Daylight hours are increasing...
About 3 minutes a day - now in mid-April.
That adds up to 21 MORE minutes of daylight EVERY DAY than we had a week ago. Forty-two minutes more than two weeks ago.
By the end of the month, we'll have gained more than an hour of daylight EVERY DAY in one month!
Day by day, it makes a difference!
First, we had lots of snow.
Then, as temperatures slowly climbed, lots of rain - so much, that there has been flooding.
Some farmers are pumping lots of water out of their fields.
Then - yay! The past few days have been warm and sunny!
And... I noticed flowers in several parts of our yard.
Just like that - a day or two of sun and warmth! And there they are! A welcome surprise!
But on You Tube!
Interesting... Why don't you make it for us?
So he did!
It was delicious!
My grandmother never used a pattern when knitting socks. She must have had some formula in her mind. She'd start - then hold a partially knit sock up against my foot to check the size... and adjust accordingly.
Likewise, when I was in university, my Polish landlady would knit a pullover for her son every winter as he grew - also without using a pattern.
I've knit garments for years - never without using a pattern. My mother did the same.
When and why did that switch from intuition to written patterns occur? I wonder.
Formerly, when the knitting "bug" "bit" - often in winter - I'd head to a yarn shop in search of a new knitting project, the pattern and the yarn.
How different things are now!
Now I find patterns online and purchase them - often directly from the designer. They arrive immediately on my Iphone - as a digital download. Then I print them up using my printer.
The process seems truly magical. I don't understand it.
Since I started downloading patterns, I've become a fan of certain knitwear designers in different parts of the world - checking out their latest collections on Instagram or Ravelry - just as I formerly used to check out patterns in magazines and pattern books in yarn shops. Then I had no idea who the designers were.
How different from what my mother and grandmother ever experienced!
I sometimes think how shocked they would be if they could see how things are done now!
Family pets are part of our story...
Saying goodbye is hard.
They leave us with lots of memories!
A few weeks ago, we said goodbye to a cat member of our extended family.
Panda had been our daughter's pet for about 8 years before he fell ill.
Panda was a " rescue " cat...
What a character he was...
He loved catching food tossed at him and became a great catcher ; or exploring with joy and earnestness to find " hidden " food.
He was very independent...
His black and white coloring made him stand out...
Later, we wandered into a German bakery for a few more treats to take home.
It's always fun to discover new cafes... and, of course, new bakeries!
