Made it!

We are now in Minnesota at least for the week. I'm currently sitting alone in daughter's place with Shasta as hubby, daughter, her boyfriend and a couple of their friends are at an outdoor show. It's not really my type of thing so I am relaxing and going to Skype with Mum in England. As daughter is an hour behind us I have to remember to Skype at the correct time lol.

The car ride was long and I was a little concerned as, when we hit Wisconsin, there was a lot of snow still around! Yikes! Luckily St. Cloud is not covered in snow - there is still a lot of ice on the Mississippi River and I am hoping to get some good photos before it melts. We'll be taking Shasta out for a walk this afternoon when they get back.

Shasta was really happy to see me. This morning she wanted me to go out for a walk with them and is currently curled up on the couch next to me. If she didn't love daughter so much I might be tempted to take her back with me lol.

The sun is shining here so that's a good sign and the temps look above freezing for the next week! I'm hoping we can go up to Duluth and see the Split Rock Lighthouse.

All Packed

We're off early tomorrow morning to visit daughter. Getting away for a week will do wonders I think. Daughter is taking the whole week off work too so it will be a nice break for her too. I'm probably taking far too much with me but we're driving so there's plenty of room in the car - not like you have to restrict yourself to one case like on a plane lol.

It's been a busy day today. Why is it that when you do go on holiday the house has to be really tidy before you leave? My craft room is a mess but no-one will be going in there - thank goodness ;) The sun was out today and while it was cold this morning it did 'warm' up this afternoon. I could see the beginnings of buds on some of the bushes/trees on my walk this morning. I reckon when we get back things will have really popped. Daughter's forecast looks like there won't be any snow and it will be warming up a bit (fingers crossed). The drive is a long one. It is over 600 miles and takes about 11 hours. I admit to not looking forward to the journey but I know what's at the end of it lol. I have my kindle loaded up. I can't read a book in the car but reading a kindle doesn't seem to bother my stomach.

Leaving you with a bright bird from the garden. They seem to be getting brighter in colour. Must be mating season!

Wednesday

Talked to Mum today. She says they are having some beautiful weather at last! She's going to go to Felixstowe tomorrow to take a walk along the front. I told her she had to send a little of it our way. At least this morning started out bright and sunny and we didn't have snow today. A friend posted this on Facebook today and I had to share. It just about sums things up.

I should be writing a list of what I should pack but I haven't got around to it yet. I don't know what it is but I feel really grumpy lately - sort of like Eeyore.  It didn't help that we couldn't get out at all last weekend due to rain and the ice storm. I'm hoping maybe the trip to daughter's will do the trick. We will be leaving on Friday morning. I'm not looking forward to the long car ride but am looking forward to seeing daughter and Shasta at the end.

Monday Bright & Sunny...Just Kidding

It's actually snowing. Because of the lousy weekend I managed to get through another book. It was a good read. Can't remember where I bought it but at least I am getting through some of my books on my bookshelves. I've got quite a pile to take to the library bookshop. The only problem is that if I go I'll probably ending up coming home with another lot. Sigh. So many books, so little time!

I did manage to also get my March pages (finally) done. I filled out about the month as I went but I was waiting on some photos to come back.

Not the best photos but taken with my phone upstairs in my craft room.

I just had to share this picture of a chipmunk that got up on the birdfeeder. He just looks so relaxed. Made me laugh.

Hope it made you smile!

Ug

I spoke too soon. It's a miserable start to the weekend and looks to go on that with rain, freezing rain and maybe some snow on Monday. I guess it's back to the 'normal' Spring. Sigh. I enjoyed the two days of warmer weather. I even got to open a window and let the house air out a bit.

I've been feeling a bit blah last night and today. Not sure what it is - feel like crying at the drop of a hat. Sigh. I think I made myself homesick by binge (re) watching Gavin and Stacey and looking through photos of trips home. I keep reminding myself that it will not be many weeks until I am back visiting Mum again. I find it tougher each year as she is getting older (82) this year and it scares me.

Deep breath. Enough said on the subject. I shall try to cheer up a little and think of good things. I did some stitching though the light is not good. I feel guilty about having the light on at one in the afternoon. It's coming together. It will probably be another couple of weeks, but I can see the end in sight. I've been watching some knitting podcasts. There are some funny ones out there.

Cheery thing this week - I've been stalking (ha!) the daffodils in the woods. At beginning of the week they were covered with snow. By the end of the week they were out!

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Sshhh...it's warming up...

My last post was on Monday where we were experiencing snow. It has slowly warmed up over the last few days and today it was sunny and 21C/70F!  Yes. You are reading that correctly! What a difference a few days make! I was so excited that I ended up walking for ages today. Yes, it's too good to last and although tomorrow it will be warm it will also be raining and from there temperatures are expected to drop again. The last couple of days have been our warmest yet and certainly cheered me up a lot. 

We will be leaving next Friday (20th) to visit daughter in Minnesota. I certainly hopes it warms up before we get there - she's due for another snow storm this weekend with maybe up to a foot of snow!!!! I certainly don't want to visit that. 

As it was so bright I worked on my cross stitch this afternoon (with a window open wow!). Hopefully I'll have a photo to share next week. It won't be done by then but at least you can tell what it will be lol. The worst of all those partial stitches are over (I hope) as I have finished her face. 

I've been continuing on with my 100 day project - 10 days in! It will get tricky when we start on holidays. I'm not going to stress about it. It is supposed to be fun. If I can't keep up I will play catch-up when I get back. Spending time with daughter is more important.

I've been having a couple of days where my back isn't quite as bad. Is it coincidence that it is warming up? Time will tell. Hopefully I'll start having more good than bad and will actually be able to get some stuff done. Yesterday was a really good day - barely a twinge until I got into bed. I would have got a lot done only I had a stabbing headache. I woke up with it in the morning and still had it at night and again this morning. I think it might be allergies. 

I hope everyone is having a good week. I am actually feeling a little more optimistic that Spring is on the way!

It snowed...

...most of the day! Insert grumpy face here. This should be Winter's last hooray - according to the weather people it is supposed to hit 21C/71F on Friday. We'll go from being bundled in long undies, gloves, hats and scarves to wearing shorts in one week. I'm pretty sure I won't be wearing shorts, but the last time it warmed up to about 14C there were people out and about in shorts. It has been a long winter afterall.

It wasn't cold enough for the snow to stick to the roads, thank goodness, but as I speak there is a light blanket on the ground. It's supposed to all be gone by morning.

I feel a bit of a failure today as I didn't get as much done as I had hoped. I was all gung-ho last night (close to midnight) but when I woke up, not so much. I didn't even write the list I was going to do to keep me on track. I shall try to do better tomorrow!

Too much time...

...spent watching the squirrels and chipmunks and, well, basically everything, in the back garden. I was trying to put together some triptychs for the A Year with my Camera graduate group and have come to realise I have a lot of photos of the back garden visitors.

Hope everyone is having  a good weekend!

Saturday

Always feel a little lazy on Saturdays. Despite the cold weather (it's barely got above 1c today) we did get out this morning for a walk. I was surprised at how many people were on the trail. Lots of joggers about. It was cold, but the sun was finally shining so maybe that brought people out.

Saturday is Skype day for Mum and I. It looked bright and sunny where she was - neither one of us had to have lights on today! She said she'd actually gone to Felixstowe yesterday. It was windy and cold she said but made for a nice change. They have some really good charity shops there and Mum said she found three books for a pound. I know where I get my love of reading from!

This afternoon I stitched for a little. I'm not sure I like the kit too much. There are lots of partial stitches and lots of using one strand of this and one strand of that. I will keep up with it as I like the design - it's one of the John Clayton ladies. After this one I'm going to stitch something for one of my sisters. I'll take it with me when I go.

I had to laugh at these fellows today. The bottom one kept trying to get up the pole and on this photo he's actually sliding down it fireman style - so funny to watch! The top one made me laugh out loud. He was trying to figure out how to get the food. 

Bless, I think you were right about the raccoons. I have started bringing the feeders in at night. The birds are waiting out there when I get up in the morning lol. 

Another Week Done and Dusted

April is already whizzing by. It's only a couple of weeks until we leave to see daughter in Minnesota. I'm really excited as I haven't seen her since Christmas. She still has quite a bit of snow though so I hope it clears up before we get there! Speaking of daughter, this is her dog Shasta's gotcha day. Two years ago today she adopted Shasta from Northern Lights Sled Dog rescue. I can't believe it's just been two years! Daughter was so lucky with Shasta. We're not sure of her history but she's a really sweet, loving dog. Huskies can be a lot of work and some people who decide they can cope with them, really can't. It's such a shame. They sometimes get a bum rep but they can be really sweet dogs.

It's snowing here in Michigan today. Not much, just a dusting, but still enough! Hubby has made a couple of bird houses and one has already been claimed.

Hubby is convinced it's a he and he is puffing up calling to the females. He's been carrying bits from the garden into the house and has been sitting on the perch calling.

Slightly snowy walk this morning. Not surprisingly there weren't many people around. I like it when it's quiet. I can just walk, look and daydream.

I've been keeping up with my 100 day projects - thank goodness as it's only day 4! I'm trying to get some cross stitching done, but the light hasn't been good. It makes me sound ancient but I can't see the holes too clearly when the light isn't good. I shall probably give up on that and go back to the knitting. 

Hope everyone is having a lovely day!

Well....

I'm not quite sure what happened to Spring, but we've got a little snow today. Yuck. I decided to just stay inside rather than go out for a walk. I don't fancy getting blown about in the snow as it is quite windy too. Sigh.

The cold weather and snow has brought a whole bunch of birds to the garden looking for breakfast.  I'm going to have to bring the feeders into the house at night. Sounds weird, but something is getting hold of them. Yesterday the suet feeder was gone and I found it halfway up the backgarden. This morning hubby said both were gone! He found one over by the neighbours house and said it looked like it had been rolled on the ground to spill the seeds and the other one he found up the garden with the suet bit gone. Sigh.

I've got chili in the slow cooker - something to warm up the guys when they get home from work. Son will be working outside today so I'm sure he'll want something hot to warm him up. I'm going to call Mum and then do some knitting - if the cat lets me. He seems to think that anytime I pick something up it should be him.

Hope everyone has a good day!

Dreary Old Day

It's so dark and dreary today. Uck. I was going to get going on the new cross stitch project I started but I don't fancy having the light on so early in the afternoon and I won't be able to see the holes otherwise so knitting it will have to be. I did get started on my 100 day projects today. I added a page to my photography blog. Seemed a bit better than clogging up one blog or the other. I did manage - between drizzle - to get out for a walk. It seems a good way to start the day.

I'm enjoying seeing the birds in my garden. This morning when I woke up and looked out the pole the bird feeders hang from was very crooked and I noticed the suet feeder had disappeared altogether! I ended up finding it way further up the back garden. Something must have pulled it off and carried it that far away! I ended up buying another as the chain is broken completely. If hubby can fix I'll hang up elsewhere.

I'm trying to get motivated to do some sorting but it doesn't seem to be happening. I've fallen off the crafty wagon and bought some stamps. All-in-all it's not a good frugal start to the month! I need to do better. We're going to visit daughter later in the month so every penny counts!

Monday/100 Day Project

Another week beginning. I was hoping things would look a little more like Spring but not yet. There is even talk of the 's' word later in the week. Brrr. There was a weather item on the local news that this Easter was one of the coldest for several years. Granted, last year Easter was a couple weeks later but the temp was 70F/21C and even the year before (when Easter was on March 27th) the temperature was the same. This year? 36F/2C as a high. Sigh. It has to get warmer soon.

The land around is thinking Spring. This are popping up all over in the woods where I walk, but none have flowered yet. I don't think I'd be flowering either in this weather lol. 

 

The start of a new month and a new week brings a new project I'm going to try to join in with. If you've been reading this for a while you'll probably know that I'm not good with deadlines or regular commitments. I find it difficult to stick to one thing - probably why I have a lot of unfinished crafty projects around! Anyway I've decided I'm going to join in with the 100 day project. You're supposed to choose something and stick to it for 100 days - something generally crafty (?) and post on Instagram. There are free prompts to help. I'm going to document it over on my Camera Blog so I don't clog up this one but I've chosen my theme. It's a photography one more than a crafty one. I'm calling it Colour/Color My World. I'm using both spellings of the word - English and American - as I'm an English woman living in the states. I plan on taking colourful photos for each day (I'll post these on Instagram as well as blog) along with stories (only posting these on blog) of things in my world. 100 days is a long time so I'm hoping I can stick to it. We have several trips planned during this time so I won't always post on the specific day or they won't be fancy photos taken with my nifty camera. I'll also be in England for part of it. So that's the plan lol.

I hope I can stick to it. I'm going through a period right now where I'm finding it tough to get motivated. There are so many projects (crafty and not) running around in my head and I don't seem to get any of them done. Sigh. I hope everyone's week is off to a good start.