happy birthday to my bestie!

today is my besties birthday

she shares this special day with my dad

i call her saint frannie

as

she loves animals

has always loved animals

ever

since she was a little girl

while the rest of us were playing with dolls....

she spent her time

tending to her buddies

nothing has changed since she was a little girl

she has a huge heart....this bestie of mine

we share the love of lots of things

 st. patricks day

guys who build molds & drive bikes

floating on boats & in canoes

flowers & food & friends & family

grandbabies

and cake.....we both love cake

wishing you a happy birthday bestie

from my heart to yours

a cake? well sorta~ and some sayings

it's a rainy, dreary, cold sunday

and for a change, the hubs & i have no where

to go & nothing particular to do

so~~~~~~~

i decide to bake a cake

not just any cake, a yummy chocolate bundt cake

dripping with chocolate glaze

and

do some knitting on a pair of socks that

i started a few days ago using some beautiful hand dyed yarn

the hubs is watching the race...

"perfect day"

 thought the hubs & i

~~~~~~~~

one of my favorite sayings is

"we make plans & God laughs"

this particular saying sooooooooooooooooo describes my entire day

this is said cake

yep, this is it....this is what it looked like after turning it

out of the bundt cake pan on to the cake plate and

picking off the crust...yep, a crust

while this mess of a cake was baking

and i was happily knitting

 (which turned into unknitting also know as frogging)

i noticed the lack of a sweet scent of

goodness coming from the oven

so i stopped unknitting

(the sock.....now a puddle of curly yarn)

and went to check the cake

hmmmm, the timer is on

but no heat

really?????

we know at one time there was heat

as the cake was baked a little

 (i'm guessing this is when the crust formed)

i turned the heat on and finished baking until the

knife came out clean

*hardeeharharhar*

i remained optomistic til the end

the cake had about a 1/2 " crust

pies have crust...cakes....not so much

i picked the crust off and put the top on the cake plate

i don't know....i think this makes all the difference in the world don't you?

i said to the hubs, "i should take pictures & blog it"

to which he replied

"you should, not every moment is perfect"

and he's right

ugly as it is, it is very tasty

the socks, well the socks have returned to their previous life

a pretty ball of yarn

hmmmmm~

and the preview page doesn't work on blogger..

of course it doesn't

on searching ravelry, knitty, etc looking for a new pattern

i came across this saying and thought it fit my day perfectly!

"Courage doesn't always roar.  Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying,

I will try again tomorrow"

and i will

~*~



my valentines~

~the hubs~

he liked me so much

he married me on valentines day

31 years ago

shannon, brian, tori, hayden & abby

abbey, adam, adelyn & shelden

douglas & ashlie

 adelyn laine

grayson thomas

 

our love created 3 more valentines

shannon, abbey, douglas

together with their valentines

adam, ashlie & brian

 7 more valentines were created

shelden, abby, tori, hayden, adelyn, grayson

&

little miss iris grace who will join us in april



"all because two people fell in love"

~*~

happy valentines day

pretzel goodness~

i love this little double broiler pan

it was a find at ikea for $5 bucks

it fits onto a couple of my pans

and has a nice round bottom

i use 4-5 white almond bark blocks

for about 1/2 pounds of pretzels

put double broiler over a pan of simmering water

to melt the almond bark

dip half the pretzel into the almond bark

sprinkle with a little topping

i used

chopped peanuts

crushed peppermints

&

teenytiny sprinkles

then lay on wax paper until almond bark is set

eat & enjoy!

~*~



two heads are better than one~

another finished project

actually two finished projects

YEAH!!!!

i knitted this hat for the hubs

using fishermans wool

when the grandson saw it

he wanted one as well

it's called the boyfriend hat

it's a simple knit but has interesting decreases on the crown

you can find the pattern here

boyfriend hat

"my goofballs"

living in black & white

~*~

since early december

we've been living in a black & white world

when i look out the window

i feel like i'm in a ansel adams photo

we've had snow on the ground

nearly everyday since early december

all of this gray & white has made me

feel the need for some color in our world

a touch of spring & summer if you will

wishing you a quick return of color

~*~



gobble,gobble,gobble

these gobblers have been circling the house all day

i've counted 8 so far

i've been keeping jesse (our border collie) in the house

as she thinks it's her job to keep them off her property

she's hasn't gotten a hold of one.........yet

i think she might get a wound or two if she were to get too close

she seems content to run them to the edge of the woods

come back to the porch and keep a watchful eye

~*~

our newest joy~

~* grayson *~

i know, i know

adorable

snuggly

precious

loved

amazing

sweetness

i could go on & on

~*~

his mama reports

 he is a very good baby

(and i agree!)

the beautiful blue blankie

 he is nestled in

was made especially for him

by his grandma angie

~*~

with sticks & string~

this has been such a fun knit!

it is called  Nutkin

i have one sock done and i'm almost to the toe

on the second sock

the yarn is from Neighborhood Fiber Company

 the color is Thomas Circle

and has been wonderful to work with

the color didn't show up well in this picture

it is a blend of dark gray, black & light gray

it's a superwash merino and oh so soft

rather than your typical top ribbing

it has the cutest folded over top

there is also a version of nutkin handwarmer

nutkin handwarmer

both patterns can be found on

ravelry

~*~

darn blogger!

sometimes.....

using blogger

is enough to make me give up blogging!

the previous post had links

none of which showed up on the post

the links were:

Little House in Paradise

&

Jewels Favorite Soup Jill Makes

and the winner is.....

Me! 

As you might have seen in my last post

Sherri over at Little House in Paradise

was having a give away

I entered a soup recipe

One of my favorite

Jewels-Favorite-Soup-Jill-Makes

She & Big Bob the Builder had a clever way of choosing the winner (me!)

and the winner is....

YEAH!!!!!

Thanks Sherri!