfect size for a comfy little pet bed. Almost every day, I come in the bedroom and there he is.

So.. am I going to go out and get him that pet bed now? No… because I know he’d still not use it. He’d rather smoosh poor Davey on a daily basis….

I had expected to have a finished Harriet Shrug to show you today…

…but I’m not quite there… Tuesday night, I finished the front/bottom band. But I haven’t had a chance to work on it since. I only have the bands to do on the sleeves (12 rounds each). So they won’t take long – I just actually have to have time to sit down and do them.

With the holiday tomorrow, I won’t get it in the mail by the end of the month. But I WILL have it done for the start of April. I’ve asked the birthday girl’s mom to let her know I haven’t forgotten her – I’m just a little delayed.

She had a fabulous party at a bowling alley, so I’m sure she’s not missing my present too much!

This weekend didn’t see much sewing… just one block made.

It’s the latest block from the Blockhead sew along. I really like this block, and would love to see a whole quilt made out of it.

I’ve put it in the “to-make” queue. It will be a while until I’m able to do it though.. Lemmy and I have a lot more Blockhead blocks to make first…

Burton and I finished up the last of the veining on our butterfly….

And we’ve started on filling in the colour. I’ve gone with a peachy-pink gradient…

I’m four shades in (there are seven in total) and I think some of them are probably too close in shade – because – as you can see here -it’s very hard to tell there’s four different colours there. But I’m too far in to rip out and change them up now. I think it will be fine once I get a few more of the lighter shades in.

I can finally unveil the final quilt from my weekend at Mom’s. It’s taken this long to share it, because I didn’t quilt it. I left it with Mom to work her magic.

And magic she made!

The whole thing is just covered in fancy stitch work, highlighting the simple red and white blocks

She did the most amazing job. I’m sorely tempted to keep this one… but I already have a red and cream quilt in the works for myself (and I really need to get back to it.

So that means this one is in the shop – and it could be yours if you’re so inclined.

I can’t remember if I told you about my latest Leader Ender project, but I’m making four patches out of my 2.5 square scraps. The bin they live in was badly overflowing, and I really needed to start making use of them.

The plan is to put them on point, with a plain block in between – something like the on point version here.

I was really hoping the project would put a good dent in the bin but so far…

I’ve got a good sized tower of four patches… but that bin doesn’t really look any emptier! I guess I’ll just keep making them!

Mother Nature played her games again and at the start of the week, dropped the temps and gave us snow. It was nothing that stuck around, but it was certainly a dismal contrast to the beautiful week we had before.

It’s still pretty cold, but the temps are set to slowly rise this coming week. In the meantime, the Pussy Willows are puffed up with pollen, just waiting for it to be warm enough for the bees to fly.

It’s such a neat little alien plant! And a super good source of early pollen for the bees. (I know I’ve said that before, but it’s so true!)

Not much new is blooming, thanks to the cold. I have some daffodils getting ready to pop, but not just yet.

My garlic has some very healthy sprouts and it looks like most of it made it through the squirrels winter digging antics. I’m looking forward to a good harvest. I love cooking with fresh garlic!

I was surprised to see the peonies poking through so early. And even more surprised to see a lily so far along. Hopefully the cold snap doesn’t damage the lily too much. The Peony will be find, but if the lily gets frost-bitten, those blooms will be done for the year.

All of my shrubs seem to be budding up nicely.

And with a couple weeks of warm weather they will be leafing up and blooming beautifully.

Of course…. all those buds are under snow once again. Mother Nature dumped this on us yesterday…

Lemmy thought it was wonderful…

Relic… not so much. Don’t worry Relly-belly. It’s going to be +10 by Monday!

As many of you know, I do my day job from my home office – far away from anyone I actually work with in my company. But that doesn’t mean I work alone…

I have to keep a spare office chair beside my desk because Relic frequently shows up to work beside me.

And he works pretty hard – he’ll spend hours there while I’m writing away.

I mean… his “work” eventually ends up looking something like this…

Now that’s the way to get things done!

Work continues on Wren’s birthday shrug

I’ve cast off for the sleeves and I’m working back and forth on the body. Being a shrug, it’s a short little body so I’m hoping to have this one off the needles by early next week and in the mail to the birthday girl before the end of the month.