Signs of Spring

Lilacs are budding

Roses are leafing out...

And I just brushed a pile of hair out of the dog that is as large as a soccer ball. And that was with her normal brush, not the Furminator. I try to do the normal to get all the loose hair then go over her again with the Furminator to get the rest of it. Usually, I get a baseball size off of her with each. I'm almost scared to go over her with the other brush now! She is really and truly in the midst of blowing her coat. We've had her just over a year. She was at the end of her spring shed when we got her. Immediately had to buy a Furminator to deal with the hair. Normal brushing kept her up till her fall shed. Then it was Furminator time again. Winter was easy, brushing once every week or two. Now we're back to twice daily brushings. Ugh...

Sorry for the so long without posting. I'm halfway through training for the new job then I get a much more pleasant schedule. I'm currently at 5am - 1:30pm. Which means I'm awake by 3:45am. And in bed by 7pm. I'm constantly exhausted. But only one more week then I'll be at 9am - 5:30pm. There's not a lot of knitting going on. I'm pretty burned out. I'm working on a springy Clapotis that I'm about half done with. I started another pair of Jaywalkers but lost my momentum. I have 2 or 3 panels on my skirt done, out of 8. The afghan has 2 more strips to go. The Endpaper Mitts have .5 to go. And I just don't have enough creative juice left to do them. So I've got a reversible dishcloth in my purse for mindless work and I'm just waiting for enough energy to continue with the other pieces. Hopefully once I'm off this dreadful schedule I'll be able to start again.