....last day of summer 2009

.....it's been a long time since i posted last....today is the last day of summer 2009....this was one rainy summer.....living in the swamp you kind of expect the summer to be somewhat rainy....hot, humid and rainy....but this summer's rain beat the band.....we had a full week of sunny days in early June....and then not again until two weeks ago....and i don't mean it rained and then cleared up....it rained and rained and rained....and after that it rained and rained and rained.....and then it rained and rained and rained for days.....actually for three solid months.....with bouts of intense down-pouring, ten inches in twenty four hours, OMG it's raining again, rain....i actually like the rain....it kept the heat from being sweltering....all the new plantings we did in the spring have grown like mad with two exceptions....the Black Dragon Kryptomeria bit the dust.....i think it drowned.....and a really prettily shaped young oak tree died too from too much water.....we have had zero tropical storms/hurricanes this year....too cool from all the rain i guess.....

....finally put some fish in the ponds.....we got a couple of dozen Comets....goldfish.....only two have died....they are pretty hardy....we got a few pliecostomus....don't know how to spell it and all i got from the spell checker is Pentecostals....and that's definitely not what we put in the ponds....you know, algae eaters....they, however, are not as hardy as the goldfish....we've lost four already....it, guess what, rained the day after we got them and i think the change in water temperature probably affected them....

....kate and i are knitting again....we are knitting for the Oyate Teca Project for the Children of Pine Ridge....we both started top-down v-neck sweaters.....you can follow this link on Ravelry to find the group and the project.....

.....i'm also deconstructing the cushion covers on our couches.....they've got perfectly good vinyl welting in them so i'm listening to Fleetwood Mac and picking the seams.....the upholstery is shot on the sofas, but the i really like the shape of them.....we've been painting....walls, furniture, and other items different shades of white....i've got the fabric to do slipcovers....different cotton duck whites, and natural linen....i just need to get the mojo to go with the giant roll of fabric....i actually know what i want to do but i'm having a where am i going to cut this out dilemma.....i kind of need another person to help me roll it out so i can cut it.....i want to wash and iron it before i do the final cuts and seaming.....so a lot of prep work....

....Guitar Hero is home from sea.....he and Handyman Humperdink both got SLR cameras on ebay and have been shooting a bunch of rolls around here and around town....they are having the film put on Cd's at different places that do film developing....someone asked them the other day when they wanted to turn in some film rolls: "do people still do that?".....

.....no photos for this post, but with all the picture taking surely i can get some for another post.....i've really neglected the blog this year and i don't know if i'm ready to return to daily posting, but i will do random updates now and then....when i get that mojo

projects for days.....

....where to even start.....hmmmm.....after we got back from Seattle (in February)....i know, i know, but we've been really, really busy as you will see by the pictures below.....we decided to bring the pond liners around to the back.....last summer we built this covered deck behind the house........if you look off to the left of the yellow sawhorse, in the picture below, you can also see a concrete circle, which we had been using as our firepit.........and yes, it really does rain that much here at times.....we are in that rain pattern again this year just now.....it'll pass though.....
....so, this year we installed the pond liners and decks.........added plants that indicate this garden is Japanese in its reference....Guitar Hero is planting a Dwarf Cedar, a Dwarf Japanese Maple and a Hosta in front of the small pond....later i filled in around this planting with Mondo Grass:.....dug another pond because two just didn't seem right..........built a new firepit around the existing one.....old firepit:
.....new firepit....not entirely finished yet in this photo:....yes, that is duct tape surrounding the cinder blocks.....it really does work for everything....even for holding in mortar.....we will fill in the grassy/dirt area with pavers and top the concrete surround with flagstone to finish it off.....

.....and built a bridge:.....and some new seats on the deck extension before we got hit with our big rain time.........put in two new gardens out front too....
.....this is the hydrangea garden under the double trunk oak out front....H.H. setting up the forms: .....even though the Hydrangeas are in shade they droop from the heat of the day.....they seem to recover fine overnight though.....and this is the sun garden:.....not so much in the sun just now.....it's the end of a very hot day here and this is an evening pic......when we first moved in here there was only grass and the ditch out there....no trees, bushes, nothing....and it gets wicked hot out there as this is the west facing part of our yard.....three years ago H.H. planted the trees out here.....last year we planted the Eleagnus hedge..........it's really a hopeful hedge at this point....after Tropical Storm Fay last summer we lost a few and had to replace them.....now we've had copious amounts of rain in the last month and a few of them are losing their leaves, but i'm hopeful they'll survive all the rain.....it was a real aggravation mowing around all the trees and bushes out there and i wanted to mulch this area.....so we did....we poured a concrete curb to define the area.....and it was a huge amount of mulch.....15 yards.....i don't expect the mulch to stay that way for more than a year, but i plan on installing as much Asian Jasmine ground cover as i can in there and refreshing the mulch as it needs it.....now it takes way less time to mow and the trees and bushes seem to like having cool roots....

....some unexpected things this year on the gardening front are: the Jackmanii Clematis that i thought completely died came back and are blooming:
.....one lone raspberry cane survived:....and this is the amazing part to me....i did not plant any of the vines growing in either middle box of the MacGregor garden (you know Peter Rabbit and company....),......... but have already harvested a few cucumbers and have many cantaloupes growing there.....and what appears to be volunteer Roma Tomatoes are in there growing up the lattice....birds, or squirrels or kitty i guess.....no complaints though........the Greek oregano is very full this year....albeit a little beaten down with all the rain.....
.....i randomly planted seeds all together in the two four foot square boxes and i thinned nothing which has seemed to keep the bugs at bay.....we have Nasturtiums.....this is my second or third try with the Nasturtiums......:
.....the Anise Hyssop is glorious:....i have potted up and given away a few of the Anise Hyssop....the bees really love it....i wouldn't be without them now.....we seem to have a lot of early spider webs this year and the trees all have unusually thick leaf sets on them.....the Canna Lily stand out front ate the Oleander:....it's still growing in there.....it got some damage from the hard frost we had those couple of days in February so i whacked it down to the ground.....but it is very hardy recovering nicely.....

.....H.H. has gone to painting the shed.....the rain finally stopped and it has gotten really hot here so outside work is a lot slower.....i think we are going to proceed with changing out the siding on this side of the house and on the back and painting.....this is the color the house will become as we change out the siding from vinyl to Hardiboard.....we all love the colors.........oh and we also had another driveway installed on the other side of the property:

.....like i said, really busy.....

....hope your attention span is longer than 30 seconds....

.....i sort of lost interest in blogging for awhile...and i can't say i'm ready to return to it on a regular basis just yet....it felt like i was doing more thinking about what to blog about than actual knitting or other projects.....but, i do have some things to talk about just now.....

....on the knitting front i finished a pair of "Dashing" fingerless gloves for Handyman Humperdink...as well as a scarf i'm calling "Sunshine on a Cloudy Day".....

....and i finished a pair of "Fetching" fingerless gloves in Sweet Pea green.....Valley Yarns, Amherst, 100% merino.....for myself.....which came in handy on our vacation to Seattle.....

....i started another pair of "Fetching" fingerless gloves on the plane.....in Valley Yarns, Amherst, Burgundy....the pattern is so easy that after the first pair i didn't have to look at the pattern at all until i got to the bind off row....i had to look for how many stitches to knit before doing the picot....you can get the Valley Yarns, Amherst, over at WEBS....

.....i modified both the "Dashing" and the "Fetching" patterns to fit H.H. and my hands....the "Fetching" pattern is a long glove and i didn't think H.H. would like it....more of a gauntlet style glove....so i shortened it....and for myself i added an extra round of cabling after the thumb....so there are two rounds of cabling....and i knitted nine rounds after the cabling instead of the four the pattern calls for....they fit well and came in handy for our trip to Seattle......

.....our trip to Seattle was excellent....everyone thinks it rains there all the time....well not when we were there....it was foggy or overcast in the a.m. and then sunny in the afternoons....we LOVED it there....we stayed in the Belltown part of downtown Seattle....a few blocks from the Space Needle....the Space Needle was the only thing we didn't go to because they were doing the annual something or other to it....so it was closed....but we did do all the touristy things that we could fit in.....this photo shows the landmark we used for to find our hotel until we got used to where things were:
...it's easy to find your hotel when a pink elephant is near it....

.....we ate our way across Seattle....OMG! the food is so good there....and the beer.....there is an award winning little soup place down at Pike's Market that serves different seafood chowders....can you say YUMMM?....we ate there a couple of times....and the Pike's Pub and Brewery brews their beer on site......our favorite was the Kilt Lifter Ale......we ate (and drank) there a couple of times....we found Happy Hour at the Frontier Grill one evening.....and had excellent Thai food at...a family owned authentic Thai food place just around the corner from our hotel.....we loved the pizza from Zeek's pizza.....on Super Bowl Sunday we made our way to the Owl and Thistle Pub where we had excellent fish and chips.....and of course beer.....

.....i cannot say enough about Pike's Market.....we probably went there the most....i think we went there everyday but one.....we got the biggest berries i've ever seen and kate and i took them back to the hotel with us.....gigantic raspberries, blackberries and blueberries.....the Three Sister's bakery, right next to the berry stand, had the most ginormous apple fritters.....i think that was Guitar Hero's favorite of all we ate....we got those a few times....and of course Starbucks.....every a.m.....Undomestic Diva would be so proud...

.....there are more than food vendors at Pike's Market.....we entertained the man in the Kitchen Basics shop with our Southern accents and colloquialisms.....he thought "buck wild" was hilarious.....he said he'd never heard that before....and we regaled him with stories from "My Big Redneck Wedding"....him being deprived of such excellent television fare(sarcasm dripping here).....he especially liked the one where the bride borrowed her mom's teeth for the wedding because she couldn't find hers....we liked that one too.....and "Bless your heart" now has a whole new meaning to him.....

.....one day we went to Ballard on the bus.....because you cannot go to Seattle and not go to Archie McPhee's....i'm just sayin'....which Guitar Hero loved....he found all manner of things ninja, pirate and bacon.....yes, bacon....there is all manner of crazy weirdness to be found at Archie McPhee's that one cannot possibly live without.....such as:....and
....not the people silly....that's just kate and Guitar Hero....
....there was also this:
....and everybody needs to get them one of these:....there's so much more i won't spoil it for you....you'll have to go to Seattle and see Archie McPhee's for yourself....

....and what should be right across the street from Archie McPhee's?....but, Hamburger Harry's.....gourmet burgers....now, you've seen the gourmet burger thing before and it can be a huge disappointment, but not at Hamburger Harry's.....my burger had smoked gouda cheese, peppered bacon, lettuce, pico de gallo, caramelized onions, roasted red peppers and garlic mayo....you cannot believe how good that was....

.....we actually went to Ballard twice and Guitar Hero and H.H. were disappointed that kate and i didn't want to eat there again i think....we shopped a bit in some of the boutique shops off the main street in Ballard.....i had seen Seattle on the City Guides on Design Sponge and it mentioned several things to see in Ballard....so we did.....

....Seattle is the easiest city to get around in....we were only a few blocks from the waterfront....to me a few blocks means seven or eight....of course it is quite hilly, but that is so opposite of flatland, where we actually live, that it was a great change....

....we visited the Science Fiction Museum....which was done really well....we all liked it....it is over at the Seattle Center where the Space Needle is....and there is a really cool fountain in the park that is synchronized with music that we liked.....the fountain was sanded stainless steel which we saw everywhere in Seattle....in restaurants, bathrooms, the fountain....it looks really cool....

.....we went to the Seattle Aquarium.....we loved that....Loran recommended we go there and we now know why....there is a pool inside where you can touch the anemone's and urchins.....and a domed tank where you are on the inside and the diver comes to feed the fish....the weirdest looking one was the Wolf Eel....not actually an eel..........this view is of the tank when you first come into the aquarium.....we lucked out on the feeding times....they were feeding the fish in this tank when we walked in.....and they were feeding the octopus....when we were in the room with the touch tanks.....

.....we went to REI....headquartered in Seattle.....
.....where Guitar Hero got a fitted hood (think: ninja mask) to wear under his motorcycle helmet when it's cold.....REI was huge.....H.H. had joined REI back in the day and hadn't really bought anything too much for a long, long, time....but he is still a member.....evidently lifetime membership means actual lifetime at REI.....

....there was the biggest Whole Foods Market i've ever seen about three blocks from the hotel.....it is not hard in any way to eat organically in Seattle....which we loved....

.....one of the days we were there we took a Harbor Cruise.....i think it was Super Bowl Sunday....it was the coldest of the days we were there and it felt particularly cold because we were down by the waterfront.....

....on our final day in Seattle we went to Pioneer Square and took the Underground tour....we had the best tour guide, Ed:.....he was very informative and funny which was really entertaining.....they have this great glass and wrought iron cover to wait under for public transportation there in Pioneer Square:....maybe you've seen it....there is currently a commercial for something or other that has it in the commercial....we mute the commercials when they come on so unless they look like the dialogue is funny....so i'm not up on what the commercial is advertising for, i just saw the glass and wrought iron thing in it....

....that building in the background of the last photo is the place where you start the Underground tour.....

.....we loved Seattle and will definitely go there again....

....long time, no blog.....

....it's been awhile it seems....we had a very low key holiday season this year.....we decided that since we can, and do, buy stuff whenever that we would just skip all the hoopla this year....and there were no complaints.....Guitar Hero came home from sea before Christmas....which we were thrilled about....we love Guitar Hero and miss him a lot when he's at sea....and that was the best gift....

....i started and finished a 2x2 ribbed hat just to have some t.v. knitting that i didn't have to think about....i didn't have anyone in mind when i was knitting it....G' liked it when he saw it so he's the owner of a new hat....not that we've had any need for hats or any kind of knitwear here in the swamp.....we turned the air-conditioner back onChristmas day....because of the eighty degrees and wicked humidity....i know some people love the warm weather in the middle of winter, but i'm not one of them....and this summer when the mosquitoes can be seen flying away with small animals because they are so big and there wasn't enough cold weather to kill any bugs....we'll see how they feel about it then....we went down to the waterfront about an hour ago and the no-see-ums were too much for us....hopefully some cold weather will come back....we already have things blooming and putting out pollen as can be attested by all the sneezing around here....

.....H.H. has finished the built-in closet in Guitar Hero's office....the hardware is on back order though....i spent several days looking for just the right pieces so i guess we'll just wait on it....the built-in closet looks really good....i know i need to post some pictures....and i will....

....i knitted and finished a pair of Fetching fingerless gloves as well as the hat and i'm still working on H.H.'s vest....plus a 2x2 ribbed neckwarmer for Guitar Hero to wear when he rides his motorcycle to work....

....our Kate has started knitting in the round and has already completed one glove of the Fetching fingerless gloves....she was really happy to learn the technique and especially at how simple the project is....instant knitification.....

....i see Uberstrickenfrau has been knitting herself some of these gloves as well....

....unexpected peace and garden bounty....

....i know the rest of the U.S. has some frozeness going on just now, but those of us who live in the swamp are having upper seventies and lower eighties....for the entire week....now i'm not saying this to make you jealous or provoke you....because if it was my choice we'd be having winter too....

....so, i posted a couple of times about helping my neighbors mind their business when it comes to my yard....and things have been totally silent for quite some time now....then today said neighbor came over to tell H.H. he was about to plow under the last of his turnip greens and would we like to have them?....so, maybe some semblance of peace has returned.....i'm not holding my breath, but i'll certainly take it....

....now i need to haul myself into the kitchen because if you've ever cooked greens you know it takes awhile to clean them....i'll have to give it a think what to have with them.....maybe some cornbread?....

....if you're not a fan of fresh turnip greens you don't know what you're missing....yummm....

.....back to just knitting.....

....i am back to just knitting.....and that's the part i really like.....it took me awhile but i've finished the gusset on sock number one and i'm just knitting in the round again....which i love....i'm sort of lacking for blog fodder because i've been knitting.....a lot for me....sorry about the no pix.....too much knitting....not enough picture taking.....

....knitting ablaze....for me anyway....

....i think i've found my groove....hopefully i'll be able to keep it awhile....i've been at a transition place on three projects i've been working on.....you know the place where you have to sit by yourself and read the chart or instructions or both.....

....i got H.H.'s Stone Walls Vest front and back separated successfully....and today i mostly finished the left gloves of a pair of Fetching fingerless gloves....all i have left to do to it is the thumb, then i can cast on for the right one....

....tomorrow, if everything goes well, i plan to do the gusset on the sock i'm knitting.....and since i'm still relatively new at sock knitting....especially successful sock knitting....then i should be back to a place of just knitting for awhile....

....i'm also working a 2x2 ribbed hat....hats like that are so excellent for t.v. watching....and for me they are excellent for knitting at night when i don't really want to pay that much attention to what i'm doing and i don't want lots of things to frog in the a.m.....

....in fact i've just ordered several different colours of Valley Yarns Amherst merino from WEBS to make a few hats to have around....so, for now, i seem to be getting lots done....knit-wise anyway....