FINISHED IN TIME FOR SPRING!!!!!

I have been working on this hats since January and finally finished 

them in time for spring.

Both hats are made with a lovely light aqua blue silk and wool blend

by Louisa Harding.  

I added a chocolate brown alpalca silk to the Watchman's cap.  The combination of these yarns made this hat incredibly soft.  

For the beret type hat, I added a purple muti colored Mohair/Rayon 

mix and this too was extremely soft.  I really enjoyed mixing these

yarns to come up with a new color palate for my knitting! 

This is my son, Ryan wearing the Watchman's cap.  He did go up

to Lake Tahoe, but it was too hot to wear the cap.  Well, maybe 

next year!
My daughter, Shannon, and her favorite friend, Bellaluna,

is wearing the beret like hat that was made in a seed stitch.

I suppose now I need to make a cap for Bella.

HAPPY EASTER! HAPPY SPRING! HAPPY PASSOVER!

Well, I'm 'springing' back after a four month sabbatical and I am happy to begin sharing my quilts, knitting, gardening and whatever else comes up.   I finally figured out how the pictures really work so I have been unleashed just in time for spring!Dutch Iris is one of my most favorite flower.  I have planted at least 300 bulbs of various colors of periwinkle, cobalt blue, white, even one with rust with orange on its petals.  Sadly, the dark periwinkle color above are the only ones that come back every year.  I should at least be happy about that.  When I see these happy flowers, I truly feel that spring has sprung.

This plant is called Caribbean Lily.  A friend of mine bought me a tiny plant many years ago. Now I have this beautiful plant all over the yard.  It is a bulb that can easily be moved anywhere.  It is almost weed- like in its tenacity to grow.   The petite violet clusters of flowers are lovely.  I grow it in the full sun, although it could be grown in shade.  The leaves, here in California, start growing in early fall and the flowers start blooming around Easter every year.

What a treat!

Oh, this is one of my favorite plants, the tricolor Lilac.  The blooms are magnificent and the smell is like pure heaven on earth.  The Lilac must get enough water until the roots are very established and you have to be careful how you prune it.  I have had two other plants for several years that have never bloomed.  So these plants can be a little fussy. I am also partial to lilac scents and candles.  I can't get enough of this wonderful smell.