Grey Skies

...had nothing on me today!  I am determined not to let the weather get to me when it's all overcast and raining.  After all, it's just rain.  (My pretty new umbrellas are a big help too!) 
So: today was not so uber-productive, but I did:
a) clean my bathroom.  Now I can have a nice relaxing bath in a super shiny clean tub :)
b) watch half an episode of Cityline - which I never seem to get a chance too - and worked a bit on the basement baseboards.
c) decorate (previously cut and baked - what a way to do it) sugar cookies and do a drop off to Mr. Crafty World's work.  I figured he needed a bit of a pick-me-up.

Since the quilt store is just a few blocks from his work, I picked up a bit of fabric for my next two quiltlets.  Is that restraint or what?

Then it was over to Costco for a new cookbook.  A friend made the dauphinoise potatoes from it the other night and they were really tasty.  A little French inspiration is always good :)

I was planning on buying a bunch of yellow tulips for the house, but got a better idea instead.  I am trying to cast off my Alberta gardening mentality (grow nothing until June, nothing!) and headed off to Lowes for some pansies.  I came out with a bunch of flowers and practically skipped out of the store.  That's how excited I was.

After picking up My Favorite Boy from school and letting him splash in puddles to his heart's content on the way home, I planted everything.  Now I have some nice spring-y displays to greet anyone who walks up the path:

Oh, it was such a good day. 

Easter

Goodness; another holiday has come and gone and I wonder where the last three and a half weeks have gone.  Actually I do know:    Between the two of us, Mr. Crafty World and I have spent the better part of it  priming, painting, sawing and putting down floors.  We are on the final leg of our basement renovation and I'm pretty excited about that.   It won't be much longer now until we can move everything back downstairs to its nice new space, and I can have my living room back.  The Easter Bunny was really smart this year and only hid eggs in the hallway and family room.  Those are the only two places where basement stuff isn't taking over, so there would be no chance of us finding treats a few weeks from now!  I am also very eager to clean my house if you can believe it: I haven't been able to do it properly for almost two months now.  I clean the places I can reach, but sadly there is a lot of space that is collecting dust. 

Despite all the work, I did take some time to make a few things for Easter.  No sewing this year, but I did make some sugar eggs and cookies. 

The kids went nuts over the sugar eggs: there were many requests for hot tea or warm vanilla milk so they could pop a few into their mugs.

I had a chance to bend my brain around the crocheted egg pattern, and got two worked up.  I'm happy how they turned out, and am eager to make a few more next year.  I made mine out of cotton yarn instead of crochet cotton, so they are quite a bit bigger than the original.  I think if I make about three more it should make a nice little garland for the mantle.

We have had some very nice days around here, and I used the first few to sit outside and work on some granny squares with my bargain yarn.  I had originally planned on only doing a 9 square, but I see I will have to make it into a 12 square.  So, more granny making for me but it's good practice and that's definitely what I need  when it comes to crochet.

I am also trying the join-as-you-go method, and it's going well, but I'm not sure how I feel about the look of it.  I think I would prefer more stitches on the sides to hold it all together.

This year my birthday fell on Easter Sunday, and I got the most gorgeous cake ever.  I don't think I could ever decorate one so beautifully:)

There are even chocolate caramel eggs between the layers if you can believe it.  Sweet stuff from a sweet family.  I got a few homemade cards too:

I was extra touched because I know they used their very best stickers for them.

And now that all the celebrations are over it will be back to work on the basement.  I'm not sure how soon I will be posting anything again, but I do check into my favorite blogs briefly once in a while.

Enjoy the spring weather!