Happy Birthday Lana! Yesterday, Dan's Mom turned 90 years old! This is a picture from a previous birthday party. Next month the entire family and friends will get together for a party for this remarkable woman!

I am home sick-----you know the kind where you are stuffed up and achy and it even hurts to think. Dan is at his Mom's 90th birthday party and Magglio thinks he is a 50 lb lap dog and we are on the couch together. I am reading blogs and find that there are some wicked good sewing blogs out there that are really inspiring me. (That is my new favorite adjective---wicked. It comes from my favorite state Maine). Since you don't want to see a picture of me sick, I am posting this picture of the dish cloth I made with all that Gorgeous yarn Lisa sent me. By the time I am done knitting, I will have a drawer filled with these gorgeous beauties. And since I have a good excuse to ramble while ill---may I say that I cannot believe the idiotic trash on TV. I am so grateful that when I feel better, I don't have the time to watch this stuff. And did you know that Iphone has an App for everything you need in life? I wish I were an Iphone and it were that simple.

Check out what finally arrived in the mail today. The Baseball Prospectus 2009 -another sign of Spring. The downside-----it doesn't sound too optimistic about the Tiger's new reliever.

This is one of those days. My harddrive is having issues, my computer at work is having issues, my whole day has had issues!! But let's look on the posititve side. Dan and I painted one of our spare bedrooms this weekend while someone took a nap amidst all the work. But ever optimistic Dan found a way to make him useful---or at least his tail end. And on an even brighter note----this bedroom will be done in time for some special weekend guests!!

Sometimes things just kind of come together. I wasn't going to post today until I was watering this Hyacinth bulb I bought and thought it looked so pretty next to the apples in my sink.

Ahhh-my first sign of Spring, and it isn't a pretty picture. I loved everything about the Geraniums I planted last year---the hot tropical fuschia color and the non curling leaves---so much that I saved them. I uprooted them right before the frost, shook the dirt off the roots and put them upside down in a box in my dark, cool basement. No water--basically just forgot about them(which was pretty much the case, because it took awhile to find them). Hopefully, I can coax them out of dormancy with water and sunlight. I have 6 pots of 3 plants apiece lined up in my kitchen. I did this once before and had 50% of the plants return. This time, I brought them out of the darkness a little early so they will be nice and bushy by May. Most of the plants have green areas on the stems so I am confident they will return. I will keep you posted.

Dan knows his way around a kitchen-----esp. when he gets to use his blowtorch to cook. Here he is ----carmelizing the top of the Creme Brulee from dinner last nite. And just so you know----I helped with the dinner too!

Here is my last RED picture of the week. My collection of Hearts. Some I made(some I made a very long time ago!), some I bought and some were given to me. I hope everyone has a wonderful day and hopefully it is shared with someone you love and loves you back. Dan and I are cooking dinner together tonite and then planning our vacation destination. We may have a very interesting vacation---depending on how much wine we drink first!!

Trying to find a Red picture to post daily had been somewhat of a challenge----but not today. Today is the day Pitchers and Catchers(and injured players) report to SPRING Training. Just like that and summer seems a little closer. But---back to the Red picture story. The Tigers don't wear RED and I refuse to post a picture of the Red Sox or the Cinci Reds. This is my favorite current Detroit Tiger--Curtis Granderson. He is wearing a Toledo Mud Hens uniform from last summer when he spent some time down here while on the DL. So I think I did pretty good in touching all bases(pardon the pun)----Pitchers and Catchers and the color Red.

I was planning on taking a picture of this Red Rock from Red Rock Canyon in Nevada. And when I picked it up I saw the Red heart shaped Rock from a beach in Michigan--which is so appropriate for Valentine's Day. Rock's and Sea Glass are my favorite souvenirs. (and magnets too, Adam)

It is drizzly, gray and gloomy outside. This is a glass of RED wine, in keeping with my red theme. There is no story----you will have to draw your own conclusions.

This gorgeous Redhead has been living with me for a very long time. My Aunt Mimi bought her for me when I was 8 and she is a little faded now(I know the feeling). When I was in school, my Mom would leave notes to me and sign them "Love, Raggie". While cleaning out my Mom's house after her death, she had kept a note I left to her and signed it "Love, Raggie". Do they even make Raggedy Ann dolls anymore. I sure hope so.

Magglio would love to be your Valentine and is all decked out in a Red Lips Bandana. But the real reason I am featuring Magglio in Red on my Blog is because------it is finally here---------the Westminster Dog Show starts tonite. And tonite I won't have to say(as in years past) "Dan, I want a Dog" and Dan doesn't have to reply(as in years past) "you don't need a dog, you have me" So---here is our Best in Show with his Red Bandana on.

The Red Saga Continues

Sometime in the 80's I bought these beads at an estate sale of 2 elderly sisters that lived across from my Mom in one of the original area farmhouses. They were sitting forlorn in an tattered box, partially strung on a broken thread. I bought them for a dollar. Maybe I am a hopeless romantic, but my mind had all kinds of reasons why these beads were kept by the sisters. Did they break at a dance? Were they given to someone by a beaux? Probably the real reason had no sentimental attachment but, having gone through the Great Depression, they didn't throw anything away. Anyway------now they have been sitting in my drawer on the same broken thread. I guess I better do something with them, or my sons will find them one day and wonder what sentimental value they had to me!

It being Valentine Week and all---I think I will continue on with a RED theme for awhile. The color does seem to perk up a bleak landscape--especially when it comes in unexpected ways. More RED tomorrow.

It's National Wear Red Day in support of awareness of Heart Disease in Women. This Amaryllis really picked an appropriate day to bloom!! It's the weekend---let's have some FUN!!

There's a lot to like about Valentine's Day---mostly because it provides big splashes of red and hot pink when we need it most, in the dead of winter. And there's a lot NOT to like about it----like the way the marketers make you feel as if you have to buy, buy buy. I tend to get a little caught up in the homemade, handmade aspect of the holiday---and I think I got that from my Mom who always came up with the most creative Valentine boxes for us. Here is a great cookie and I got the recipe HERE

It Feels Like Christmas

I came home from work, opened my mailbox and look what was in there!! Gorgeous yarn----my sister in law, Lisa sent me ALL this beautiful yarn to be made into the most luxurious dishclothes. She told me she was sending some yarn, but I wasn't expecting all these luscious colors. The picture doesn't do the colors justice. So I will keep this post short----because I am going----to Knit!!

The temp is going to single digits tonite but a girl can dream can't she----of balmy breezes AND playing in the garden---AND----sitting in these Adirondack Chairs with a cold beverage---(sigh)

Please tell me that tomorrow isn't Monday and the weekend isn't over already. Five more days and it all begins again. I sure love my snowshoes!!