Memorial Weekend

Many thanks to the brave men and women who serve their countries so gallantly.We saw this display on our walk this morning. It speaks volumes.
Larry is taking such good care of our garden. These are the peas he planted back in late March.
They have their first blossoms!
God provides the water which comes down the downspout and into the rain barrel.
We planted lots of flower seeds last weekend. These are little bitty daisies getting started. A small maple tree has joined them. Maple tree seedlings are everywhere.

Did you ever have a spur of the moment absolutely fun date? Yesterday was a work day for me, beginning at 7:15 a.m. Larry and I took a walk to McDonald's at 6:00 where we bought fruit parfaits to have for breakfast. It was already daylight, and delightful. I hope you have a great weekend!

Suppose. . .

it is Saturday night. You've worked all day. Your dh is out making music with his band, and the friend you invited to come over for craft night had a previous engagement. In Texas. (Hi, Liz!)
You really really want to work on your adorable turtle quilt. See! They have eyes. They're swimming in a circle, and are just waiting for some nice quilted waves.
Second choice in the lineup is a new knitting project. Do you suppose I'll have as much trouble learning how to turn a heel as I did making thumbs?
Near the bottom of the list is replacing the zipper in a pair of pants for someone at work.
At the very bottom of the list is 58 pages of reading to do for work.
What would you do? Exactly! Leave it all behind and go for a walk instead. :>}

Charming!

Aren't these turtles charming? They're Lisa Boyer's pattern. Of course I'm not quite finished yet, but it's been a busy few days.
When Larry and I go for walks, one of our favorite things to do is walk along waterways where turtles like to sun themselves on rocks or logs. Sometimes they're all lined up, and when they see humans, they plop into the water one by one, much like dominoes falling. Cute! If we wait quietly, they slowly clamber back upon the log to resume their enjoyment of the sunshine.

I bought this pattern a whole year ago, and am just now putting it together. What fun!

Joys of Spring and Knitting SOS

Here is the mama robin, watching carefully as we photograph her family. (She's the one who built the untidy nest from a few posts ago.)
They're growing up fast. It looks like a jumble of feathers and beaks. She started out with three eggs, and we can't tell if she has two or three babies.
The rhododendron is looking well. Larry has been working very hard in the garden.
Don't laugh. We actually needed mittens the last few days. April was much warmer than May has been. Now you knitters, I need some help. The instructions were free from Ravelry, and perhaps not quite as clear as a beginner like me needs. As you can see, my thumbs have gotten better with practice, but they still need work. I was knitting along happily, finishing the cuff and increasing for the thumb gusset.

The next part left me uncertain. It says, "K2, CO5st, place 9 stitches on a stitch holder and knit to the end of the round." Does this mean I knit two, cast on 5 stitches, and put the next nine on the holder, or include the two plus five I was just working with? That's how I did it the first three times, but each time it didn't seem right, although I like the location of the thumb, and it reverses nicely so the left and right mittens are interchangeable, which is always a convenience.

I went to the Stitch Clique at the library Tuesday evening, and one person there suggested that maybe the CO5st actually means to cast off. The mittens are already fairly narrow, so I don't think that's the case. When I cast on the five and then keep knitting around I end up with an opening in addition the the thumb opening I already had. For all three so far I have just used a yarn needle and yarn and sewed the opening closed. I know for sure that's not the way to do it.

Suggestions welcome! I'm getting close to the next thumb opening.

Many many thanks, mainly for caring enough to read this even if you don't care a whit about knitting. LOL.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you amazing moms! I hope you have had a delightful day.
Two of my favorite authors have just had new books published. Once again I got to go hear Jennifer Chiaverini talk about her book and read an excerpt from it. I do love hearing authors read their own work. She was charming as always. This is the fifth time in five years I've gotten to do this, so I'm beginning to feel like a friend of the family! Her mother introduces her, and then she amuses her audience with insights into writing and researching. Research for this book required four trips to Hawaii. The poor thing, such a hardship, and twice she had to miss out on some of Wisconsin's snowy winter to do her island research. :>}
A member of our extended family had a brand new baby girl last week. I didn't hear about it until after the fact, at which time I inquired about color preference. When told pink and purple, I looked through my stash. I had lots of pink and a little purple, but not a lot that went together. A little trip to the store yielded this printed panel that was already quilted. All I had to do was cut out some strips in a matching color and add binding. 45 minutes to make a quilt.
Not my usual way of making a quilt, but it's pretty cute. It's also much lighter weight than the ones I usually make, which could be a good thing.

Growing Things

It's the time of year when we plant things. I plant things inside.Larry planted peas. Mmmm, my favorite vegetable. They're the one thing we can plant around here early in the season. They don't mind a bit of cold, in fact they like it. Once the temperature climbs into the 80's for extended periods, the peas are finished for the year.
Mother Nature planted a lot of maple seeds. She must think we need even more maple trees. We find tiny baby maple trees growing everywhere. Truly - everywhere! They grow on the roof, in the gutters, in tiny cracks in the driveway, and of course in every available patch of soil.


Wishing you and yours the very best.