Really, This Counts as Spring Here

The finale of a wet week was snow on Saturday.



 At six in the morning this was our world.







 By four in the afternoon sunshine and lightness had arrived!





 To steal a phrase from Michelle over at Boulderneigh, weather whiplash!

But that is not why you are stopping in. You all want a Stella update. She is doing great. Here is the wound as it looked on Saturday,



 and today, a week post-op it looks even better. Thank you all for your MANY comments and well wishes. They were greatly appreciated by all of us. I am always amazed at how resilient and stoic dogs are and how sweet and kind the people who follow this blog are! Not a peep was heard from her through any of this. Well, okay, she whined in the car while we drove home but that was mostly due to anesthesia. She was on pain medication two days. Tuesday and Wednesday and by Thursday was unearthing long forgotten toys in the dog yard. They are all stuffed in a drawer with her balls. Every evening it is a pitiful sight to see her sit by that bank of drawers and whine quietly for one of us to take one out to play with. If we look at her she gets louder and the tail starts up.  I'm betting by weeks end we can release those toys from storage. I sure hope so.

The bird activity has increased at our feeders.

 We feed year round. I might have to bring in the feeder under the tree if we see bear activity or the deer get rowdy with it. The raccoons have already prompted me to redo how it hangs. At night I have to bring in one of the feeders that hang off the deck. The foxes still come for their egg nightly, one or the other I can't tell.  This weekend we will put the fountain back out in the garden now that I feel pretty confident that freezing temps are a thing of the past or in a distant future. I spent a fair amount of time plotting, planning and weeding once the sun came out. Gene and I spread a pound of wildflower seeds on some of the areas in the back and side of the house. We'll see how that goes if at all. Every day I will need to go out and lightly water the areas but that's okay. The birds love the mist coming off the hose and fly through the little rain shower. At least it is entertaining!

Up in the sewing closet new patterns are in process and I'm giving some stable knits a try. I did design and finish something I wished I had last spring and summer. A linen duster.






 I had scads of rich red linen in stash. I modified a favorite pattern from Indygo Junction. Made the neck higher, ditched the collar all together, lengthened and A lined out the body of the garment and made the sleeves longer. I decided against closures. I was going to do a single tie, but decided to look for a vintage kilt pin to use instead, otherwise, I'll just leave it open.





 This will be part of my travel wardrobe to MA this summer. Most of the time I spent in the sewing area has been adjusting and cutting out those new patterns. Nothing else to show right now but tubs full of stuff waiting to be sewn.

Parting shots: Mr. Ears, seamlessly becomes another lump in the pack.