Life LackaDaisiCal

Not so timid today Running up the trail! It must be around here somewhere! Let's go! This is the big dog bowl - surrounded by blocks to keep it from being used as a Westie toy! This little one found a way to get to it!   Sibling Rivalry! Something has caught their attention - they are flying! Following the leader.... Wait for me! These are NOT my puppies.....unfortunately.....because if they were, I wouldn't be able to give any of them away......not for anything.... They are Scorybrek Westie puppies - they live next door! and I've been having fun helping to "herd" 9 little white balls of terrier fun during their outdoor exercise break.

First I did a wash - Burnt Sienna and Antwerp Blue.... Then I went on a walk with some puppies - 9 of them! Sorry, but it was impossible to get all 9 in one shot - trust me - I tried! This was the first time for these 7 week old Westies out in "the big hill run" and they were so adorable... they followed us everywhere......then they didn't and it was... "I've got 4, how many do you have?  What?  that's only 8... oh there's the 9th one!  It was hilarious!

I'm on the 2nd skein of yarn on my  Bláithín. The pockets are done - I just have to finish the top edge of each pocket  with I cord.... and I'm marking each decrease round...thank you Astuyoh for teaching me to mark all of my decreases (or increases) as it is so easy to see exactly where you are!

Who would have imagined that "wash day" could be so much fun.  My Mother always did washing on Mondays.....I remember the washing machine in the basement.....they called them "wringer washers" because of the rollers that were used to wring out the excess water before the clothes were hung out to dry. The good old days! Nope.....around here "Wash Day" is when I play with my watercolours .....creating washes with no sense of purpose....just for fun.  Pick a couple of shades, get your water flowing, paint, run, splatter.....do whatever makes you happy.... Then comes the hard part......you have to just leave them, let the water and the paint do their thing...... One of my recent purchases included a set of 5 Quinacridone shades by M. Graham & Co.   I had used Quinacridone Gold by Winsor & Newton and just love it - so I thought I might give these other "Quin" colours a try.....Quinacridone Red, Violet, Rose, Rust and Gold. So, my first wash wa...

I give it 5 out of 5......because I loved the cast, the concept, the whole idea. For more info.....go to  The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

Getting ready for a night of knitting......I wound a skein of the Soft Donegal Yarn . Knit up my swatch - it measured 4.25 inches for the prescribed number of stitches and rows....but after washing, and a gentle vertical block, it measured 4 inches perfectly! I usually don't pay any attention to basic instructions (my downfall sometimes) but I did follow the link in the Bláithín pattern to Lucy Neatby's Provisional Crochet Cast on . (In the past I had done a crochet cast on by making a long chain stitch piece, then knitting up through one arm of the crochet chain - most fiddly - check out Lucy's way - it is truly Brilliant!  I will use this more often now! Although I don't subscribe to "The Knitter" any more...I did purchase Issue 44 - for the Mongolian Shawl by Christel Seyfarth .  It's going to be hot this afternoon, so I'll take a break from being outside - and do some stash diving for the yarns for this shawl. Who would have guessed that painting D...

Two, yes 2 posts in one day.....I can't help myself.......I'd just hit the publish button, heard the honk of a horn.....ran upstairs to find the "Mistress of the Post" in my driveway with a parcel - for me! Yes, it's my Soft Donegal from Ireland......for my  Bláithín  - the latest design by Kate Davies . I did change the main colour to an Oatmeal shade....I wanted a less dramatic change from the body to the yoke shade...... Lovely soft yarn......gorgeous shades.

The DH was scheduled to go to the UK for a family visit/train gala trip.....I had elected to stay home with "the kids", our dogs, while he was away.  His Mum passed away about 10 days before he was scheduled to leave....so with a bit of scrambling he was able to change his flight out to get there a week early, take care of family business, do some railway stuff and come home on the original schedule.  So instead of 2 weeks, I have had 3 weeks of "Home Alone". It's been really good......I've been lunching with friends.  I've reconnected with a couple of people that I kept meaning to but just never got around to getting in contact with....and I've been contemplating life in general, my life specifically - decisions on where I want to go, what I want to do, how I want to proceed in life....with my hobbies of knitting and painting..... Having just had my 59th birthday and being in my 60th year.....I've decided to use my lovely hand made watercolour j...

I'm a fan of Ann Cleaves.....and I'm eagerly waiting for the Detective Series "Vera" to hit PBS over here..... I'm not surprised that star Brenda Blethyn is a Knitter.....here's the proof! Brenda Blethyn ( @BrendaBlethyn ) 2012-05-11 2:40 AM @knittingrewound  Crickey!! Coincidentally thinking of doing some knitting. how many ounces would I need to make cardigan for 2-3 year old? Celebrity knitter tweet LOL!

The Sweet........from Couture Cupcakes......for a special occasion.  The savoury, one of my favourite treats.....fish cakes! From this cook book - we stayed in his hotel on one of our trips to the Lake District. I've been painting my tulips.....I've done many versions......from plain and simple.... then I started playing wet in wet.... and I really like the way this is going.... how to adapt this to a full size painting though LOL! I must decide on my next knitting project.....