A little bit of hope

I spent last week deglossing and painting dark molding all around the entry room in The House of Goodwill.  It was a lot of long days, and painting till late at night.  It's almost done.

But I decided to go to the home/house for the weekend to see the family, go to church and keep up with some tasks there.

I also wanted to see my neighbor Teresa, who I learned will be moving away soon.  One of my New Year's Resolutions was to start and finish at least one crochet project.  (Small goals = greater probability of success, right?)

In January, Teresa started teaching me how to crochet a cat toy, a catnip-filled ball.  She is a great teacher; she started crocheting this year and has finished a million advanced projects already.  (Making my New Year's Resolution theory appear incredibly lame.)  She is inspiring me!

She's also been teaching me how to make sourdough bread, we've been working on both on Saturdays.

Anyway, I finished my cat toy on Saturday.  I was so proud to finish a completed project.  And crocheting is so fun!

I did it!

Like many other things I've tried, I just don't feel "I'm a natural" at crocheting.

I know it's simple, it just doesn't feel that way to me (yet).

So I am quite proud of my little project.

Another view - this is after Teresa helped stitch up all the random holes it was filled with!

But Atticus?  He LOVED it!  

He did not appear to be offended by the ball's imperfections.

In fact, he didn't even mention them.

This is why our pets are so awesome, right?!

Perfection really isn't important when you're high on catnip.

And in other hope-inspiring news:

The first tiny iris and daffodil of the season were blooming in my yard this weekend.

This is one week after the unusual snow storm.

So how can I connect this post to thrifting or vintage anything?

Well, crocheting is a nearly free hobby, and so is gardening.  Daffodils multiply so rapidly; I divided and replanted bunches last year.  Enough so I'll be able to fill a few rooms with some indoor daffodil bouquets very soon.

Does that work?

Yes, husband, I guess this is kind of a gardening blog. 🙂

But I know you'll still read it *anyway.*  Surely that's the spirit of goodwill!