A little bird told me......

I am an early riser. I go to bed early and often wake too early but if I have things on my mind, I have found it is just better to get up and do them rather than toss and turn and then be too tired to do anything when I do get up! So here I am at o'dark early.

I have figured out how to listen to books while I am knitting. It occurred  to me that I haven't been reading. So now with needles clicking and earphones, I have the best of both worlds.

I continue to enjoy the roses on these early mornings. Jack has been buying them for me at Costco and they have been glorious.

I was working in my studio which houses most of my vintage pottery and I noticed the number of pieces with birds.

Even the bookends on the desk are birds.

hmmmm.

I take my lunch to knitting. I usually like to eat by noon at the latest and if I order with the knitters the wrong foods for me end up on the plate. So, off I go with my contemporary Bento box from Publix.

We love corn and black bean salad. We use a recipe from whole foods which you can find here. I add more lime juice. Velva from Tomatoes on the Vine shared this a while back. You can visit her wonderful blog here. I have gotten some wonderful recipes from fellow bloggers!

This morning was much too early but my projects are under control. I shall now finish a gauge swatch of knitting for my next project, play a few games of Candy Crush Saga, and have another cup of coffee. Soon Jack will be up and we will start our day.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Smelling the roses.....

I am surrounded by stuff and I want to do too much! I suppose it is good that I want to do so much but occasionally I just get overwhelmed. Knitting consumes a huge part of my day. I have missed reading. Now I have started to listen to books. It will take some getting used to but I think I like it!

I have been collecting attachments for my Featherweight (it followed me home earlier this year!) and I am anxious to play. I have done no sewing in a while and I miss it.

I have missed playing with my photos. My pictures are most disorganized but when I finish the knitting...... I did play a bit this morning.

And I am on hunt for hibiscus holders. As I get older I am becoming more sentimental about my parents. When they moved to Florida certain items defined their new life. Tervis tumblers, Wolford Oil Lamps, and hibiscus holders were the "must haves" for Florida membership. I found the one she gave gave me which I keep on the coffee table. A beautiful hibiscus is right outside the door. I would like more. We shall be on the hunt!

These particular ones were made by Hamon Glass and purchased at The Mole Hole.

But back to the knitting.....

I would like to make this jacket......

I did finish the Girasole lap throw/afgan.

It was a challenge.

So today I am not going to much of anything. I shall do my normal Saturday chores and then I shall just stop and smell the the roses.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Pink on Saturday

We shall finish celebrating Valentine's Day this weekend. It has always been one of my favorites. Its appeal runs the gamut from romance to sentimental to the food. And, of course, who can forget the chocolate and the flowers?

I remember Valentine parties in school. The crepe paper covered box served as a "post office" and the Valentine I got from a secret admirer. Was it Bill D.? I certainly had hoped so but probably not.... Oh, well. I had a wonderful Valentine until he passed and now I have another one so life has turned out well all things considered.

I feel so blessed at times. This past week has been one of those weeks. My embroidery machine has stitched away and my needles have been clicking.

These towels are the never touch towels.....

My felted purse has been blinged up and it part of my centerpiece on the coffee table.

The purse is now sitting on a shawl I am knitting. I must have had hearts on the brain as I got ready to go to knitting and stuffed the shawl in my knitting bag!

A few more pictures of roses...

A lovely lunch and

a Valentine's Day tradition.

I am joining Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday. Stop in and say hi!

For a change from chili......

Every once in a while we try something new. I treated myself to some new dishes and Jack tried a new recipe. I don't have the exact one because we sort of combined a couple. Pozole Rojo can be found here and here and here. The last one is the recipe we used. It was quite complicated but that may have been in the way it was written and our expectation of what it would be when we were done. The finished product was a rich and hearty stew/soup which we garnished with lettuce, radishes, avocado, lime, and fresh cilantro. We used chicken instead of pork. As with many recipes like this, it was even better the next day.

And so Jack started.

We found the guajillo chile peppers on Amazon. We have a lifetime supply of them! If you are on our Christmas list, think Mexican peppers!

The aroma of the peppers in a hot pan was mouth-watering. The poblanos were charred on the grill.

And the blending began. The soup is made in one step and the posole another.

We found hominy at the grocery store. Canned tomatoes were used as beef steak tomatoes are not around this time of the year.

That's all that was left in my bowl. The table looked nice too.

Definitely will make this again.

Have a wonderful weekend.