One of the things I love about my relationship with Dave is that, while we love spending time with each other, we also have separate hobbies. So when I’m working on a quilt, or stitching, or knitting, or gardening, he’s happy to be off on his own, building a ship model, working on a car, or doing something musical.

The problem arises when he can’t or isn’t in the mood to work on one of his hobbies, because my husband is one of those people who cannot sit still. And if he’s not busy with a hobby – that means he wants to go out and do something. And that would be just fine… but he doesn’t want to go out ALONE!

I made the decision not to head to Mom’s again last weekend because the weekdays have been so busy with work, appointments and chores, I really just wanted a couple days to play with fabric and floss. (Plus I don’t have Dory – she’s in the shop getting a butt-lift – body work on her rear quarters).

Saturday I was in the studio, sewing away on my red quilt, and at around 2 pm, Dave came to me and asked what we were doing for dinner. I told him I had a pork roast out and would pop it in the oven around 4. He then asked if I wanted to go get a sub for lunch…

I was right in the middle of sewing… and I did not.

But I also knew if I said no, he wouldn’t go himself, and then he’d mope and be miserable. I figured the hour break would be worth the lost time because I wouldn’t have to deal with a morose Dave.

So off we went… but as soon as we were out… he played the old switcheroo! He decided instead of getting a sub in Glencoe (15 minute drive), we should go to Strathroy (30 minute drive) because they have more selection of lunch options. And with Dory in the shop – he was the one driving, so I couldn’t just say no.

And once we got to Strathroy…

“Hey – we haven’t been in the used shop in a while…”

Now I saw this was his ploy all along….

So off we went to the used shop. He didn’t find anything but of course, I did.

Someone’s unfinished woodshop project! It’s hard to see in the picture but there are pencil lines where they drew a dace and reins on the horse. I plan to make it a horn, and paint it into a unicorn. I think I’m going plant it up with something edible and put it by the veg garden.

After that, we did get lunch – burgers instead of subs. And then we headed for home. So the one hour jaunt had turned into two hours… not terrible, but definitely more than I planned.

And THEN… as we are driving home, we were passing another antique/used place. We’ve been there a couple times, but their prices are on the high side (and non-negotiable) so we don’t go in often. But of course… Dave just HAD to stop that day.

Now the other thing about this place… the owner is a talker. Now I’m very good at politely extricating myself, but Dave is completely unskilled at this. He’s so terrified of being rude, he not only actively listens… but engages and continues the conversation by asking questions!!!! He promised he wouldn’t this time but I knew it was all lies.

Another hour and a half later… we finally got out of there. And not empty handed either. Dave found some amp tubes, and some other electronic dohickey… and I found…

The Pyrex Spice of Life loaf pan! It was priced a little on the high-side, but I’ve only ever seen this piece online, so I think it’s fairly rare. I decided I better not pass it up

The store has a small craft section with all kinds of bits and bobs from knitting to cross stitching to painting and more. I grabbed two of the pot holders, which I’ll stitch with some sort of chicken motif for the kitchen. And the little hand towel will eventually get some fish or maybe a mermaid, and be put in my bathroom upstairs.

So.. I can’t completely complain about the outing… though it did completely throw my sewing plans out of whack that day!

In some ways, this is the worst time of the year for me. There’s lots of little green bits – lots of promise – but the waiting is KILLING ME!!! It will probably be at least another couple weeks before anything new starts to bloom.

The bees must be feeling the same way. There’s not a lot out there for them right now, so my Winter Aconite has been very popular!!!!

As is the pink (now grey) pussywillow which is starting to turn to pollen. My three different pussy willows by the shed bloom in succession, which is good for the bees – giving them several weeks of food at the start of spring.

My snow drops are still in bloom, though I only have the three (and Lemmy is doing his best to try and break them as he bounds through the catio with no respect for anything in his way)

But I found this little pack in the front lawn! Now I definitely did NOT plant them there. And I don’t recall seeing them there last year (though it’s possible I just missed them – they are quite small). I’m debating on digging them up or leaving them in the lawn. They will be done well before I have to mow, so they won’t get hurt if I leave them there.

Elsewhere, there are signs of life everywhere. Left are my lupins – I love their starry little leaves – especially when they are just getting started. And right is one of the many lilies I planted in the fall. And I have more to plant this spring! It’s going to be lily-mania here!

And you may recall that last fall, I planted some bulbs in the white porch boxes. Well last week, I cleared out the willow and pine branches I had in there for winter…

They’d sprouted, but they were a long way off from providing any blooms- and the box needed something now!!!! So I grabbed some potted & forced bulbs at the grocery store.

Hyacinths and tulips. And I picked out the ones that hadn’t bloomed yet. For $20, I was able to get enough to fill the boxes

Now… this definitely is an experiment – because we are still getting below freezing nights, and these are greenhouse grown. They are used to warmer temps. But they’ve been in there for over a week now, and they seem to be doing ok – nothing has wilted at least!

They probably still won’t bloom fully for another week or two – but at least there’s some green in the boxes. And the bulbs that were already sprouting in there will come up in between and provide some colour after these ones start to fade!

In seed news…

All my seeds are looking good… with the exception of the squash. They were older seeds though, so maybe they’ve gone bad. I’ll give it another week and decided

And check out that broccoli!!! It’s doing AMAZING. I’ve never grown broccoli, even though it’s one of my favourite vegetables. I’m very excited.

Next weekend is Easter, and I have an extra long weekend with both Friday and Monday off. I’m hoping to get a start on laying out the veg garden outside. I won’t be planting anything out there for several weeks yet, but I have a lot of landscaping to do anyway. Hopefully the weather cooperates – I don’t mind it being a bit chilly, but I need it dry!

Just in time for a new month, Burton has a new quilt for his chaise! This one is a little puffier than the others. I’ve been using leftover batting for his quilts, but I didn’t have anything left from our usual, nice stuff big enough for this one. I did have a chunk of the cheap polyester stuff though.

As usual, nothing fancy with the quilting, just some stitch-in-the-ditch around the flowers and the border.

And it certainly adds a nice spring vibe the the corner of the living room.

And it’s 100% Bearbottom approved.

At least… I think that’s his approval face….

After putting it off for eleventy billion other things, I finally started working on the new red and cream quilt for my bed.

It’s just two blocks so far, but it’s a start. All the fabrics are paired, cut and ready to go, so whenever I have a spare hour or so I can sit down and bang out a pair of blocks. There will be 16 in total – 8 opposite pairs.

This one is not a rush, so I’m just going to take my time and enjoy the process.

The answer is, yes… but not much.

That said, both Dave and I have had a slew of appointments this month (don’t ever neglect your health, and ignore issues for a year or two… it really does just make things worse, and the next thing you know you’re seeing a slew specialists and having to visit a doctor every week… and we aren’t even 50 yet!).

Because of all that waiting room time, I’ve managed to almost complete the leg of the second Seascape sock. I’ve got appointments right through to the middle of April (and possibly further depending on test results, etc.) so I might even be able to finish these one off before we see May!

More stitching was completed this weekend with help from the usual suspects

(Burton is between my feet in the second pic, though his black fur is hard to pick out)

I finished the R and made some good progress on the M. I was hoping to get the M done, to be done with the green. And also because every time Dave looked over at, he questioned if it was supposed to say ‘Fart Fresh’. That M would put an end to his stupid jokes.

But soon enough the M will be done and I can move onto the rest of the lettering and the wee hen on the bottom.

April is creeping up, and that means Burton is in need of a new quilt for his chaise.

Easter would be the obvious theme, but as Easter sometimes happens in March, I decided to steer clear of it. Burton and I put our heads together and sketched out some ideas.

Then fabrics were chosen and the next thing you knew…

We had some tulips!

Not long after, we had a small garden

Uh guys…. we can’t see it if you’re laying on it…

Oh dear…. I think this one is going to be very popular…

Eventually, and with the help of some cat treats, I managed to get a cat free picture.

And yes… those are ladybugs around the outside

Aren’t they just the cutest. I got a couple yards of it on one of my spending sprees recently. I couldn’t resist using it on this. Now it just needs quilting and binding… but I’ve got a few days left in the month to do that!

This week has been wonderful with daytime temps above freezing all week. And mostly sunny too! I’m hoping the worst of winter is behind, us, but Mother Nature may still come and give us a swift kick in the pants, so I will be cautious in my optimism.

The Winter Aconite continue to bloom, as cheerful as ever

I found several more clumps, bringing my total to five clumps in the front garden, and two clumps in the driveway garden – which sounds about right for what I remember planting. They should multiply and get better each year.

I’ve got three little clumps of snow drops blooming.

I planted a lot more than just three clumps, but I’ve read that snow drops can be fussy to get going. Once they do though… look out! I can’t wait for these to become more spectacular each year.

I’m a little jealous because my neighbour has some front beds just bursting with blooming crocuses right now. I planted lots but none are in bloom yet. I guess hers are just more established (they get the same amount of sun).

And there’s lots of daffies, tulips, and hyacinths coming up everywhere so even though it’s starting slower than I would like (and it always does), it’s going to be a spectacular spring.

Elsewhere, the pink pussywillows have turned dark grey (as they do – it’s not a surprise). The black pussywillow is just starting to emerge. It doesn’t get as much sun as the pink does. And the regular pussywillow gets even less, so it’s just starting to bud up.

Inside…

The white orchid has finally opened up. It’s so delicate and pretty.

As did this amazing showy one. Sadly, as I was trying to get a picture, I broke off the whole darn bloom stem! GRRRR! I was so upset. I’ll have to try to get this one to bloom again, because it was so darn pretty!

And last…

Did you know Tradescantia (inch plant) blooms??? I had no idea! Apparently Mom did. And so did Samantha. And Krista! Maybe I was the only one. Either way, I was thrilled to find this one (which lives in my bedroom window) blooming away!

The other thing I managed to accomplish last weekend was sowing some seeds!

It’s just vegetables this year. I have flower seeds to sow, but I’m going to try sowing them directly in the garden this year and see if I have better luck than last.

A few of these veggies probably should have been direct-sown (i’m looking at you cucumbers and carrots, and possibly spinach). But gardening is always an ongoing experiment, so we’ll see how this works out. Also… I just didn’t read the directions and sowed all my veggie seeds at once. Well… not all of them. I only did a little tray of each, so I sowed about half of each pack. That way, if this doesn’t work out, I can do some direct sowing as well.

And another little experiment I have going…

Re-growing celery and romaine lettuce from scraps. I started them both in water, and just potted them up. They are both in a nice, bright window so we’ll see how they do. They can go outside when the weather gets a little warmer too.

Let’s talk today about vocal cats.

My original crew (Rupert, Burton, and Relic) are all vocal in their own unique ways.

Rupert like to run around the house like a madman between 10 pm and midnight every night making weird vocalizations. He’s almost always playing by himself, and I’m convinced the noise is just because he like the sound of his own voice.

Burton talks for food. It’s how I’m able to get all those “smiling” pictures with the quilts. He’s telling me to take the damn picture and give him the treats he knows are coming. Occasionally, he will meow just to greet you – if he wakes up from a nap or you walk into the room he’s in. But as he’s gotten older, that’s become less frequent.

Relic is an outdoor talker. He loves to meow at me when I’m outside. It’s usually because I’m on the other side of the catio fence, and he wants to be with me. But he’ll also meow to get my attention inside the catio yard (usually because he wants a scratch). The only other time he tells is when he’s telling one of the other cats to get out of his face, or when you’ve over-stimulated him with the butt scratches.

And I thought they were all pretty vocal cats. But then along came Lemmy:

This isn’t the clearest picture, but I love it because it pretty much sums up most mornings. From almost the moment I get up, Lemmy is following me around, yelling. Not meowing politely…. yelling! Non-stop.

In fact, the only way to stop it is to pick him up. But you can’t hold him. You have to let him balance on your arms. And he only stays there for a few minutes. He inevitably jumps down and usually starts yelling again.

And it’s not just me. He does it to Dave – and Dave’s usually up an full hour or more before me. So before he starts on his tirade with me each morning, he’s almost always done it with Dave as Dave tries to get his coffee and make breakfast. And note, that feeding the cats is the very first thing Dave does in the morning.

But Lemmy also yells to greet us. To tell us he wants to play. He yells as he’s playing. He yells when he’s just sitting, chilling and you happen to walk by. And it’s not new. He’s been a talker from the moment we found him.

In short, Lemmy is the most vocal cat I have ever met in my life. It will be interesting to see if it changes as he grows.