...CAREFUL! -- Watch out for those SHARP...

...GRASS-BLADES, AND *BROKEN* WEATHER RECORDS!!

hmm... NO WONDER, that *MOST* People-In-Town decided to NOT head SOUTH for "MARCH-BREAK" -- IT's Warmer **HERE** than most of the Southern Resort Towns!!

BUT, Fear-NOT... Weekend "Predictions" are Calling for COOLER "SPRING" Temps!! Even a Touch of Evening-FROST..?? -- Just *don't* WARN The BUGS!

Anyway... Just to Confirm on *how* MIND-NUMBINGLY-*BORING* My VEG-FUL Day was, about the only "Excitement", was Discovering that a Handful of Lovely-Lavendar-Hued-CROCUSES had POPPED-UP! - In the Shade, less than a Meter from where the LAST- Saucer-Plate-Sized-SNOW-Patch had Melted Overnight...

And THEN, there was the BIG-Honking-ROBIN, fishing for LAWN-BAIT... BTW, that Sooner-Than-Later-Future-RAVEN-Take-Out-Snack-MOUSE that I spotted Dashing across the Patio, wasn't all *that* BITE-Sized, either!

oh, well... At least, THEY gave Me SOMEthing to BLOOG-About! -- Besides, Tonight`s $7. LOTTERY-*WIN*!!

huh. -- CRAZY-Climates, CRITTERS, and **CASH**!! -- Oh, MY!!

********************************************************

The MARCH of "SUMMER" -- DAY FOUR..?

..OR, IS IT FIVE, NOW..?? -- The *WARMTH*, IT's Melting My Memory!!

So. Seeing as the WEATHER was still holding up, and that MOTHER had no pressing Needs to DO ANYthing and/or BE anyWHERE... I *decided* to blow a Few Bus-Tickets on a Trip to DOWNTOWN to pay one LAST VISIT to KNIT-KNACKERS before IT permanently Closes up Their Present-Location this Coming Weekend.

hmm... To be Honest, I had HOPED that there would be *more* "SALES"..? However, there were more Items on the DISCOUNT-TABLE than there had been during My Previous-Purchasing-"Perusal".

MOST of What I *acquired* Today, was from The TABLE, and the DISCONTINUED RACKS, with the *exception* of THESE THREE! - [ABOVE] - For ONCE, I *actually* Paid "RETAIL"!! -- But, hey... Who *knows* WHEN I'll ever get another Chance to Hang around REAL YARN?!!

And, I *REALLY* Liked the Hand-Dyed COLOURS! And, Texture...

Meanwhile, I was also Hoping that there'd still be some more of the RED MERINO that I'm *currently* Playing with, Left..? - [BELOW RIGHT] - I didn't want to Run OUT, as the "PROJECT"
might end up as being on the Larger Side. -- Got THREE.

I also have IDEAS on Combining the PINK and TAUPE BALLS...

NOW... **THESE** - [BELOW] - I'm going to have to SAVE for "Something" SPECIAL! -- THEY're *all* SOOO *SOFT*!! -- Fine-MERINO, BABY-ALPACA, SILK, *CASHMERE*, will do THAT!

I also found Additional BALLS in the BROWN and, in the GREY.

Somehow, I managed to TEAR Myself *Away* before My BUS-Transfer "Time" ran out.
-- Gonna **MISS** that PLACE... And, The STAFF!!


Eventually, made it to The RIDEAU CENTRE...

I had a 15%-OFF COUPON from OLD NAVY Burning a Hole in My Pocket, so, I wandered over...

$27. later... Got 4 "Tops". Strong Hues in NAVY, RED, TEAL, and what I'd call a Watery-"High-Lighter"-LIME...

Next, a quick Pop into THE GAP...

I was halfway Out, doing a swift Gaze-over of a "Sales"-Rack, when My Left Pant-Leg was SUDDENLY, *subliminally*-Tugged... And there, on the End of a Lower-Rack in the *very*-Dimly-Lit STORE, was this Gorgeous NAVY Crossover-Collar SWEATER. 100%-Extra-Fine-ITALIAN-MERINO! *IN*-MY-SIZE! For *only* $16.97!!?

Luckily, that Yarn is Resilient, and that My *NAILS* are SHORT! Otherwise, I might have Left Permanent DENTS in the Garment from My Snatching-DEATH-GRIP!!

IT's been a While, since I've had a "IF-I'M-MEANT-TO-BUY-IT-IT-WILL-STILL-BE-THERE!" Moment...

Anyhoo... By THEN, *Enough* BUDGET-DAMAGE had been Inflicted! -- And, I was getting Hungry, too... TIME to head HOME!

...THROUGH the RUSH-HOUR-TRAFFIC-Throngs of SNOOKette-Thonged-POST-Teen-SUN-Soaking-Shopping-University-Students...

hmm... I still haven't Spotted ANY Groundhogs along The TRANSIT-WAY yet... A *SURE* Sign that there's VERY probably One MORE "SNOWSTORM" just WAITING to HAPPEN!!?

MOTHER and I have a little "pool" going on over THAT!

oh. GEE... I do hope THOSE Over-Tanned-Little-iBRAIN-TRUSTS haven't Packed up Their
"WINTER"-Wardrobes..?

FYI -- *ACCURATE* Weather "Predictions" in OTTAWA - There is *NO* "APP"
for THAT!!

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OOOOOO!!!!! ***MAGIC*** MAIL!!!

IT'S HERE!! IT'S HERE!! IT'S HERE!! -- [INSERT AUNTIE Happy-Dancing!]

And, "WOW"! IT **only** took ONE Week Exactly to get Here! FAIRY-T has some serious MAGIC going with that Wicked-WAND-Whacking-Wipe of Hers!

-- BTW, do You think that "The LONDON OLYMPICS" have a Category for the "PARCEL-PUT"..? 'Cause, BFF achieved quite the Delivery-Speed *across* "THE POND" with Her TINKERness!!

SO. Let's just Check-out My BUNDLE of BOOTY!!

AHHH... My FAV "COLLECTIBLES"...

For ANYONE who has SEEN My "COLLECTION" of RHINOS, it's difficult to Believe that I didn't *already* HAVE *any* of THESE! - But, I DIDN'T!! Truly!

And, the LITTLE-ONE has Magnets in the Hands & Feet... I'm becoming quite Attached to IT...
-- The CARD "Artwork" is by ANDREW HUTCHINSON.


Two of My Other Acquisitional PASSIONS... FISHY-THINGS! And, GLASS!

FAIRY-T had THESE made by an Artisan in TOTNES... VERY COOL!!

But, then... SHE out did Herself with Throwing in some of HER Handiwork! - "TINK-WEAR" - is What I call IT! -- BED-SOCKS and Too-Nice-To-Ruin-With-SHOVELING-"GLOVES"!!

BTW, She Makes some rather Awesome *CELEBRITY*-Worn HEAD-WEAR, too!!

Anyhoo... There were a Few OTHER TRINKETS as well... ALL **GREAT STUFF**!!

***THANK YOU, "T"***!!! -- SQUISHY HUGS!!

**********************************************************

The WEATHER's "Disguise-of-the-Day" -- **SUMMER**!!

HOWEVER, I'M BETTING THAT BY THE END OF THE WEEK... IT'll be so "Hot & Bothered", that IT'll *welcome* the more-than-likely-very-probable-ANNUAL-FIRST-DAY-OF-"SPRING"-**SNOWSTORM**!!

If NOT "Then", the BACK-UP DATE will surely be EASTER WEEKEND - as MOTHER and I have
"PLANS"... [..shush! don't *tell* The WEATHER!]


ANYWAY...

IT was 21C - [70F] - SUNNY!
More SNOW Melted.
MOTHER hung out Her First Laundry-Load of the Year!
*My* LOAD is in the Laundry-Room. Away from Tree-Pollens and Ornithological-FLYBYs!
Vegged...
Cyberred.
Read...

Just the "Usual" Post-Saturday-SHOPfari-RECOVERY!

********************************************************************

HAPPY I-DIDN'T-WEAR-OR-BUY-ANYTHING-*GREEN* DAY!!

SEE!!

IT was Warm. SUNNY!! You'd think that IT was "SPRING" or Something! -- Well... Except for that Stubborn Patch of Dirty-Icy-SNOW that's still covering a THIRD of the Lawn. But, HEY! Right along the Edge of the Walk, there's this bit of GROWING PLANT LIFE!!

And, *NO LIE*, IT's some SHAMROCKY-CLOVER-Looking bit of Flora!!

Anyhoo... TODAY, We were off to "Big-Box"-Country down on INNES... It's been Months since We've been that Way!

First Stop - WALMART - and, if it hadn't been for the Water-Tower, I might have *missed* the Turn-Off, as the Whole-Area is so "Built-Up" now!

We were "Greeted" by OLDER-SPARKLY-GREEN-BOWLER-HAT-GUY, with Whom, MOTHER had a few
"Holiday"-Flirty-Chats with... We just ended up with a bit of Groceries.

Then, it was across the Parking Lot to another Store for My "DR.PEPPER" that was "on sale". Where, We had the Sweet, yet, rather *PERKY*-I'M-GUESSING-TOO-MUCH-CAFFEINE-GOING-ON-BRIGHT-ORANGE-NAILPOLISH-CHECKOUT-GIRL!

Next, MICHAEL'S...

I got more METAL LETTERS! And, Found Two more of that HOUNDS-TOOTH RIBBON! -- BTW, the YARN Selection at THAT Location is a tad Better... Picked up a Couple of the - ABOVE - "MERCURY" Shade.

oh. hey. look. "20-CENT-SCRAPBOOKING-SHEETS"...

This is The Part, where I make a SPECIAL-MENTION of "SUSAN" - the Extremely HELPFUL My-*Age*-WEARER-of-the-SPARKLY-GREEN-FESTIVE-PARTY-TIARA-"FLOOR"-CLERK! And, PRICE-GUN-Slinger!

Unlike, the TRAINYARDS Location [which has 4], THIS MICHAEL'S doesn't have *any* "PRICE-CHECK"-Stations! -- A "Fact" that SUSAN was unaware of, and made *NOTE* for the Next Staff-Meeting!

After spending waay too much Time There, We went Next-Door to VALUE-VILLAGE. Found the BLUE WOOL for 99-Cents. ALSO, over 4-Meters of what appears to be COTTON-LINEN FABRIC for $5.99! -- At least, IT *FEELS* like IT! ...And, IT is a Pretty "CORAL"-PINK.

The "Hour" was getting on, so We headed HOMEward... Via, THE MALL, of course.

By Then, Cloudiness creeped up on the Horizon... With, a Later-in-the-Evening "Isolated" THUNDER-CELL passing by... Which, much to My Disappointment, did NOT Result in the Formation of a *LUCKY*-LOTTERY-WIN-"RAINBOW"-AT-NIGHT!!


[..that's the LAST time I Buy a LOTTERY TICKET from a GREEN-SHIRTED-SHORT-GUY!!]

*****************************************************************

DUH!! ..Why Didn't I THINK of *THIS* Before?!

THERE'S A REASON - "WHY" - that FABRIC I Acquired on TUESDAY was *beaconing* Me so...

The INSPIRATION

Although I've come "close", I've never quite gotten around to Evolving the DESIGN into THESE...

5x7 PUZZLE-1

5x7 PUZZLE-MIRROR

6x8 PUZZLE-2

6x8 PUZZLE-MIRROR














*****************************************************************

HAIL! The IDES of...

ANOTHER *NEW* "PROJECT"...

That might just Take Me a WHILE! As, the Strands of "4-PLY" MERINO are somewhat Delicate. And, even *moreso* since I've SPLIT Them up! -- BTW, IT's NOT another HAT! I'm AIMING for Something considerably *Larger*... Likely, FOR Me!

I *do* LOVE This BLOOD-RED!

So. TEMPS are all *over* the Place, again! The RAIN managed to hold off until Early Evening... Although, We did get a THUNDER STORM, *with* HAIL! - Haven't had THAT for some Time!

******************************************************************