The Only Word For It Is Hope

When I went out to top up the birdbath this is what I saw--green leaves poking through the remaining snow behind the house.  Tender green leaves, not the sturdy ones that bulbs shoot out.  I know I planted this but I no longer remember what it is and it isn't in my planting notebook so *shrugs* your guess is as good as mine.  It does this every year.  I should look it up.  I know it likes shade and its leaves grow out in a circle from the center of the roots and it sends up a flower stalk kind of reminiscent of a hosta but it's not a hosta, I do know that.  As you can see if you look closely the local rabbits have been nibbling on it.  I don't begrudge them that first taste of green but they'd just better leave my ferns alone when they are finally snow-free and sending up their little curly fronds.  (yeah, like that'll happen)  The crocuses in front are still furled, maybe they'll open up this weekend when it's supposed to be sunny and warmish.  Today it's heavy overcast with a chilly wind and the promise of rain/snow.  Only an inch or so of the white stuff for us, they say, but in the UP they're looking at 12-18 inches of it.  I'd be hiding under the bed.

It was pretty quiet at work yesterday so I made good progress on my Design-A-Thon mitt.  The deadline's one week from today.  Good thing I've been writing the pattern all along, now I just need to knit through it one more time (I pre-apologize for any errors) and then get DD to help me convert my Word document into a pdf for submission to the guild.  She said she could guide me through it over the phone.  Fingers crossed.  I'm anxious to be finished and then see what the magic of blocking does for evening out my stitches and settling the cable into place.  I can't wait to show you the FO (finished object).

April 3--Louis Comfort Tiffany, Bowl.

molten glass blown
whirled like Creation
colors collide in pools
iridescent
blue green red black
smooth rough glass
fragments like continents of slag
meld into softness
eroded worlds 
fantastic shapes
art

Today LC is 3 months old--already.  Yikes.  I'll bet DS & DIL1 feel like they've been on this parenting treadmill for a lot longer.  It's an adventure.  I'm off to see about the newspaper and Cheerios and a shower, maybe even in that order.  I decided not to put toe warmer packs in my shoes yesterday and I was sorry; I won't forget today.  Fingers crossed we don't have to shovel today's weather.
--Barbara