OUR THOUGHTS LIGHTLY TURN TO SPRING . . .

The weather here in the Valley has been a little warmer this week -- highs into the 50s -- so I've been watching my flower beds for signs of spring. This morning I saw them – crocus poking up through the soil. Last week I bought some vegetable seeds. Surely before long we can plant spinach and radishes. I've been amending the soil with kitchen scraps and -- let's see, how did I see that in the paper this morning? Oh, yes -- the natural byproduct of horses -- that I find in this rural neighborhood.

Yesterday afternoon it was so nice that Mike and I took Nellie and Duke for a walk in a field near Swallows' Nest Park – a place where people exercise their dogs. Duke's folks are out of town, so we picked him up at the vet's where he is boarding. He's especially glad to see us under these circumstances. And Nellie is now feeling great -- leaping over fences and walls at a single bound and running as hard as she can.

Here's a picture of the "scrap" afghan in progress that I started making last winter. I have now finished the motifs – all 143 of them -- and they are stacked in a basket ready to be sewn together in random fashion. The pattern is called "Vintage Collectible," which is probably why I chose it. I've found when patterns or paint colors have appealing names, it's hard not to be drawn to them. For instance, we painted the upstairs bathroom on the farm green. It just seemed like paint with the name "whispering pines" would be great for a room with a view of the grove. It was horrible!! and had to be re-done in our standard white-beiges. In like manner I couldn't move beyond the "Vintage Collectible" name, but I do like "granny-type" afghans even though the making of medallions is tedious. I paired some outlandish colors – such as purple and lavender with orange and bright yellow – along with some more sedate colors, such as tan and dusty greens. I am now ready to start sewing the medallions together. KW