Summer's in full swing

We've been busy busy but it's all good.

1. Last week we had an awesome time at Vacation Bible School. The theme was Cosmic City. I photographed all the kids in a rocket ship.
2. I took a crochet class. Love it but still love knitting most.
3. The baby bird eggs hatched and survived and as of today, they have all left the nest.
4. Potty training well under way and going better than expected.
5. Training for the Twin Cities 10 mile run in October.
6. Lots of perennials blooming in our gardens.
7. Made strawberry jam last week. Yummy!
8. Our garden has been robbed. Suspect: Peter Rabbit!
9. Had fun blowing bubbles using this super-foam-erator over at Betz White's blog

10. and of course knitting stuff, more to follow...

Nature's Voices

I love hearing the birds sing in the morning. When I do I know it's going to be a productive day. Something about sunny mornings make me happy and when I can listen to nature's voices it's all the better. We have a hanging planter in the front of our house with hot pink geraniums in it. Little did I know when I picked out that plant at the farmer's market it would become the home for a Purple Finch family. They built their little nest tucked neatly inside the plant and are waiting with anticipation for their six little eggs to hatch. We've been watching closely and hoping the raptors will keep their distance. Last year the luck was not with the Finches :(

I love my feathered friends and it has put me in the mood to cast on for these. I adore this pattern! Once again, Marie has designed a fabulous woolly something. The cardinal is one of my favorites and has such a pretty song so he will be first. Pictures to follow!

(PS. Did you get a glimpse of the new gnome she created! Eeeee! I can't wait to make him too)

Bolero is finero

<fin-er-o> def: finished!


She wore it on her last day of school. That was my goal and so the night before I was hunched over sewing together five pieces. My back sure hurts. I'm not so fond of the mattress stitch right now. Next garment I'll be checking to see how many pieces. For me, less is better :)

I'm loving my new photo shoot location. The picture above was taken in our garage, early morning sun pouring in through the windows and I love the partly painted cinder blocks as the backdrop. Straight out of the camera.

So remember in this previous post about letting her choose her own outfits? and me saying how this bolero isn't going to match much but she won't care? Take a lookie at the getup:

Gotta love it. That's my girl!

Garden Life

Back in April we had the idea of starting a vegetable garden. Unfortunately, our spring was not as cooperative and the seedlings we started indoors failed miserably. But alas! there's hope. Sprouts have been spotted!

We planted:

Carrots

Peas

Beans

Cucumbers

Tomatoes

Sunflowers

Zinneas and

Sweet Basil

Hugs to all

Thank you everyone for the kind thoughts and words about our loss. It was a comfort to us all. Today marked one week since Nala's been gone and I received a sign this morning that she is happy in heaven. I went for a jog in the morning and on my normal route I crossed paths with two Golden Retrievers and they happened to be the only dogs I saw on my run. One was patiently waiting outside for its owner who was in a store. I stopped and pet her/him and set off on my way choking back the tears. Then I reached the park and coming up a hill was this beautiful, tail wagging Golden named Bachi. I asked to pet her and the owner obliged. As I shared my story with the owner I couldn't help the tears but Bachi let me hug her and it felt soooo good. My husband and I aren't ready to have another pet but I'm sure once the kids start asking we'll give it another thought.

(The picture is a gift we received from my sister and family of a Willow Tree angel. It is the Angel of Friendship. I love, love, LOVE this gift and the card in the background was from our neighbor who is this dear 84 year old adopted grandpa.)

Goodbye Nala

Yesterday we said a very sad goodbye to Nala, our family pet of 13 years. It was one of the saddest days I’ve been through in a very long time. We didn’t have much time to say goodbye her; she became very sick and we had to make an extremely hard decision.
I’m glad I saw her in the morning as her usual self. I’m sure she would have wanted to go for a jog with me that morning but I didn’t take her. When I returned I fed her and took her outside. Later that morning my husband found her having a seizure at which time we didn’t know what was happening to her. We thought she was dying so we called Ella to over to say her goodbyes. Ella was sadly saying her goodbyes and telling Nala that she was surrounded by the people who loved her the most so everything was going to be ok. Nala continued having grand mal seizures about every half hour. It was so hard to watch her go through them. After the first seizure occurred she didn’t seem coherent of her surroundings. I don’t know if she even recognized us. My sister stopped by and witnessed another seizure and helped us with our decision for her. She said her goodbyes to Nala and shortly after that my parents came over to say goodbye. Nala adored my dad and while she didn’t seem coherent of us around her she sat up when my dad got close to her.
My parents stayed with Anders while Ella, Jason and I went to the vet hospital with Nala. She had another seizure while we were there and they reassured us we were doing the right thing. She was peacefully put to sleep and we took her home with us to bury her next to our garden. We let Ella choose where to place her. Ella decided she wanted Nala wrapped in the red blanket Nala loved to lounge on in the house and laid to rest next to the garden where she would be with the kids. Nala did love to hang out with us and the kids and she usually found a nice shady spot over by the garden area. I think Ella made the right choice. Nala can now rest in peace.
I feel like there’s a hole in my heart. It aches so badly. I know she’s resting peacefully now but I miss her.

Nalees, you were a very special dog to us and we will miss you!

Love from us all.