I've been in hiding! ;-)

Yes ... I am still in recovery after my Easter morning trauma.  Yes ... it is the talk in this remote corner of the planet.  And yes ... I have been in hiding, which is of course impossible when you live and work in a very small town that has no road! ;-)  Mr. DillyDally abandoned me (wink!) in my embarrassment and flew to the midwest to visit our children and his parents...so I am facing the humiliation all alone!  In my free time, I have stayed close to home (hiding) and done a bit of dillydallying.

Last weekend, our guild's special interest group, "The Niemeyer Crazies" met and worked on one or more of her patterns.  You can read about it here, at the guild's blog.  QBee Valerie and I are doing the Seasonal Table Runner.  At the meeting, I was able to cut out and organize it.

I have soooo many projects in progress ... many with deadlines ... that my plan is to work on this only during our meetings.  But ... I couldn't stand it ... I had to piece at least one unit!  Just to be sure I remembered her techniques! ;-)

I made some progress on Sister DillyDally's sweater.  The front is done ... and this, the back of the bodice, is nearly done!

This quilt, made entirely with scrap leftovers, came home from one of our local long arm quilters this week.  I had her use a wool batting ... OMGosh ... the batting is as wonderful as I anticipated it would be.  I'm already looking forward to my first nap under this quilt!  Yes ... napping is an important part of the dillydally lifestyle!  I hope your week was filled with dillydallying as well ... minus the hiding! ;-)

Easter Drama or Trauma - DillyDally Style!

First of all ... lets list the facts!
Fact 1:  We are empty nesters ... there are just the two of us ... plus one cat and a dog.
Fact 2:  We are your typical couple of Scandinavian descent ... reserved ... private ... sensible. (well, we're mostly typical!)
Fact 3:  We live in a remote (you can only travel here by air or by sea), very small fishing community.
Fact 4:  We live in a very modest, small home on the tidal flats here in Prince William Sound.  Our house is on pilings ... when the tide is high, it comes up under our house.
All of these facts add up to one thing ... boring!  Yes, our lives should be entirely uneventful!

I woke this morning at 6:00 am under completely normal (and boring) circumstances.  My usual routine ... start the coffee ... feed the cat ... greet the dog ... open the window shades to welcome the day.  Nothing out of the ordinary ... until ...

... I saw this on the beach.  Do you see what I saw?  The tide was just receding ... I could not believe what I was seeing ... so I got Mr. DillyDally's binoculars ...

... my worst fears had been realized!  Human remains had come in with the tide!  OMGosh Good Golly!  I thought I was going to have a heart attack ... I couldn't breathe!  I immediately called the police ... explained to the dispatcher what was on our beach ... she was so patient as she talked me through my hysteria.  She explained that this was more common than I realized.  What?!?  There is no officer on duty at 6:00 in the morning (because this is a boring community, it isn't necessary!), and that it would take about 20 minutes for him to arrive as he would have to be gotten up and dressed.  I immediately realized that I wasn't dressed either ... hadn't told Mr. DillyDally ... and ran upstairs to accomplish both!

I turned on the lights in our bedroom and started yelling telling (yes...I was speaking in a very loud voice) Mr. DillyDally everything that was happening and that he needed to get dressed before the police arrived ... as I was dressing!  He didn't move ... what was the matter with him?  Suddenly I noticed that his body was shaking underneath the quilt ... about that time, he couldn't contain himself ... he was laughing!

Talk about confused ... once again I could not breathe!  It was hard to understand him ... but finally he explained that the skull was made of styrofoam and that the dogs in the neighborhood had been playing with it on the beach last night!

I couldn't decide if I should be angry or relieved ... I was so confused and filled with adrenaline!  Then I realized that the police would be coming ... to investigate some type of Halloween prop left by dogs on our beach!  I ran downstairs (yes ... half dressed) ... called the dispatcher again and attempted to explain.  Of course ... she was very polite and kind ... I'm sure she thinks I'm a fruit loop, don't you?  I don't even want to think about the conversations that will be going on at the police station.  Remember ... things here are pretty boring, this will be the talk!  And to top it off ... in our weekly newspaper the dispatcher report is printed ... yep ... my drama will be printed for all to see!

To prevent anyone else from having the trauma that I experienced, I insisted that Mr. DillyDally pick it up and put it in the garbage.  I can't leave this Easter post with such a ghastly photo.  This is what I did with the remainder of my Easter morning ...

... it is an Easter tradition that began back in high school during my Luther League days.  I made plenty to share with other couples who also have an "empty nest" this holiday.  The nicest thing I can say is ...

I hope your Easter was boring!

Happy Easter!

May your life be blessed with all the hope today represents! 

Happy Easter from our remote corner of the planet to yours!

Mr. & Mrs DillyDally

Dabbles from DillyDallydom!

It has been busy in my remote corner of the planet ... lots of dabbles.

Weather
Mother Nature is exerting her authority ... it still gets below freezing during the night ... but ...

... the ice on the ponds is melting ...

... there is less snow on the ground ...

... and the larger animals have been on the move ... looking for their next meal.  Spring isn't quite here ... but her arrival is getting closer.  We're hopeful! ;-)

At Home

The view from the front deck has been ...

...beautiful in the morning ...

... lovely in the middle of the day as well.  I know ... it looks warm, but trust me ... it isn't!

No ... that is not a weather vane on our roof!  That is a juvenile bald eagle.  He is full size, but hasn't gotten his white feathers yet. 

The eagles have trouble finding food this time of the year ... we are keeping Teacup indoors for now ... when the fish arrive, he'll find better things to eat.

Community

Our entire town is in a deep coma ...

... a Krispy Kreme Coma!

These two are responsible for the local "sugar pandemic"!  Do not be fooled by those innocent looking smiles!  They brought 540 (yes...five hundred and forty) dozen Krispy Kreme Doughnuts into our remote corner of the planet!  They were flown in from the lower 48 states!

They intimidated their friends into selling them on the street!  They strong-armed all of us into buying at least one box!  All of this under the guise that it was a fundraiser for the senior class' "Safe and Sober" Graduation Party!  Only in this remote corner of the planet... ;-) ... I love it!

Dillydallying

The dillydally winds have been strong ... in fact ... it's been more like a dillydally storm!

Remember a few weeks back when I was inspired by this yarn from Three Irish Girls?  I had begun designing a sweater for Sister DillyDally.

Last Friday I had finished knitting the bottom of the sweater... then the designing frenzy (dillydally tornado!) began as I worked on developing the bodice!  I love this process and have learned to respond when the urge hits me!  The graph paper, pencils and eraser were flying ... nothing else got done ... everyone was ignored ... I was in the eye of the storm!  And I loved it!  Of course paper and pencil are one thing ... sometimes what you see in your head ...what you put on paper ...

... and the knitted garment meet your expectations ... and sometimes they don't.  So far ... I'm very happy with the results!  Will keep you posted! ;-)

I'll end with a few more dabbles ...

... Trumpeter Swans preparing to nest on a pond ... a sure sign of spring ...

.. and a sunset we enjoyed this weekend from the front deck!  Here's hoping there are lots of dillydally dabbles in your corner of the planet as well ... enjoy them!

A DillyDally Birthday!

Many people associate April 15th with taxes ... in DillyDallydom, it represents an important birthday!  Yep ... Teacup DillyDally was born 18 years ago!  In cat years, that makes her the oldest family member!

Like all of us ... Teacup has her strengths and weaknesses.  One of her weaknesses is ... Almond Poppyseed Muffins!  So of course that was what she got for her birthday cake!  Like all women ... she wasn't sure she liked all this fuss about her age!

The DillyDallys are fortunate that Teacup allows them to live with her ... she truly does rule.  She is a very strict taskmaster ...

... quilting is her favorite activity to supervise.

She loves fabric scraps ... yes ... she is a devoted Bonnie Hunter fan ... and thinks the two of them are soul mates!

She has an opinion when it comes to fabric selection as well ...

... and makes it very obvious when she loves our fabric choices!

She loves the entire process of quilting ... cutting strips ...

... piecing ...

... layering ...

... binding ...

... and all finishes must receive her final approval.

All finished quilts immediately become her personal property!

She is quite put out that she is not allowed to participate in the QBee Minnesota Shop Hop Adventure ... after all she is a QBee too!  She doesn't buy the argument that she is too old to travel that far.  What an attitude!

Teacup is also a knitter.  It took a long time for her to learn her knitting manners!

Once she learned not to run away with the yarn ... that yarn is not for eating ...

... and stopped chewing up my bamboo needles!  I love having her warm body in my lap ... her soft purr in rhythm with the clickity-clack of my needles ... and together we enter the dillydally zone, where all of the world's realities are forgotten.  It's lovely. 

Yep ... her responsibilities and obligations include supervising Mr. DillyDally as well.

When not supervising her family, her favorite pastime is sunbathing.

This past Christmas, Santa brought her a heated bed.  We tried to place it in several locations in the living room.  None of them met with her satisfaction.  Finally when we placed it on one of the double recliners, she was happy and would use it!  Yes ... she has her own recliner!

She is happiest when the DillyDally children return home.  The "empty nest" was hardest on her.  She loves her brother!

And is completely devoted to her sister!  Yep ... we couldn't manage without her!

Happy 18th Birthday

Teacup DillyDally!

Finally...A Sure Sign of Spring!

Wow!  It was a busy weekend ... filled with friends, fun and decent weather!  ;-)

This (Sunday) morning ... clear skies and very cold ... yep, the battle continues! ;-)  Mother Nature gained some control ... by the afternoon we had temps in the 40's!

On Saturday ... the DillyDally's were busy catching up on housework, I attended a college class,  we went to a wedding reception, and then hosted a birthday dinner party for a friend and her husband!  Yes ... it was crazy busy, but crazy wonderful!

Remember this pile of loveliness?

I'm so glad I didn't throw it out!  The birthday girl is a QBee ... so I transformed it into a ...

... centerpiece for our dinner party!  I'm sure that Martha Stewart and her peers would gasp in horror, but I love it!  It is such happy fabric!  It is like having a ray of sunshine in the room!  Good food with great friends ... life doesn't get much better than that!  And my QBee knows that I will spare no expense to decorate the table for her birthday!;-)

After all the busyness of Saturday ... the DillyDally's took it pretty easy today!  We slept in ... cleaned up ...  hit the road and went seeking signs of spring. 

Yep ... it is still winter out the road as well ... it was only open to 16 mile.  But ... some of the ponds were softening.

The Sheridan river was running ... melting is occurring somewhere up river!  In this picture you can see the Sheridan Glacier on the left and the Sherman Glacier on the right.

The most obvious sign of spring was in the cab with us ... Kysa!  Like all huskies, in the spring she sheds her winter coat ... it comes out by the handful!  Here is a tuft on the top of her head that will soon be released.  When we got out of the truck ... Mr. DillyDally and I were covered in "tufts" of Kysa fur ... a sure sign of spring!