Knitting/Happy 2011

Yes, you read right, knitting. I can do the basic stitch, thanks to my good friend Amanda. Because, I like short term projects, this one is perfect for me. I told Deb about my idea on Wednesday and thanks to the bad weather that kept me house-bound, I actually did it. I sewed a 6 stitch 7 1/2 inch wide border for the gloves and a yarn flower to accent. The knitted cuff can be worn up as shown or folded down. I'm in the process of another and thinking about trying fingerless gloves too. I plan to use them as gifts and we'll see how many I actually get made. If this weather keeps up, could be quite a few! Knitting is so relaxing and this project is a good way to use up your scraps too, for you expert knitters out there-I personally have no scraps. I got lazy and used my glue gun for the button-it worked great! The yarn for these gloves was a Goodwill find on Monday.

The snow began here (again) about 3pm, this photo actually made it look worse. We got about 10 inches yesterday, just a little rain for about an hour til 9am then snow ALL day long. Who knows what will happen tonight-guess we'll see when we get up. We're going out for our somewhat annual New Year's Eve walk soon, not on the lake, as we might drown in the snow. We enjoyed one of Royce's chickens, roasted with garlic, lemon and rosemary, yes, it smells pretty good in our house still. Happy Cozy New Years to all of you!! Love, Laurie

More snow....

Here's a picture of the fish houses on the other side of the point across from the cabin. I didn't see anybody out on the lake today as we are in the middle of yet another snow storm. It started out as rain around 8am and by 9 turned to wet sloshy snow. It snowed ALL day and now we have wind. The snow finally stopped and it sounds like it may start up again tomorrow. It looks like we have about 7-8 inches already. Stay safe out there-we plan to stay put for the next 24 hours! Happy New Year!!

Cat Spa

The cats requested that their beds be placed in the cat spa with the heated floors so I obliged. We turned the heat on last week and it took Nola about 5 mn to discover that. If the fireplace isn't on, this is where you'll find at least 2, often 3 of them. I caught Nola in a big yawn here-it's a tiring life being a pampered cat.

It's so cozy in here!

Smith Christmas 2010

Melissa, Andy & Dan

Sam, Kelsey, & Pam

The official count was 31!!!

Here we are in the middle of the book/dice game-I think everyone went home with a book or two. Start saving your books for 2011!

Jamie & Courtney

Alex & Danielle hanging out at the buffet!

Sam, Courtney & Paige

Miranda

Courtney

Jim, Darlene & Jen

Jen sports her vintage coat that was her Grandma Esther's (Darlene's mom) Sunday best. She says it's very warm-Grandma would be happy to know that it's keeping her granddaughter toasty. It looks very stylish too. Vintage coats are totally in-good find, Jen!!

Miranda and Dan pose nicely!

Megan and Paige, they were playing a pretty duet.

Larson Christmas 2010

I love this view-isn't Joey's mohawk cap cool too?

Even Polly enjoyed a ride!

Yum- Mom made turkey and roast beef for Christmas Eve!

Ellen was a good sport and indulged me with a fur picture.

oh, the fun of presents!

Everybody dig in to Lynn's cookie tray!!

Royce made this trailer for Dad for Christmas to help with chores. It worked great as a sleigh too! We had lots of fun outside on Christmas Day. The weather was in the 20's and perfect.

Love those ear-flaps, Paul and Carly's owl cap is darling!

Grant was only good for one round and he was ready to head back in the house.

Carly and Sophie are such great friends!!

Gracie and Grant show Grandpa how to use my Ipad! It's amazing how quickly kids catch on, of course to them it was just a big smart phone, of which they are already familiar.

Gracie has the prettiest baby-blues!

Royce shot these-hmmmm, which one to wear....

Strike a pose!

Grant loves his backpack from the Floms!

Merry Christmas, 2010!!!!

Christmas

We've had a very lovely Christmas-I have some good pictures on my camera and will try to get them downloaded in the next couple of days. We've been in Cyrus & Shakopee. Yesterday, I had fun shopping and having lunch with Charice in Mpls while Dan worked and today I joined Mary for lunch (Union Market!) and thrift store shopping in Fergus. We did well!! We also had our first beniets (little pastries-probably not spelled right) together and they were so good-try them!!

Greenhouse?

In the fall, I pulled a couple of geranium plants in because they had so many blooms it was a shame to let them freeze. Well, they never stopped blooming! I have some petunias doing quite well in the middle pot and behind that there's a healthy rosemary plant that happens to be on its second year. I have some parsley that's doing okay, a small pot of basil, and another small pot of rosemary in the kitchen. My ivy and sedum plants are doing well too. Later this winter I plan to try to root some new rosemary plants so hopefully I will have some to share this spring.