April Potpourri

Longer days, warmer temperatures, green grass, and blooming spring flowers make for one happy lady at the Nest! Our winter was mild, as far as winters go, but oh my, how I love summer!

The spring cleaning bug bit me mildly and I decided to paint my living room.  I did the kitchen/dining room last year.  I chose to carry the brown from the dining room into the living room and selected a darker brown to do an accent wall and the plant shelf area.  I really, really loved the results.  Choosing paint colors is so intimidating to me and I finally decided to just pick something, anything and get going.  When it was all done I wanted something fresh and new to hang on my quilt rack.  My sofas are a spring green color and so I wanted something to tie the browns and greens with a small red accent.  I found the perfect thing in my sewing room.  It was from a quilt kit that I have had for several years.  How exciting to get a new wall hanging and not spend a dime!

I didn't measure it for my rack and it ended up being just a bit to wide.  I had to fold in the side borders.

It is so wonderful to be able to be outside with the kids.  Here they are reading the Bible together.  Tyler was reading to Ava Claire about Adam and Eve.  I'm not sure where his version of the story came from, but it was quite entertaining!

I finished knitting a shawl I have been working on for several months.  Right after Kate Middleton married Prince William, she was spotted at a grocery store with a green shawl tossed casually over her shoulders.  Knitting designers everywhere went crazy trying to design a replica.  I chose this pattern called the Duchess of Cambridge Shawl.  I went with a wool/silk blend yarn in a colorway called Moss Tonal from Black Sheep DyeWorks.  I absolutely love the color - it has lots of variations of greens in it.  I had a bit of trouble with the pattern but the designer was good to answer my emails and I finally finished it last week.  I will be blocking it soon and then I will try to post a picture of it.  It is really lovely.  I am a bit nervous that I am more of a shawl-knitter than a shawl-wearer.  This would not be a good thing as I just ordered some more yarn to make yet another shawl.  I truly enjoy knitting the lacy patterns -they are challenging enough that I don't get bored and small enough that there is some instant gratification.

We lost a dear family member recently who had fought a long and hard battle with cancer.  He was my brother-in-law and was only 47 years old.  We flew back to Oklahoma City where my husband did the funeral and then we brought him back here to Idaho and buried him in the cemetary in the little mountain town my husband's family is from and that he loved so dearly.  My, he will be missed.  My favorite thing said about him at his service was that he WON his battle with cancer, for he is alive today and the stupid cancer is DEAD!  YES!!  He ran a very hard race but he finished so strong.  He and his family have been Godly examples to everyone on how to die with grace and dignity.

My sweet daughter Jessica will be graduating from college in TWO WEEKS!  I can't believe it!  It just seems like the other day I wrote this post, describing her difficulty in leaving home and starting college.  Now she is graduating with an elementary education degree and moving into her own rented home in the big city down the interstate.  I am so proud of my girl!  She has excelled in every area and worked so hard.  She student taught the third grade this year and absolutely loved it.  She hopes to get her very own third grade class this fall.

It seems that I am going to inherit some chickens in a few weeks!  Now this is something I never imagined myself doing.  There was a sweet lady in our church that talked her husband into getting her some chickens for eggs.  She died just a couple weeks later.  Her husband just doesn't want the chickens and offered them to us.  We thought about it for awhile and have agreed to give "chicken farming" a try.  I don't know the first thing about it but I have been surfing the internet and have found some great websites and blogs with lots of information.  My sweet Ava Claire wants her very own "chickadee" and I think it will be fun to get her one that she can enjoy.  She doesn't want just any chicken however.  She wants a white fluffy one -called a silkie I believe.  I am probably getting in over my head, but we are in the midst of figuring out what kind of chicken coop to built now!  Ha!  Life certainly never is boring around here!

And oh my.  Pinterest!  I have found more things to make and do and try than I ever could do in my lifetime.  And the list just grows and grows and grows.

There are just a few of my April happenings.  See you soon!