Who Am I?

A couple of days ago, Meital brought home several lovely plants as gift for Family Day. There was an African violet for my mother-in-law, a diffenbachia for Liat, and this plant for Avi and me. Problem is, I can't identify it!

Can you help?

The plant has these long, thin leaves with pointed tips. There are deep pink stripes running along the edges of the leaves, and a pale stripe down the center. I don't know if it likes direct sun, shade, or something in between. What other kind of care does it need? It's already got roots coming out of the little hole at the bottom of the plastic pot; does that mean I need to repot it?

In case you can't tell, I know nothing about plants, and when it comes to houseplants, Avi isn't much different. I would love to take proper care of this gift, so if you have any tips and advice, please pass them along!

First Orders

Or, in Hebrew: צו ראשון (tzav reeshon)

As many of you know, most Israelis - girls as well as boys - serve in the Israel Defense Forces starting at age 18. Boys usually serve for three years, girls for two.

Today, Liat received her first orders from the army. It's basically a call up to come to a physical exam and a written exam, with the option for an interview. Most kids get their first orders once they've hit sixteen and a half. Liat's half birthday was on Sunday, and she's been haunting the mailbox all week. She doesn't need to appear until June, but she's thrilled to have gotten the callup.

While she won't actually be inducted into the army until she hits 18; this is the first step in the process leading up to that. Over the years, she has gone from saying she doesn't want to serve in the army at all (about age 10) to insisting she wants to try to get into an elite unit, and rejecting the idea of doing any kind of desk work (such people are scornfully referred to as "jobniks"). I am happy she is looking forward to the experience, and a bit nervous that she wants a serious role (whatever that may turn out to be) instead of something that would enable her to come home every night instead of living on a base.

It's going to be a very interesting experience, for all of us.

Unprecedented

Today I finally finished the wristwarmers for my sister. Since my usual hand model was at school and my photographer wannabe was home sick (again), I had Meital take this photograph. These wristwarmers look absolutely ridiculous without hands inside. The pattern is mine with help from The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns, and the yarn is Schaefer Anne.


I made these Frosted Cakey Brownies a couple of days ago, and they are a hit. Problem is, the recipe makes a 9 x 13" pan's worth of lusciousness, so 'twould be well to make these when you are expecting guests. Or a horde of starving teenagers.

In other news, I made a card I am very pleased with but cannot share with you for the time being. I am also working on a triple-tag card that I hope to be able to share with you soon. I finished my first Better Than Vanilla Sock, and cast on for the second. And I have made good progress on Liat's bolero.

And the unprecedented part? Well, of course casting off the wristwarmers meant I was free to cast ON for something new. The Wisdom Yarns Poems that I purchased in Oklahoma City a couple of years ago was calling my name, so I started a neck warmer pattern that my friend Joansie featured on her blog a while back. Thanks, Joansie, for finding and knitting up that pattern so that I could discover it while admiring your lovely neck warmer. Hope I finish mine before it gets too hot to wear it.

With the neck warmer on the needles, I once again have four knitting projects in progress. The unprecedented aspect to this is that three of those projects are for me. It feels very odd, let me tell you!

Charming Gardeners

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. ~Marcel Proust

This has been a great week. First of all, I've been riding high on great news from last week, but more than that, several friends have made a special effort to reach out to me. Just when I think I can't be any luckier in the friends I have found, something happens to prove me wrong; I am luckier still.

Even when it seems all is darkness and despair, my friends come along and show me the sunshine. They reach out, showing me they are thinking of me and care for me. Indeed, they make my soul blossom.

So thank you, all my dear friends. I treasure you more than you know.

Another Challenge

Here is another card I did for a Club Posh challenge. The theme was "retro" and we needed to include four squares in our card. I couldn't get the idea of the infamous 1970s kitchen appliances colors out of my mind whenever I tried to picture my "retro" card, so that's what I was shooting for here. The yellow and green cardstock were part of my gift from Trudy. What do you think of when you hear the word "retro"?

Also today, I did a little translating, ironed some shirts, and cleaned the oven. Thrilling, wouldn't you agree?

The plant from a couple of posts back is, as Bobbi guessed, a potato plant. Just in case anyone was wondering.

With any luck, tomorrow will be more interesting. I don't really see how it could be otherwise.

Speechless

I have been extremely lucky to find some truly wonderful, kind, thoughtful and generous friends on the Internet over the years. One such person is Trudy, a stamping friend who sent me the goodies you see above.

The package arrived today. I knew it was on the way, sort of a pick-me-up gift from someone who knew I'd need one. But I never expected this! Each item you see was individually gift-wrapped, so I felt like I was opening about ten years worth of birthday presents!

So many of these items are things I've seen, and wanted, but told myself I didn't need right away. Now I have so many excellent toys to play with. I spent a lovely time finding places for each of these things, rearranging and searching for just the right drawer, shelf or container. I made notes in the little booklet I take with me on vacations, where I have lists of all the ink pads, paints, colored pencils and markers I own (it actually helps, most of the time, so that I don't come home with duplicates).

Trudy sent me stamps, ink pads, markers, alcohol inks, several kinds of stickers, colorful paper, a huge variety of tags...and she filled in the empty spaces with pretty colored felt fabric sheets tied up in a beautiful ribbon.

Who knows what I'll be able to make with all of these fabulous supplies?

Thank you, Trudy, from the bottom of my heart!

A Card and a Mystery

I had such fun making this valentine for Meital! The design was posted in a tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers. The piece on the left is the envelope, the card is on the right. I used chalks for coloring, in two ways I'd never tried before. The dolls were colored using a blending pen, which is basically a pen filled with a thick, clear ink. I touched the tip of the pen onto a corner of my little pans of chalk and sort of painted the stamped & embossed image with the wet chalk. The small hearts on the envelope and the large one on the card were done using a Perfect Medium ink pad(also a clear, thick kind of ink) to ink the images, then the chalk was added using a soft, broad-tipped brush almost like the kind you'd use to put on blusher. It was fun trying new things, and I love the soft look of the chalk. I think Meital, who loves pastel colors, will like it, too.


And here's today's mystery. Can you guess what kind of plant this is?

I've done a little work in my altered book today, but I really need to get some more valentines done. I never did get around to making any to send out to my friends and family in the U.S., but I at least want to make cards for Avi and the girls. If there's time, I'd also like to make the somewhat traditional bookmarks I give the girls almost every Valentine's Day.