A Spring Hike

My Sweetie and I took a hike through a local park reserve recently. I love days like this. We walked and talked, and we even sang a little bit...

This is my Father's world

And to my listening ears

All nature sings, and around me rings

The music of the spheres

This is my Father's world

I rest me in the thought

Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas

His hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father's world

the birds their carols raise

The morning light, the lily white

Declare their Maker's praise

This is my Father's world

he shines in all that's fair

In the rustling grass I hear Him pass

He speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father's world

O let me ne'er forget

That though the wrong seems off so strong

God is the Ruler yet

This is my Father's world

the battle is not done

Jesus who died shall be satisfied

and earth and heaven be one.

Forced Bulbs Blooming

I'm a little slow in posting this picture, but it's still worth putting up on this site, I think. These bloomed over the week coming up to Mother's Day weekend, and I was thrilled to see them because I've never tried forcing bulbs before.

Late last fall, when bulbs were on deep discount at Wal-Mart, I bought three packages of bulbs for this little experiment. Two were daffodils, and one was a large variety of hyacinth. The daffodils didn't bloom, but every one of the hyacinth did.

I planted them in shallow pots with soil, covering them only as much as they would be covered if planted in the soil outside. Then I watered them and enclosed the entire pot in a zippered plastic bag and put them in the bag of the refrigerator for several months. When the shoots are 1-2 inches in height, take the pot out of the fridge and put them in a sunny place. They'll continue to grow and eventually bloom.

What a treat to my winter-starved eyes earlier this month! And I still enjoy this photo, even though my spring tulips have come and gone. Now I wait for the irises and lilies to bloom...Thank you, Lord, for the spring!

Appliqued One-sies

Another baby gift I made recently was a set of five appliqued One-sies. They were so fun to make and to give!

I found all of the applique patterns free on various sites on the web. If you just google "free applique patterns," you'll find a treasure trove of ideas.

I used Heat and Bond to create each applique, and zigzag stitches on my sewing machine to secure them.

More Socks!

I’ve definitely been bitten by the sock making bug. I’m on my third pair of adult-sized socks, and I’m just about ready to start another pair of baby socks.

The blue baby socks, shown here with a matching hat (something that I actually made without a pattern), are for another baby shower coming up. They were really fun to make, so quick and so cute! I’m going to use the same pattern to make baby socks and a hat using the leftover yarn from my new pair of adult-sized socks...provided there's enough yarn leftover as there was with the blue sock yarn.

After the next baby socks and hat set, I’m thinking of another pair of adult socks, this time using some wonderful silk yarn that I found earlier this month at a yard sale. My dear friend at the office had suggested that morning at work that we head out over lunch to check out the neighborhood yard sales. We had such a fun time together and found some really great things and amazing prices. I’m already hoping that we’ll be able to do that again another year! The silk yarn is on a big spindle because it was originally purchased for a weaving class. The woman selling the yarn had a big box with several large spindles of yarn and interesting fibers. She was selling the whole box for $3, but I knew that I wouldn’t need everything there. So she suggested $0.75 per spindle for each of the three spindles that I found and wanted to buy--one silk, one wool, and one cotton.

They’re all shades of peach-y type colors, tending quite a bit toward what I would call “neutrals.” I haven’t decided yet how to use the wool, but I’m thinking of washcloths perhaps for the cotton, and I knew right away that the silk would be fun to try for socks...Can you imagine wearing silk socks? I wonder how it will work for knitting?