Garden Search

 I gave myself the mission to find the rainbow in my yard!  I started with the red geraniums.

There are lots of these orange aloe blossoms.

 Yellow almost stymied me but at the last minute I noticed this in the front garden!  I have no idea what it is!  Anyone recognize it?

 The frost the other day killed all the Mexican petunias for my blue category but I did find this blue spiderwort!

The ornamental Kale will fill my green and then purple finds!  Forgive me for getting it out of order!

Black Wensleydale

This month's fiber from the Fiber Binder Club is Black Wensleydale.  The locks are long like dread-locks but soft and they hand carded very easily.

 I spun a two ply, fingering weight yarn using the fastest whorl on my Ashford Traveler wheel.  (11:1)

 Here is my little skein measuring out to 29 yards .

 I knit up my sample swatch and attached it to it's info page.

 I was surprised at how soft this fiber turned out.  I was sure it would be coarser when I saw the locks but it is a nice yarn for mittens or socks in my opinion!

A Different View

 It was just becoming dark when I took this picture; the sky was a brilliant blue all day without a single cloud and it is still evidenced even with the full moon!

 The Bottle Brush Tree is blooming-isn't this just an amazing flower?

 The Fringe Tree looks like it is glowing in the dark-the air around the tree is so sweet from the fragrance of all the blooms.  This is one of the trees that blooms first and then gets its leaves.

 See how they look up close; these are about 6" across .

 The driveway Azaleas are all abloom.

 Isn't the color here inspiring-a quilt, a dress, dyeing some yarn .......

This is the last Camellia the bushes have been in bloom for 5 months!

Growing!

 Two babies in one day!!!!  We met them for lunch and a visit so Mom and Dad could see everyone again before they head to NY this week.

The sock is ripped out, the chart is amended and I am on my way again with the flamingos!!
The fourth time is the charm!

Back to the Drawing Board...

 ...again and again.  I finished one sock and had a most dreadful experience-it barely fit over my heel.  Like 'not able to leave it like that ' barely.

 I ripped it back to the place where I was supposed to work the heel, added some waste yarn ( the solid pink line)

and continued with the patterned knitting.  I will go back and rip out that line of stitches and add an after-thought heel and see if that can alleviate some of the fit problem.  But I am experiencing that knitter's regret that nags at you as you knit that the sock is still going to be too tight and I need to go back to the toe and add some more stitches to the width of the sock.  I am setting aside this project for the rest of the day so I can go out to lunch and snuggle some grandbabies instead!

Day Trip

 Look at these colors!  It was a chilly day, though, to visit Bill's sister and husband in Vero Beach!

 The ocean was so tropical looking-even more than usual!

 We had a tour of their home, a fantastic lunch at Nino's Pizz and then a good clip along the boardwalk at the ocean.  Oh, yes, we did manage some ice cream after that l o n g  walk!

Pretty statues throughout the area just added to the beauty of Orchid Island.

Soft and Hard

 While the men continued to build roof trusses, Mom and I felted some Merino wool around our bar of Dove soap!  It wasn't as easy as we thought but it was fun.

I have another row of Flamingos on the socks.  It is a good knit on this rainy day!

Shifting Gears

I worked on hand carding this month's fiber; Black Wensleydale locks.  The Georgia family headed home today.  It always takes me a few days to transition back to my own domain after they leave.........

For my mental health, I clean like a maniac and then I curl up with a book for a while and then cast on a new pair of socks!  This is a new mitten pattern from KnitPicks that I am slightly altering to make a pair of socks instead!  I am a knitter; I can do things like that!

A Celebration of Years

 An early birthday celebration party at Grandpa and Grandma's train house!  Abigail is going to turn 9!

 Daunting, isn't it?!

 An American Girl gift certificate really brought out the smiles!

 The AG swim towel and bathing suit,

 and a bunch of craft kits under the watchful eye of the big brother!

 Even the retake has a bit of the devil in it.........see him prepare to bunny ear his sister!

 Mom shared her knitting this winter......her lace afghan is coming along beautifully!

 She also finished her wall hanging and Dad hung it for her!

This is a little scene she built for the coffee table.  (she doesn't have any cats or this wouldn't last long!)  We ended the night with a rousing game of cards in which I won.  Just for the record.

Lending a Hand

The 'men' worked on the shed this morning.  David was thrilled to be working with his Grandpas.  (Getting to use a power tool sure helped, too, but he is a very good worker!)

Abigail helped with Ella; they had play time, talking time and just plain building the cousin-link time.

David enjoyed the Zero-turn mower and would have loved to fit it in their van to take home so he could mow all their lawn!

Mom finished the Easter sweater for Will.  Isn't it classy?!

Abigail likes the quieter pursuits......she is eating a cooked potato while sharing Nyki time.

Ella and my Dad were having a good conversation and shared a handshake........

Goodbye for now, sweet Ella.  I loved having you visit; you are such a sweet-natured baby!

Grandma Smiles

 The little sweater for Ella is finished just in time........

 ...because she is here for her first over-nighter  at Grandma's house!  Caleb and Cassandra are celebrating their first wedding anniversary already!

 Grandpa shared his new mower with Ella, too.

 But she wasn't as impressed as David!

See what I mean?!

Ella likes girl talk instead!  What a blessing this day has been!