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.

Spontaneous Beach Visit

The morning brought a tv tech to our house-we have been without tv for over a week due to technical difficulties....('No, it is rarely the satellite dish on your roof that is the problem....") but the brains of our dish had been fried in these temperatures and needed to be replaced!  It was refreshing to have a technician who was smart, well mannered and personable!  After he left, the morning was shot so we packed up the beach goods and headed out!  Our first stop was for lunch at the South Beach Grill where we ate on the outside patio and saw beautiful waves and this guy fly over head!

 The waves were impressive and thoroughly enjoyed.  The inversion of the ocean water is still present-the water was very cold still for this time of year!  (I might be pool-spoiled, too!)

 We even saw our sky sailor again!

 Hopefully, the shrimp ship was successful.

 There were no clouds today, the breeze was straight from the ocean and was just perfect.

 We didn't drive onto the beach but walked from the parking area today, there were very few people on this end of the beach-just the way we like it!  (Near Matanzas River outlet)

 We found some nice shells-Bill gave one of the conch shells to the children next to us.

I played with a new pattern from WendyKnits ; and now I leave you sun kissed and fresh ocean breezes tired!

A Wool Experiment

 A fiber friend sent me some raw Cheviot fiber for my enjoyment!  Since I have never worked with this breed of sheep, I decided to do a bit of a report on it.

 I hand washed , rinsed and then spun it in my washer and laid it out in the sun to dry.  (Nyki kept guard over it!)

 It didn't take long to dry in the 100F sunshine!  I carded it on my drum carder into four one ounce batts.

 After a dip in the pool to cool off, I sat and did some spinning .

 I repeated these two steps until I had two bobbins of spun singles.

 I then plied the two bobbins into one strand of yarn.  This fiber spun very easily and I will purchase more for future projects!

 I unwound it from the bobbin onto the niddy noddy, counting each wrap so I know how much yardage I have-383 yards this skein.

 Voila!  A nice skein of yarn to  enjoy from that pile of wool!

 Taking a cue from my Fiber Binder Club, I printed off a fact sheet from the internet,

 and attached a bit of raw fleece, washed fleece and a sample of the yarn that resulted.  I will knit up a swatch, too, so that I will have a complete record for this  breed of sheep!
( Thank you, Nikki, for your generousity in sharing the raw wool!)

Rain-Really Rain!

 We were taking a nice swim in the late afternoon when it began to sprinkle...and then we got a real downfall; unlike any rain we have had in years!  4" of rain fell in just over an hour!  It was wonderful to see standing water in the yard!

 The driveway looked like a river!

 But it didn't take long for it to dissipate-it is thirsty sand under that grass!

 The pool filled up-almost overflowed, in fact!  Bill had released some earlier in the day and we were relieved he had!

The cats did what cats do best when you can't be outside....

 We didn't lose electrical power so I went back to work at the quilting frame.  This is a QuiltforKids from Millie.

 Very cute !  One of their new patterns in a kit.

 I used a bee panto but upon closer inspection, I think they are supposed to be lightening bugs but this works!

 I also made another journal cover.

All ready to be gifted to a budding journalist!

After dinner, since it was still raining, although much lighter , I did some spinning.  This is 3oz of bfl, fingering weight, 225 yards.

Starting the Week Right

With a finished project!  The second corduroy scrap quilt-60" x 42", backed with polar fleece is done!

 I wrapped the back around to the front and sewed it down; this is the way my Grandmother always bound her quilts and I liked the connection!

The polar fleece was given to me, the front are scraps that I have had in a 'someday' pile for at least 15 years so it is a nice way to see the fabric put to good use!

Visit from mama sandhill crane.....

...and baby-they are both the same size but he hasn't gotten his red head yet.  It  has been wonderful to have them visit us several times a day asking for bread!

The bottle brush tree is in full bloom-isn't is pretty?!  I am thrilled with how it is growing!