SWEET AROMAS

The Tree Crinum is flowering and the sweet aroma wafts for dozens of feet away!  It is lovely because it is right outside of the lanai and I can smell it while seated there.

The Plumeria is also in bloom and adds its delicious perfume to the whole pool area!  There are not too many flowers that smell delightful as well as look that way, too, in my yard!

 

CLEANING AND PLAYING

My daughter helped me rearrange the border so now I have an idea of what to do.  I will be putting the blue border on so that I can see how the actual dimensions work out!  

I finished up one towel and have begun the second one.  

Look what was on their car before they 

(daughter and family) left for home this morning! 

 A Katydid.

 

LOTS OF LOVE

We had a family gathering!!!  Three of my four children and their families came for a visit!  We ate, swam, laughed and caught up in person!  See my heart swell with contentment!  

(I am going to spin half of the fleece in natural and dye it after it is yarn and dye the other half after carding it since that will satisfy both wants/needs!!!  How diplomatic of me!)

WASHING WOOL

I've had a raw fleece that has needed my attention for a few years and I finally got to work on it!  I fill a large canning pan with hot water and some Dawn detergent and haul it out front in the sunshine to soak.  Since we are in a heat wave of high 90's for temperatures, I figured I might as well use it to my advantage since heat is what helps the fleece let go of the lanolin and dirt.

  I was pleased to see that after 5 or 6 pans full of water, 

the water ran clean when I rinsed it!

It didn't take long for the fleece to dry in that kind of heat either!  

This is the clean lock for this Cotswold wool.  

If you have any familiarity with Medieval times, 

 the wool of fame was this Cotswold breed.  

I was so excited to give it a try!

A few locks look like this with a bit of finger fluffing;  

it is a super soft wool;  an against-your-skin-soft wool!

I couldn't wait to card up a bit of a preview of the wool using my hand cards.  Today, I will haul the drum carder outside to give it a go and make some batts for spinning. 

 I am always torn because I want to get spinning but I also love to spin COLOR!!! But that means dyeing the wool. I will have to figure out if I want to add that step before I begin spinning! 

 We will see what I decide to do!

 

KNITTING

The first Helical striped sock is finished--the yarn is from Webs, their Valley Yarns Huntington in Arctic and Chocolate colors.  Perfection!

I also cast on a new sweater, this time a top-down t-shirt style one in this cotton yarn.  So far so good. (This is out of the yarn that I started a few months ago and bombed the sweater. 

 Both the yarn and the pattern are a hit with me this time!)

 

SEWN FOR SUNDAY

This pattern has been cut out and waiting for me for ages! 

I decided that I would finally get it completed! 

I will make it again using all the same fabric next time. 

 But this is very comfortable and very retro! 

Pattern

 

REACQUAINTED WITH MY STUDIO

I brought these blocks home leftover from a quilt Mom had made several years ago.  It will make a nice table topper for her. 

 I will be layering it and quilting it today along

 with a few other quick projects for the frame.

I also enjoyed some weaving since I have missed that quite a bit!  The color is off-it is actually a soft grey/aqua in the center

 but you will be seeing it again before I finish it! lol

I also thought it appropriate to work on the red/white/blue panel

 this weekend.  I like the first few sections but the next needs some work-it is too vague or pale compared to the other. 

 I will figure it out when I play around again today!  

TRAVEL HOME

Travel is hard but it's faster than going by car!!!  I didn't have too much drama traveling but there was a ton of turbulence! 

 I still managed to do a lot of knitting on the new sock!  

I am almost ready to begin the cuff in solid brown. 

 I really enjoyed using this Helical striping method!  

See you soon, Dad and Mom....

 

SAYING GOODBYE IS HARD TO DO...

We will miss each other so much but this has been a wonderful visit, even with the excitement of Dad's broken wrist.  I am so loved and laughter is our love language.  We both can look out at the moon and remember we are that close.

We will continue to send each other flower pictures.  Chives.

Iris in bloom. (It's also my Mom's name!)

We made four hats on the knitting machine.  

Mom donates them to her church for winter donations.

                                                    

And I almost finished the blanket lovey of a cat-he definitely needs eyes but it doesn't look as good as I hoped! lol

SOMETHING NEW!

Something new to me--no, not knitting socks 

but knitting Helical Stripes! 

I did have to watch YouTube several times but I did it and it is a really fun way to do the stripes without a job at the end (because there is no end!) and there is no carrying a color up of an inside thread.  I think this would work well with two colors of scrap yarn in the future, too.

 

Oh, and among projects Mom and I did, we also took a trip to the doctor's to x-ray Dad's wrist after a fall--yup, he broke the radius!  First time for a broken wrist and a cast-

nice to try something new at 91!

WE SPEAK YARN!

We've been making hats-Mom needed a refresher course to make them on her own.  

I've been making my usual dishcloths and was able to share several pairs with my Mom, sister and two nieces!

We are also making all of the parts for this lovely to hand out to the newest baby due any time!

 

PLAYING AROUND

We are working on this Dotz project.  It's fun to work together on it!

At my sister's house, next door, we had a wonderful grilled dinner and enjoyed watching the my niece and her children in the pool!

This was my perch for a while as they swam!

The way back up the hill to my parents' home.  The shadow of the 80' pine makes an interesting pattern on the ground!  

My parents are on the right, working their way up the hill!

 

A DAY OF REST

The irises are everywhere!  So beautiful!

The rocks I brought home from Lake Ontario; 

 mostly granite with jasper, quartz and basalt.

Being silly because we can be together!

Another pair of mitts just fell off the needles!

OSWEGO, NY

We drove 30 minutes north of my parents' home to Scriba, NY; 

and where my grandparents are born. This is my Dad's Mom.

And his Dad.

My Mom's parents.

And this is my parents' headstone that Dad tends each year--how many can say they have tended 

and planted flowers at their OWN gravestone!?!

It is tradition to go to Rudy's Fish Fry on the Lake (Ontaria) 

after the visit to the cemetery.  Me and my little Sis!

Sister, Dad, cousin, me, Mom, cousin.

(I grew up with these 4 brothers -1 left before pic time

 and the other couldn't make it)

He was waiting for us to drop a bit of our fish or fries!

The Lake was very calm but no smoke coming across from Canadian wildfires like we say during last year's visit.

This was the coolest driftwood stump! 

 It looked like a cat's paw!!!!

I couldn't resist a pose!

(and yes, I gathered a few rocks to bring home!)

 

SUNSHINE AND OUTDOORS!

Dad's flowers---Azalea

Quince

Quince bush.

Dogwood in the back and Hydrangea in the front.

Mom and I are working on this puzzle-

It doesn't fit on the table!  

Then we took a walk next door

 to my sister's to see her major project!

I wandered around to look at her pretty plants! 

 We call this hen and chicks.

Her Azalea.

And then the cement truck came!  

The work began to pour the pool patio!

I enjoy seeing the dandelions--

--in all of its stages;  we don't have them in our yard back home!

When we went back down after dinner, 

we could savor the finished work with her!  Beautiful!

Today, we are heading to Lake Ontario!