So close

My father always told me that "almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades"...

Despite working alllllllllllllllllllllllll day on it (okay, maybe I got a little distracted), I'm not done the birthday sock. I'm almost there though. As you can see above, I'm about halfway through the toe.

If I'd stayed up another hour or so, I could have finished them... but a girl needs her beauty sleep (or in my case, sanity sleep). So I'll finish it up tonight. It can block all day tomorrow, then get wrapped up for gifting first thing Wednesday morning.

Tick tock

Every spare minute I've had has been devoted to Dave's sock. As a result, I'm now past the gusset. I've got a whole afternoon of nothing to do in front of me... so with luck, I may just be able to finish these today!

Random garden goings on

What's up in the garden this week - in no particular order...

The Bee Balm bloomed. For some reason I was thinking my Bee Balm would be red. But then I went back and looked at the tag... and it's labelled as "Blue Stocking" which is apparently purple...

Regardless, it's pretty and the pollinators love it!

The red Susans are putting on a fine show! (Their proper name is Rudibeckia Cherry Brandy)

This is "Dally Hally" another Rudibeckia (Rudibeckia includes all cone flowers, like Black-eyed Susans, Blanket Flower, Echinacea, etc.). I love its fluffy petals.

 Another of the mystery lilies bloomed. This one is an oriental Lily. While it's only 16" tall at the moment, it will get up to 3-4 feet like the double blooming pink one I bought. I've got to say, I love the classic white.

The Milkweed is almost ready to bloom. This is such a treat since I started it from seed (and quite a few of the plants survived!) It's suppose to attract Monarchs especially, so maybe I'll have some new pictures for you soon!

 I was starting to think the Dahlias were never going to bloom, but it looks like at least one of them will.(These guys have been struggling with insect damage). I really hope this is the darker one.

And last but definitely not least....

 

It's raspberry season!

Friday Felines

"I'm strong to the finich, cause I eats me spinach.
I'm Rupert the Sailor Cat."

Okay... so he's not really eating spinach. In fact, he doesn't like people food at all (With the exception of tuna juice). He always comes to see what I'm eating, sniffs my plate, and then moves along. It's such a change from ol' Tux. (Though Peno doesn't eat people food either - except for sandwich  turkey.)

But he is getting big and strong! At first I was worried that he wasn't growing, but the other day, I noticed that he's almost a big as Peno now. His head is still smaller, but he's just as long and is starting to fill out. At first, I though he was going to be a big cat. Now I think he'll probably settle around 9-10 lbs.

It's hard to believe he's only been here for a month an a half.

He's certainly made himself at home.

Procrastination....

 

...and while it may help the creative process... 

...it means I only have seven days to finish Dave's socks in time for his birthday.

Now I don't have to finish it. He's going to see these guys on Saturday...

And that was his real birthday present from me. But it would still be nice to have something for him to open on the day of. Guess I better get those fingers busy!

This is why I do it...

... gardening that is.

Oh, the flowers are it's own reward, of course. And that's part of the reason. But all the digging, and watering, pruning and fertilizing... its all for brief encounters like this...

 This magnificent beauty is a Black Eastern Swallowtail.

He only lingered for a few minutes.

But every second was magical.

Stash enhancements

Remember how I remarked a month or two ago that the stash was getting a little lean....?

Well Mom put paid to that. She and Dad have been doing a bit of renovating, and in the process, she decided it was time to downsize her own stash...

So Sunday, I came home with enough yarn for several sweaters, including,

17 balls of Rowan Felted Tweed in this lovely deep, dark blue. This is destined to become a sweater for Dave, once I can find a suitable pattern.

14 balls of GGH Wollywasch - a superwash merino in a sweet, warm grey. (Luckily Mom and I have a very similar taste in colours.) There are several patterns in my queue this would work for.

20 balls of Jo Sharp Desert Garden cotton - a nice natural white that will make an excellent pajama sweater I think!

Then there was a huge cone of Debbie Bliss Merino Aran in a nice sage green.... and...

...another one in a dark khaki. Each cone has about 1700 yards. At least one of these will probably become something like Arwen.

There was also a bag of random balls of Rowan All Seasons cottons...which may already be working up into an afghan......

Now, I just need to win the lottery so I have more time to knit this all up!