Springcleaning - Week 1 - Tuesday

I was not exactly full of energy this morning. We had a very heavy thunderstorm and a tornado warning at 2:30 am and we were up and dressed and sitting in the middle of the house hoping nothing would happen. My smart cats all joined us in the only room without windows, they must have heard the warning on the weather radio. This also reminded us that we have to get two more cat carriers, just in case. After half an hour it was all over, the heavy rains left a lot of debris behind and if we get a storm like that in one or two months we can kiss our garden good bye. It also looked like part of the neighborhood was without power this morning. Our power line comes in from another direction and we were okay. The porch was a bit flooded but I hope that will dry out soon.

When I looked out the kitchen window this morning I saw a big fat possum waddle across the neighbor's lawn. I have never seen one in daylight, they are such interesting creatures. We had a baby one eating cat food at our front door last year. By the time I got my camera it was already heading back into the bushes by the creek.

My spring cleaning part for today was cleaning the area around the back door (our main entry way) and the stove. I washed the door and the door frame, the blind and the glass in the door, the floor and the wall around the area where we keep a small bin to collect the recycling and the picture rail. Then I deep cleaned the stove. I admit to using a commercial cleaner for the oven. It was a little beyond what water and baking soda could handle, due to countless meatballs having been cooked recently. And it is not easy to get the baking soda to stay on the walls. It worked like a doozy and my oven looks as good as new. What I wonder is who had the idea to cover kitchen appliances with a kind of fake leather plastic stuff? Apparently someone who does not do a lot of cleaning. It is not smooth and therefore good at keeping grime in its little wrinkles, scrub, scrub, scrub. But now all is done and I can move on to the fun part of the day. :-)

In the Garden

The weather on the weekend has been great. A bit breezy but warm and sunny. On Saturday we prepared two of our beds and on Sunday I planted the first seeds. We are trying square foot gardening this year. Instead of nailing down wooden slats I just used nails and some cotton yarn to mark off the squares. I planted peas, carrots, parsnips, radishes, kohlrabi, beets, lettuce, spinach and some spring onions.

The lilac and the hollies are blooming and the roses are showing the first buds. It is strange not having any cats around when working in the garden but I am having so much less stress now that the girls have moved in and I am so happy that they all get along so well.

Let Sleeping Cats Lie

I love how my girls choose their sleeping spots.

Springcleaning - Week 1 - Monday

Today I tackled the pantry. I emptied all the shelves, re-arranged and cleaned everything, washed the wood work, window and the floor and then put (almost) everything back. There was not very much that needed to be thrown out, just a few bottles and jars with very little stuff left in them that had gone way past the expiration date. I moved a few things around and I am very pleased with how it is now. I am also planning to sew new curtains for both the pantry and the kitchen.

I have a lot of stuff planned for this month and I decided to approach it like eating an elephant - one bite at a time. I am going to break down the kitchen cleaning into several areas and do one per day. This way I have time to do some fun stuff as well.

I also baked bread, made granola and washed the dishes today and picked out some fabrics to make quilts for my kitties. And I spent a little time sitting in the porch, knitting and watching the cats sleep and the wind blow. Bliss! Now I am feeling tired in a good way.

Blog Birthday Giveaway

Five years ago today I started my little blog. A lot has happened since then, my life has changed in many ways, I 'met' a lot of great people through blogging and, in good Hobbit tradition, I am giving away a gift to celebrate my blog's birthday. If you would like a chance to win this set of 2 dishcloths leave a comment on this post before April 9.

Project of the Month - April

Hard to believe that the first quarter of the new year is already over. It was a good one, nothing bad happened, we adopted two new cats from outside into the house and Miss Kitty accepted them. The weather is dreadful and my garden is still in its planning stage for this year. One just can't dig in mud very well.
So, what major project to pick for April? Mmh, how about

SPRING CLEANING

I am planning on giving our house a good scrubbing from top to bottom this month, including mud room (now reclaimed from the cats since they moved into the house), porch (I hope to gain a nice bright stitching space out there) and basement (that is Del's project of the month ;-) ).

Other things on my project list for April:

• get the garden started
• knitting
• reading
• stitching
• and - hopefully - working on some quilting projects (how does 'a block per day' sound?)

POM March

Well, well, well, haven't I been a bad girl? I did not work on any major quilting projects - again. I begin to wonder if I can still call myself a quilter if I dont actually make any quilts. ;-)
I did however knit a lot and was not totally unproductive. I finished:

• 4 pairs of slippers for the Pink Slipper Project
• 2 knitted rugs made from cotton yarn leftovers
• 1 pair of socks
• 2 new dishcloths

On the quilting front I started a new BOM that has a lot of hand stitching in it for which I need really good light. Those old peepers are not what they used to be.

Girls, Girls, Girls

We are now officially a three cat family. :-)

Knitting and Reading

Happy Wednesday everyone. Time for another yarn along with Ginny.

I have nothing new and exciting on my needles this week so I thought I show you my finished slippers for the Pink Slipper Project instead. I am reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, so far I find it pretty good, entertaining and informative. I do not completely agree with her though that it is not only the well-to-do people who can afford to buy locally. I would love to buy locally grown produce at the Farmer's Market regularly, but when you are on a tight budget it is difficult to pay twice as much for food just because it was grown in your own state. I also have a stack of gardening books from the library to look through and get advice and ideas for our garden. I am determined to do better this year, after last year's total disaster.

Knitting and Reading

And it is Wednesday again, time to head over to Ginny's blog and see what everybody else is reading and knitting this week.
I am still reading the same books as last week and I am knitting slippers for the Pink Slipper Project with yarn that was given to me by a friend.

Knitting

I have been knitting a lot recently.
I made two rugs out of all those cotton yarn remnants I had. They are meant to go under the cat box to catch all that loose cat litter that comes out when the ladies leave the box but they also make a nice place for a cat to lay on.

And I am knitting new dishcloths with that yummy sage green cotton yarn I got from my friend.

My Little Helper(s)

Helping me get the bed linens changed.
Something new to discover for MamaCat.

 Whereas Kitty has done it so many times, it is just not interesting anymore. ;-)

Cake Anyone?

I made a lemon cake for dessert tonight. The main course is Irish Stew with homemade bread.

Goodies

My garden seeds came! I just love the little seed packets in different colors and some of them even have a little cat on the back.

A friend of mine is downsizing and asked me if I had a use for cotton yarn. Do I ever. ;-) I see many pretty new dishcloths in my future. She sent me lots of cotton yarn, some worsted yarn and also some seed beads.
I am already halfway finished with my first new dishcloth.

Better Late Than Never

My camellia is blooming!

Knitting and Reading

Time for another yarn along with Ginny. Hop on over to her blog 'small things' to see what everybody else is knitting and reading this week.

I am knitting socks for my husband. And I am reading a devotional for Lent and a book about herbs from the library. I am planning a new herb bed for the garden and want to see if I can grow more than just the usual kitchen herbs. Last week's book has been returned to the library unread. It was not what I was looking for, it focused mainly on economy and politics and I was looking for a book about life on the frontier, not numbers and dates.

Happy Pi(e) Day!

Spring Cleaning

I kicked off spring cleaning today with putting away the Winter clothes and purging my wardrobe. Among other things I gave away 20 pairs of jeans. I have not worn any of them since I moved to NC. They are way too hot to wear in Summer, not warm enough to wear in Winter and overall terribly uncomfortable. The older I get the more I pick my clothes by whether they are soft and comfortable or not. I only kept one old well worn pair.
The old advice that 'if you have not worn it in a year you'll probably not wear it again' is true unless it is some special occasion outfit, and I would add to that not to keep any clothes that don't fit just in case you lose enough wait to fit into them again. Instead, if you do lose weight, reward yourself with some new pieces (don't have to be brand new, thrift store finds will do nicely). The closets in this house are very small and I am proud to report that my entire wardrobe fits into mine.

Weekend

A new pair of socks finished.

A little bit of stitching. This is the first block of the "Things We Love BOM".

Cuteness. MamaCat is settling in nicely. She is just so cute and funny and Miss Kitty does not seem to mind her being around. MamaCat treats her with the respect she deserves as the older cat.

Marble cake for our afternoon tea.

Knitting and Reading

Time to join Ginny for another yarn along.
Still reading the same book, it is not an easy read but I am keeping at it. I caved in, dug out some sportweight yarn and I am knitting more socks.
I forgot to answer a question about last week's dark blue shawl. The yarn is Soft Boucle from Bernat.