green-eyed lady

Last week, we took some time out to go to a hot air balloon festival in town.

The balloons were nice...

But I loved the pyrotechnic skydivers at the end.  Three of them jumped from their plane, shooting hand-held fireworks as they fell.  They wore glowing red suits to add to the drama.

We had a great time! 

Back at home, we've seen the usual wildlife around...ahem.

The only new face (which happens to contain a pair of startlingly green eyes!) has been this praying mantis, who hung out on the front porch for a few days before I had to mercy-kill her (?) after she'd gotten into a scrape with something that broke her "back" and side set of wings.

The deer have been taking full advantage of the apples that are falling from our drought-stressed tree.

I wasn't sure if the apples were still good because they look a bit odd, sort of misshapen and discolored, but a visiting friend assured me that they were fine.  I peeled one and was surprised to find firm, healthy flesh beneath the peel.  Part of the discoloration is from a fungus.  See these pretty black dots, and the less-attractive splotches?

They are the distastefully-named flyspeck and sooty blotch - fungal diseases.  The fungus lives on the surface of the peel and does not penetrate, so the apples are perfectly fine to eat.  I was surprised at how crisp and tart they tasted, and I couldn't help making a sinfully rich roasted apple blondie this weekend.  I can't wait to make a pie, but I insist on waiting until the temperature drops into at least the 70s.  It just doesn't feel right to make apple pie when the temperature is pushing 90!

Speaking of black dots, I've been on the hunt for a new set of dishes.  I'd found an Australian potter who made speckled dishes that reminded me of bird eggs and vanilla bean ice cream.  The dish edges were a bit wide for my taste, but I love the speckles.  But cost?  $30 per dish.  Considering that we wanted a place setting for 8, that would add up pretty quickly, to the tune of well over $1000, including shipping.

I found an acceptable knock-off online.  Same speckles, delightfully uneven plate and bowl edges, and a much happier price tag of around $200.

The speckles are more subdued, but I'm pretty happy with the set nonetheless!

I picked up my knitting needles again recently.  It seems like I've knitted a thousand pairs of gloves, but when it came time to unpack my hand knits, there were just a couple of ill-fitting pairs.  I'd lost one of my very favorite gloves, so decided to knit a new pair.

I started with a nice tweedy green.

However, after an hour of knitting, my hands ached.  I have tiny hands and have to knit socks and gloves on size 0 needles, which are basically the width of toothpicks.  Knitting with such tiny needles necessitates a very forgiving yarn, and I've discovered that cotton and tweed do not fall into that category.  The yarn has to contain nylon, which makes it more spring-y and easier to handle.  I ended up frogging this cuff and re-knitting in a wool-nylon blend.

Huge difference!  Regrettably, I bought a TON of nylon-free 100% wool fingering weight yarn skeins over the years when Knitpicks had sales.  Those skeins are still fine for hats or other small projects, needles size 1 and 2, but definitely hands-off for gloves...no pun intended!

I'm in the process of buying a new sewing machine, so hopefully I'll be able to start quilting again soon.  I'm excited to unpack the rest of my craft stuff in the next 2 - 3 weeks so I can really get creative again. 

Have a great week!