DEPARTURE DAY

I'm all packed because the last day of my NY visit is here.  Bittersweet.

All the big projects are packed away so we are making a little one--this is called Beans the Cat which is a little stuffie.  I don't leave until late tonight so it will be interesting how I do 

and for Bill, too, who has to pick me up at an hour

 when we are usually sound asleep!  

 

SUNDAY

 A fancy Rose of Sharon bloom;  from my sister's front yard.

Knitting, visiting and savoring going on for my last days here.

Church online today.

STILL WARM INSIDE AND OUT

This one is Mom's Cozy Days Lapghan in all different bright colors.  Her blanket will reflect all of the colorful flowers in her yard

 and mine is the dirt! Ha!

There are lots of flowers to enjoy while we have outdoor chores--black-eyed Susans,

my Dad's roses, which smell delicious with their old time aromas!

And the moonflower is a long ago gift flower still going strong after many, well, moons! lol

Here is my Cozy Days--it is 38" wide and will be 50" long when I begin the decrease to square it off.  That's Dad's cane poking nearby--he said he thought it was pretty which was nice of him to say since his macular degeneration has robbed him 

of most of his sight but he could see the contrast 

of the blanket on the floor when it was right in front of him! 

 

JUST BEING

I do not see Queen Anne's Lace in FL so it is fun to spot them here!  Unfortunately, the ragweed is right in the same clump of weeds way out back--that Fall weed does not like me!  We also found a patch of blackberries but it is the tail-end of them and since it is also a drought status here, the few I found were small.  Still, it was fun to eat a few!

                                            

I thought I would mention that I am using a #10 needle to make the blanket pattern I shared yesterday, and not the #5 they recommend. I am starting to decrease on one side (the left bottom of the pic) to begin the rectangle shape!

 Mom is knitting using #9's.  I will share a pic of her's tomorrow!

TEAM WORK

 I have always loved yard work and when we had a few hours of breathable air, we did just that!   It didn't take long to trim and pick up and take the debris to the compost pile because even my Dad (93) and Mom (90) participated!  I thought I was going to get some cooler weather with fresh air and temps in the 60's 

but not this visit!  

I always joke, I don't come here for the weather, but to be with them!  And it's a good thing!

WOOD ON WEDNESDAY----FULL CIRCLE!

My niece had given me several pieces of Birch from her yard when I was in NY back in April but since they were a bit too heavy and numerous to put in my suitcase for my flight home, my brother brought them to me after his visit to NY since he drives!  So anyway, I finally got the wood and put it right on the lathe to make something for my niece to say thank you for the wood!  

I made a vase that is emerging from the log;  I was able to save the bark and put on a finish to preserve it.  This vase stands about 11" tall.

The other side stands a bit off-center which is just what I tried to make happen and this time, I was successful!  I can't wait to give it to my niece!  She is a DIY kinda gal like me

 and loves all things wood, too.

It's fun to think the wood has traveled the whole east coast and it is now back to its 'birth' place!

It was so nice to spot a butterfly that I see 1100 miles south of here, too!  The Eastern Tiger Swallowtail spent many long minutes among the lovely smelling phlox!

These are the 8' tall Heliopsis my Dad planted so many years ago and the patch that I took my root from to plant in my yard!  

The rain storm over the weekend knocked down some of the outer stalks so I snapped of

 the ends to bring inside for a bouquet to enjoy!  

While it was nice to be able to walk outside and sit on the patio for a while, it was also nice to come back inside to A/C and crochet/knit in comfort!

 

UP, UP AND AWAY!

After a delay due to T-storms in FL, we were finally airborne and I enjoyed a few hours of knitting in the clouds! 

 Let the NY family time begin!

 

SPRING?!

The fancy daffodils were a bit bent over with the weight of the snow and it snowed all day yesterday but the sun and a bit of blue sky peeked through just before the close of the day.  

It was cheerful inside where we sat and talked and let our fingers enjoy some yarn time as we warmed in each other's company!

 

HOME TOWN SIGHTS

A bit of history where my parents' live on the Oswego River 

by Lock #1.  They have spiffed things up a ton 

since I was a teenager here.  Nice to see.

These gates are raised and lowered depending on the complicated water levels both up and down the river.

The birds gather here for the plentiful fish for both man and fowl.

There were many clumps of wild grapes which looked so pretty near the water's edge.

I am heading home today.  Enough said about goodbyes.

 

THE REST OF THE STORY

I used reverse crochet to make an edging for the afghan after adding two more rows.  It now measures 42" x 48" of scrap yarn.  

And we even sorted through 4 large totes of yarn to keep only the truly useful skeins and have the new closet shelves organized!  

I'm glad I used quite a bit of yarn, too!

Recently CityMouseQuilter posted her lemon shortbread cookies 

and she was kind enough to share her recipe with me. 

 I didn't roll out my cookie dough but rather made small balls of dough to bake them. Let me tell you that of the 20 cookies that were made, only one is left!  They were that good!!!  

Thank you for sharing the recipe and sharing the lemony goodness!

 

CONTENTMENT

There are several very old maples in my parents' yard--

isn't it cool to lean on the huge trunk with me?!

Dad still likes to do small tasks- Macular Degeneration has made so many things impossible but he still finds contentment in the little things.  My heart swells with love.

I am so enjoying the blanket making; 

 I am making a dent in the pile I picked out for this scrap-buster.

In the evening, I knit a few rows on the sock 

I almost finished on the flight here.  I will finish this one but not start the second sock until I am on my way home!

 

A BEAUTIFUL DAY

This is the whole Hydrangea bush!  It is lush with blooms.

All of the Rose of Sharon are in bloom, too!  You can see here that they are related to the Hibiscus flowers.

The yard has several pinks and purples and also some white!

The crab apple tree is bursting with the little apples!

 

TUNISIAN CROCHET ENTRELAC PROJECT

Mom likes a good scrap yarn project so we are making lap robes in this 'new-to-us' entrelac stitching in Tunisian crochet.  It was not too long before we figured it out and we are having fun picking out colors!  Mine is on the top, Mom's on the bottom in pink and golden yellow--she has more done since I took the pic.  She always complains I go too fast--cuz I do!  My sister and brother in law came up for a visit last night and I kept working but Mom had to stop so she could join in the conversation and laughter!

During the day and in between rain bouts, we picked up some branches.  We stopped to admire my parents' huge hydrangea bush (tree) and it is so heavy with blooms some of the branches are hanging way down under their weight!  This bloom is about 12" long

while there are lots more of these smaller ones that are only 5" in size.  They smell so good!

 

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!

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!