Green thumb, brown knees

One of the things I was very excited about when I moved into the new place, was the ability to garden from scratch. The old place, as you may remember, had the roses from hell out front. There was a small plot of garden out back, but it was so sandy, and got so little light, that nothing would grow but some orange day lilies.

The new place has three places just waiting for planting, as well as space to do so much more in the years to come. Today I set to work on the first steps to my new green spaces.


By the front step, there's a lovely little bare spot. Dad was thinning out his orange day lilies, and filled up a whole bucket full for me.

 I love  orange day lilies. When I was a kid, I use to call them country lilies, or ditch lilies, because they grew in all the ditches around our old house. Not only are they pretty, they are hardy, and spread like crazy once they get established. This year, I'll plant some annuals to fill things out, but in a year or two, I won't need to.

Come fall, I'm also going to plant some daffodils and other spring bulbs here. The plan is to have this garden totally self-sustaining.

 If you look closely, down the side by the step, you'll see some tiny reddish buds poking up. My grandpa's girlfriend gave me a bunch of bulbs - she said they were "big red lilies", and from my internet sleuthing, I suspect the are Cana Lilies. If so, I'm probably going to have to move them after this year, because those suckers are big! But we'll see what happens. I've got a spot down the side of the house I can plant them if I need to.

Elsewhere in the front, we have a tree on our lawn, and there's a nice little box around it, just waiting for flowers.

It needs a couple of bags of soil before I can go crazy, but this is going to be my annual garden, because the tree roots make it tough to do anything that needs to be too established. Here I'm planning on pansies and dahlias and whatever else strikes my fancy!

Out back, I have a little spot against the house that's just perfect for a veggie garden. I'm going to start small this year - just some tomatoes and beans, but eventually, I'd like to add peppers and peas. Dave loves fresh vegetables, but I suspect we'll end up feeding the neighbourhood bunny more than anything.

I didn't do much work in the back yet, except for a little pruning. There are two unidentified shrubs back there - my internet sluething has led me to believe at least one may be some type of Viburnum....

 

But if any of you gardeners can tell me - that would be awesome. This one is just starting to flower, and the flowers are tinged with pink. The other has flowers coming as well, but not as many, and I'm not sure what colour they are.

Both shrubs are growing up in tall canes. The verdict is out on whether these are staying right now. One of them has a Manitoba Maple entwined with it pretty good - I was pruning it, but it will need to be pulled out of the ground entirely come fall.

Ideally, I'd like to get a Lilac and a Butterfly bush for the back yard...and some tea roses too, but those will have to wait until next year.

Parting is such sweet sorrow

The Sweet Dreams shawl is off the blocking board.

This was definitely my fastest ever knit - a full-sized shawl in just eight. days. Of course, I neglected the laundry, and I still have a butt-load of boxes to unpack... but hey, a knitter's gotta do what a knitter's gotta do.

The recipient's favourite colour is purple, so naturally, that had to be the colour of the shawl (this colourway is Grape Koolaid). The pictures don't show it well, but there a subtle shift between red purple, blue purple and a sweet pinky-purple - it's lovely (and courtesy of Mom's dyeing talents). I knit it in Desert Cat (Baby Camel/Silk) and it's sinfully soft. There's a few skeins left in the shop - I highly recommend it.

The pattern is good, and the increases are interesting - I've only done a few crescent-shaped shawls, so this was a new one for me. Once I got into the rhythm of it, it went well.

The lace pattern is what attracted me to this shawl - but while I wouldn't consider it hard, I had to keep the chart handy, something I don't usually have to do. This pattern also calls for beads and a picot cast off. Unfortunately, I just didn't have time for those, so I left them out, but it's still pretty.

. 

I will do this shawl again - with bead and picot. I have a skein of Twisted Slinky Cat in Dragonstone picked out.

(the middle green skein). I just have to decide on beads (contrast or blend?) .... and of course, clear out a few WIPS

WIP Wrangling - the smoke clears

I'm a little late with this month's WIP update, but that's due to the move and emergency shawl knitting. Now that things have settled, let's get right down to it.

As of April 2, I was at my limit of 5 WIPs.  A pair of socks, two cardigans, a new shawl design, and an afghan. Of that list, the only thing I managed to complete was the socks. Of course, I did cast on a cast off a shrug and a pair of fingerless mitts, so the FO count is respectable.

The WIP list, sadly, grew. I've added to it:

A second shawl design: This one is Dee's fault  - inspired by her lovely Egret pics.

A second pair of Glinda mitts: These are to match the Cranberry Bonnet. In truth, they would have been off the needles by now if it wasn't for the emergency shawl. I expect them to be done this week, though it's far too warm to wear them.

So, as of May 7, I have six WIPs on the go: Two shawls, two cardigans, an afghan, and a pair of fingerless mitts. I also have a baby present to make for May 19. Not too hard to get back down to the 5 WIP goal - the trick just not casting on anything extra... because I do have a lovely skein of Celtic Cat, and no socks on the needles.....

Timely

The Sweet Dreams shawl is off the needles and on the blocking board

And just in time too. The ladies at work moved the good-bye party up a day, so this will be gifted on Wednesday. There's just enough time for it to dry, and get some pics tomorrow evening. I'll save all the details for an FO post.

Instead, I'll share with you a picture of our new visitor.

He's come by the backyard twice. I've discovered that, while of course he likes carrots, strawberries aren't nearly as tempting. We'll see if he shows up tomorrow.

And what does Rocky think of this new visitor....?

Obviously the excitement is exhausting....

Run Baby, Run!

We've finally gotten some decent spring weather here in southern Ontario. Saturday was absolutely beautiful - and in more ways than one.

Not only was the weather sunny and warm - but I got to spend it with my bestest friend ever!

 Samantha was running a 5K in Port Credit, and she wasn't all familiar with the area and how to get around. Since that's Dave's home town and only 15 minutes from where I work, I know it like the back of my hand -  I was more than happy to chauffuer her around.(Plus she bought me lunch - win-win!)

The 5K route ran along the lake shore, so all the runners were herded onto a bus to the start line, while the spectators had to take a separate bus to the finish line.

At first it didn't dawn on me why there were so many police officers around  - until my bag got checked... three times. I guess after Boston you really can't blame them.  (And they provided a nice bit of eye candy for the spectators!)

She can't escape now - she's got to run it!

This was the view from the park at the finish line. Lake Ontario might not be the cleanest lake - but it is pretty. Dave and I took some pictures down here when we were first dating.

Sam finished with an awesome time of just a little more than 28 minutes.Sadly, even though I was standing there with camera ready, I completely missed her coming across the finish line. Then I lost her altogether (really in a crowd of about 8,000, it's not that hard) and she had to have the police call me, so we could reunite.

And while I was waiting for her to reach the finish line... can you guess what I was doing???

Yep - working on the Sweet Dreams shawl - Now that's the way to spend a 5K!!! I made some good progress too. I'm almost ready to start the edge chart.

And, it's another beautiful sunny day today. I ran a few errands this morning, but the rest of the day will be spent finishing the shawl. 

The boys have promised no distractions, as long as I leave the glass door open.

First and Second

First:

Thank you everyone for your suggestions on yarn names (I particularly liked Freckle Cat... ). But as I was laying in bed last night, the name came to me.... the yarn is a "Donegal Tweed"... so naturally - it's got to be a Celtic Cat! Celtic Cat will be in the shop soon. I brought  a green skein home for myself 

 - you should feels this! It's so soft. Mom's already put one of the beige skeins through her sock machine. It's going to make fantastic socks!

Second:
I chose the pattern for my soon-to-be-former boss's shawl. It's Sweet Dreams by BooKnits.

Mom brought the yarn down for me on Sunday, and I quickly found the box with my needles. I've been working diligently (and monogamously) ever since. This shawl absolutely, positively has to be on the blocking board by Monday night.

I think I can, I think I can!

Sneakin' a peek...

We've got a new fingering weight yarn coming to the shop....

 

It just needs a name - the best I can come up with is Chunky Cat.... can you think of anything better? We're open to suggestions .