Knitting

Family

July 1, 2014July 1, 2014 mud&stringLeave a comment

FAMILY TIES

Mr. Iknead and I spent a wonderful Saturday with his mom and three cousins, with one cousinly spouse from Oklahoma last weekend. We had such a great visit, and decided that it had been altogether too long since we’d gotten together, with promises to do it again soon, with kids and grandkids in tow next time around. I especially loved hearing Mr. Iknead’s and his cousins’ “remember whens” and “who did what and got away with it” stories. Altogether, there were six cousins, three boys snd three girls, all within a year or two age-wise; it sounded like so much fun! There was so much laughter and a few tears, remembering family members no longer with us, but that’s what life really is, people linked together, some by blood and some by choice, forever. I’m blessed to be included.

Nila, Gail, Dale and Mr. Iknead, Cousins All, With Mr. Iknead’s Mom, for Good Measure

PARTING SHOT

Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless. Mother Teresa

Edited with BlogPad Pro

Knitting

The Clan

April 29, 2014 mud&stringLeave a comment

THERE’S A BUNCH OF US

We had some professional photos made before we left our reunion in St.Louis and they are amazing! You can definitely tell the ones that were counted down, 1-2-3 and the ones that weren’t. I love both! Do you have any idea how hard it is to get everyone looking in the same direction at the same time?

1-2-3

No Count

Other things may change us, but we start and end with family. Anthony Brandt

Knitting

I Need a Tissue, For the Birds, The Good Life

April 26, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

BOO HOO HOO

No FO Friday project to post today. Several WIPs, just no FOs. I just can’t seem to settle down to focus on any one thing; I’ll pick a project up, knit a couple of rows, put it down, pick up a different one, knit a couple of rows and on and on. I suppose I need to tweak my outlook a little. Instead of feeling unable to settle and work on one thing enough to make a big dent, I need to look at it as working on all projects, neglecting none. Yeah, that’s the ticket. I’m attending to everything. Commence attitude tweaking now. Ah, much better.

WOULDJA LOOK AT THAT

A pair of doves have built a nest and taken up residence on our electrical box outside, underneath our patio roof. I’m pretty sure there are eggs in the nest, they’ve not left it untended since building it. Us going in and out, taking pictures of them, watering plants, this all occurs within probably eight feet of the nest, but they seem unperturbed by the activity. We put a feeder out in the yard so they wouldn’t have to range far for food. I’ve seen a dove a couple of times at the feeder, I hope it’s one of the pair.

Under the covered deck – smart birds, I think

CAN YOU STAND TWO MORE?

Pool Fun, Reunion 2013

The Sprout says, “It doesn’t get any better that this.” and “Oh, Poolboy, bring me another bottle, straight up, room temp.”

Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. John Ruskin

Knitting

One for the History Books, An Honor, An Award

April 23, 2013 mud&stringLeave a comment

ONE FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS

The 2013 Coleman family reunion bash has come and gone and I think it’s safe to say it was a unqualified success. Everyone played nice (but we always do) with lots of baby admiring, kid chasing, laughter, way too much food and just all around catching up. I’ll be posting pics for a while, there are at least a couple hundred, but don’t worry, I’ve no intention of subjecting you to photo after photo of people, places or things that are only interesting to the people actually in the picture. First, though, I finally got a pic of the Sprout in the Olivia Petit sweater. Oh.My.Gosh.

Lindsey and Annie – The first twigs on the Coleman Family tree

I can’t believe they have babies of their own now!

SUCH AN HONOR

I was so surprised and honored to learn that nothingbutknit2 nominated me for a Leibster award. Keep reading to get the skinny on this very cool award.

The Leibster Award is given by bloggers, to bloggers, and its purpose is to highlight blogs with under 200 followers that deserve a look. Encouraging people to visit blogs that others enjoy seems like a great initiative. The rules for the award are pretty straightforward:

1. Post 11 facts about myself.

2. Answer the questions given to me by the person who nominated me.

3. Invent 11 questions to ask people whom I wish to nominate for the award.

4. Choose 11 people (with fewer than 200 followers) to give this award to and link to them in my post.

5. Go to their blog and tell them.

My 11 Facts:

1. I’m an only child.

2. I have three grandchildren, all girls.

3. I’ve been married to Mr. Iknead for 33 years.

4. I am recently retired.

5. Before I was old and creaky-boned, I was an aerobics teacher.

6. I’ll try anything once.

7. I learned to drive on a stick shift.

8. I’m an unrepentent homebody.

9. I love to fish – but strictly catch and release.

10. I played bassoon in high school.

11. I love a challenge.

My 11 Nominee Answers

1. Favorite color? Any shade of purple.

2. Childhood punishment? Spanking.

3. Favorite book? A tie – Stephen King’s The Stand and Betty Smith‘s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

4. Dog or cat? Both.

5. Party theme? Come as your favorite book character.

6. My favorite actor/actress? Diane Keaton.

7. What have I learned recently that surprised me? People describe me as “artsy”.

8. Have I ever done anything illegal? Yep.

9. Hardest thing ever done? Ran the eight mile leg of a relay marathon.

10. Title of my autobiography? Still Crazy After All These Years.

11. Easier to give up chocolate or TV for a week? Chocolate.

My 11 Nominee Questions:

1. Fiction or nonfiction?

2. Favorite dessert?

3. What was the last book you read?

4. What’s your favorite music genre?

5. Do you know how to swim?

6. What do you have a burning desire to learn?

7. Birth order?

8. What’s your guilty pleasure?

9. What’s your favorite thing to knit?

10. What would be your dream job?

11. What would be your dream vacation?

My Nominees:

The Mommy Life 101

My Knitting Circle’s Blog

wife*mother*disciple

Your Mess, His Message

Take a few minutes to check out these blogs, I hope you like them as much as I do!

There is no such thing as a “self-made” person….Everyone who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the make-up of our character and of our thoughts, as well as our success. George Matthew Adams