Today is Valentine’s Day and, while some people may think having the holiday fall on a Monday is a bad thing, I happen to think it provides a unique opportunity to celebrate all weekend long.

So that’s what we did.

I planned a romantic evening for us for Friday night, complete with a delicious dinner and other specialties.

We ate on a card table in the living room where the glow of candles and the warmth of the wood stove provided a wonderful atmosphere.

The pomtinis weren’t bad at all and the shrimp cocktail, filet mignon, baked potato and asparagus were pretty good, too.

The dessert, though, was the most festive part of the evening. I made chocolate dipped strawberries and heart-shaped chocolate dipped brownies. They were decadent, I tell you!

We spent Saturday running errands together and then went to a Valentine’s Dance in the evening. Sure, Dale had to work with the band but nothing is more romantic to me than seeing him sing and dance on stage – it’s how I first fell in love with him, after all.  And we manage a dance or two for ourselves, as well, so it was a pretty nice evening.

On Sunday we continued with our quest to see all the Best Picture nominees by watching Toy Story 3 at home in the morning and going to see The King’s Speech in the afternoon. I’ve now seen half of the BP nominees and I’d be hard pressed at this point to pick between True Grit and The King’s Speech. I’m still holding my judgment until I’ve seen them all, though.

And now it’s  Monday, and it’s Valentine’s  Day, and I have memories of a great weekend to savor.

I took this picture at work the other day and then I had some fun with Picnik, enhancing the berries and fading out the rest. I call it “A Spot of Red in a Gray and White World.”

I hope you find your favorite color in your world this weekend. Make it a good one!

The Thursday Challenge photo theme for this week is RED. I love red. In fact, red is my favorite color.

So I went right on over to Mosaic Maker and made a mosaic of my favorite red photos.

I can’t stop looking at it! It’s vibrant and beautiful and captures so much of my life.

I love it!

I love to knit lacy little shawls. They are perfect accessories and provide an extra layer of warmth in the winter or a light layer in the spring and fall when you need an extra something to keep you warm.

But, you know, you can only knit so many lacy little shawls. You know the type — lots of stockinette stitch with a line of increases down the center and along the two edges. Lovely, of course, but sometimes you just want something a little different.

Knowing all of this, you can imagine my delight when I saw Monica’s Herbivore at Rhinebeck last October. I knew instantly that this was a shawl I had to knit. It still has those yarn over increases down the center but it also has them part-way on either side, too.

Really, this pattern is all about texture.

The ribbing texture.

The stockinette texture.

It all shines when you knit with a gorgeous semi-solid sock yarn like this Ball and Skein Super Sock in gray.

It’s almost, dare I say it, masculine. It’s not for him, though, it’s for me me me.

Yay!

The Oscars are coming! In fact, they are now only 19 days away! I’m working on my goal of seeing all 10 Best Picture nominees before the big event but in the meantime, let’s talk about my 10 Favorite Oscar Winning Films.

1. Gone With the Wind, 1939. I’ve watched it since I was a little girl and I never get tired of it.
2. Rebecca, 1940. Nobody is as chilling as Mrs. Danvers.
3. Casablanca, 1943. This one has everything, romance, war, irony, and the oh-so-charming Humphrey Bogart.
4. All About Eve, 1950. I have a dear friend who made it her mission to make sure I saw some really great classics. This is one of my all time favorites that she made me watch.
5. The Sound of Music, 1965. It came out the year I was born and is my favorite musical of all time.
6. The Godfather, 1972. Every time I watch this I see something new. What a masterpiece!
7. Dances with Wolves, 1990. I never saw this when it was new but Dale made me watch it when we were dating. I’m so glad because I would have hated to miss out on this one.
8. Schindler’s List, 1993. Certainly not easy to watch but still a fantastic movie.
9. Forrest Gump, 1994. If I’m flipping channels and it’s one I can’t resist it. Life is like a box of chocolates.
10. Crash, 2005.  I love the message of this movie – everyone is prejudiced against someone. Some day I hope that changes.

I probably could have listed another 10. I had to eliminate Gigi and Rain Man and Shakespeare in Love and some other really awesome movies. Honestly, I just love the movies!

Our Saturday plans including a lazy morning at home, a birthday party for our nephews in the afternoon, and a move in the evening.

We had our lazy morning at home and then headed to Dale’s brother’s house for the party.

There was lots of family there.

There was food and drink.

And more family photos.

And there was cake.

We had so much fun we wound up staying and staying.

We never did make it to the movies. But we didn’t even care.

Another tulip. Think SPRING!

I am at loose ends with my knitting these days. I’ve finished a hat and a shawl in the last week (not photographed yet due to our craptastic weather) and the only thing on my needles yesterday was a pair of socks.

I’ve got lots of things in my Ravelry queue but nothing is appealing to me at the moment. I need a project. Something I can sink my teeth into. A big and complicated shawl or a sweater. Something that will take more than a week.

So if that’s the case then why did I wind yarn last night for fingerless mitts and a pair of mittens and a hat?

Why?

I honestly have no idea.

Can I blame this on the weather, too?

The one with all the wishful thinking . . .

Sometimes my inspiration for a theme for Ten on Tuesday comes in the middle of the night. Such is the case this week. Our topic, 10 Things On Your Bedside  Table, came to me one night as I reached for something essential. Let us  begin.

1. A lamp. The one I have is pretty but doesn’t throw a great amount of light. I ought to consider buying something a bit better.
2. Ear plugs. My husband snores. ‘Nuff said.
3. A glass of water. I can’t make it through the night without one.
4. My Kindle. It is essential that I read before falling asleep.
5. Books. It’s not all about the Kindle, I do still check out books from the library.
6. Aveeno. I slather it on my hands and feet before bed.
7. Tissues. I think this is self-explanatory.
8. Blistex. I already told you this one but it bears repeating.
9. My iPhone. You just never know when you might want to check Facebook in the middle of the night. Also, I’m the mother of a college student. ‘Nuff said, again.
10. The TV remote. I don’t watch TV in the bedroom very often but the remote still lives on my nightstand.

And that’s about it. All the essentials for entertainment, comfort and a good night’s sleep.