grainy photos = strain and drain on brain

I bought a new camera!  I had to order a special memory card that won't be here for a day or two, though, so...I had to rely on my terrible, terrible cell phone for photos (seriously, why is it so bad?).  

A week in grainy photos:

Sunflowers are finally huge!  Do you see Todd in there?

He's getting ready to pick tomatoes.  The tomato/2nd sunflower patch is pretty big, and it's bursting.  Finally.  I've got to crack the formula for starting seeds indoors early enough to have tomatoes all summer long!

Apples are getting close to being picked...within a month, anyway.  It's been so cool that it's hard to believe that it's early August!

The annual garden is popping.

Another view that my normal camera lens isn't wide-angle enough to get:

Still some color in the perennial garden too...

...and still some pesky critters around.

oleander aphids

The weather has been nice enough to set up our croquet set...

we have to take it down every other week for lawn mowing!

...but we're still inside playing new games, like Patchwork.  Patchwork is one of the great discoveries of the summer.  It sounds incredibly simplistic (use buttons to buy fabric pieces and make individual quilts Tetris-style, whoever has the most buttons at the end wins!), but it's layered (get it?  quilt?  layered?) in strategy.  It's for just 2 people and it takes around 20 minutes to play a game.  Perfect.

Speaking of "patchwork," I also did a bit of patchwork sewing for the first time in months.  I'd picked up a "cat cave" at a thrift store for $6.  Looked new, but I washed it several times.  It did not fare well in the wash.

I hate wasting money...even $6.  So I took some spare fabric, put on an episode of Law & Order, and whip-stitched around the edges to cover the foam.

It was so cute that if they had loved the cave, I would've patchworked the entire thing!  They showed an initial interest...

...but then got bored and ignored it.  Sigh.  They're spending some time sleeping in these late summer days...

...but they're mostly still rambunctious and getting into trouble...climbing things they shouldn't, scratching things they shouldn't, and chasing things they shouldn't (Calliope).  I'm hoping that they'll be more relaxed soon...right??

Have a great week!  

reptile style

 Even though it's been bitterly cold, we've still enjoyed a little bit of outside beauty.

Unusual for this time of year, deer have been flocking to our front yard in droves.  

I noticed that several of them had what I thought were bloody spots on their hind legs.

When I started doing some research, though, I discovered that this was the tarsal gland, present on both bucks and does.  They urinate on this gland and then rub it so that the gland absorbs certain components of the urine.  The gland then emits a powerful scent, telling others about the dominance of the males and the mating readiness of the females.  Pretty interesting stuff!

St. Patrick's Day was on the 17th, and I made my usual roll-and-cut rainbow cookies.

They're kind of a pain to make, because you have to separate and color the vanilla dough before combining it in a "rainbow log," then encasing that log in chocolate dough.  The proportions were a little off this year, making them look more like peacock feather eyes...

...but they still felt festive and tasted great!

I've been working on a few other projects.  I planted lots of sweet pea seeds in yogurt containers and left them in the attic to sprout.  We've got liftoff! 

The sprouts are pale when they first emerge, but I expect them to green up after a few days under the lights.  Then they'll go out in the garden...in maybe 2-3 weeks?  Ditto these anemone and ranunculus, which I've been pre-sprouting in the attic for the past few weeks.  I thought they might be goners, but they sent up anemic fingers this weekend.  Bingo!

I finished the front panel on my Shadow sweater.  I'm measuring it against a sweater that fits in the way that I want Shadow to fit, and I think it's a pretty good match so far, especially considering that Shadow will grow a bit when I block it.

Phew, that's a lot of cables!  Now I will make an identical panel for the front.  It's coming along nicely!

I saw a really interesting woodcut of a snake last week.  I'm not a huge snake fan, but I love seeing them depicted in relief printings, like woodcuts and linocuts.  After all, I grew up with a pretty famous one:

I've found some beautiful ones online, although the internet being what it is, it's not always easy to find the original artist:

Tyler Krasowski

artist unknown

artist unknown

artist unknown

I think they're really beautiful, and I decided to try stitching one.  I chose a chain stitch for the scales, to give them a bit more detail, and a simple stem stitch for the outline.  I went with a monochromatic color scheme.

I need more practice with "fill stitches," so I'm especially pleased with how the tail and head turned out.  It's not my favorite, but it was an enjoyable-enough small project.

Another small project...I was so pleased with how my Darth Vader Scrabble bag turned out...

...that I practiced another lined bag this week, too.  Not as scary as I'd expected...practice makes perfect!

Looks like we have a cool, wet week coming up...more time for indoor projects, I guess.

Have a great week!  

an Alien concept...

 Christmas!

It's been a busy season.  It was a rush, but I did get a couple of Christmas gifts made.  First, this hat/glove set (Beeswax)...a real delight to knit, even if knitting anything with cables automatically doubles the knitting time.

The second was a fun project for Todd.  Our plastic Scrabble tile bag is in shreds, so I decided to make a new one with fun fabric.  This bag was a real challenge for me, since I have a terrible time following written directions and there were several new techniques involved...but...I love the finished product.

The bottom has pleats (!!!) so that it will sit nicely.

It's lined, and has drawstrings at the top to keep the tiles contained.  I love this bag.

A lot of usual Christmas traditions here.  A different-flavored Christmas cookie each night in the week leading up to Christmas, all flavored from a basic sugar cookie dough:

A week of Elf on the Shelf, culminating in one of my favorites...an Alien-themed scene.  Todd and I are huge fans of the (first two) movies, and it didn't take long to stitch the basic Facehugger shape out of felt a couple of days before Christmas Eve.  Our "household Elf" is fairly sinister, so this is a fitting ending for his week!  :)

We watched loads of Christmas movies, spent Christmas day in pajamas, and had some delicious homemade sweet bread.

What we Midwesterners call Mexican Wedding Cakes, but Todd calls Russian Tea Cakes...

A slightly stuffed...but happy!...day!

The kittens loved the huge piles of wrapping paper, although we were infringing on their territory a bit.  They've claimed the floor space by the window, both cramming into a small dog bed there.  It's so sweet, though, that we don't mind a bit.  Kitten love!!

There's quite a lot to see, and always nice to have a snuggle buddy!  It's become the popular hangout spot in the house.  Even Borga wants in on the action!

Just one more day of leisure before we get back to the daily grind.  Temperatures have been cold here, although we missed the big snowfall that other places received.  Still, it was harsh enough outside to keep us inside!

Looking forward to a final vacation day today...tidying up the Christmas mess, eating leftovers, and curling up in front of the fire with a good book.

Hope you had a great holiday season!

lis-i-and-thus, the planting season begins

 Nearly every morning, I can look outside in the morning and see our resident rabbit, having a nibble on the front bushes.

Now I can feel less guilty about the pounds and pounds of apples that I picked in early winter, but didn't process, because I thought that our cold garage would keep them fresh.  Excellent rabbit food!

We're having odd weather...bitter freezes and dustings of snow, and then the temperature shoots up into the 50s or even 60s.  Ice forms and cracks in lovely patterns.

Our muskrats reappear on warm days, continually building up their little house, which tends to slump after a thaw.

We are cautiously optimistic that they'll keep our cattails at a manageable level this year!  

Unlike 2021, when I was out in our freezing addition, working on seeding as early as late January, I have only planted one variety this year.  Inside.  In one container.

 

It's Lisianthus, the annoying flower that needs about SIX MONTHS to bloom.  I was rewarded with tiny sprouts after a couple of weeks...

...and they're coming along nicely.  I'm taking a MUCH more measured approach this year.  No house full of demanding seedlings that have differing light, heat, and water needs.  No more running outside with sheets and towels to cover plants because of a sudden, dramatic frost in March.  NOTHING is going in the ground before mid-April (a full month later than 2021), and I'm staggering the planting.  Instead of seeding, for example, 500 snapdragons, which sprout crazily, fall over because it's too much for me to support, and then all die off at the same time...I will plant 150.  Three weeks later, another 150.  Etc., etc.  Succession planting will save my sanity this year, I hope!  

Valentine's Day has come and gone...

...and while I'm still knitting regularly, I'm dipping into some other crafts.  I had the exciting idea to make felt stuffed animals, and vintage-style clothing for them.  But when I got a pattern, I couldn't make heads nor tails of it...literally.

The clothes that looked so darling online...

photo courtesy of little_mochi on Flickr

...turned out to be fiddly and confusing in reality, even in the simplest forms. I tried to make a basic halter dress for an 11" figure.  It was a very simple pattern with just two pieces...

...but the seam allowances were so small and somehow my clumsy fingers couldn't line anything up correctly.

Yikes.

Now, I made myself a skirt in South Carolina...

...but it was with the assistance of a step-by-step online class.  I think I need more training before I tackle these things, so I'll be keeping an eye out at some local sewing shops and checking out online resources.  I know that I can get better with a bit of guidance!

Since physical therapy has really been helping my elbow, I decided to try cutting some fabric for quilting.  I love postage stamp quilts, so named for their tiny piecing.

photo courtesy of Red Pepper Quilts

I have a terrible habit of saving special things for the "right" project, and then never using them, so I forced myself to cut up my beloved Tilda fabric.  It's a UK brand, whimsical with lovely subdued coloring. 

I'm cutting 15 fat quarters (five for each color family) into 1 3/4" strips, with alternative strips of Kona Cotton Snow.  Once a few lines are assembled, I'll cross-cut them into tiny squares.  Each group of squares will make up a block of 16, and then those blocks will be sewn together to make a quilt like the example shown above.  I cut up two fat quarters in this fashion, but I could feel the strain in my elbow, so had to stop.  I'm planning to cut one per day.  There's no hurry.  Then I can assemble and begin to sew again!

Incidentally, today is National Love Your Pet Day.  We've got a pretty chaotic group here!

First, we have Borga, who in her senility runs laps around the house, has to go outside 15 times per day, and whose flatulence is so choking that we have to keep matchbooks in the living room so that we can attempt to cover the smell.  "Borga!!"

Then we have Calliope, who sleeps sweetly sometimes...

...but rules the house with an iron paw, chasing Tabitha whenever she sees her.  We still have our complicated system of baby gates and schedules, but sometimes there's an overlap, so we have to be ready.  Tabitha, mistress of the Upstairs Territory, naps all day on her heated pad, and only wakes when her lowly servant arrives to tempt her palate.

So our pets are keeping us on our toes lately!  We're hoping that (somehow) Calliope will learn to accept Tabitha, especially when warm weather comes, and the open windows will draw Tabitha downstairs.  Meanwhile, we're getting really good at stepping over baby gates.

Have a great week!