Yes! Orchids bloom in Maine...and other "stuff"

That's one of my phalaenopsis orchids in the header; it's just coming into bloom. I have another phalaenopsis that's sending up a flower spike, so it'll be in bloom by the end of the month. I love orchids and have about fifteen of them, but not all of them are cooperative with blooming. Once an orchid does bloom, the flowers last about a month, maybe longer. I think that's quite remarkable.

That's my new yarn storage area on the left. I saw an ad in a yarn magazine for a storage hanger like this, for $60. Then I spotted a similar one at Sam's Club for $39 and bought it. THEN, I went to TJ Maxx and saw yet another one for $3.99. Needless to say, I returned the $39 one and bought the one at TJ's. Good old TJ's: it has come through for me so many times.

My sister arrived here a couple of weeks ago sporting a brand new scarf she's knit, in red. I loved it. I had to make one myself. The pattern is called "Meandering Ribs" and is a freebie at the Lion Brand Yarn website.

The pattern is written in the most confusing way imaginable, though: "Row 12-See row 1; Row 13-See row 2," etc. My sister kindly rewrote the directions, making them much easier to follow. And now I have a Meandering Rib scarf of my own, in a rich blue.

My niece Rachel pointed out to me some cute headbands made by gluing crocheted "flowers" onto purchased headbands. She dropped a strong hint that her daughter, Violet, would enjoy some headbands like these. They're designed after similar headbands sold at Anthropologie for $32. I purchsed five headbands for $3 at WalMart, crocheted some flowers, glued them to the headbands, added "pearls," and commissioned Molly, who was napping in front of the wood stove, to model one for me. Molly's a good sport.

I LOVE this hat pattern. It's called a "Thorpe" and is a hat design I've been searching for for ages. This pattern knits up quickly, can be made for a child, youth, or adult, and is an attractive design.

Here Douglas the stuffed dog models one of my Thorpes.

And here, a lampshade models the same Thorpe.

I see many Thorpes on my knitting needles in the future.

Finally, I heard or read recently of a new book entitled How to Write a Sentence and How to Read One.

My first thought was Oh, my, has it come to this?

My second thought was soon we'll need a book entitled How to Drive Your Car without Texting or Talking on Your Cell Phone.

And one entitled How to Write in Cursive.

And yet another entitled How to Express Mild Pleasure without Using "Awesome."

Despite the rain and snow forecast for Maine tonight and tomorrow morning, spring really is on its way. I can smell it in the air; I can hear it in the treetops; I can see it in the receding snowbanks. Honest.