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Our next Group Mystery Dishcloth Knit Along in Rachel's Knitting Room Starts July 20th!

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Please feel free to join us!

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You can go next door to find out more about our KALS :o)

Friday's Freebies & Finds!

(Friday, July 10, 2009)
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Freebie Pattern Links!

(Updated Weekly)
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Rachel's Knit & Crochet Finds!

(The Year of the Afghan & Big Girl Bonnet!)
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PATTERNS THAT CHANGE DAILY
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** Daily Knitter's Freebie **
http://www.dailyknitter.com/day.php
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** Daily Crocheter's Freebie **
http://www.dailycrocheter.com/day.php
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** JPF Crochet Club **
http://www.jpfun.com/patterns/featured/index.shtml
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** Morehouse Farm: Pattern du Jour **
Free Pattern of the Day » Scroll Down Under "Knitting Essentials"
http://www.morehousefarm.com/
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** Crochet Me.com **
http://www.crochetme.com/
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** Martha Stewart.com **
Craft of the Day

http://www.marthastewart.com/craft-of-the-day?rsc=wn_Homepage_Homepage
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PATTERNS THAT CHANGE WEEKLY
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** KnitBits® Free E-newsletter **
July 10, 2009 » So you wanna be a sock star?
http://www.berroco.com/e-news.html
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** Lion Brand ~ Weekly Newsletter **
Friday, July 10, 2009
http://cache.lionbrand.com/Newsletters/54893.html
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** Knitting Pattern Central - Newly Added Free Knitting Patterns
http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/new_patterns.php
Last Updated: Wednesday, July 8, 2009
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** Crochet Pattern Central - Newly Added Free Crochet Patterns
http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com/new_patterns.php
Last Updated: Wednesday, July 8, 2009
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** VogueKnitting.com ~ Free Featured Patterns **
http://www.vogueknitting.com/?q=node/406
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** Knit Simple Magazine ~ Carla’s birthday blanket **
http://www.knitsimplemag.com/node/133
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** Kathleen Taylor's Dakota Dreams:
http://kathleen-dakotadreams.blogspot.com/
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** Free Knit Patterns From K1,P1 Keeping You in Stitches Studio™
http://freepatterns.k1p1keepingyouinstitchesstudio.com/index.html
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** f.peas's blog **
free pattern friday » scrappy socky stripey cardi
http://fpea.blogspot.com/2009/02/free-pattern-friday-scrappy-socky.html
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** Crochet World **
Featured Pattern » Days of August: Camouflage Backpack
http://www.crochet-world.com/featured_pattern.php
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PATTERNS THAT CHANGE MONTHLY
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** Rowans's Monthly Tutorial and Rummage **
Tutorial » Mattress Stitch Seam
http://www.knitrowan.com/how-to/tutorial.aspx
Monthly Rummage » Coffee Cosy
http://www.knitrowan.com/how-to/rummage.aspx
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** Sew-Funky Free Cloth of The Month **
Cloth of the Month ~ May 2009: Pretty Frill Cloth
http://sew-funky.blogspot.com/2009/05/cloth-of-month-may-2009.html
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** bitstobuy FREE PATTERN **
MINIATURE KNITTING PATTERNS for the dolls house by Helen Cox
This Month's Free Pattern » FURRY RUG
http://www.bitstobuy.co.uk/freepattern.php
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** Vickie Howell's Blog **
http://vickiehowell.blogspot.com/
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** Crochet! Magazine **
Dress It Up -- Small Wonders -- Sugar & Spice Coat
http://www.crochetmagazine.com/featured_pattern.php
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** SweaterBabe.com **
http://www.sweaterbabe.com/monthly-free-knitting-crochet-pattern2254.htm
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** AOK Corral ~ Assorted Crafts **
http://www.aokcorral.com/projects/how2projects.htm
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** Monika Free Patterns **
http://monika-freepatterns.blogspot.com/
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~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
*** Rachel's Knit & Crochet Finds! ***
~ Friday, July 10, 2009 ~
The Year of the Afghan & Big Girl Bonnet!
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*** Rachel's Knit Find ~ The Year of the Afghan

http://www.hanksyarn.com/2009afghan.aspx
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*** Rachel's Crochet Find ~ Big Girl Bonnet

http://blog.goldfishluv.com/?p=55

Scroll down to the second paragraph and click on the "Big Girl Bonnet" link...then you can click on the link on the left hand side that says, "Click Here to Start Download.."

Here is the link to see another photo of this cute hat being worn:

http://images4cf.ravelry.com/uploads/K-Rae/9678566/spring_09_011_medium.jpg
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** Previous Picks! **
Truffle Cardigan & Baby Bonnet!
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Truffle Cardigan - 3 part Tutorial

Truffle Cardigan From the Ground Up- Part 1:
http://dullegriet.wordpress.com/2008/02/03/tutorial-truffle-cardigan-from-the-ground-up-part-1/
Truffle Cardigan From the Ground Up- Part 2:
http://dullegriet.wordpress.com/2008/02/11/tutorial-truffle-cardigan-from-the-ground-up-part-2/
Truffle Cardigan From the Ground Up- Part 3:
http://dullegriet.wordpress.com/2008/02/17/tutorial-truffle-cardigan-from-the-ground-up-part-3/
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Baby Bonnet
http://craftastica.blogspot.com/2008/03/crochet-baby-bonnet-pattern.html
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Enjoy and Have a Great Weekend!

Hugs,

:o)

Rachel

Where you can find me:

Knits by Rachel:

http://www.knitsbyrachel.com/

Rachel's Knitting Corner:

http://rachelsknittingcorner.blogspot.com/

Ravelry(KnitsByRachel):

http://www.ravelry.com/people/KnitsByRachel

Rachel's Knitting Room:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Rachels_Knitting_Room/

KAL Info: http://rachelsknittingroom.blogspot.com/

~ Pretty Pink Wild Roses from The Backyard ~

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These pretty wild roses fill the air with such a sweet smell...I love them! It's a shame they don't last longer though :o(

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June 2009 Knit Along in Rachel's Knitting Room

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~ Finished ~

Seed Stitch Owl Dishcloth
by Janelle Schlossman
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Thanks to everyone for knitting this one with us! I hope it took some of your fears away about cables.
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Thanks so much to Janelle Scholossman for allowing us to use her pattern, "Seed Stitch Owl" for our KAL...it was most appreciated!

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I have created a photo album in our photos section of the group for our finished June 2009 KAL photos...here is the link for you:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Rachels_Knitting_Room/photos/album/419490393/pic/list
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Janelle's website (Designs by Janelle) has been shut down due to AOL® Hometown being shut down permanently, but I do know that she is trying to get another one up and running.
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Please be aware of Janelle's copyright information below that she has provided with this pattern:
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"My patterns are for personal use and charity only; no commercial use whatsoever - including the selling of the finished product".
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I hope you've all enjoyed this one as much as I have. Thanks again for knitting along!
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Hugs for a great day,

:o)
Rachel

June 2009 Knit Along in Rachel's Knitting Room

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~ Day 8 ~

All finished and I love it! I'm so impressed with this design! I will post all the details of this kal later...I've gotto be outa here in minutes for a field trip with the school! Thanks to all for knitting along with us! Hope you enjoyed it!

~ A Few Neat Ravelry Finds for the Day ~

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Hey Guys!

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Haven't posted any Ravelry finds in a while but thought I'd share these ones with you...enjoy ;o)

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5 Hour Baby Sweater done with a picot edge:

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/seashoreknits/5-hour-baby-sweater-2

Flickr pic:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/17529520@N07/3253706090

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Very simple, functional,and pretty Caplelet:

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/abbysitznmomanitz/dreamy-cream-caplet

Flickr pic:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29408301@N06/3352895738

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Love the stitches used to make this baby blanket:

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/sallytsb/fun-stitch-baby-blanket

Flickr pic:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29915729@N00/534231620

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Hugs,

:o)

Rach

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KnitsbyRachel on Ravelry :o)

June 2009 Knit Along in Rachel's Knitting Room

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~ Day 7 ~

Almost there...one more day ;o)

June 2009 Knit Along in Rachel's Knitting Room

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~ Day 6 ~

Almost done! Couple more days to go. I'm sure everyone has figured out what it is by now ;o) I love it!

June 2009 Knit Along in Rachel's Knitting Room

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~ Day 5 ~

~ Backyard Snapshots ~

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(all photos are clickable for a much larger view!)

Spent some time outdoors yesterday as our weather was absolutely beautiful! The smell of sweet flowers and the sound of buzzing and chirping filled the air!

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Fluffy dandelions...
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Some soft strawberry flowers...
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Feathery leaves...
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Not sure what this stuff is...it's growing on top of moss...I thought they all looked like tiny little chilli peppers or sausages...very strange...click to see what I mean...
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Wild Bluebells...
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Busy little bumble bee...
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Dragonfly getting some sun...
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If you click on the photo of him you can see all the interesting detail on him...
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Squirrel up in the tree...
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And last but not least...hubby took this picture the night before of our not-so-little visitor with the striped tail...

June 2009 Knit Along in Rachel's Knitting Room

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~ Day 4 ~

June 2009 Knit Along in Rachel's Knitting Room

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~ Day 3 ~

Looks a little more interesting today as we started on the cables ;o)

June 2009 Knit Along in Rachel's Knitting Room

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~ Day 2 ~

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Day 2 of our June KAL! I love the way the colour showed up today in the light...this Shrimp is such a pretty peachy colour :o)

June 2009 Knit Along in Rachel's Knitting Room

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~ Day 1 ~

Our June 2009 KAL started today! Here are my first 5 rows done for the day. I chose to use the colour Shrimp for this one :o)

It's All About the Colour....

(all photos are clickable for a much larger view).

You definitely know it's Spring time when you see these familiar "flowers". Yesterday was so beautiful outside that I decided to go out for a little nature photo shoot ;o) I know Dandelions are an awful weed that people spend all their time trying to get rid of, but have you ever looked at one real close to see how pretty it actually is?

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Go ahead and click on it...I've left all the photos large so you can see all the wonderuful detail in them! Isn't it pretty...doesn't it look so soft...and what about all those little "twirlies"?...aren't they neat?

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It was so nice to go outside and see COLOUR! Everywhere I looked I saw little bits of yellow, purple, white, and pink popping up...such a nice change from all the boring browns.
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I noticed all the new leaves starting on all our trees...doesn't this look just like a baby bird's mouth opening up for food?
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Look at the texture of that leaf...
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I love the reds and greens...look at them all wrinkled up just waiting to stretch out.
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Such beautiful colours and texture...
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A while back we had to cut one of our trees in the back yard because it was dying...while walking around outside yesterday I seen this new tree shooting up out of the ground right beside the big stump of the old tree we had cut down...I can't tell yet, but I'm assuming that this new tree is a baby from the old one...I sure would hope so because it was such a beautiful tree and I miss it. I kinda thought the new leaf coming out from the top looked just like a pumpkin seed!
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Well, I guess that's it for now...sorry if you found it boring...after all, it's just weeds and leaves! It's just so nice to see signs of new life after our long crumby winter weather though!

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We've had a big, fat racoon as well as a fox visiting us, but everytime I go to grab my camera they disappear off into the woods...I'll have to be smarter about where I leave the camera...

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Hope all is well with everyone!

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Take care and have a wonderful weekend!

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Hugs,

:o)
Rachel

May you all have a wonderful Mother's Day!

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This is one of my very favourite photos of me with my Mom and Gramma! We look totally ridiculous but whenever I look at this photo it makes me smile cuz it was such a fun memory...my poor Grandfather was trying to take a nice picture of us three and as usual we got the giggles and couldn't stop! We didn't get one good photo with all of us looking at the camera without a goofy look on our faces...we tried really hard but the harder we tried the funnier it got! Poor Gramps couldn't take it anymore and finally gave up on us!

Happy Mother's Day to you guys!

Lots of Love and Hugs,

Rachel Marie

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

I Can See Clearly Now & Signs Of Spring FINALLY!!

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Well, I'm finally feeling like my old self again...that nasty cold bug has finally left me! I can breath again, I can hear again, and with all our wonderful Spring weather lately I feel sooooo good...so full of life and energy! It's been such a long Winter for us...very long, very cold, and very depressing! I thought it never would end! I've been spending a lot of time outdoors these days, soaking up all that wonderful sunshine and fresh air! It's so nice to finally see some signs of Spring...there's new little buds on all the trees and plants...there's birds singing and squirrels playing...I love it! Here are some outside photos I took the other day...

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These are little leaf blossoms that are just waiting to explode out of there little pockets...they're so neat to look at...they almost look like a flower or a berry or something but it's actually a whole pile of leaves smooshed together waiting to unfold and uncurl...nature is pretty neat...




I love seeing the colour green! It's so nice after all the blah browns we've been looking at for the longest time!

Here's a Northern Flicker making some noise at the top of one of our dying trees...

If you click on the photos you can see this pretty woodpecker...they make a really nice sound too when they talk to eachother...

In this one you can see the beautiful deep red stripe behind it's head as he's looking over his shoulder...

And here we have a nice plump red Robin!

Uh, and there's another one checking out Little Man's Construction Site...perhaps he's the foreman?

I spy with my little eye...something that is Green...

This poor little fella was having a real bad day...when I was raking up all the piles of leaves the other day, I noticed something fly out from under my rake as I made a swipe along the ground...when I took a closer look this is what I found...A frog! And such a wierd colour he was! I felt sooooo bad for flinging him by accident with the rake...I didn't know if I had killed him or what cuz he wasn't moving...his eyes were open but he didn't look good. My first instinct was to brush him off cuz he looked like a right mess but I just couldn't do it...I chickened out...he still gives me the shivers just looking at him...I mean, look at those fingers and toes! Ewwwww! Go ahead and click on the photos to see him real close up...gives me the heebie jeebies!

Anyway, I decided to just leave him there for a bit...I didn't want to scare him any more than he probably was. A little while later I had noticed that he was facing the other way so I figured he somehow moved all by himself...but he still just sat there for a while...I'm not sure if he was playing dead...perhaps that's their defense mechanism?

Now he's pretending that he's sleeping? Well after watching him for about 20 minutes I was getting bored...it was like waiting for water boil or paint to dry! So I went in the house to grab a drink and when I went back out to check on him...he was gone...and I mean gone! He must have motored out of the area all together cuz I looked all over the place thinking that he couldn't take off that quick...but he did...I imagine he probably ran home to tell his family about his awfully tramatic day with the big old mean lady with the green rake!

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Hugs for a great weekend guys,

:o)

Rachel

I have to apologize for being so absent these days...I've come down with the nastiest cold/flu bug and it's just sucked the life out of me! No energy at all! It seems that this bug has been going around and around our house for the last few months...it seems one of us is sick at one time or another...have I mentioned that I can't wait for spring? Mother Nature just keeps teasing us...would you believe last weekend we just had another big dump of snow? Will it ever end? Anyway, just wanted to touch base and let you all know that I haven't dropped off the face of the earth, I'm just sick....sick and tired of being sick and tired...lol!

I hope all is good with everyone else.

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Hugs for a great weekend ;o)

~ Rachel ~

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Happy Birthday To You Mom!

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That's me and Mom more than 30 years ago! Look at the furniture and the colour of the walls and curtains! Oh we've come along way since then haven't we?

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Jeepers how time flies! Here's to many more Mom! Hope you enjoy your day! We're thinking of you lots and wishing you a Wonderful Birthday!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I wanted to sing you Happy Birthday but I think you would agree with me that these guys do a much better job!


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And here's some more of them just in case that wasn't enough for you...enjoy!

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Love,

Rachel Marie

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Okay, I know it's April Fool's Day, but this is just cruel...

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Nice sense of humor Mother Nature...

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This is what we woke up to this morning! So much for the birds chirping and the snow melting!

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It's yet another snow day for the kids...that's gotta be a record for the number of snow days for them! They have missed so much school because of our weather.
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These poor trees are sooooo heavy with snow today...most of them are drooping and hanging off to one side now.
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I can't believe how much snow the tops of these trees can hold.
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Check out our roof! Now that's a lot of snow!
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I thought this bare tree looked pretty neat with all that snow on it's branches! You can click on this picture and all the others to get a better look :o)
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I don't think the squirrels will be bathing in the tree tops today! Good Grief Charlie Brown! My Grandmother told me yesterday that I jinxed it by putting all the winter clothes away the other day...silly me thinking that Spring was here! What was I thinking?

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One good thing about today is that the temperature is beautiful and the snow is super duper sticky so I can kick the kids outside for the day and I can stay inside and the knit the day away! Sounds like a great plan to me!

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Stay safe, stay warm, and have a wonderful Wednesday!

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Hugs,

:o)

Rach