In Living Color

Inside and out, there are blooms galore.

I love to see color no matter where I look! 

This is a true daylily because it blooms for only ONE day and then it's gone.  You have to look a lot that one day! 

This is a tiger lily;  it blooms for days and then as it dies, another one will be ready!  I have a ton of blooms on several plants....so visually pleasing! 

This is my neighbor, Millie's lifesaver cactus.  I have several plants from her but mine aren't blooming right now, I have to visit hers!  

She gave me a baby from this plant-we don't know the name but it is some succulent and I look forward to seeing mine bloom next year! 

My Cereus is getting ready to do its thing....soon!  I am checking it every night so I don't miss it! 

And I am still watching this guy every day.  This is him at warp speed.  Always.  At least in the pool he is contained!   

I love to look at the stars, and every time I am emailed to see a space station sighting, I run outside and find it!  You have to look dead center for the little light, it is just one of those things I love.

May's Monday Mural #5

For our final mural for the month, we will celebrate Memorial Day with a flag.  One that inspires and stirs those of us who live in this fine United States of America.  A wonderful heritage of godly beginnings and hopefully a return to her finer attributes of honesty, hard work and neighborliness.

Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a disgrace to any people.  Proverb 14:34

Family Support

The fourth flower dishcloth comes off the needles, I need to go back and repeat the colors so I can start to give some away! 

The Cereus has doubled in size and diameter!  I will be home to see it this time! 

The Desert Rose is in full bloom giving a cheery welcome to all who come... 

Like grandchildren 5 and 6!  

Pool Time

I have another dishcloth done!  Not a lot of time for any other hand work but it is wonderful to have Will and Matthew here. 

Yes, we are spending a lot of time in the pool!

Blooms

The next starflower dishcloth off the needles!  I cast on the next one already in brown and coral.

It works for a bit of a project now! 

Bill and Will picked me this magnolia blossom!  My tree is 70' tall so it is hard to find a blossom within reach! 

It opened overnight into this full bloom that fills the whole room(s) with its aroma! 

Very heady stuff! 

This tree is in bloom, too, and it smells daintily delicious, too, but I don't know its name!

Will likes to bring me flowers and has finally learned not to pick flowers in my front garden to share with me-we now go and look at those together! 

Pool time with Dad is pretty spectacular-Grandma's role is to be the audience when Dad is there! 

I am excited to report two new buds on the Cereus plant!!!!

In a few weeks, I will have a fairy-worthy bloom to share with you! 

I have two leaves that are sprouting the large and small blooms, eventually the smaller ones will dry up and fall off so the leaf will only support one bloom.  Since the flower is 10" long, it is smart that it sheds one bloom and only grows the one magnificent one!  

We Interrupt this Life....

Will is in the house! 

He needed a place of refuge.

We found a swallowtail butterfly. 

He's prettier on the under side!  He has died so we could really check him out on our walk.

Will likes golf cart rides, tractor rides and walks. 

I'm just one step ahead of him!  But he fell asleep while I was making dinner tonight!

This is hard work.

Monday Mural #4

Cattle....still one of the largest agricultural enterprises in this county.

We have more cattle than orange groves here.

A good knit with lots of possibilities with color variations.

I wanted the sunflower first but I see several more of these dishcloths in my near future!

Good Results all Around

I'm much happier with the results of this garter stitch hat for a baby!  The depth is better with this one, I think.  I will know for sure when I try it on my grandson! 

I did a little sewing today, long enough to put together the book panel I bought at the quilt shop a month ago. 

It went together pretty easily, I interfaced each 'page' and then sewed the units together and then layered them and sewed through the center twice to make a nice binding. 

I did get my page order a bit confused at first, it took me a bit of time to get the layout right!  

I will be sending this along to Mila for her first birthday.   She is still in the 'put everything in your mouth' stage!  This will be a good wash and dry book for her!

                                                  

Our son, Matthew, had a last minute cancellation in his work foursome for a golf tournament.  He called and invited Bill to come and fill the position and hurry-the game started in an hour!  Not only did he make it in time (a thunderstorm delayed it long enough for him to arrive!)  he played well and his foot held up for the whole game-his first since surgery in March!  And they won!  I am so grateful Bill and the boys...I mean our grown sons, enjoy each other's company! 

I spent most of the day in the recliner....I reorganized my knitting bag and put all the needles, etc in the new tote and then I had to knit a pair of socks to cleans the palate!  This pair will be for Abigail so she will have a pair to match her mom's.

I love to knit and socks are the best!

More Surprises!

I finished the hat for this little surprise sweater for Ethan.

It looks like a jester hat! 

I'm thinking it might be too big. 

I tried it on my model.  This doll is close to a two month old and he is now almost 5 months old so maybe it's not too big! 

I wanted the hat to be in garter like the sweater but I've never made one before.

I knit fitted hats-you know, rib and stockinette stitche. 

This one is cute.  I will have to wait and try it on him to see what I have! 

In the yard, the yucca (Spanish Sword) has bloomed! 

It is an amazing jumble of blooms! 

The finishing touches went on the sixth BSJ I've made these last few months.  It is a smaller size and so soft!  When I get the bugs worked out of a hat to match, I will be making one for each of the sweaters, too. 

This is the beginning of hat designed in garter stitch.  I knit a band of garter over 10 stitches and grafted the ends and picked up the 70 stitches along one edge to knit the crown of the hat.  I will see if I like the fit of this one better!

A Little Renovation Required!

I was gifted this little crafter's tote from my cousin.  She takes classes at her LQS and when she went for her ta-da moment, she realized she had sewn this upside down. 

I had to take the binding off each side...all four miles of binding with little stitches.

Then I sewed it all back together and guess what?!  I sewed it all wrong.  I almost quit.

But the other side was apart, too, so I stuck with it and I am so glad I did!

What's a few hours of my time.  I'm retired! 

The inside has room for gadgets and knitting needles, 

And see through areas so you can see what is where. 

The whole middle section can be removed so it can store a project for on the go!

  It will conveniently hold quite a large portion of my knitting supplies.

                         Now that it is right side up, I can see it going on my next trip or car ride!

Digging Through

There is something to be said for trying a little of everything through the years... 

Marsel brought me a bolt of this heavy woven fabric.  I knew it would make great rugs but I would need to bind it.  I dove into the old woolen rugs bin and I found the rug binding!  It worked very easily to bind it and get it in place!  I made two rugs and still have enough fabric to make some more cool things!

I added the extra borders to this little clamshell top so I could square it up.   Once I finished the top it wasn't square-each side was its own measurement!  Not good.   Too many bias sides, I figured.  The best way to hide the discrepancies is to extend the border and then when you square it up, the slight variation won't show!  Nice fix.   Now I am ready to add some color! 

I ran into a problem with this hexagon quilt...I ran out of the sage green triangle fabric!  I was so sure I had counted them out and had it down to the exact number.  I was wrong!  I am not sure what will happen now.  If I had realize I wasn't going to have enough, I would have blended the odd ones throughout the quilt, now they will all fall at the last row and a half.  Not good.  I will bench it until I can go to JoAnns Fabric to see what is available.