The first daffodil bloom in my yard is always this one. It’s right against the foundation at my back door and it makes me smile. I love the ruffled edge of that orange cup and those bright yellow petals. This beauty is always a true harbinger of spring around here.

Now that it really feels like spring.

That’s okay, though, because I’m about to go someplace where it will feel like summer. Hooray! Until we meet again, have fun, be good and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.

That should give you all plenty of leeway.

The socks I have to show you today have been a year in the making. Not literally but, well, sort of. You see, I wound up this yarn – Perchance to Knit Merino Sock – last year before we went on our trip to Mexico. The colors reminded me of Mexico. Or something.

Anyway. I caked the yarn and brought it with me but I never actually cast on the socks. Somehow, I just didn’t knit as much as I thought I would. I blame the tequila.

I finally started them back in February, though, and I made up my mind I would have them finished before this year’s trip. I’m just sneaking them in under the wire here, aren’t I?

They are very colorful and very soft and very nice. I love this little rainbow bit on the heel.

And I love that they remind me of Mexico even though they really shouldn’t.

Let’s hope whatever I take with me this year gets finished in a more timely manner.

Yesterday was a lost day. Lost due to a stomach bug that had me caught in it’s clutches for the entire day.

I moved from various spots in an attempt to get comfortable but it just didn’t happen.

The couch. The bed. The couch again.

Dale kept suggesting I sit up but when I sat up I was dizzy.

So I moaned. A lot. Dale said moaning was useless but I disagree. It helped.

What really helped, though, was 10 hours straight sleep. I feel like myself again today – hooray.

I could ill afford to miss a day of work this week since I’m on vacation next week but it will all get done some how.

And I’m extremely grateful that this didn’t hit me while traveling.

The weather is warmer, the days are longer and the call to be outside is strong! Here are Ten Things I Like To Do Outside.

1. Read. Has to be a real book or my Kindle, though, because the iPad just doesn’t function well in bright sunlight.
2. Knit. This goes without saying, doesn’t it?
3. Spin. Only if it’s not too windy or I wind up with fluff all over the yard.
4. Walk and Run. So much better outside than on the dreadmill at the gym.
5. Have cocktails. We did this Saturday with friends and it was awesome.
6. Eat. Everything tastes better outside, right? I love dining al fresco.
7. Take pictures. Natural light is my favorite and I really enjoy walking outdoors with my camera.
8. Ride my pretty, pretty cruiser bike. I’m really looking forward to being stronger after all the spinning classes I have taken this winter.
9. Have a fire in the firepit. How come when the fire is inside and in our woodstove it’s work but outside it’s a party?
10. Swing in a hammock. You can bet I will be doing this as much as possible next week.

And those are my 10 things I like to do outside. If you wrote a post for today please click the button below to add your link. As always, if you want to sign up for the Ten on Tuesday email then please click here.

We have a flat screen TV on the wall in our bedroom. However, we hardly ever watch TV in the bedroom. Now, if this were up to me this TV would get regular use as I truly enjoying snuggling in bed and watching TV. Dale, though? Not so much. He’s a couch sitter when it comes to watching TV. And so, the TV in the bedroom only gets used on rare occasions. Late night football games. The Academy Awards. When one of us is sick.

In the interest of making our bedroom prettier, I decided to cover up that rarely used TV with a canvas print of one of my photos from summer vacation.

This print is just the right size for the TV and the wooden bar at the top catches perfectly on the TV. Sure, you can see a tiny strip of the TV below the print but mostly – it’s gone. And I’d much rather look at that picture of a beach umbrella than a black TV screen.

Pretty clever, eh?