a light at the end of the tunnel

last night we had our last dinner with my mother-in-law. it was so good and dino slept through the whole thing so we all got to actually eat together. i think that was the first time that happened since she arrived last week.

we snuck out for an hour in the afternoon to visit a knitting store nearby. it was lovely. i bought some new needles, a stitch counter and a ball of gorgeous himalayan wool that will become a scarf someday. after dinner i got my last knitting lesson. at least, my last lesson from her for a while. i started on a scarf for gigi's birthday next month. it's made with a yarn named Cuddle Muffin. too cute. let's all hope i can finish it in a month.

don't you love his bald spot?

our little mister is improving. i discovered that the best way to keep a coughing baby upright is to wear him in a sling! much better than holding him over my shoulder for an hour in the rocking chair, and a better position for him than a swing or bouncy chair. we are still keeping him home as much as possible. it's just too cold out there for his lungs. it's hard because we are all going a bit stir crazy. maybe we can venture out this weekend.

we have a lot of plans for our garden and yard this spring. my husband is going to expand the chicken coop so we can house more chickens. in the last year of keeping chickens we realized that it's basically the same amount of work to keep one  or six, so why not have six and get more eggs? my husband has become quite a good home brewer over the last few months too, so we are going to plant some hops. our neighbors on either side grow them, so they shouldn't be too tough for us. and i want to plant some peas and radishes. and then later tomatoes, lettuce, beans, beets, tomatillos... but i'm getting carried away right now. time to focus on getting this little guy over his sickness right now. the garden will come later.