Finished!!

 Good Morning Everyone,

Brrrr...it is in the 20's here this morning.  Even Mabel doesn't want to be outside!  I woke a number of times in the night hearing the wind howl.  We have a buoy bell that we bought while on a trip to Maine years ago and have that hanging on our shed (at the very back of our backyard just before the woods).  That bell was clanging ALL night.  Later, once the sun is up, I will venture outside to cut some more daffodils.  The ones I had on the table all wilted and now the ones on the windowsill are following suit.  

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog, it was my Mom's birthday yesterday.  She passed away 20 years ago and at times it feels like yesterday - hard to believe she has been gone so long.  Many of you have heard these stories, so I won't go into depth, but she was a very independent woman and someone I admired so much.  At the age of 20 or 21 (I can't remember right off the bat now), she rode her bicycle from Vermont to Canada by herself.  The following year, she and her girlfriend Jennie rode their bikes from Vermont to California!  They just took bedrolls and a few changes of clothes and stayed in youth hostels mostly.  They were not opposed to sleeping in someone's barn if the weather turned foul and they were still riding.  LOL.   Unfortunately they had an accident when they arrived in California and Jennie ended up being hospitalized for a number of weeks.  My Mom worked in the hospital while Jennie got better and then Jennie's parents paid for them to fly back to Vermont.  (My Mom's parents did not have a lot of money - my Grandfather was a minister and my Grandmother did not work.)

My Mom is the one who taught me to knit and to embroider (not cross stitch - she did not do that).  I still have an Icelandic sweater she knit for me as well as some of the linens she embroidered. They are treasures.  She was a great tennis player - almost always acing her serves; she swam like a fish and hiked like an explorer!  One summer she packed up me and two of my brothers and we drove across the country in a Northern route, down the Western Coast, back across the country on a Southern route and up the Eastern Coast to come home.  We were gone for weeks!  My Dad flew out to meet us when we were in South Dakota and then he flew back (to go to work) when we reached Los Angeles.  What a trip!  I cannot imagine doing that on my own with three kids!

Anyway, on to the title of this post.  My March socks are finished!!  

I managed to knit through most of the foot while seeing Dee yesterday morning.  When I got home, I only had the last 5 rows (with the pin stripes) and then the toe decrease, so I finished them up last night after dinner.

The yarn is the March selection from the Farmer's Daughter Sock Squad.  The main color is called "Grandma's Hands" and even though it looks like the socks are kind of striped, the yarn is really just variegated.  I knit these using #2 needles and knit an Eye of the Partridge heel flap.  The leg and foot are just plain vanilla.  Luckily I had determined early on these would be for me...luckily because I really, really like them!  In fact, I may just have to wear them today.

The other finish I have is a book.  Last night I finished The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters.  This was another fast read for me.  I found the story to be good and the writing is strong.  The end felt a little flat to me, but I still give it 4.5 stars and highly recommend.

Later this morning I'm heading to our accountant's office to go over tax stuff.  Hopefully this will not be a painful visit!!

And...I'm hoping I can find Spring somewhere!!  Have a good Thursday.