I'M NOT A BIRD WATCHER

... but I sure enjoy watching birds. Especially the waterfowl (got that word from my handy-dandy bird book) that gather in local bays in the winter time.
Apparently we have merganzers and buffleheads and canvasbacks and mallards all in the mix. All I know is I could stand at the window and watch them for hours, doing their little choreographed rounds through the harbour.

And one of the reasons why I'm standing at the window gazing is because it's a step up from navel-gazing, which is about what I seem capable of these days. I'm still on four different anti-histamines trying to kick this anti-biotic reaction I had (as well as a pretty powerful anti-inflammatory), and I swear anti-histamines just make you STOOPID. I feel lethargic and 'foggy-brained' most of the time, so other than some knitting and bird-watching, I'm not getting much done!

I did manage to walk home from knitting at the Rock Salt the other day, and guess what I saw in our driveway...
Look closely, left-centre, in that photo.... those are tree BUDS, how cool is that?!

And then I had to stop on the ramp coming down to the boat to count the sunstars I could see under our docks ...
They seem to be everywhere right now, and they're huge ... the bottom one in this picture was at least two feet across!

Michael went over to chop some wood for this neighbour woman that we've been helping and she gave us this rose bush...
... and half an hour later a couple of fellows who keep their boat here came back from checking their traps, and brought us two huge Dungeness crabs. Took me about 60 seconds to have them in a pot cooking for dinner!
I've knit three pairs of fingerless gloves now ... and they seem to be making a difference to my hands, so I'm going to keep wearing them. And I finished the first cowl of the Ravelry Great Cowl Knit-Along ... it's called 'Flurries' and it's a free pattern on the designer's website, if you're interested.

I've also been experimenting with doll clothes, believe it or not -- I have an opportunity for a nice litte commission to make some dresses for a local doll-maker, if I can design something that doesn't take too long to knit. My first attempt is styled on a top-down one-piece sweater:
It's Noro, of course, which the dollmaker is supplying. What do you think? Any easy top down patterns out there (the dress is open at the back so it can double as a cardigan) that you can recommend for preemie baby size?

That's it from my little corner of the world this morning... just chillin' in Fulford, trying to get healthy!