Celebrating January

January started out hard...  For the first time in 26 years,

I wasn't a Mom...well I was..but not as I had always been.

  There were no more children to get up and off to school.  

No more lunches to pack and no more practices, pick-ups,  teenagers in and out, or laundry....oh my gosh the laundry...

it was just us. 

It was a lot harder to adjust to than I had ever thought it would be. 

But as always, life goes on and you do adjust.

  And sometimes you find out that different is just as good.

 

 

There was a sunset picnic one afternoon

 

Grandkids

 

A day trip to the mountains...

close to home but far enough to feel  like a get-away...

 

A special birthday for our sweet girl...7! 

 

 

and an Elf that wouldn't leave until he could give her present to her...

She was beyond thrilled!!

 

 

Frozen mornings...

 

 

followed by warm afternoons spent outside...

 



"Celebrating Snow" at a local museum

 

All in all, another wonderful month of spending time with those

I love most and enjoying a new chapter of life. 

 And when he came home, he brought plenty of laundry to make me feel special!

Sunlit Sunday

I took the Sunlit Sunday theme very literal this week.

Especially after 6 straight day of cold wet gray skies.

It was nice welcome blue skies and sunshine back!

long shadows on early morning walks...

A day off and new places to explore...I loved this one.

 I will definitely be back!

Sunrise...

Such bright clear blue skies...

These two are pure sunshine...everyday.

So many bright, happy sunshiney moments throughout the week!

 

Linking up with

Karen for Sunlit Sunday. 

 

 

Sunburst Blanket!!

 

I have been wanting to make this blanket for such a long, long time!
 

Flowers in the Snow! by Solstrikke. 
I love everything about it. 

All the gorgeous colors, the total randomness,
the simple border, everything!!

 

 

  

This one by Gillian is so beautiful. 


 I love what she calls her "ordered and systematic randomness"!! 
So funny how we all work in such different ways to create.

This one here and here and here! 
I love them all! 

So many colors. 

Such happy blankets...

Sunday night, I gathered all my odds and ends and

started making my circles... 

I took Solstrikke's pattern and added a fourth row 

 

then the border...

 

then joined my first four...

 

they are flying off my hook... 

a long weekend of nothing at all coming up. 

 Nothing but circles turning into squares!!

Linking up with:
Lucy Blossom Crafts
Keep Calm Craft On
Linda
Planet Penny
Rachel

 

A Carnival Blanket

This blanket started last year.
I was working on a couple of projects for friends and family
that involved a lot of grays and browns and muted colors
 that are just not my personal preference.

Even with projects that were deadline projects
(birthdays and Christmas) I had to start a colorful blanket. 
Seriously, I mean, I really HAD to!

I love the Sunshine yellow edging. 

It really brightens up these dark gray days

.

There is no rhyme or reason to this blanket…

just a bunch of my favorite colors grabbed out of my

odds and ends basket and hooked using

Lucy’s granny stripe pattern, an oldy but goody! 

I know have three Queen Sized Bed covers. 

I have 2 more that I am working on and hope to finish sometime this year.  I love being able to change them up…

a very cheap makeover.

 It really changes the whole feel of the room.

 

So after a good washing and blocking, it is now at home on our bed.  When I was downloading these pictures I noticed there was a lump under the owl pillow...  I went back to the bedroom and in my haste to get the blanket on the bed, I made it up over the TV remote.  I started to re-take the pictures without the lump.  But this is real life and sometimes you make your bed up with the remote still tucked in…or at least I do.

 

As soon as I had woven in the last of the ends,

this happened...

It was urgently needed in the tent

I think I protested, but I am so thrilled when something I make
 gets used and loved.  (And with these three, it was seriously used!)

 

 "Thanks, Nene!!  This is the bestest tent blanket ever!!"

I love these little people!

 

Linking up with

Keep Calm, Craft On

Yarn Along

Create With Joy

Planet Penny

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A January Walk

these January days have been short, foggy, cold and wet and grey!

(We have not seen the sunshine in 5 days.)

More of the same is forecast for the next couple of days,

even a small (which means not at all here) chance of snow

 

But dull, gray January days have a beauty all their own.

I decided that today was the day to go for it.

 (I didn't have to be at work until 10) 

 To get off the couch and to get back in the habit

of walking and running everyday. 

 

 

I almost let the weather stop me. 

The temperature was in the mid 30's. 

It was windy and foggy and misty and just plain miserable! 

I would have much rather have stayed in my pj's

snuggled up on my couch and crocheted!

 

 

I got dressed, put on my raincoat, grabbed my ipod and

my headphones and headed out the door before

 I could talk myself out of it

 

 

 

 

One of my favorite places to walk is the local cemetery...is that weird?  There is never anyone else there of course, who else would ever think it a good idea?

 

 

 

I love the quiet.  No distractions.  A great place to come and think and clear out my mind  To enjoy the peace and solitude.  It was a little spooky at times, not being able to see very far ahead

 

 

I am not a graceful runner... 

I don't have the cute outfits, with the perfect ponytail

and the perfect form. 

I am more of an arms flailing,

hair sticking out because it is too short to go into a rubber band

and not a cute running outfit to be found! 

But THIS IS THE YEAR that I will get back on track

 

maybe I'll even buy one of those cute outfits.

 

 

A New Year Project...

My new year-long project...

One hexagon, every day, all year. 

If you are on Instagram, #babyhexagons

They are so cute and so simple.  It is easy to commit to just one a day!  Just reach into your stash and use whatever comes out.

For the pattern and the details @crochet_ali  ! 

(I altered mine slightly from the original pattern...

my work is so loose, that I added a third round of hdc)

Reading...

 

"The Ocean at the End of the Lane"

by Neil Gaiman

(me... reading in the park one sunny, cold lunch break! 

I love having this park only 2 blocks away from the office.)

I only completely read 4 books last year!  4!!
My goal this year is at least 12...

Linking up with:
Small Things
Frontier Dreams
Rachel
 

Hello There, 2015!

The last sunset of 2014...

New Year's morning!

January has found me in a little bit of a post-Christmas funk.  Usually the New Year is one of my favorite times... This year the weather has been wet and grey for days!  Waking up way too early Sunday morning knowing that he was going back and we hadn't even begun packing.  Decorations were scattered everywhere.  Toys were right where the grandkids had left them.  Empty boxes once stacked up neatly, now a big pile...chaos everywhere!! 
 I decided I needed to get out for a while.  I walked in the dark morning, with a cold wind blowing on my face.   The sun rose pink and purple  behind thick, puffy clouds. 
Breathe in, breathe out.   Relax...  back home, I got a few chores done.  It didn't take as long to pack him up as I thought.  We even had time to go out and eat and talk before he had to go.  We said our goodbyes and had a quiet hour drive back.  He told me to go take a long bubble bath, read a book, relax.  The mess will still be here tomorrow (and it was).  He brought me my PJ's straight from the dryer.  We drank coffee and talked and went to bed early.  Monday morning, the funk had (mostly) cleared....  The house has been cleaned, the laundry is caught up and tonight we are going out to eat...just the two of us.  Still getting used to that.  Our new normal...