Not knitting

I realized that there have been an abundance of posts about knitting, and socks in particular – so this is not a post about knitting. I will not tell you that this morning I discovered that wee yarn ball #3 had been bitten into four very uneven pieces by little Destructo-Cat and so the Swamp Socks are going to have even more ends to weave in than I anticipated. I will also not tell you that since I am so ahead of my plan to knit one pair of socks each month in 2012, I’ve upped the ante and am now seeing if I can knock out eighteen pairs this year. Seeing as how I’m on number 7, it seems perhaps I may have gotten a bit optimistic, but since I’m not discussing knitting today, we’ll just leave it at that after a quick link to the Ravelry thread wherein I publicized this crazy intent in case you want to join in the fun.

Oh, look – the peas and beans have sprouted!

(a mix of peas and beans; I didn’t keep track of what I was planting where… It will just be a surprise as the pods grow!)

P.S. I’m down five pounds since the first of April. Yeah me! Slow and steady at just under a pound a week, I’m finally starting to “feel” the difference which is super motivating, though it isn’t quite enough to make a difference in how my clothes fit. Yet.

Mother’s Day

Today I do not feel obliged to do dishes, laundry, or any other chore. My day started with homemade waffles courtesy of my wonderful husband, then I spent the morning puttering around the yard, and then I set up the light box and took a bunch of soap pictures with my new-used camera. I watched a hummingbird visit the columbines, flitting around little white butterflies. Now I am sitting by the fountain, with knitting and iced tea close at hand, getting pelted occasionally by falling walnut flowers, wondering what I should do for the rest of the day. Maybe just this.

(the view from my reclining lawn chair. this is the budding walnut tree that is dropping spent flowers on me. they look a bit like lumpy caterpillars.)

Zoom zoom

This week has flown by!

The husband got a promotion (yay!) that included a switch back to day shift; he’s worked nights for years and years, so this is a bit of an adjustment for both of us. It’s awesome to be able to do things as a couple in the evening; we went to the mall one night, and watched a movie on another. And we get to eat dinner together!

The middle son is learning to drive, and seems to have a propensity for speed… Going to have to keep an eye on that one. He practices every chance he gets, which probably isn’t often enough for his liking.

We’ve got the new garden ‘installed’ in the backyard and half planted. I will sow seeds in the other half this weekend: peas, beans, zucchini, pumpkin, lettuce, etc. There is a long list of yardwork waiting for us, as we’re still pulling out undesirable plants and putting in ones more suited for each area.

I’ve been going to Zumba classes for about six weeks now and have dropped a few pounds. My legs are stronger and I’m starting to see a hint of the waist that’s been hiding for decades. I’ve got a ways to go yet, but I am enjoying the classes and have let go of my inhibitions so that I shake and shimmy with as much energy as I can muster. I’m sure my kids would be mortified, and I am certain nobody over the age of about 25 should be attempting these moves in public, but nobody has asked me to leave yet.

In knitting news, I have been working on a couple pairs of socks, a shawl, and a market bag, and occasionally put a row into an afghan. I will finish off one pair of the socks this weekend, for sure.

I’ve got a craft show coming up next month, so I need to spend some time prepping. There’s a new tent to test out (to make sure it’s going to keep out the rain so we don’t have a repeat of last year), labels to print, lotions to make, signs to update, displays to finish…

Plus, we’ve got an exchange student arriving in seven weeks. There is stuff we need to get done before she gets here.

Summer always seems to go so quickly!

Growing like a weed

Spring has sprung around here, and this weekend the air was abuzz with the sounds of birds, lawn mowers, and grumbling teenagers as folks like us headed outside to tame the weeds and bring some semblance of order back to the yards. We have let our yard “go” for several years, and it has reached jungle status. Sure, it’s green — but the ground covers have choked out just about everything, a wall of overgrown shrubs made our already-small backyard seem extra narrow, and the dandelions have staged a hostile takeover of the entire yard. Plus, I want a small greenhouse and what with moving the vegetable garden to the backyard, there isn’t much grass left – so we are conquering the deep planting beds that line our fence.

Vina Minor, ivy, honeysuckle, bindweed, daylilies, mystery weeds, and a metric ton of those grape hyacinth things – dug out and packed into yard waste bags. Next to go are some larger shrubs that just won’t stay in their allotted space (lilac, I’m talking to you!) as well as some more invasive species (butterfly bush) and things that just aren’t thriving in the jungle that the side beds have become. A fresh start, that’s what I want.  I have a couple dozen shade-loving native plants lined up waiting for the earth to be cleared beneath the mature dogwood tree. It is quite a challenge getting rid of the creeping weeds, so they may have to wait until this fall to go into the ground.

(Bindweed – commonly misnamed “morning glory”)

 

Final harvest

Pulled the last of the veggies from the garden today; the rain and cold took the rest of the tomatoes, but I’m not too sad because I got quite a few this year. The potato crib was disappointing – just one large bowl of taters when I was expecting fifty pounds or so. Turns out that most of the potatoes I planted don’t do well in a vertical situation… Live and learn. Might have a few volunteer taters in the front bed, haven’t turned the soil yet but there were a couple of plants early in the year (holdovers from last year. It’s just about impossible to get every single tater from the dirt).

You say tomato

The weather has taken a turn towards autumn and that’s had a marked impact on my garden. The tomatoes are beginning to ripen but are also getting some black spots which can spell disaster for the crop. I picked a pan of fat, juicy tomatoes last night, though some still have bits of green; tonight I’ll pick a few more. I want to get them in the house before the wet weather causes them all to rot on the vines. I can cut out the small blemishes as long as the majority are OK.

These are destined to become spaghetti sauce — I wanted to make some last year but had a total crop failure. This year is shaping up much better and I will definitely have enough for at least one batch. If the plants continue to produce, I’ll have enough to make salsa as well.

(a mix of tomatoes from my garden; the one in my hand is as big as a softball!)

More green than lavender

Our cold spring/summer was depressingly apparent at this year’s Lavender Festival in Sequim, WA, where the plants were still far more green than purple. Normally stripped bare by u-cutters gathering fragrant blooms by the armful, only the tops of the plants were in bloom when we toured the farms last Sunday. They should be solid hillocks of purple in about two weeks.

Jam time

Things are finally ripening around here, and yesterday we went to pick strawberries. Came home with six pounds, plus a flat of fresh raspberries and a pound of rainier cherries. I pulled out last year’s blackberries from the deep freezer, and after a quick run to the store for pectin and some supplemental fruit, made jam. A lot of jam.
Put up in the pantry are now nearly 60 jars: strawberry, raspberry, blackberry (with a touch of sage), boysenberry, cherry-apple, peach-pineapple, and strawberry-kiwi (with lime juice).

How does your garden grow?

(sugar snap peas in bloom)

(yellow zucchini in bloom)

(leaf lettuce)

The tomatoes are thinking about putting out blossoms, and I have a wee 2-leaf sprout from one of the cucumber seeds I plants (I put in three). The volunteer potatoes in the front garden are doing just fine, and the ones out back in the tater crib are doing VERY well – time to add the fourth row of boards and a bunch more dirt.

Tree envy

I was not born in the Pacific Northwest, but I’ve spent almost my entire life here and as such am very familiar with the flora and fauna that surrounds us. One of my favorite things about traveling is that I get to see new things. I avoided taking a million photos of palm trees and cacti, but I did snap these three trees while we were in California over the weekend.

I have no idea what this is, but there were a bunch planted along a street in San Luis Obispo. The bark is soft and slightly spongy, like a mushroom, and the trees seemed to be doing just fine despite flashing the world their inner bark:

Another street had these dramatic specimens. The contrast between the white bark and incredibly dense foliage was quite striking (though it was raining while we were there and some of the bark was water-darkened, you can still see how cool it is):

And who wouldn’t love fresh oranges growing right in the back yard??? We meandered through a residential section and saw several houses boasting their own orange trees, and a lime tree as well. I know, I know – we have apples and plums and pears, but I’d really like an orange tree.