A little taste of Spring...

Just a glimpse of things to come. Spring is starting here in SoCA, though there will be cooler days ahead they say. Things like to get started here about this time every year, though, and it is a real treat to have these balmy days in winter. I wanted to share , to let you know that it IS going to happen, wherever you live...Spring is coming...no matter what Punxsutawney Phil had to say the other day...In the meantime, enjoy these little snaps from my yard...

No water in the fountain at the moment...it needs something done to the motor.

My poor neglected and unfinished garden...I'm going to put in raised boxes and plant veggies and more flowers in there.
Pink India Hawthorn is starting to bloom right now...I love it.

My glorious nectarine tree is in bloom and leafing out already. This tree drags on the ground when the fruit is ready. Such delicious nectarines every year. It's always a good thing when I'm still in town to enjoy it. Some years it fruits later than others and I miss it when I have to leave for NY before the fruit is ripe. I noticed the crab apple tree is starting to flower, too. It will be lovely in a few days. I have picked the end of the tangelos, they were a bit sour this year. The grapefruit are mostly done. And the other citrus are beautifully budded. Let's hope for more lemons and limes this year!

Knitting, knitting, knitting...

Well, not a lot of sewing or quilting going on here but I have been knitting. We had a spell of cooler weather and even some rain last month, but it didn't last. What it did do while it was here was make me want to be cozy, so I started and completed 3 knitting projects in January. I only have photos of one of them, darn it...

This was inspired by a pattern in Joelle Hoverson's book, Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, which is a book I checked out of the library and ended up ordering for myself because I liked it so much. The hat is for my little 3 year old niece who just moved with her family to the frozen land of Colorado from sunshiny Southern California...I thought she needed to keep her head warm while remembering me =-) The design of the hat pattern in the book is so simple and allows for adding your own elements and embellishments very easily. I added the crocheted flower to help her know which side was the front. I also knit a darling pink and brown hat for her 5 mo. old baby sister out of the same book. The third thing I knit was a quick and easy scarf for myself out of brown mottled Homespun, super simple, plain old garter stitch on sz 19 needles. It was purely an impulse project that came home from JoAnn's with me last week and was so quick and easy-peasy, just what I needed to scratch an itch I must have had at the time =-) I am in the process of making another one to stash in my gift box for next Christmas. I already have it earmarked for a certain recipient, so I feel pretty proud of myself for being ahead of the game...at least by one gift =-)

They tell me today is Super Bowl Sundae...you mean we get to have a really big bowl of ice cream with chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and a cherry? Huh? That's not how it's spelled or what it means? ...oh. Well, darn...=-/