Dude, A YEAR!

Seriously??!! A year??!! Well, as you may have guessed, a ton of stuff has happened. Probably the most noticeable would be that the blog has gotten a spiffy new update, I mean it is spiffy dontcha think?
We also moved from a condo to a house, can you say Hallelujah?? (Actually, I can't even spell it, thank you spellcheck.) Our house is huge, to us, and most importantly has a huge yard, yeah! We are very, very happy here. Yes, two verys, that's how happy.  Um, let's see, the little one has turned two, actually he's about two and a half now and we've started down the messy, frustrating road of potty training. Enough about that but here is an updated pic of the little bugger:

So, here are some garden pics from our new garden so far...

I also have some crafty updates too, but I'll save those for tomorrow. Today we are going to the Audubon Society to see some birds! I'll bring my camera and post some pics...

Marmalade Dreams

Whew! It's been a regular whirlwind around here. Ok, not really. But I have been doing a bit of baking and canning and what not. I saw this recipe for Lemon Ginger Marmalade and had coincidentally just bought a bag of lemons that were on sale for $2.49. (Seriously, could you pass that up?) So it seemed pretty logical to me what to do with them.  So after buying the cutest quilted canning jars.... taaadaah!

Ok. I know what you're thinking, lemons??

But trust me, it is ooooh so delicious! Just think lemonhead candy, mmmm. It's especially delicious on homemade english muffin bread.

Other than that the only other exciting thing to happen in my happy abode is that we got a new dishwasher. Whoo hoo! Actually, it is pretty exciting. The dishes actually get clean now, not dirtier. Who would have thought?! And it is sooooo quiet, our old one sounded like a freight train running through our house. So I'm pretty happy. 

And on a crafty note, I'm still working on that shrug for my friend and I know it's going to take me a bit so I've promised her a hat in the meantime. I'm making her the same one I made my SIL that I mentioned in my previous post. I had some nice yarn already and the cutest buttons for it. I hope she likes it. I do have some sewing that I've been itching to do. But of course I've been too lazy to dig out all my sewing gear to actually do it. And I've decided that I NEED a table for my sewing machine so that I don't have to use my dinning room anymore. I found one that I think will suffice for my needs at Ikea for about 20 bucks. Can't beat that. Now I just have to get my butt to Ikea...  

I've also really, really been itching to get back to painting. Of course I can't just ease myself back into it either. No, no easy abstract color thing I must do a landscape painting. I know, I think I do these things on purpose sometimes, just to see if I really have the balls to do it. Or more likely so that I never do it. Who knows? I might just have the cojones. 

Hello Again

Well the trip to Italy has come and gone. The flights were as you imagine they would be with a little one. The visit was frustrating and boring. Let's just leave it at that shall we? We did get to visit Venice for a day and that was spectacular! I have tons of pictures from that day, but will only bore you with a few...

So since then the little one turned a year old. We just kept the event small, but I think he still had a great day. I just haven't had much energy lately and didn't feel like dealing with a full blown party, especially one that he'd never remember. So a small party it was but it was big on presents and cake, and hey, those are what really matter, right?

As far as crafts, I have been doing some knitting lately. I'm making a one skein shrug for a friend who I've been feeling guilty about not having a Bday gift for. And then to prevent said guilt, I am crocheting a beret for my SIL's upcoming birthday at the end of the month. I've also been wanting badly to make an afghan for our bed. Crochet of course, knitting an afghan would take the rest of my life! So I've been obsessed with afghan patterns but I think I've decided on a very simple, quick one since this will be my first.  Let's just hope that the color scheme will go as planned! All right, off to do some more knitting!