Counting down

The kids' last day of school is next Thursday.  I am all too aware of how quickly this time will pass.

Somebody turned ELEVEN last week!

I should be outside planting flowers.  And then I should be out shopping for the third grade end-of-the-year party.

Dresden fun--sidelined indefinitely.  Maybe they'll come out in time for the 4-H fair!

And of course, there's always laundry.

ADVENTure FAIL!  Way too big for intended recipient.  Starting over...

Here I go--past the large stack of library books and out into the garden.

Procrastinating

I'm procrastinating--today I told myself I was going to whip the kitchen and dining room into shape.  I'm taking it really slowly...



And this is after I've already done some clearing away!

The dining room is rarely used for dining purposes.  It's more often my sewing/craft room.  And--here's what really drives me crazy--it is also the room for stuff that has no home or stuff that needs to be put away.  It's a clutter graveyard, and finding homes for this stuff just sucks the energy right out of me.  Somehow the "if it doesn't have a home, get rid of it" idea is much more difficult in practice.

But I know that I really enjoy that sense of "mission accomplished," like yesterday after I returned from the laundromat with clean comforters ready to be put away (where, I'm not exactly sure). 



The comforters--clean and ready to be put away until fall.



And once I'm done, I can go back to reading,



I'm on magazine overload!

I am loving these books and wishing my girls would pick them up--and there's a new one out!

or knitting,

More dishcloths!

or dreaming about tomorrow night's chive risotto cakes!

I'll be making Barefoot Contessa's Chive Risotto Cakes.

Checking in

On Sunday it was warm enough to go to the park.  Without coats.

There was knitting, of course.

This crazy busy week and half is well under way.  Right now I'm trying to keep my head down and focused on everything that needs to be done this week.  Birthday madness starts tomorrow.  There are dinner menus to plan and seams to sew up.

We have been so enjoying the sun and (relative) warmth.  Spring is coming, it really is.  I have proof:

It's that time again

Wow. I have pretty much procrastinated all week. I was supposed to be cleaning the house in preparation for a party we're having on Saturday.
I did move the serger and the sewing machine out of the dining room. And then three loads of laundry moved in and took over.

You wouldn't believe the progress I've made on my next sweater, though! I pretty much spent any and all birthday money that came my way on yarn for myself, and I am so enjoying making things!

Anyway, it's down to crunch time here for cleaning--but the weather forecaster this morning mentioned that we could be seeing some snow starting on Saturday, so this party could be over before it even starts. At least I'll have a clean house for the family members who will be arriving next week!

Gettin' ziggy with it

Zig-zag Christmas quilt? Done!
Amy at Park City Girl led a zig zag quilt along over the summer, and I pretty much followed her instructions. I used a couple of charm packs plus some solids. It's a little smaller than I had hoped--maybe 49" by 49", but still a good lap-size quilt.

As you look at the back, you can see that I kept the quilting very simple. I had purchased another color of thread to do some quilting in the pink sashing, but I really just wanted this to be done.

And in the spirit of getting it done, I cheated on the binding. I stitched it to the front of the quilt, then pinned it down on the back and stitched in the ditch. I had to go back over a few places, and it's not pretty, but it is done. The kids aren't going to be checking for nicely mitered corners--they're going to be spilling hot chocolate on it when they watch It's a Wonderful Life. And I am totally okay with that.

Yep, I 've been in the library again. Grace over at Uncommon Grace recommended the Mrs. Sharp's Traditions book as a great resource for year-round and advent traditions and activities for the family. I've been looking through it, and I'm hoping that this Christmas season will be a fun one.

Of course, I am hosting Thanksgiving this year, and that means that I have to stop taking on new projects and put away the sewing machine (at least for one day). Since the dining room has become my work space, I have a lot of cleaning (or at least moving out of sight) to do in there.

What do you do...

When you learn that you'll be having overnight guests on Tuesday, and the house is still in its post-weekend-wreck state,

And you just brought this book home from the library,
And you have this toile left over from when you decorated the dining room?

You make Mama's Bag,

And you put your latest knitting project in it!

And then you clean!