No Snow To Report!

Hello and happy Monday morning to you all!  Can you believe it?  Now, when the east coast is finally starting to see some of the winter we've had since November, we finally have no accumulating snow this past week!  Now, mind you, it DID snow here.  But it didn't stick to the ground and it's actually been in the 40's for the first time since November, so what we had on the ground is melting quickly.  It was even 53 on Saturday!  Oh my goodness! Hubby and I went and looked at campers just to get out of the house. People were outside in shorts and no jackets and working around the snow left in their yards.  We are all so excited to have warmth that it feels like a balmy summer day when it's 50F!  However, all of that snow laying on the grass for so long has left what is called "snow mold" and the yards look pretty yucky right now.  No pictures as it's ugly!  :-)  I'm happy though.  No snow!!!

Here is my only nod to St. Patrick's Day.  Not much but a little green.

I made these cute crochet shamrocks a couple of years ago.

Becky, who is "Grandma Becky" on my sidebar sent me this sweet little package as a combination Happy Birthday and Get Well package.  Wasn't that sweet?  I use those crochet scrubbies all of the time and love them.  The dishcloth is beautifully made and I love the sweet little bracelet.  Thank you Becky!

A pair of shortie socks virtually flew off of my needles.  This is Knit Picks speckle sock yarn and the "Hermione Everyday" sock pattern.

Ten new baby hats for the hospital.  I did make a couple of pairs of mittens, but forgot to photograph them.  These are so fast and only take an hour or so.  I apologize for these photos.  It's very rainy and cloudy today so I had to have the lights on and it created a glare in the pictures.

Another baby gumdrop blanket for the Crisis Nursery.

Remember the white blanket I had started last post?  I didn't like it at all, so it was ripped out and I started again with this ICE yarn.  It was given to me a few years ago from a sweet lady at church's stash when she moved into a nursing home.  This yarn is working SO much better for this pattern.  The other one was a worsted weight yarn and much to thick for a blanket.  It was very, very stiff.  This is a cross between baby yarn and DK yarn and much softer.  I love the colors for a little girl too.  I'm making this a bit small for the hospital and will be perfect for a preemie.

Look at those stitches.  Such an easy pattern too.  Chain one, single crochet.  Over and over again.  Do you like my hook?  A few years ago I took some extra hooks laying around and used polymer clay to make them.  You can buy them online but they're pretty pricy.  These fit my hands perfectly and were so cheap.  I think I made handles for 6 hooks for about $2.00!  Not bad.  They're much easier on my hands than when they were just plain skinny hooks.

This was our camper on Saturday.  Friends went up to check on things and sent us this picture.  Now, this is only 25 miles from our house but look at the snow that's still there, and that's the lake behind it. Still frozen over.  The elevation is that much higher than at our house that there is still lots of snow.  The past two years, we were already spending weekends at the trailer by mid-March.  Obviously not this year.  It's definitely been one for the record books.

This is how I would prefer to think of the lake.  I took this last summer.  Nice!  We're hoping to be there by next month if it finally is done with winter here. :-)

My physical therapy is going well.  He wasn't happy with the progress last Tuesday so he lowered my activity level once again and that has seemed to help the pain significantly.  I'm going to the mall to walk most days and am much more active now.  I still can't lift over 2 lbs.  That's 2 bottles of water!  I went to the grocery store after my physical therapy last Thursday.  I had to put 2 cans of soup, or one block of cheese in each bag.  When I got home I had to carry them into the house one by one.  Such a pain.  I think I had about 30 bags!  Next time I'll just go with Dennis so he can carry them in!

Since I'm out walking more, it's cutting into my crafting time so I don't have as much to show you.  It is frustrating to me, because I want to clean and declutter this house.  My goal was to start getting rid of LOTS of stuff this winter in preparation for retirement.  I haven't decluttered one closet.  Oh, well.  I still have a couple of years to work on things.

And now I'm off to drive to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho to drop some papers off to our financial guy.  My first "big" car trip by myself.  It's a whole 30 miles away do you think I can do it?

Have a lovely week my friends.  I hope it's sunshiny wherever you may be.

"Be joyful in hope, patients in affliction, faithful in prayer."  Romasn 12:12

Blessings,

Betsy