Keeping busy being lazy

It was another week of curling, with the provincial women's completed on Tuesday evening, and the men's starting on Wednesday.  So, of course that meant lots of time for knitting.  I managed to finish the blanket for my cousin.  I had a bit of yarn left and decided to use to make up a small stuffed lamb.  Well as always, I didn't have quite enough yarn.  A visit to Michaels was made where, as Connie from Far Side would say, yarn may have been bought. 

I needed the cream color (although this photo seems a bit white to me, it is cream) and found another ball of a similar but not quite the same green.  I couldn't pass up on the latter because it was on a discounted shelf - I got a huge ball for $4. It made paying full price for the cream yarn a little less painful.

I had initially thought I'd knit a sweater but I realize that most parents don't dress their babies as we once did.  A layette is unheard of for most.  So I used the stitches in the pattern for the sweater in the blanket.  I love how it looks like it is diamonds.  This is a small and lightweight blanket, as baby is due in April.  Hopefully his or her parents will like it. 

The lamb isn't complete, but all the pieces have been knitted.  I haven't the patience to put it together at the moment...good thing I have a bit of time!  In the meantime I'm back to crocheting my infinity scarf.

The weather was quite lovely this week with temps just below freezing.  It was so nice to be able to get outdoors without the need to bundle up as much.  By the weekend we were well above freezing and had lots of melting.  AND then it got cold so my driveway and street are skating rinks.  I'll have to get out and scrape the driveway before someone takes a tumble.

I have been out to feed the birds every day.  These Hungarian partridges have been visiting the back yard almost every day.  I've seen one on the bird feeder but to make it a bit easier for them I've been sprinkling some feed on the top of the snow.  They've been digging down to the grass on the lawn too.  Not sure what they're looking for as I'm pretty certain any bugs would be dead by now.  The partridges are very nervous and getting a photo was difficult because as soon as they sense me, they fly off.

I did a bit of grocery shopping this week, and met my friend C and N for dinner on Thursday evening.  He was off to work on Friday, so C and I were on our own for our regular Friday night supper.  The minimum amount of housework was completed...there was curling to be watched. Of course, that means this week will require much more effort on my part.

On Saturday I drove out to my daughter's.  The purpose was two-fold, to allow her to go out for dinner with a friend that evening, and to attend the Saskatchewan men's Tankard semi and final on Sunday.  Eli is very bonded to his mom and this is the first time she's left him near bedtime.  During the week she prepared him for my visit and her absence.  The preparation worked as he was a good boy for G'ma.  After his bath, we snuggled in bed and read some bedtime stories before I tucked him in.  It took him nearly 30 minutes to actually fall asleep but he stayed in bed, and every so often I'd hear, "good night Gramma". I'd say in return, "good night Eli, I love you, now close your eyes".  He did wake up and was a bit upset when his mom got home...but she got to deal with that. 

The curling was terrific - both the semi and final were close games with lots of rocks in play!  That makes it much more exciting for the crowd, and all the teams are great hitters.  I love the finesse shots as well, and these guys can do both.  

The sweepers are bringing a draw to the top of the four foot to tap the red rock back a foot or so, while the fellow in black is waiting to sweep the rocks behind the t-line.  This was from the semi-final.  The guys in purple one in the 10th end, when the skip on the other team missed his last shot.

From the final, the guys in purple are watching to see what the guys in white are planning.  If memory serves this is one of the times a bunch of rocks went flying out of the rings. The team in white were last year's winner of the event and had earlier won a game against the team in purple on Friday evening.  Both teams played well, but it came down to the final shot of the final end, when Dunstone (purple) took out the second last rock of Muyres (white).  Since Dunstone was ahead by two at that point, Muyres was out of rocks. 

Four excited guys, heading to the Brier in Kingston, Ontario at the end of February.  Saskatchewan has not won a Brier since 1980 - I'm hopeful this team will make it into the playoffs at least.  They're fearless on the ice and Dunstone is well known for his ability to make some absolutely crazy shots.  I've linked a link to a video of triple knockout he made last fall - it's less than a minute to watch.
I chuckled as the fellow on the left, was patting his skip on the head.  There is a bit of height differential between the two!

I left immediately after the final was complete, so didn't stay for the medal and trophy presentation.  The temperature was dropping, the wind had picked up, and it was nearly sunset.  I just wanted to get home.  When I woke up this morning to -17C (0F) I was glad to be here.  Time to get truly busy and get this house back in order.  

Have a great week everyone!