Hi! Remember me?

So, back in April when I moved the videocast over to it's own blog, I fully intended to leave this one up and to continue to blog here about my own personal knitting and fiber and life stuff. Heh. That worked well, eh?

Sorry.

Really didn't mean to leave you hanging like that.

If anyone is still checking in here after four months of radio silence, I'm happy to tell you that I am going to begin blogging here again, f'realz. Not sure if it is the impending change of seasons or what, but I'm feeling that old familiar feeling of wanting to blog again, to get back into a routine (in general, really, not just in the blogosphere). Not sure how often I'll be able to post, but I'll try to make it regular.

A few things that have been going on in my life since you heard from me last...

 I went to Spring Fling in April, where I got to hang out with Steve from Dramatic Knits...

 ...and with Stacy from Tempted Yarns.

 In June, the kids and I spent a week in Florida visiting my mom and stepdad...

 ...and spent lots of time on the beach and in the sun.

 ...and I endured the after effects of a really ill-fated decision to try platinum highlights (this was after they were "fixed" but still...ugh...)

 It got hot and we all had to find ways to stay cool. Muffin's favorite way has been to sprawl on the wood floors like this.

In July, I got a new tattoo!

 And at the beginning of August, we went to NC to welcome our oldest home from his seven months in Afghanistan!

Then I got to spend the next weekend back in NC, taking my grandson to visit with his dad for a few days. First time they saw each other since January. What a happy day!

And of course, there has been a lot of dyeing for the shop, and a LOT of knitting!

Bakersfield

 Plain ribbed socks out of some of my hand-dyed yarn...

 Springtime Bandit out of some of my handspun...

 Flutter-by Socks out of a colorway called Tiny Umbrellas!

 The Arcadian Shawl, which was my first Camp Loopy project. I finished my second project, too, but the third has done me in. I'm a Camp Loopy drop out!

And I've done a bit of designing, too!

The Twistygoo hat...a free pattern downloadable on Ravelry. :)

I'll stop there. I've got more to share, but it can wait! I will say I have a couple more patterns in the works...a sock pattern that is out to test knitters right now, a shawl pattern I need to edit and get out to testers, and another sock pattern that I'm still knitting and writing up. So, yeay!

And we started our 12th homeschooling year on Monday, definitely a harbinger of fall!

I love when the pretty things are for ME! :)

Can ya believe it? Someone knit this lovely shawl just for me! That someone -- also named Lisa -- was a wonderful partner to have in the Shawl Swap on The Knit Girllls Rav group, and knit up this Seaside Shawlette (pattern by Wendy Johnson) out of DIC Knitosophy yarn, Strength colorway. It is beautiful. I've been wrapping it around myself ever since it arrived yesterday.

And last week, this all came in the mail...just for me!

This was my swap package from Meesh from The Loopy Ewe Swap #7 on Rav. Among all these goodies were those beautiful socks you see there. Someone knit socks! For me! (Inferno pattern, DIC Smooshy in Lipstick Lava.)

These are the first swaps I have ever been in that knitting for the other person was a requirement. While I obsessed and agonized over what to knit for both of my partners in these swaps, I realized when I got my packages that I cannot imagine being disappointed with anything I might receive because really? Only a knitter knows what it means to knit for someone else, and as such, only another knitter can truly appreciate being knit for. And I am deeply appreciating these beautiful objects that were made especially for me. These ladies rock!

Great North American Afghan

Wow...I don't really do afghan projects very often, but I just saw the pictures for the new Cascade Great North American Afghan, the pattern book for which is apparently being introduced at Stitches West next week. Wow! There are some really cool squares in this one! And it is done in primarily red, pink, gray and black, which makes me swoon! I know I'll probably never knit it, but you can bet I'll be buying the pattern book as soon as I can, just to ogle the beauty.

There's also a Great American Kids Afghan pattern book coming out. Very cute...yet it's another thing I'll never knit and unlike the grown-up version, I'm not sure I feel the need to own that one.

Technology vs. Fibery Goodness

I'm coming to you live(ish), from my new desktop, which I took my good old time setting up this past week. Seriously? It used to be that when I got a new computer, I HAD to set it up RIGHT NOW, and get all of the software loaded onto it RIGHT NOW, and get all of my old files transferred to it RIGHT NOW and it had to do everything I wanted it to do the way I wanted it to do it RIGHT NOW. This time? I just didn't have the energy for it. Technology has beaten me down enough lately that I knew this was going to be a long, tedious process, and that if I tried to hurry it, it was just going to be ugly. So I took my time. I didn't even open the box of the new machine for a day. Then I plugged things in, and set up the basics. I added some extra software the next day. I transferred files a little here and a little there. After a bit of arguing with our wireless router, which had suddenly decided that high speed Internet was optional and would be dispensed according to its whims, we are mostly good to go. I'm still not done transferring files, but at least the computer is functioning and I don't need to do a special dance involving the sacrifice of a small bird or animal in order for the monitor to work.

That concludes the technology oriented section of our blog post. Let's move on to something far more fun, albeit not always less frustrating. First, some spinning...

I finished spinning and plying my mystery fiber. It's so fun and candy colored. I really wish I remembered where I got it, and I wish I knew what it was! (My hunch, based on the feel and how it spun up, is that it is at least partly Shetland.) I ended up with about 300 yards of a worsted weight (seems after all that test knit spinning, I'm having trouble going back down to a lighter gauge...argh...) Not sure what it will become, but I enjoyed the colors while I spun it. It was great therapy, and sometimes that's enough.

Also, I finished the first of my Spring Wind socks in Enchanted Knoll Farm sportweight yarn, Red Dirt Girl colorway...

This is going to be a Christmas gift, so I'm busily working on sock #2.

I also finished up my test knit sweater this week, and while I would love to show you a picture, I haven't taken any yet. Plus, I think I'm going to frog it and knit it over. Gauge and I ended up not being on friendly terms on this project. I think my WPI was off, because I got a different number every time I tried to figure it out. And my stitch count was wonky, thanks to my yarn being less than consistently spun. Anyway, it's way, way too big for me to wear comfortably, but I love the yarn soooo much, that I can't bear to leave it as it is. I mean, look at that yarn...

...I loved it as I was spinning it and knitting it, but then I took it outside into the sunshine, and it was like magic, it just warmed up and got all beautiful on me. It deserves to be knitted better than I knit it. So, we'll check back in with that sweater a little later on.

I've been on a bit of a book buying binge lately. I finally finished reading Brave New Knits, which I bought in Kindle version because I was mainly interested in the designer bios rather than the patterns. It was fun to read about all these designers, many of whom I've followed for a while now. I kind of hope the author does a Volume 2 with some of the many other knit bloggers out there who design who I think are more than worthy to be featured in such a book.

Additionally, I've picked up...

Warm Knits, Cool Gifts by Sally Melville and her daughter Caddy Melville Ledbetter. I haven't had a chance to read through this one completely yet, but on first glance, it's got a lot of great projects.

The Red Collection by ZigZagStitch's Mandy Powers . Ohmygosh! The red/white/black/gray color schemes of the projects in this book just thrill me to no end. Clearly, you could knit them in any colors you wanted, but...why would you WANT to? (OK, maybe that's just me. But still. They're perfect!) The Drifty and Holly Jean hats and mittens? MUST. HAVE. THESE. I love them! I don't even wear hats and I want to make them. I am particularly smitten by Drifty. The design just makes me completely and utterly happy to look at. I bought the digital pattern pack of The Red Collection, which gets you the print book but also the ability to download all of the patterns immediately in digital form as they are stored in your Ravelry library. Awesomeness. You can also just buy the print book, or you can buy single pattern downloads.

New England Knits by Cecily Glowick MacDonald. I've been eyeing this book for a while and finally gave in and bought it. I love New England, and this book has fabulous photography, which will make me buy a book nearly every time, even if the patterns don't excite me. Thankfully, there are a lot of patterns in this book that make me happy, so, bonus!

Gifted: Lovely Little Things to Knit and Crochet by Mags Kandis. I love this kind of book. I've used my copies of Last-Minute Knitted Gifts and Handknit Holidays a ton, for inspiration if not for the actual patterns in them. I think this book will make a nice addition to that little collection.

Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders by Judith Durant. I bought the first two One-Skein Wonders books (the first of which I used a LOT). I skipped the Luxury OSWs book, but this one I couldn't pass up. I have more sock yarn than I will EVER use to knit socks, so I'm always looking for new ideas and projects to make use of my stash. I haven't had time to go through this book completely yet, but I have high hopes for its usefulness to me.

Lastly, magazines. While I'm eagerly awaiting the winter issue of Interweave Knits to make it's way to bookstores, I've picked up these two to keep me occupied...

Neither of these magazines are ones I've ever bought before, but these issues are both chock full of color work. Debbie Bliss in particular leaves me speechless with the collection it's featuring of ridiculously fabulous fair isle designs by Anna Wilkinson. I don't know if I'll ever actually knit any of them, but I will continue to stare at them for weeks to come. In fact, the thought occurred to me to frame the pictures and hang them in my yarn room. And that model with the red hair and porcelain skin? Is she not STUNNING? (I admit to Googling to try and figure out who she is because I was curious to see some of her other modeling work. I know she's been in DB before, but I really want to know who she is. LOL Anyone know? I came up with nothing.)

So, yep...that's it. Been a crazy week in a lot of other ways, technology withstanding, but I won't bore you. Oh! I am doing well with NaNoWriMo though! I crossed the halfway mark of 25K words tonight. The story continues to be choppy and probably makes no sense, but I'm having fun writing it.

I love books. :)

Double Digit October Update

It's unfathomable to me that we've already reached October 11th. This month is flying by, and I'd really like it to sloooooow dooooown now, please.

If I thought September was crazy-busy, October has been (and will continue to be) no less so. Especially our weekends. I can't remember the last time I had a relaxing, quiet, laid-back weekend, and I'd really like one...soon! The first weekend of the month was the local Apple & Arts Festival. Kevin and the kids take part in that, Kevin running the antique shingle mill and the kids working in the cider booth. I spent time there on Saturday, which turned out to be a good choice because the weather turned nasty by Sunday. I had my camera along but didn't take one picture. Oh well. Imagine throngs of people, lots of craft and food booths, apples and apple-themed things everywhere and an abundance of tractors and you've pretty much got it. (Honestly, I've taken pictures in past years, and aside from the age of my kids, they often turn out looking the same from year to year. LOL) :}

This weekend, our oldest son (the Marine) and his son came to visit. We've enjoyed having them here.

Zach and Kevin were doing manly-men things with chainsaws this past weekend.

Our grandson started kindergarten this fall. So hard to believe how much he's seemed to have grown up just in the few months since we saw him last! Today we hit the pumpkin patch, which was followed by pumpkin carving. Hopefully he realizes he won't be able to take his jack-o-lantern home with him on the plane.

This coming weekend I will most likely be laying low caring for Christopher, who is having his wisdom teeth removed on Thursday. I suppose this might count as a laid-back weekend, though I'm not sure how relaxing or quiet it will be depending on how much pain he is in. Then the following week, my mom and step dad will be arriving for a week's visit...we're very excited to be seeing them, as they only get up here once a year, at best. Not sure what all of the specific plans will be while they're here, but I imagine it will be kind of busy. The last weekend of the month is Halloween weekend, and I told the kids they could have a party. I think I may have been insane at that moment, but I'm remaining optimistic. It won't be a huge party, but it should be fun. Their friends are all nice kids.

In the mean time, knitting is taking place. I am still in the throes of Socktoberfest knitting. I finished my first pair for the month, the Ampersands I started last month. They're a gift pair, though I'd love them for myself! LOL

I've finished Clue #2 (the leg portion) of one of my Mystery Socks...need to get the second one caught up yet, so I haven't taken any more pictures of them yet. In the mean time, I decided I needed a pair of Halloween-ish socks for myself (I apparently forgot about my Zombie socks from last year...hmmm...), so I ordered a skein of yarn from Woolen Mill St. Yarns on Etsy, in the Jack the Pumpkin King colorway. I wanted to do something a little more challenging than a plain stockinette sock but not so challenging than I couldn't do it while watching TV. I opted for Riff from the latest issue of Knitty.

The twisted stitch pattern isn't showing up as clearly as it would in a solid or semi-solid yarn, but I still like it. It's been a fast knit to this point (despite the fact I misread the instructions for starting the gusset increases and had to rip back over an inch to rectify the situation). I'm now to the heel flap on the first sock though, and I've already tinked back a couple rows because I don't think I'm doing it correctly. The zigzag pattern goes up the heel and is supposed to meet the pattern on the front, and...well...I'm just not sure about it. I need to read comments from others on Ravelry and see if they have any insights. So, stay tuned!

I've made no progress on the one shawl that is on the needles, as I've been pretty dedicated to socks lately. I think once I finish the Riffs, I'll move on to shawl knitting since I'll still have the mystery socks to work on for Socktoberfest. Of course, I still also have at least one more pair of Christmas gift socks to knit up, so we'll see!

Oh, and lastly, have you heard about the new yarn by Jared Flood? I have to admit, I'm not as huge a Jared fan as some people -- nothing against him, his designs just don't always resonate that much with me. However, I venture to his blog occasionally, and when I did so last week, right after he introduced Shelter, I immediately fell for it. I love, love, love rustic farm yarns, and the colors Shelter came in made me giddy. It took a lot of self control not to order one of each, but instead I ordered three skeins of the Tent colorway just so I could check it out.

At first glance, it reminded me of Plymouth Tweed in appearance. However, this yarn has a sproingyness than Plymouth Tweed does not have. It is full of squish and loveliness and again, the colors are ridiculously awesome. I wore skein #3 around my neck for about 20 minutes to check out the itch factor...

I would not classify this as a "soft" yarn, but it was not at all itchy or scratchy. I wouldn't hesitate to use it for a scarf or mittens that would be directly on my skin. I'm not sure if I'd like it for a pullover that was going to have direct contact with a larger surface area of my body, but honestly...I've felt far less skin-friendly yarns. I'm really excited about this yarn and cannot wait to give it a try.

As a bonus, I love the fact that it's being spun in the US from American grown wool from American bred sheep. I also love that Jared has had such a hands-on role in its creation. (You can read his story about it in several recent posts on his blog. Clara Parkes also did an in depth review of Shelter last week.)

Now for the real pictures...

Since no one was else was home at picture time, model-less pictures of my Berry Berry Citron will have to suffice for now! ;)

Citron, knit with 654 yards of 3-ply fingering weight handspun created from 4 oz. of Tempted merino/silk, "Positivity" colorway. I Navajo-plied it to maintain the nice, long color changes.

This is so soft and light and yet cosy and warm! I may have been a little overzealous in my blocking, as the ruched areas aren't quite as dense as I've seen them in other versions of this shawl, or it could be that my gauge was just looser. No matter, I do love how it turned out.

I often wonder what my neighbors think when they see me outside taking photos of my knits. Especially when I'm outside on a Sunday morning, still in my PJ's, zombie socks and gardening shoes...

Oh, and wild hair and no make up! Yep! That's got to be an attractive thing to watch. Or at least mildly amusing. I suppose I could have really put on a show and set up the tripod to take pictures of myself modeling Citron...

Um...yeah. Maybe not. ;)

Instead, my pretty Morning Glory vine was more than happy to play model!

Speaking of pretty plants, I think this Coleus is one of the prettiest things growing in my flower beds this year! I've always loved flowery flowers and never used to be a big fan of variegated greenery, but it's really growing on me lately (no pun intended!).

And I've noticed something else this year. The Butterfly Flowers I planted? They have been attracting more bees than butterflies. And some big bees at that! Look at this dude!

Lastly, let me just say that I am loving - LOVING - that it is starting to feel fallish. Being able to open the windows at night and have the air conditioning off...wonderful! And having the need to put on some hand knit socks and wrap myself in a shawl or afghan early in the morning? Fantastic! Our new school year is going to start two weeks from today, and I'm by no means trying to rush these last two weeks of summer, but weather-wise, give me fall and I'm a happy, happy girl! :)

Caricia

Blocked last night before I went to bed, unpinned this morning in between cooking for Easter, Part I, at my in-laws' today, which is where the pictures were taken...

 I love the way the colors flowed in the spinning from the palest cornsilky color up to some deeper, sunflowery yellows.

 Finished dimensions are 35" down the center and 70" across the wingspan.

 Plenty long enough to wrap around me!

 I think I was trying to look deep and thoughtful here...hm.

Ok, so it is bugging me that the center line of the shawl is not centered on my back in this picture! But my daughter was doing photographer duty, and she was like, "Yes! It's FINE!" So. :}

And just to recap, this is Anne Hanson's Caricia pattern, knit to the middle size (called "petite" in the pattern). The yarn is my handspun, which started out as BamHuey, a merino/bamboo blend from NewHueHandspuns, colorway Sun Beams.

Good things...

Good Thing #1: I finished my Caricia shawl tonight! Woohoo! It is beautiful and I love it! It is blocking now, but I hope to get some good pictures of it this weekend.

Good Thing #2: It's been Easter break week for us. I'm getting a lot of knitting done (see #1).

Good Thing #3: Our oldest came home on leave from NC on Tuesday for a week, so we get to enjoy him for Easter, too.

Good Thing #4: It was supposed to go up to 80 degrees today. I'm not sure if it hit it or not, but it definitely got close! Just for reference...we're in Pittsburgh. There are years we are wearing winter coats and walking through snow at Easter. This is the wonderful other side of Pittsburgh's wacky weather spectrum!

Good Thing #5: I planted a bunch of stuff in my salad garden today! (See #4). Some more onions, two types of lettuce, some arugula, beets, dill, basil and cilantro. Can't wait to eat it all! ;)

Sorry for the picture-less posts as of late. I'll make up for it soon, I promise!

Weekend highlight...

Hello you big hunka man, you...may I leap across the table and sit on your lap?

Ok, if you are not a UFC fan, then the man in this picture will likely not mean anything to you. However, I am a UFC fan, and Brock Lesnar is one of my favorite fighters EV-AR! He is the current heavyweight champ, and he is just a big mass of fighting awesomeness. And I got to meet him, in person, for about 15 seconds. He was signing autographs at the Vitamin Shoppe booth at the Arnold Sports Festival this past weekend. I didn't know he was going to be there until Saturday morning when I was reading Facebook updates and saw it mentioned. I squeed. A bonafide squee of delight. I was going to meet Brock Lesnar and I didn't care how long it took. In fact, it took nearly an hour of standing in line in sardine-like conditions in the Expo hall. (Holy cow, that place was packed!)

So when it was my turn, I got up there and said, "Hi!" and he's like, "Hi..." and he shook my hand. (OMG!! Brock TOUCHED me with the SAME HAND he's used to pound the crap outta guys!!! How awesome is that?? ROFL!) Then I handed him my Festival program (because it hadn't dawned on me that the point of the thing was that he was autographing things and I really didn't come prepared for that...my only other option would have been to have given him a random body part to sign, and that's always awkward for everyone) and I said, "Lisa!" and he looked at me questioningly and asked, "Is that who you want me to make it out to?" "Yes!" Oh, I'm so bad at meeting famous people...I babble. And babble I did. I think I said something to the effect of how exciting it was to meet him and could I get a couple pictures with him, and he was quite gracious and posed. And yes, that seems to be his standard fan-photo pose...though it kinda looks like he's thinking about punching me in the head. Hahaha! Anyway, it's a pretty crappy-quality picture, but I ♥ it and will treasure it forever and ever. ;)

What you need to know about me is that I am not the stalk-the-famous-person type. Not really. There was that one incident many years ago when I followed Madeleine L'Engle to the bathroom after a reading she did, in order to get her autograph, but her assistant told me to follow them...it wasn't really stalking. So hush. No, I think it's cool to see famous people in person, but to go up and make a big, gushy deal out of talking to them and getting a picture and whatnot? That's not really me. There are not many people I'd expend energy to get up close and personal with. But, dude...Brock is one of them. And it's funny because his personality when he's "on" leading up to fights and particularly after his last fight? Really obnoxious. He's one of those guys fans either love or hate. I think he's freakin' awesome. ;)

Oh, a side note. Arnold himself was there, making appearances throughout the weekend. He was escorted all the time by his posse of body guards. When we were standing and waiting for my friend Justin's kickboxing match to happen, Arnold showed up at the area just over from us for some sort of presentation they were doing for something. And dude! Arnold Schwarzennager is way shorter than you'd think! The Terminator should not be as small as he looks in person! LOL He's just a regular-sized guy! And also? It is just not right that they were repeatedly referring to him as the "Govenator." Really? Really? Good grief! But then the jiu jutsu refs all had shirts on that said "Refinator" to identify them. :::sigh::: (I've got some pics I took of Arnold from a distance...not sure if they turned out or not yet, though...haven't had a chance to get them off the camera yet. Will add one if there are any worth adding. Because I know you're dying to see a craptastic photo of the Govenator. Ahem.)

I'm St. Louis bound again this April!

Yep! I got my TLE e-mail today informing me that I am the lucky recipient of one of the 125 lottery spots for Spring Fling 2010! Woot! I was on the fence about throwing my name in since I got in last year, and I only decided to do so at the last minute. I know hundreds of people sign up to go into the lottery, so I really did not expect to get in again. But, I did, so...woohoo! :) (Here's the link to my recap of last year's Fling.)

Bummer, though, that my roomie from last year didn't make it this time. Darn. :( I'll miss you, Janice!

Time to figure out a budget to get this puppy paid for by mid-March. And I need to keep my eye open for good airfares, too.

Merry Christmas to me! :)

New Project!

Just popping in with a shameless self-promotion.

My good friend Angela and I have started a photoblog together called Variations on a Theme. Each week, we'll be working with a particular theme, with each of us posting no more than one photo per day of something that represents that week's theme to us. We're encouraging visitors to our blog to participate as well by posting links in the comments to their own photos related to each week's theme.

We just finished our first week and had a lot of fun with it. Please come over and visit us!

And yes, I'll still be blogging here, too. Gotta talk about knitting somewhere, right?? LOL In fact, you can be pretty sure some knitting photos will be making regular appearances over at VOAT, too.

Two-thirds...

...of the summer is already gone. I'm tempted to say that it seems to have gone by quickly, but it really hasn't. I don't mean that in a bad way. It's just been a really nicely paced summer for me. I think the fact that it has been unseasonably cooler than usual has helped me enjoy it more than usual. And, oddly, I think my active efforts at gardening this year have made me more aware of time passing more slowly. After all, it takes time for things to grow, and when you're the one who's planted them, you take note of how long they're taking to produce the fruits of your labors!

This past week was the kids' week away at camp. I had a grand set of plans for how I would spend the week and all that I'd get done while I was home alone. Yeah. Well, things didn't really go according to plan. I did get to have fun on Monday...

 

My friend Angela and I went kayaking! (She took this picture.) It was a perfect day for it. Beautiful, sunny, in the upper 70's. I got a little sunburn, the kind that doesn't really hurt but makes you feel all healthy and glowy, even though you know you're doing bad things to your skin. It was a 7.5 mile trip and took us about 4 hours to complete. I have a bunch of my own pictures from the trip, too. I'll try to add a few here in the coming days, but until then, you can check them all out here, if you're so inclined. 

Aside from kayaking, I enjoyed a couple days of quality time with the grandson. Have I mentioned how much I love that little boy? I was worried that he'd be bored here without his aunt and uncle to keep him occupied, but he was precious and was perfectly happy to play with me instead, or to play near me on his own, as long as I was in the room. I forgot how little privacy you have with a four year old around, but that was a small price to pay for having such a good time with him.

I also spent the week doing an inordinate amount of laundry. I'm trying to figure this out. I did ALL of the laundry before the kids left for camp, so that they had clothes to pack. And then with them gone, that cut our dirty-laundry-producing capacity in half, right? So you'd think there should have only been half as much laundry to do this week. But you'd be wrong! There was still a lot of laundry, and I got it all done, including a backlog of old sheets and towels that I don't use much and my son's blue sleeping bag that has been sitting down there waiting to be washed for probably close to two years. (We own a lot of sleeping bags, so he had one for camp without his.)

What didn't get done this week? I did no spinning. I hardly did any knitting. I didn't read any books or magazines (though I tried one night). I did not get my car aligned. I did not make much progress on planning our school year. But I did get to the gym, I did hit several new high scores in Typing Mania on Facebook, and I did download a bunch of really old, obscure country songs that I remember from my childhood (I've been in a really weird music mood lately), including this one...remember it?

All in all, it was really a good week. Relaxing. Happy. 

And now we're resume our regular lives. :)

Growing well, eating well...

Time for a garden update! (And there is a spinning/yarn/Tour de Fleece update at the end of the post, so if that's what you're here for, feel free to jump ahead!)

My little salad garden continues to thrive this summer. It's very exciting! Some things are finished now...like the spinach, radishes, onions and beets. The lettuce is still hanging on, though I think it will bolt this week. I'm going to resew some spinach and beets and see if they'll grow again.

The tomatoes are doing fabulously!


Look at them! I've been getting a few ripe Sun Golds every day for the past few days. Today I picked five, though honestly, they may have been a little under-ripe. I just can't keep myself from picking them, though...they are soooo good!

The tomatillos...those two plants, along with the two Sun Gold plants, have taken over the world. Seriously. I have never, ever had anything grow as successfully as these two items. No IDEA what I'm going to do with all the tomatillos once they begin to ripen. Want some? ;)

The pepper plants are all producing baby fruits now, though the cayenne peppers look pretty big, but they aren't red yet. Are they supposed to turn red before you pick them? I'm assuming they are since that is what the picture on the little tag showed. Hm. If I can keep the critters from devouring the leaves on all the pepper plants, I should have a nice pepper crop at some point.

And I have little baby cukes on my one cuke vine! The second vine died, thanks, I think, to the overshadowing tomatillos of death. (They also are killing my cilantro, darn it!) And I went down to the big garden last week (I've kind of been ignoring it since the floods did so much damage last month) to find that the one surviving zucchini plant had fruit on it! And already it just proves that one zucchini plant is all anyone really needs. Thankfully, I love zucchini.

The tomatoes down there that survived the floods are still growing, but not well. The tomatoes are really small, compared to most years. It's kind of depressing. The groundhogs have eaten all of the peas (which fared the floods well) and the few broccoli plants that had survived. :::sigh::: A couple of my cuke plants came up down there too, but they aren't doing well. However! There are three HUGE plants that I figured out today are acorn squash! LOL I knew I planted some of those and some melons, but the melons didn't seem to survive. But hey, we'll have plenty o' acorn squash, it seems. The corn is actually growing, better than it's looked some years, really, and there are some huge pumpkin vines growing, so as long as the #@!$ groundhogs leave them alone, we might end up with pumpkins.

Kevin pulled the garlic last week, so we're awash in fresh garlic, and the potatoes should be ready to be dug anytime now.

My salad garden has afforded me some really yummy meals this summer. I've mostly been using the spinach for breakfast, oddly enough, sauteing it and putting it in scrambled eggs or omelets (for me...the kids won't eat it that way).

I make my scrambled eggs with one whole egg and two egg whites for added protein. The veggies vary, but today there was spinach, onion and tomato, along with a hodge-podge of fresh herbs (cilantro, basil, dill and chives, I think...I love my herbs!). And then I throw in a little cheese. Today I used feta. A little too tangy and salty, so I may not do that again. But I like to try new things.

Lunch was guacamole, which I've recently learned how to make...

I've also learned how important it is to use the avocado with a day or so of buying it, lest it turn to brown mush. :P The garlic and cilantro are the only things in the guacamole from our garden. And I like to eat it with toasted pita crisps. Mmm.

Dinner tonight was a little macaroni and tuna salad...


This is a default comfort food meal of mine anymore. I use whole-wheat macaroni, a packet of tuna in water, then I chop up about 2/3 cup of broccoli, a tomato (used my five little Sun Golds tonight!) and whatever other veggies I might want to add (today I tossed in some raw, chopped spinach since I still have some from the garden), and I mix it up with about 2 T mayo and 2 T red wine vinegar dressing. Usually I'll chop up a hard boiled egg white in it too, but I forgot that tonight. I love this dish so much!

Ok, back to growing...

The flowers are also doing nicely, except the petunias that really haven't gotten very big and in some cases have died off all together. But I really don't like petunias much anyway, so I'm not heartbroken. LOL The brown-eyed susans are now blooming like crazy, and they make me very happy!

They're making Nigel happy, too. :)

And lastly, my yarn stash is growing because I'm still spinning for Tour de Fleece! LOL

This is one of three skeins I did for the Creepshow album cover for Team BKG. It is Serendipitous Ewe roving, (some African wool) in the Tulip colorway. I had 8 oz. of roving and got a little over 400 yards of a worsted weight 2-ply, plus about 40 yards of Navajo-plied leftovers. I added some purple curly locks to it as I spun the one single to give it some of the dark from the album cover, but they mostly got lost in the spin when I plied. Oh well. It's still fun yarn!

While I have been spinning every single day, some days its been just barely. I was glad to have a huge block of time to spin today...I watched three whole movies while I spun! One more week of TdF, and honestly...I need a spinning break! I want to get back to knitting! LOL