Almost February

It has been unseasonably warm here for the last week or so. Almost everyday after school we have returned home to polish off the last few bits of the peppermint ice cream I made for Christmas on our very sunny front porch. Usually this spring tease comes in February and we call it the February Fake Out. I've heard others referring to this as June-uary, but usually June-uary is when it feels like January in June, which sadly isn't unusual around here.

Knitting in the sun while the kids forage for bugs, buds and other things has been such a rare treat. After buying the yarn for this sweater months ago I'm so happy to have finally begun my first fair isle sweater, the fimma. I was nervous, but it turned out to be really easy! It's just stockinette with various yarns. Another half inch of blue to knit and then I get to start on the sleeves. This one is for Gianna and then I'll start one in a darker blue for Dean.

Spring is dropping hints all over our yard. Despite wanting to plant a bunch of bulbs and change all sorts of things, we decided to do nothing now and see what spring has in store for us. It's always exciting to see what a new yard reveals with each season. We have at least four camellias here. I was so delighted to discover that one has striped flowers! In fact so far only one striped flower has bloomed. All of these other pink flowers are from the neighbor's yard. Our other camellias haven't blossomed yet, but we're having fun pulling apart their buds, trying to discover what shades of pink their flowers will be. As for the bulbs coming up, I think we have some variety of lily, daffodils, and spanish bluebells. The quince, one of my favorites, is budding, and the magnolias are getting ready too.

I've been reading and listening to a few books. I read American Savage (I love Dan Savage!) and am currently reading Neil Patrick Harris' autobiography. I finished listening to The Goldfinch a couple of weeks ago. It was so consuming. I still miss those characters. Today I finished listening to Not My Father's Son by Alan Cumming, also really interesting. I love how it is an autobiography but also a mystery. His voice is so lilting I'm considering downloading other books he has read just to hear his voice some more. I've just started listening to The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I'm only an hour or so into it and I'm already inspired. I love how she challenges her reader (listener) to figure out what kind of life they want to live. It's good to have a goal in mind. I'm glad we've already gotten rid of a lot of our stuff before listening to this book. Hopefully now this book won't feel too insurmountable. I've just finished watching the first eight episodes of Outlander and have gone back to read some of the first book again. I read that book when Gianna was just 18 months old (a lifetime ago!), so it's nice to have a bit of a refresher.