Silk Stockings for the Sock Museum

In 10 days I've managed to knit the cuff and leg of the first of pair #4 of Eleanora's stockings. I'll be starting the heel flap tonight. If I can get the heel shaped and foot started by Thursday, I will be doing very well.

My goal was to have this stocking completed in time to enter with the remaining mate from pair #3 in the State Fair on August 16th. Looks like I will make my goal with time to spare.

Good thing too as I have queenly stockings that need completion....

More garden....I'm boring

I think I may need to call for reinforcements. It's a good thing I like zuchinni and tomatoes as we are going to have a bumper crop (knock on wood).

This is our garden as of Friday. From the back left moving forward are pumpkins, zuchinni, summer squash, cucumbers, dill, swiss chard, fennel, and lettuce. From the back right moving forward is raspberry bushes, tomatoes, sunflowers (almost blooming), beets, peas, beans and onions.

I'm loving going out to my garden and picking dinner. P and I went to the Farmer's Market Saturday morning and I discovered that we had both been tallying the value of our produce when wandering the aisles. We went with another couple to act as native guides (and show the sneaky way to the free parking). I got coffee and a bagel and P picked up some cherries and blueberries. It was a lovely morning and we met up with other friends.

Our snap peas have reached the eave of the garage, ~ 7' high. I think the crop of peas is winding down, but the beans are reving up. I finally had enough beans to steam for dinner. Love!

We don't have any red tomatoes yet, but we should soon. We have a plethora of flowers and small green tomatoes on the cherry tomato plant and I can't wait.



The zuchinni and squash have been slowly coming along and I have a couple big zuchinni that I'm going to grate for bread.

The cucumbers are starting to come in. I have slicing cucumbers and pickling cucumbers. So far I like using the tomato cages to trellis the cucumber vines.

This is the North side of the garage and it always reminds me of Grandma G's garden in Minneapolis. She had tons of ferns.

Here is another look at the east side.

On being crafty

Link from Wendy, Knit and Tonic's blog.

I want a shirt that says "I can also make fire..."

Pretty tents!

Well shade flys actually. I like the semi of snowflakes.

Perennial Garden

A lot of the flowers in the beds that make a 90 degree turn around the North and east side were there when we moved in. The whole bed was actually quite overgrown and the inspector suggested that we thin it out, which I did with Duchess E last Fall.

This is how the beds looked during our initial walk through.



This is how the east bed looks now.



We cleared out a lot of the flox and I transplanted some perennials from our duplex. I cleared out some hostas and divided up some of the other plants and spread them around. I also brought over a couple bushes and one is added to the corner of this bed and the other is added to the new herb bed. Both bushes and most of the flowers seem to have survived the move just fine and they should really flourish next year.



This is the herb bed that I added to the west side of the house.



It's near the back door and I filled it mostly with herbs, although it has the other bush that I brought from Hillsdale, some Dyanthis and whatever this bulb is.



I transplanted lavender and planted lovage, sage, rosemary, tarragon, flat leaf parsley, savory, chives and cilantro. The cilantro really went nuts. My basil and oregano seeds did nothing. Such a shame. Next year I will add more plants.



I decided to re purpose my pots and grow some decorative annuals. I planted the pots in April and all 4 are doing quite well, despite my infrequent watering.

Weekend of accomplishments

Ok, first things first. Tent has more paint.



My new blue gown for WW has buttons, buttonholes, and the sleeves sewn into the armholes. Only thing left is the lacing cord and eyelets. (no pictures)

Shade flys for Nordskogen have been set up, tested and approved.



I'm so glad that Vidi is making the wood cause I would be even more insane than I already am. Last night I finished adding the rope slides, cut the second set of ropes and started loading the van with the stuff I'm going to need. They are NOT going to get the snowflakes until after WW and I don't care at this point. Anyone who wants to help with silk screening is welcome to come over.

This was the most important accomplishment of the weekend.



Sitting.

Produce

I need to eat more Swiss Chard, the garden will soon be drowning in produce. There are flowers on the cucumbers, summer squash, peas, beans, and tomatoes. Considering the cooler temps, I should pick up a hen and roast it on a bed of fennel tonight with some potatoes. That will be a nice easy dinner so that I can work on stuff in the sewing room.

On the way home from the wedding this weekend I purchased a flat (8 qrts) of strawberries. They are not as sweet as our neighbors, but they are pretty good, and a bargain at $3/ qrt. I cleaned and sliced 16 cups of strawberries and placed them in the freezer. I think I will end up making jam, but I don't have time to do that right now. I also have 1 1/2 qrts of cherries picked, with more still on the tree. They are waiting in the fridge for some action by me. Not sure what I'll do, but I think some will go into the freezer for baking, and some will go into alcohol for cordials.

The shade flys are sewn and could be set up anytime I get the wood. I still need to add the snowflakes, but I will start that tonight. See how well I did masking my new screen for the task.

I'm going to knitting on Thursday, but it's going to be a quick dash in, grab my food order form Chris, and dash out. Too much to do this week.