My Secret Crush....

So since this is supposed to be a fiber filled blog, before I share my crush I'll take care of a little knitting business first.  TA-STINKING-DA!!!!!  How cute is this?

Collar up.....

Collar down.....

Check out my new bling!

My husband beat me home tonight and had my anniversary present (3+ weeks early) that he couldn't wait for me to open.  It's a little blurry but my necklace is So Cool (and so is he!!).  Anyway, this is my finished Watershed in Spud & Chloe 'Sweater'.  I love the whole idea of this vest but the really wide stand-up collar doesn't work for me since it's wider than my neck is long (it flops open in back unless I hold really, really, really still.  So, I figured out how to wear it with the collar folded down and I love it.

And now that I've mentioned how awesome my husband is, it seems really wrong to share my secret crush...but I will anyway.  Steve Martin.  Yup, the Steve Martin of 70's SNL fame.  The man is hands. down. flat. out. talented.  He's hilarious, smart, witty, a funny actor, a great writer, and not that that isn't enough, the man ROCKS the banjo and can write music to boot.  I stayed up past my ever-earlier-bedtime a few weeks ago to watch the season finale of Saturday Night Live expecting to fall asleep before it was over but Justin Timberlake and Lady Gaga kept me in stitches til 1:00 and then I had to see what was playing on Austin City Limits and there he was, Mr. Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers.  Made it through the entire hour and even got up to write myself a note to google his music in the morning.  Yesterday, my husband downloaded 'Rare Bird Alert' for me off itunes and I've listened to the album 4 times now and love every song on it.  If you like bluegrass music at all (it's my favorite genre), check him out.  You may find yourself with an old-er man crush, too! (Here's a link to his song 'Jubilation Day' if you want to take a peek & a listen)

~Melissa

Watershed & Watership Down

This photo is just for Tamra!

Photos of my latest taken in my knitting attic!  It's coming together, slowly but surely...I obviously still haven't gotten around to putting my books in the bookcases!  ~ Melissa

(If you haven't read Watership Down by Richard Adams, you should.  It's a classic and a wonderful read.  And if you love bunnies, you should check out this post from Snohomish Shepherdess.  Adorable!)

Vacation ~ Vol 6

I feel my time off winding down and I'm not ready for it to be over with.  I'm having too much fun!  Today I got to go sit and knit with the group I go on retreat with in October.  They meet weekly ~ I meet 4 times a year when I'm on vacation from work.  It's always fun to visit with everyone and see what they've been up to.  Met Kelli first for coffee and then followed her to the coolest shop in Burlington, Stowe's Shoes and Clothing, where we lucked upon a sidewalk sale.  I scored 3 pairs of shoes (badly needed) one of which was on sale.  I'll definitely make the trek that far north for shoes in the future ~ they had all my favorite brands.  Then we met the gals for knitting at Wildfibers for a few hours.  I ran across the street to Easton's Books to try and find a used set of the Anne of Green Gables series.  No such luck but I did find the very sweet book in the picture above.  It's called The Little Wooden Doll by Margery Williams Bianco (copyright 1925) to add to my old children's book collection.  It's about a lonely old fashioned hinged wooden doll that lies neglected in an attic until the spiders knit her a lace dress and the moths give her velvet off their wings for a new cloak and the mice bring her corn silk for new plaits in her hair.  Then the birds and mice scoop her up and take her to a lonely little girl that lives in the woods who loves her forever and names her Rose, the name the wooden doll has always longed to be called.  I love a good story!  ~ Melissa

Vacation ~ Vol 3

I am having the BEST 'me day'...nothing but fun.  Took the car up to Anacortes for a 30K-mile tuneup (ouch$!) and lucky me, Kelli came and picked me up and we went to Starbucks for 3 hours to visit and knit.  The time flew by while we both worked on our latest project, Watershed.  I'm using Spud & Chloe 'Sweater' in the Grass colorway ~ a bright medium green.  Here's what I've done so far today:

Once Kelli dropped me back off at the dealership (thanks so much!), I decided to stray off the beaten path and took the back roads part of the way home and wandered around in farm country ~ lovely!

I decided to finally stop and check out the Skagit County extension of the Washington State University Master Garden demonstration garden.  I've passed this place by at least a dozen times and have never stopped.  If you're ever in the area, it's worth the time and it's free.  You can walk around at your leisure and it's very visitor friendly with benches everywhere and signs identifying just about every plant that's on view. 

I took a ton of pictures ~ everything is in full bloom right now and the smells were amazing, from the honeysuckle right down to the skunk cabbage.  I need to do things like this more often.  I won't overload you with all the pics I took but here are a few of my favorites:

 

 

 Maybe I'll share a few more later in the week ~ it was hard to narrow it down to just these few.  Then, it was on to Skagit Valley Co-op where I scored a yummy ham, egg & broccoli quiche and some tomato, basil & barley soup for dinner tonight:

The final stop of the day was Snow Goose Produce, which I actually had to double back to get to but I was on a mission to get my husband a few of their fresh baked macaroons, which he discovered when he was nice enough to stop there on the way home from fishing, boat trailer and all, to pick up hanging baskets for mother's day and a few for me (one of which I shared on the blog yesterday).  One good turn deserves another....he's going to be so excited about those cookies when he gets home.  I'm not so sure about the quiche!   ~ Melissa