{a few letters short of an alphabet}

• Freshly-picked chives make a breakfast of leftovers -- turkey, potato, and cheddar omelettes -- so much tastier. 
• Our garden community of woodlice and a yellow bucket provide hours of quiet entertainment for the littlest family member. 
• Watching Susan Cain on video bravely, nervously, discussing the power of introverts. Now certain she's an INFJ, too. 
• A new addition to the household -- a potty -- is catapulting us into the unknown. How quickly the next stage always arrives.
• Loving this version of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros' "Home". It's like people living in an overexposed Polaroid.

Weekend Away

What a fun weekend! We took a little mini-trip up to Dallas, and had the best time relaxing in the sun, playing a little golf, and eating the most amazing barbeque creations.

Greg and Justin have been friends for almost fifteen years, and still get on so well. And as an added bonus, Greg and his wife, Cari, have just found out they're pregnant, too! Their favourite name for a girl is Lilly... how sweet! We're sure Lilly and Tilly will be great friends!

Justin really enjoyed getting to hit some balls again, and as he'd only brought cowboy boots with him, I agreed to putt for him whenever we got onto the green. (Golfers are very strict about no heels on the green). I got very very lucky on my first putt, and got the ball in from about fifteen feet away... and was so excited I jumped up and down! Unfortunately, golfers don't like that, either...

Luckily, the ranch was so beautiful, I kept myself occupied taking photos!

And, just because I rarely get Justin to take photos of my belly, here's a silly shot we took on the drive up to Dallas. (We're pretending to visit Loreal and Stephen, who live in Athens, Georgia. Athens, Texas is rather a lot smaller!)

Hope you all had a great weekend, too! I'll hopefully have lots of crafty stuff to show you this week, as the College is on Spring Break right now, and I've got plenty of free time to create!

Pile of Fun

What a fun weekend I've got planned!

Lots of films to watch, bright fabrics to sew into cushion covers, and a yummy bar of chocolate that has unfortunately already been devoured!

And yes, I'll also be hoping to take plenty of photos! Over the next few weeks, I really want to take more photos of these things:

• Corners, little spaces, and details in our home
• Red things
• Rusty things
• Downtown Bryan

New Projects

It's been a lovely weekend-- part relaxation, part getting-things-done. We went to the cinema, barbequed four of the best sausages I've ever eaten, cleaned the shed, and Justin 'fixed' the vacuum cleaner (i.e. took it apart, cleaned it, reassembled it, and then found I'd been trying to use it while it was on the 'hose' setting... oops!) so I could do a major clean around here.

I've got a few new craft projects on the go, too.

Firstly, a little wool soaker to put over the baby's nappy, which should turn out a bit like this (but in red, of course!):

(Pattern from here)

I love knitting for the baby, as it's so calming, and I feel like all the emotions I feel go right into the wool! And this will actually be a doubly heart-felt soaker, as I knitted the entire thing with a twist in it the first time (assuming, incorrectly, that knitting in the round would 'sort itself out'!) and had to start over.

Secondly, a quilt for Justin (probably for Valentine's day... but maybe 'just because' if I finish earlier or later!)

I'm hoping to make something like the quilt my Mum just made for my Dad's birthday, from special old shirts that no longer fit (or have been quietly moved from the wardrobe for fashion reasons!).

Mum's quilt, from her lovely blog, here

(Stop by and visit... you'll love it!)

So, plenty to do!

And... we should find out if our newest family member will be a boy or girl this Thursday, hopefully, thanks to a kind friend with after-hours access to an ultrasound machine! EXCITING!

(My bet's on boy, by the way!)

Featured!

How lovely to find little Betsy in this colourful bunch, courtesy of Scoutie Girl!

All the items were selected from Etsy because the artists live in Tucson, Arizona... (ummmm, oops!) ....I guess I forgot to update my location when we moved!

I'm loving those pretty wallets... great colour choices!

We're off to San Antonio in an hour or so for a weekend of fun with family and friends, including a trip to a water park called Schlitterbon.

I'm preparing myself to be very cold tomorrow.

Have a nice weekend!

xo

What a Weekend

Wow, did I need that weekend! Starting a new job is very exciting, but I sure got tired fast, and so we had a lovely relaxing Saturday and Sunday.

And what's more relaxing that sitting beside a peaceful lake, doggie and husband at your side? We took the fishing rods out there, and caught a few ('small') catfish. It was great!

Bella enjoyed getting to sniff the fishies before we threw them back.

How pretty! You can't really see it in the photo, but there's a gorgeous white egret in one of the trees.

"Hey, you're supposed to be taking pictures of me!"

Hello, Weekend!

Hurray for the weekend! We've had a yummy morning of Shipley's chocolate-frosted doughnuts (for Justin) and Shipley's sausage-and-cheese-bun-things (for me).

Plus, I've been living it up on amazon.com. I was given a gift card for my birthday, and have finally decided what I'd like: CRAFT BOOKS! Yay!

We spent two or three hours in Barnes and Nobles last night, just browsing, and all of the knitting books seemed so not me. Either the projects were really hard (umm... I don't even know what Fair Isle knitting means) or really ugly (baggy waistcoats, no thanks) or really lame (why would anyone wear that), or full of baby designs (not yet, thanks!), or full of dumbed-down 'this is a knitting needle... DUH' mindless info.

I was sad.

But, online, I found a couple that seem just my cup of tea:

I love that this one breaks projects down into who they are for: mothers, sisters, friends, men, etc.

So... if you're related to me, and expecting a Christmas present, please DON'T look inside as it'll give away what you're getting! :)

Also looks useful... it promises 'easy sweater patterns' so I'm excited about that!

And yay for primitive embroidery! My Mum had a great book of primitive, folky designs when I was little, and I just loved the quirky birds, the sweet sentiments, and the hearts on everything!

So, come on, Mr. Postman, I'm waiting!