Nature Photos

Spring has sprung!

And we’ve been outside doing some gardening chores,

and of all things, we saw a turkey in the woods behind us!

We see turkeys in a few neighborhoods in the area,

but never in ours!  And there was just the one. 

I wonder how it got away from the others,

because we always see them in groups of about a dozen or so.

But there we were, tidying up the flowerbeds and such,

and every now and then hearing a gobble-gobble-gobble
come from the woods. 

I guess he was trying to find his friends.  (!)

Here are a few other photos I’ve taken lately:

Here’s a male deer, with his big antlers… 

We love to see male deer,
because hopefully that mean *babies*!!!

And here is a rare photo. 

Rare for me, because it’s the first time

I’ve seen 2 hawks at once in the backyard. 

Much less taken a photo of 2 at once.

And last, here is a photo of a barred owl. 

We have heard them for years,

but it wasn’t until the drought and the blazing hot summer

last year, that we actually saw one. 

I think the lack of food drew him out,

and I got some photos!  J

BTW, my wildlife photos are usually taken

from our bedroom window. 

I’m not out there in the woods with them! 

I’m doing good to get up and get the camera.  LOL

Anyway, here are some pretty springtime photos
of things blooming:

my favorite clover, and some Johnny Jump Ups...

Gosh, I love Spring!

Enjoy it while you can,

‘cause the redbuds are already fading!

XOXO,

Lucky Dog

♥

Knitting Socks

Okay, all I’ve been doing lately, it seems,
is knitting on my socks! 

I am having so much crazy fun, it’s ridiculous!!

First of all,
I made the decision that I would come home from class,
and begin the 2^nd sock and do to it,
whatever we did to the 1^st sock in class that week.

For example, the first class we knitted the cuff and the leg. 
So that’s what I knitted that week on my 2^nd sock. 
Kinda like extra homework.

Then the 2^nd week, 

we knitted the heel flap, turned the heel, 

and picked up the gusset stitches.  

So that’s what I did to my 2^nd sock, too.

I figured that I’d better do it again 

while I still remembered what we did!!

And this way I would avoid the dreaded Second Sock Syndrome.

(google that if you please!)

And you know what?  It’s been fabulous!

I am painlessly knitting my second sock 

while reinforcing what we learned in class.  

Yaaaay!! 

And…
I was having trouble with my heel flap the first time,
and this allowed me the opportunity to try it out again
and see if it worked better the second time.

It didn’t.   hahaha!

But, thanks to the internet,
I was able to find something else that yielded excellent results. 
Yay!

Isn't that Eye of Partridge stitch pretty on the heel?

And thanks to Denise

at Lost City Knits http://lostcityknits.com,

I was able to try her “stacked increase”

to avoid that crazy hole that one gets at the top of the gusset.

And it worked beautifully...

Thanks, Denise--you are brilliant!!

Here’s a link to her instructions:

http://lostcityknits.com/2012/01/02/a-stacked-increase-m1/

She has a great blog, but she also sells patterns
and has beautiful yarn on her website. Check it out.

(She’ll be at the Edmond Art Show in May
 this year, too, for you locals!)

What would we do without the internet?? 

It is such a great problem-solver!

So... my next problem to solve??

What color of sock yarn to buy next!

TGIF, everybody!!!

XOXO,

Lucky Dog

♥

Miscellaneous Fun

A bookmark.  (And sadly, so true!)

(click on the images to see a bigger version)

'Cause it's always BLACK ink, right?

Some fun with glitter.

More fun with glitter.

Progress on the Potato Chip Scarf.

TGIF, everybody!!!!!!

XOXO,

Lucky Dog

♥

Oops

So… I forgot to post last Friday.  

Did you notice??

I was crazy-busy running down to Dallas to meet up with family. 
Gosh, why did I think that I could post something that morning,
before I packed up the laptop? 

Obviously, it was silly of me to think I could pull that off,
‘cause it fell right outa my head.

I’ve noticed that things fall out of my head
much more now that I’m in my 50’s. 

Used to, if I didn’t get something done,
it was because I procrastinated about it. 

Now, it’s because I truly forgot all about it. 
Oh well.  I guess that’s why they invented Post-it’s!

You know, packing is just a necessary evil to me, anyway. 
I really really hate it. 

Once we’re on the road, I do pretty okay,
but I just hate the packing part. 
That’s probably because we take half the house
with us when we travel.  LOL 

I mean, we take almost the same amount of junk
whether we go off for 1 night or for 7! 

Aaarrrggghhh!! 

Maybe that’s why I don’t enjoy traveling like I should. 
Sigh.  If I could just “blink” myself there... 

Now that’s how you ought to be able to travel!
Then you could blink yourself home at bedtime
and not even have to pack at all!  hahaha

ANYwhoozlebees…

 It’s practically Spring already here in Oklahoma.  

We had such a mild winter and now the daffodils are blooming
 and the Bradford Pear trees are white with blossoms.

And we have a lot of Bradford Pear trees here. 
They musta gone crazy, planting them 20 years ago,
 ‘cause our area is just full of them.

And they are just beautiful when they bloom,
but the blooms don’t last long. 
Maybe only a week, and then they start greening up. 
So you have to enjoy them right now.

Hey, it sounds like it’s time to take the dog
out for a little scenic drive, don’tcha think??

Wednesday was sunny and 74°,
and yesterday was 39° and rainy with a biting wind.
 That’s Oklahoma for you! 

We had a front move through and bring us
some badly needed rain, so that’s a blessing. 
But it’ll be warm again here in a few days, which is good. 
I need to work on my flowerbeds.

I deadheaded last week and now I need to get up some leaves. 
I tell you, it’s always something!

 At least you get a break with Winter:  a break from bugs
and a break from outdoor chores.

But now on the indoor front….  
I started a new knitting class last night:  socks!!! 

Gosh, we’re having such fun!
And I bought some real pretty yarn for them. 

It’s a faux Noro-type yarn from Hobby-Lobby,
made by Lion Brand and is called Amazing. 

And I also bought some new yarn while we were in Plano,
and I got a free pattern for a Potato Chip Scarf.
 You only use the knit stitch along with “short rows”,
and it self-ruffles.

I’m using Rowan Kidsilk Haze, and I think it’s coming along. 
What do you think?

Okay, okay….  I’d better scoot.

Happy early Spring, everybody!!

XOXO,

Lucky Dog
♥