The other day, Dave need to go to Home Depot to get a piece of pipe. And like Wal-mart, Home Depot has become a danger zone for me. They’ve started carrying a pretty good selection of house plants. Unlike Walmart, HD’s plants are usually on the pricey side so it’s easier to resist. Except when they are on clearance!!!!

Those giant orchids were only $10. I was having trouble deciding between the colours… and Dave said “Why not get both?!?”

I certainly wasn’t going to argue with that. I’m pretty sure I already have both these colours, though in smaller versions. But I don’t mind, I just love orchids!

I’m almost positive I already have this particular colour of violet…(like the orchids, I have several)

But it was only $2 and the very last one. I just had to bring it home. Besides, it’s hard to resist a violet in bloom.

And you may have noticed that pile of pots on the table with the plants in the first picture. I need to do some repotting of quite a few of my smaller succulents, so I picked up some small terra cotta pots at the dollar store.

These will of course be painted up with some fun designs as soon as I can find some time.

As will these.

I found them next door to the Dollar Store at Michaels. They are technically kid’s projects, but why should they have all the fun? They come with little paint pots, but they aren’t great quality, and probably aren’t enough anyway so I’m going to use my acrylics.

So…. how do I go about getting more hours in the day…

Were still on Mother Nature’s wild roller coaster ride, but when I got back from Mom’s, there were some new crocuses open in the catio yard.

These are my Monarch Snow Crocuses… and they are one of those plants that looked better in the catalogue. There’s not really wrong with them, but I just didn’t realize how small they are. Snow Crocuses are small to begin with (which I didn’t realize when I bought them), but these one are really tiny! Those blooms are barely the size of a dime.

They also looked much more orange in the catalogue. They are darker than the ones out front, but they aren’t exactly orange orange.. y’know…

But it doesn’t matter to the bees.

And there’s a little bit of yellow I’m very happy to see.

These are my Winter Aconite. Like the crocuses, they are small, and among the first flowers to bloom. But I thought I’d lost them. They are right at the front of the front garden, but I was seeing no sign of them. Thankfully, when I got back from Mom’s I saw this pair shining brightly in the sun. Hopefully more will be appearing soon.

But it’s not just yellow in our spring garden…

We’ve got purple and white coming up too!!!

And more and more snow drops are appearing…

I plan to add them to all the gardens, and in a couple years, I should have small little “area rugs” of them all throughout the yard.

And there’s signs that there’s lots more to come

It’s going to be spring bulb heaven here over the next couple of months.

Well my friends…. despite all our valiant efforts… his Lordship will not be crowned America’s Favourite Pet.

He made it to the last round for his group, but unfortunately, did not get enough votes to go onto the finals.

But we thank you for all your votes, and he knows that he’s a favourite in all your hearts. That’s good enough for him!

Because we both don’t already have enough hobbies (apparently), Mom and I have embarked on another little adventure.

Now I don’t know what Mom’s excuse is… but I’m blaming a long-dead relation. When I was about seven years old, a great aunt died and my grandparents were tasked with cleaning her house out. This aunt was a bit of a pack rat… (maybe even hoarder)… and LOTS of amazing (to me) things came out of that house – including a pile of hand embroidered tablecloths, doilies and pillow cases.

I remember seven-year-old me being just enchanted with them! I used the pillow cases on my bed and felt like a princess.

And while I’ve cross-stitched since I was quite young, I never seemed to pick up embroidery, though I always wanted to.

Well… last week, before I went to Mom’s, I was browsing on Missouri Star Quilts website, where they were promoting a new kit…. called Ingrid’s wild flowers….*

I messaged Mom, sending her the link… and she started laughing. It was already in her cart, and her and Paisley were planning on doing them together. She put a second kit in her cart for me, and by the time I’d gotten to her house, it had already been delivered.

It comes in a beautiful tin…

With everything but the fabric inside (there’s a separate kit for the fabric, but it’s denim, and I don’t want to make it on denim)

There’s even tutorials on the website to get you started.

That said I won’t be starting any time soon… I came home from Mom’s with a cough that has turned into a full blown chest cold. It’s knocked me right off my feet so much so that evening sewing binding is a chore.

I hope to be feeling better by the weekend – I’ve got a lot of sewing to catch up on.

* It looks like they sold out of the first run, but are now doing pre-order for delivery in July

The healing quilt I made for my ailing friend is now complete…

Those beautiful batiks shine so beautifully in the sun.

The pattern is based on Missouri Star Quilts Star Patch. It’s a fun and easy pattern and a great use of a Jelly Roll.

And I found a beautiful bright blue batik for the back.

Now this one is packed up and on its way to my friend, where hopefully it will help with the healing process.

Once again, I have no cross stitch to show you. I went to Mom’s on the weekend and put together a couple quilts.

So now I’m plying this tiny needle as I finish up the binding. I’m afraid I can’t show you much more of this one just yet. It’s a surprise, but as soon as I get it off to the recipient, and they receive it, I will share it in all its glory.

I do have another quilt to show you – but you’ll have to wait until tomorrow.

As mentioned, the Jupiter socks are done! And on the 29th, so within my self-imposed deadline.

The pattern is Vanilla Latte, and it’s a nice easy pattern, good for busy yarns like these speckles.

The yarn is Knit Picks Hawthorne in “Jupiter”. It’s my first time working with the yarn, and it’s a nice decent, soft, squishy yarn. If feels a little more substantial than their Stroll, and the yarn has a bit of a pronounced twist.

Other than the fact that is was on sale, I’m not 100 % sure why I bought it because they are definitely not my colours. And I’m not that fond of speckled yarns.

But it is perfect for someone on my Christmas list, so they will go into the gift box! It’s always nice to get a start on the big day early!

The Jupiter socks are finished (look for an FO post this week) and it’s time to get something new on the needles. And it just so happens that this little Lady

Is turning seven at the end of the month!!!

I found this cute, cheerful sun dress at Old Navy

And I thought it would look fabulous with a little blue shrug.

I’ve got two skeins of Fat Cat from the stash. The colour is Twilight and it was one of my favourite blue dyes. I’m going to make another Harriet Bolero, but this time with short sleeves. I’ve got it get it in the mail by the third week of March to get it to her in time so I’ve got to get knitting!

Mother Nature continues with her mood-swings. Tuesday the temps almost reached 20C/68F.

The cats were all out in the yard, sunning themselves and there were snowdrops coming up everywhere!

And look!

Crocuses! In February!

But then, Mother got moody, and Wednesday the temps began dropping. Thursday morning we woke up to snow again.

True, it was only a dusting, but the temps stayed around zero all day.

They are back on the rise again this weekend, AND I saw TWO robins in the tree outside my office Thursday morning. So Spring isn’t too far away… but sometimes those short waits are the hardest!

It’s March – and that means a change of decor for Burton’s chaise…

He looks so good in green! It really brings out his eyes.

He just squeaked into the Top 5. And if he doesn’t place 1st in his group in this next round, he’s out of the running. So please keep voting every day! We really appreciate it!