I'm Seeing Red!

 I might be seeing red, but not in anger!  Quite the contrary-I have enough left over yarn to make a matching headband.........

 because the Nordic mittens, Anne's Flower, are finished!  I blocked and dried them this morning!

 You would be seeing red if you took a walk in my yard now because it is full of flowers in bloom-all the red ones, which are our favorites!  This is one of a dozen of the canna lilies.

 Several of the hibiscus are in bloom.......

....even the buds are beautiful.

 The crepe myrtle are doing their thing.......

 even the Dogwood tree is putting out red berries!

 The magnolia tree pods are ripening and blushing prettily.

 The camphor leaves are dropping and turning red-this tree never loses all its leaves at once, they just fall and grow new ones all year round.

 The ginger pod is turning very red now-so pretty!

The bromeliads are in bloom, too.  I like to see this kind of red!

Irene Waves Goodbye

Hurricane Irene just grazed our shores and sent us bands of rain and wind for 10-20 minutes at a time all morning.  When the sun came out, Bill and I headed to the ocean to see the waves!

We walked all around the Matanza Inlet and looked for shells, didn't find too many that weren't broken but I did find some sea glass.

 We took a lunch break at the South Beach Grill, eating on their deck and watching the waves and surfers.

Back to Matanzas we watched some young people play in the waves.  We were going to mark the spot if they got in trouble!  The waves averaged 10-15'-the wind kept the top of the waves in constant motion.

The next band of rain was heading toward us so we packed it up.

Made it to the car just in time.  Sometimes the ocean has a calming affect on us but today it was exhilarating and powerful-another facet reflecting  our Lord God!

Knitting coming and going to the beach.........making good progress!

Tops and Bottoms

 Millie finished her tumbling blocks Dr Suess quilt top and I finished the quilting today-most of the fabrics are flannel and the back , too, so it will be a very comfy quilt!  (Yes, Nyki looks like she is inspecting the seams, doesn't she?!)

The raspberry socks are done-they look purple until I place them next to the other bfl socks I made and they the mulberry undertones are more pronounced.--The socks are so silky and cushiony-a very nice knit!

A Plant Show

We took a trip to Lake Mary to visit friends and Becki and I went to a plant show/sale sponsored by her gardening club.  I bought a few plants but Becki had a dozen plants she had started and gave them to me-my yard is full of the generosity of my gardening friends!  (Thanks Sandy, too!)

Becki had found this cone of cotton yarn and saved it for me-wow, weaving, here we come!  The guys replaced the pool light-very fun to come home and see Tom holding Bill under water so he could stay under long enough to fix the light since they have a salt water pool, too, you are very bouyant!  We had a good laugh!

I managed to do some knitting on the way and even home in the dark!  A great day.

St Augustine's Treasures

First stop was Woody'sBarBQ in St Augustine!  Bill had some coupons for the restaurant that expired today so we packed it up and took a drive!  Being retired does have its perks.

Next stop was to the yarn shop but when we arrived-the store was filled with something but not yarn!  I called the number on the business card I had gotten on the last visit and she gave me directions to her new location-about a mile away in her home (the Garmin helps)!  Her husband's health had deteriorated and he needed round the clock care-she is able to do this and run her retail business, too!  So, was very pleased to visit with her and pick up some yarn for a project you will see more of next week!

Last treasure of the day was the beach-the rain was threatening but the ocean was so calming to stand and watch!  The air was very warm and the breeze was perfectly warm and tropical-I would have loved to have a hammock in which to recline!  Bill and I still brace for cold air when a storm rolls in but it doesn't happen this way at all-the temperatures dip a bit but stay warm and moist-not chilling at all!  Have I mentioned how much I love living here!?!

There were about a dozen surfers catching the waves before the storm.  We had a nice relaxing stroll watching both the waves and the surfers!

When we looked behind us to head back to the car, the sky had darkened considerably with huge storm clouds!  The sea oats contrasted beautifully with the sky!

This is what I worked while driving to to St Augustine..........

And this on the way home-no chart reading required!  I can make a pair of socks almost without looking!

Socks Plus

 Started a sock for our knit along-this is the blue faced Leicester I spun recently.

Got the first one done and started right in on the second.

 Voila-a pair of socks!  I wanted the needles so I could make these----->

 Another pair of Norwegian styled mittens.

 I have this up on the design wall-I have been tweaking it each time I walk in my sewing room.  ( Some more of the men's suit samples cut 6" square and looking at the picture helps me to point out areas that need more attention!)

Bling came in for a visit; he is so soft and fluffy-I can feel my blood pressure go down just stroking his fur!

Life Goes by Very Quickly

I have had a busy few days-the away from the house busy!  I made this dress-up outfit for a birthday gift;
the t-shirt is store bought and the skirt is from a wedding dress that was given to me to have fun with and I have!  The dress is higher in the front so there will not be any tripping while being worn!

I accompanied a friend to Jacksonville on Friday and worked on my knitting on the way.  (Got to stop quick and give Caleb a hug-always a bonus!) When we got back to my house, we lingered long in the pool to unwind and cool off-it is summer hot here!   (These fingerless mitts were from the left over yarn from the mystery shawl in June-in fact, I have enough for another pair!  I used a lace pattern from a magazine but 'designed' the rest of the mitt myself.

Saturday, we went to a children's birthday party where the fun never stopped!  (Note to parents of young children:  if you know of an older couple who do not have local family members living nearby, invite them to join in your celebration--we miss most of our immediate families' birthdays so this was such a gift to be included as 'family' to this party!)

I watched a budding artist gather blooms to make this beautiful display-she has quite an eye, doesn't she?! (the egg was a dud-don't panic)

After a quick rain shower, a dozen hummingbirds came for a drink-they wouldn't hold still for a good photo but you get the idea-just beautiful!

Yesterday afternoon after church as Bill watched golf and I sat knitting, (the one on the right was using left over balls of cotton-I knit one row across and back, and then the other ball-alone there wasn't enough of either color but together they were just right!)  we had a fast paced thunder storm roll through-the rain was wonderful but the lightening was very close-

 In fact, our neighbors called to say how close-they lost several very large branches, this one took down the power line to their house!  The wind was pretty impressive, too!

 The only damage was to their power line, which was amazing considering the number of branches downed.

 Almost but not quite on their painting shed;

and almost but not quite on the lean-to roof!  Always exciting.

Go Fish!

I finished the goldfish mittens!  I have never knitted a Norwegian style mitten before but have been hearing its siren call and when I saw this pattern, I knew it was for me!

They are very warm-two strands gives it a double thickness so it is funny to knit them when it is 100F everyday-perhaps they will hold the heat of the day in their wool!

 I began spinning up my last skein of the Spin A Long I am participating in.

Blue faced Leicester is a wonderful fiber to spin-I am looking forward to a good knit from this skein;

 I have read that it is also a good fiber for socks so I am going to give that a try with a KAL starting on Monday.

Bill has been keeping busy rebuilding his zero turn mower.  The mower pan had been rebuilt and he has spent the last few days putting it all back together-his victory lap around the yard was short lived-he snapped his drive belt for the mower and they have to order it-not a stock part!

As long as I was out, I strolled around the yard and noticed the ginger plant has a cone!

 And speaking of cones, the magnolia tree is loaded with cones-seed pods actually.

They are just so striking but will be even more amazing when they begin to turn to orange-I will keep my eye on the tree so I can show you.