Just Baby Steps

 Well, I crowed my victory over this sickness way too soon -let me suffice it to say, I was down for the count!  On the way to town yesterday, they were cutting hay in this pasture-isn't it beautiful?!

 When we got home, Bill went to play on the tractor and did this instead.........the wife and his truck remedied the situation!

When I'm not sleeping, I work on the headband to match those mittens!

The knotweed has filled out and is in bloom-the butterflies love this plant, too.

Look at how deeply this ginger cone has become!  

 The magnolia cones are blushing very nicely;

when they fall to the ground, they are eaten up-the squirrels are burying the seeds for winter and hoarding, too.

We brought a cone in and by morning, it had exploded with these red seeds!  Kind of cool and creepy!

 Today I psyched my energy up to go into the sewing room to make these-I haven't been thrilled with the old ones and wanted the curtains to match the quilt in the guest room-

It worked!  Glad to get back to the couch, but it was nice to accomplish something today!

Feeling Blue!

I have been under the thumb of a dumb virus....my creative output is severely restricted!  I finally gave in and went to the doctors Friday so have begun my counter attack!

 I have been moving slowly and when awake, have been working on these fingerless mitts.  The white is handspun superwash and the variegated yarn is from the yarn shop I visited a few weeks ago!

 This is a neat little addition to my knitting accessories; it is a magnetic pattern holder that also folds up and goes in the knitting bag more easily than the solid magnetic board I  previously used.

 It holds the pattern neatly and then folds up for easy travel-I had to rework the pattern for these mitts (a free pattern on Ravelry called Wintergreen) because the first attempt was way too big!  After a bit of reworking, I worked pretty steadily on these all week and thoroughly enjoyed the two color knitting.........still.

 Bill's project this week, besides mowing, was to empty our refrigerator to try and defrost it so that it would encourage a sensor to reset...........that didn't work but two good things resulted from the adventure any way; One was we now have a very clean and reorganized fridge,  

 And since he dug this out of storage to plug in and use to hold all the things from the freezer, he discovered a pile of treasures inside this from our move almost 5 years ago!  Of all things, my scroll saw was in here along with a myriad of sheets and comforters that I had chalked up to the Bermuda Triangle of moving!!!  After a good launder, they are perfectly good and usable still!

But this was another find-a pound of raw fleece that was in a crock (which is also cleaned and added to the decor in my family room!) inside the freezer-I rewashed the wool and am in the process of carding it!  I do not remember what kind of wool it is, but it is soft and will give it a spin next week to see how it works up!

I'm Seeing Red!

 I might be seeing red, but not in anger!  Quite the contrary-I have enough left over yarn to make a matching headband.........

 because the Nordic mittens, Anne's Flower, are finished!  I blocked and dried them this morning!

 You would be seeing red if you took a walk in my yard now because it is full of flowers in bloom-all the red ones, which are our favorites!  This is one of a dozen of the canna lilies.

 Several of the hibiscus are in bloom.......

....even the buds are beautiful.

 The crepe myrtle are doing their thing.......

 even the Dogwood tree is putting out red berries!

 The magnolia tree pods are ripening and blushing prettily.

 The camphor leaves are dropping and turning red-this tree never loses all its leaves at once, they just fall and grow new ones all year round.

 The ginger pod is turning very red now-so pretty!

The bromeliads are in bloom, too.  I like to see this kind of red!

Irene Waves Goodbye

Hurricane Irene just grazed our shores and sent us bands of rain and wind for 10-20 minutes at a time all morning.  When the sun came out, Bill and I headed to the ocean to see the waves!

We walked all around the Matanza Inlet and looked for shells, didn't find too many that weren't broken but I did find some sea glass.

 We took a lunch break at the South Beach Grill, eating on their deck and watching the waves and surfers.

Back to Matanzas we watched some young people play in the waves.  We were going to mark the spot if they got in trouble!  The waves averaged 10-15'-the wind kept the top of the waves in constant motion.

The next band of rain was heading toward us so we packed it up.

Made it to the car just in time.  Sometimes the ocean has a calming affect on us but today it was exhilarating and powerful-another facet reflecting  our Lord God!

Knitting coming and going to the beach.........making good progress!

Tops and Bottoms

 Millie finished her tumbling blocks Dr Suess quilt top and I finished the quilting today-most of the fabrics are flannel and the back , too, so it will be a very comfy quilt!  (Yes, Nyki looks like she is inspecting the seams, doesn't she?!)

The raspberry socks are done-they look purple until I place them next to the other bfl socks I made and they the mulberry undertones are more pronounced.--The socks are so silky and cushiony-a very nice knit!

A Plant Show

We took a trip to Lake Mary to visit friends and Becki and I went to a plant show/sale sponsored by her gardening club.  I bought a few plants but Becki had a dozen plants she had started and gave them to me-my yard is full of the generosity of my gardening friends!  (Thanks Sandy, too!)

Becki had found this cone of cotton yarn and saved it for me-wow, weaving, here we come!  The guys replaced the pool light-very fun to come home and see Tom holding Bill under water so he could stay under long enough to fix the light since they have a salt water pool, too, you are very bouyant!  We had a good laugh!

I managed to do some knitting on the way and even home in the dark!  A great day.

St Augustine's Treasures

First stop was Woody'sBarBQ in St Augustine!  Bill had some coupons for the restaurant that expired today so we packed it up and took a drive!  Being retired does have its perks.

Next stop was to the yarn shop but when we arrived-the store was filled with something but not yarn!  I called the number on the business card I had gotten on the last visit and she gave me directions to her new location-about a mile away in her home (the Garmin helps)!  Her husband's health had deteriorated and he needed round the clock care-she is able to do this and run her retail business, too!  So, was very pleased to visit with her and pick up some yarn for a project you will see more of next week!

Last treasure of the day was the beach-the rain was threatening but the ocean was so calming to stand and watch!  The air was very warm and the breeze was perfectly warm and tropical-I would have loved to have a hammock in which to recline!  Bill and I still brace for cold air when a storm rolls in but it doesn't happen this way at all-the temperatures dip a bit but stay warm and moist-not chilling at all!  Have I mentioned how much I love living here!?!

There were about a dozen surfers catching the waves before the storm.  We had a nice relaxing stroll watching both the waves and the surfers!

When we looked behind us to head back to the car, the sky had darkened considerably with huge storm clouds!  The sea oats contrasted beautifully with the sky!

This is what I worked while driving to to St Augustine..........

And this on the way home-no chart reading required!  I can make a pair of socks almost without looking!

Socks Plus

 Started a sock for our knit along-this is the blue faced Leicester I spun recently.

Got the first one done and started right in on the second.

 Voila-a pair of socks!  I wanted the needles so I could make these----->

 Another pair of Norwegian styled mittens.

 I have this up on the design wall-I have been tweaking it each time I walk in my sewing room.  ( Some more of the men's suit samples cut 6" square and looking at the picture helps me to point out areas that need more attention!)

Bling came in for a visit; he is so soft and fluffy-I can feel my blood pressure go down just stroking his fur!