Early Summer Garden

Watermelons Lima Beans
the first of the Mr Stripey heirloom tomatos
white patty pan summer squash
cucumber flower

a view from the road

life goes on...

and the garden grows. I'm insanely proud of these cucumbers. We've been eating lettuce, chard and herbs for over a month, but these cukes feel like the first 'real' food. I was also overjoyed to see the zucchinis are coming along brilliantly. I know, I know, in another month or two I won't be able to give them away, but for now I'm just thrilled that everything is growing.
This is a picture of the Lima Bean plants. Can't wait to taste fresh Limas. I've been surprised to find many other lima lovers out there, and to a person, none of us has ever had fresh lima beans, only frozen or, God forbid, canned.
I'm already dreaming about next year and planning how much more of the back yard I can take over. Now if I could just find time to fit in some knitting and spinning!

Princess Abigail

I'll never forget you, sweet girl. Your paw prints are tatoo'd onto my heart. I will love you and miss you for the rest of my life, and I'll always be greatful for the few short years that we had together. With your kindhearted trusting soul, you taught me to trust myself and with your unconditional love and dedication, you taught me to love myself. I'm a better person because of you.


....now if someone could just explain to me how I live the rest of my life without hearing her 'tail thump' on the floor upon waking every morning. Without the opportunity to laugh hysterically as she 'bites' at the other cars on the road (this is a dog that wouldn't intentionally harm anything that wasn't threating her, but put her in the back seat of a car and those other cars better watch out! You had to see it-hysterical! my description cannot do it justice.) Without tripping over constantly her because she insited on sitting directly in front of whichever chair I chose. I have 2 other canine companions- the boys- and I am continually grateful for their company. But I've lost an irreplacable freind. I tell myself that she deserves for me to mourn for her- this painful grief is a small price to pay for the wonderful 9 years she gave me. And that is true. But it sucks.

no time to knit...

Yep. The neighbors thought we had finally gone completely round the bend, rather than just skating the edge like we usually do. 13 cubic yards of dirt... delivered to the front yard.










We needed it! We really did. Both the front and back yards were horribly pitted and bumpy. Both needed to be 'filled in' in spots.














Some 'spots' being rather larger than others!














And I needed enough dirt to fill in a raised garden bed. I'm very excited about my first garden here at the house. I only planted what I thought LD and I would really enjoy eating, I can't even tell you how excited we are about trying fresh lima beans. I've loved limas my whole life but I don't think I've ever tasted a fresh one. We also have zucchini, cucumbers, Brandywine and Mr Stripey heirloom tomatoes, watermelon, brussell sprouts, white scallop squash, radishes, mixed lettuces, swiss chard and various herbs. Fairly safe and slightly predictable, but this is our first year. I honesly thought about putting in a row of flax, try my hand at growing, processing and spinning up my own linen yarn. Thank goodness I came to my senses on that one- I barely have time to pick up my knitting needles these days. Maybe next year!

Pre planting:


















All planted in, watered, mulched and ready to grow!

no you didn't-

Oh, but I did. I knit LD a pair of motorcycle gloves! And he likes them. I kind of like them too. I tweaked the "Knucks" pattern from Knitty.com just a tiny bit. I added a few vertical rows of purl stitches on the hand part, kinda looks like stitched seams.

Knitting motorcycle wear......makes me giggle every time I think about it!

I've also been spinning away on my Minstrel spinning wheel. I'm so happy with the double drive, I find I have much more control over the amount of twist and speed of uptake- I can actually get the size/type of yarn I want rather than going with what the wheel wants to do. A Kiwi is a wonderful first wheel, but you really can outgrow it's capabilities.

I have no idea what the yardage is, but I love the color, and it is Rambouilette wool, very soft and fluffy. No idea what it will become, but I'm sure it will be lovely.

I've been knitting also! Still working on a "corset tee" by Annie Modisett, I'm about 2/3 done with the miles and miles of k2p2 that makes up the body. I'm going to try to add sleeves of my own design, and I think with sleeve I might actually wear this sweater in public. The yarn is a cotton/silk blend, loverly stuff. Between k2p2's, I made this cotton "Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Sweater" from Mason-Dixon Knitting by Gardiner & Shayne and superwash wool baby socks for a new baby on the way for a lovely woman at work. She has a 2 year old daughter, equally lovely, and I made Miss E a pair of socks as well. I'm planning on making myself a pair of argyle socks using the same yarn/colors. Love the pink and green!

And finally, I've been drop spindling some handcombed Rambouilette/Alpaca blend, having scoured the wool and washed the Alpaca myself. I love the idea of doing the whole process from raw fiber to finished item- just really love the idea of it.......but the reality is that it just takes too durn long! I have nothing but awe and admiration for the hundred of generations of folk who had no choice but to shear, wash, card or comb and spin their fibers. I'm just not planning on losing my link to KnitPicks.com any time soon. Too many projects, too little time!

and sometimes, I knit...

hand spun, hand dyed corriedale. Motified version of Gentleman's Sock in Railway Stitch from 'Knitting Vintage Socks' by Nancy Bush. LD is particulary fond of these socks, to the point of showing them off to friends. seriously!