A difficult age...

Mother confession of the day: five is not my favorite age. Timothy suddenly knows everything. It's all black and white, and surprise! He's always right. His favorite way to pass time is to ask questions to which he already knows the answers. This past week, we were over at Mom's house so I could do some sewing. He was coming into the sewing room about every 30 seconds or so to require that I choose the next color for his craft project. Finally, in complete exasperation at being asked for the 4,000th time what color of paper should come next I responded, "I would like the color of paper that means you won't come back into the sewing room for a long time."

He looked at me coldly and then said in his iciest tones, "Well, that would be pink!" before stomping off.

Spring...ish

Spring has come to Oklahoma! Or...we thought it had. These pictures were taken the day before yesterday. Blue skies, happy birds, flowers blooming...well, we'll ignore for the moment what happened yesterday (snow!) and just enjoy these, shall we?

Here's a pair of finches on one of my feeders. It's hard to tell from the back-lit pictures, but they're purple finches. I've got lots of purple and red ones this year. It's really funny to see the males fighting over the feeders!

It's hard to get a good picture through the front window, but I tried.

My daffodils are in full bloom.

I just love these cheerful little flowers!

Point of interest: a female downy woodpecker has been visiting our feeder. Some woodpeckers do eat berries and such...but more perplexing still is the mockingbird! I haven't managed to photograph the mocker, but it's pretty funny to watch because he's HUGE. Much too big for the feeders!

Now, please stay tuned for today's pictures of Timothy building a snowman. ::sigh::

I have great friends...

I also have a lot of cats. Please excuse the fact that the cats insisted on being part of my pictures!

Yesterday I got a mysterious box in the mail. It was a familiar address...I've ordered spindles from Jesh in the past and if you're in need of a spindle, she's who I'd recommend! But in this case, I hadn't ordered a spindle. I explained this to Chris as I opened the package. I explained it repeatedly. For some reason, he didn't seem to believe me...

When I opened the box, a marvelous sight met my eyes. The mysterious package contained a blanket. Not just any blanket, either. A blanket made by my friends from Ravelry, friends from all around the world, many of whom I've never had the pleasure of meeting! Here it is, the Love Blanket:

The pictures don't do it justice. Each and every block is amazing and unique and beautifully knitted or crocheted by people who care about me. As you can see, Boris approves.

Miss Mouse also approves. So do Moses and Jack. I'm having to fight for the use of my new blanket, but the upside of this is that every time I sit down, I immediately have a kitty or three on my lap!

Now, for the mushy part...to all of you who had a part in making me this lovely gift, THANK YOU!!! I can't even begin to put into words how much it warms my heart to have so many good friends scattered throughout the world. I will treasure this gift, and the thought behind it.

(Timothy, not unlike the cats, has to make his way into as many pictures as possible.)