photographs, life is...

The pain I have been having in my right back and sides took a turn for the worst over the holiday weekend and I spent Sunday in emergency care when it became unbearable. I have a long road ahead but I choose to celebrate life, because in spite of many obstacles, life is good.

We went to the cemetery to rake and decorate the family plot as we do at least once a year, but I forgot the camera, so no photos.

However, here are some photos of scenes of home and nearby travels.
For the humming birds :



The Landscapers' finally opened for the season, so we bought another cubic metre of cedar mulch for the tomatoes, and

to replenish the flower and herb beds

The bluebird house on the garden shed:

The raspberry bushes have been pruned!

At the vintage/thrift shop, hubby played with this Alvarez guitar:

I bought this butterfly house, someone else's handiwork:

I repaired it, sanded, gessoed, and painted it blue and white.

The thin plywood is not sturdy enough for posting it in the flower bed, so I think I'll use it as decoration on the front porch for a while.

A stack of old magazines and a vintage book from 1928
version after the (silent) movie came out, starring Faye Ray (The original King Kong’s “girlfriend“) While the book is a Grosset & Dunlap publishing, which I collect, it is not a children’s book, but I broke my rule of collecting only their vintage children's books for the black and white photos and Ms. Ray :)

Lilacs:
An unoccupied bluebird house on the south border:


Pear blossoms, very tasty pears, yum!

A bat in our belfry, or our chimney any way:

A bat took up residences in the gap between the house and chimney. Here's hubby cleaning the bat guano from behind the chimney. After which we sprayed liberally with bleach, and rinsed with a solution of Green Works and water.

It's time to finish this pair of cotton denim and wool blend socks:














As for the baby's cardigan, I have finished the back and both fronts, but I will be out of yarn before I can finish the sleeves. ( I considered making short sleeves, but I decided to order more yarn instead. Photos are forthcoming.

The positive side have needing bed rest is that I can knit and sketch without guilt :)

Take Care of each other!

my back, ouch!

My back, or more accurately, my right side, has had it, at least for a few days. No more planting, shoveling, or climbing for a while. The pain tablets are not helping very much, and no matter what I do, it has gotten progressively worse over several months. It may not just be another kidney stone. :( so I just have to rest and behave for a time, and see if it improves in the next few days. :)
I've weeded the herb and flowers beds and have also potted some plants. Here is the flower box on the front porch, I promise to post more photos of other flowers around the garden next time:

In the last four years we reduced our once large vegetable garden to a 8 x 2 foot strip to the right of the back porch. I no longer preserve vegetables, since I can and do stock up on most canned veggies at the super store. I think I'm ahead 3 to 6 months ;)) However, if I find something at the farmers market, I do get a bushel and cook and freeze whatever it is, like green beans and corn. I've kept most of my canning jars and utensils in good order just in case ;)

I've planted two kinds of tomatoes :















On the left is "beefy" and on the right is "cherry"
I got some fresh yeast last Friday, and I baked two loaves. Since there will be no more work in the garden for a few days (except for watering the plants and flowers) I'll probably make a few more loaves and buns.

Now that my sister's birthday has come and gone, and I know she has received it, I will show you the necklace I bought for her some time ago ( this photo is from the website):

I have amethyst earrings in a square silver setting, and they are so lovely, I thought sis would also love something in the same stone, even though it is not her "birth"stone.

It's funny, but when I was younger I was not terribly interested in buying or wearing jewelry, but as I get older, I seem to be turning into a magpie bird( They find shiny things attractive *giggles*). Not that I own very much, but I seem to have become more interested in the last three years in at least looking at jewelry.

The hummingbirds are back, and so we need to make nectar for them. Whilst I was standing on the back porch, one flew up, had a look see at the spot where we usually hang the feeder, and flew away. We have been feeding them for at least twenty years, so each generation probably has the location in their genes by now *lol*

Off to put the laundry in the dryer ( too rainy and cold to hang on the line even if I want to). I'll also try to have photos of the progress I've made on the baby's cardigan I've been knitting. I finished the back at the weekend.

knit along

MyCraftivity is having a knit along for a baby's cardigan. I'm making up a pattern since I'm having trouble downloading the pdf, which happens sometimes.
I've swatched for a lace and straight stitch pattern in lamb's wool worsted weight:
I am not feeling great, I'm in a bit of pain, exacerbated by over doing and the cold damp weather we have been having. We did have a bit of sunshine today, so that helped. I haven't been sketching or doing watercolours lately, but since I'm in the mood to knit, this sweet little project should help me to relax and behave :) no overdoing it, right hubby?! :) I've started knitting up the back, and hope to finish that at the weekend.

I must remember to get some fresh yeast for bread making. The old yeast has reached it's sell by date, so no breadmaking as planned, at least not until tomorrow.
Wishing you a great weekend !

winds and weekend

It's been so windy today! It was nice and sunny while I was driving and doing errands, but later, the high winds brought me back indoors after many attempts to work in the garden and do other outdoor projects.

Beautiful flowers from hubby; roses and freesias:

Scenes from the informal gathering of extended family:

One of the two quiches I made for the gathering:

The finished anklets. I keep a small amount of synthetics blends as that is what is requested when I knit for charities but I don’t like how they feel against my skin. I am allergic to some wools, but llama, and cottons and cashmeres ( not that I can afford cashmere :)) feel wonderful . (My friend S. recently sent me some quiviut which is heavenly!) If I’m going to put time into knitting something, it should be done in well.

The anklet on the bottom was sprayed and blocked, no change. The one on top was machine washed. It pilled and is fuzzy. I will keep these for myself and wear them over socks as slippers ‘round the house.

I haven't baked bread in weeks, so I may do a loaf and some buns(rolls) tomorrow.

Mother's Day comes

A barn swallow decided that one of my soil sifters stored in the rafters of the wood shed made a good foundation for her nest. Usually they just build directly onto the rafters. This mother for the first few days would fly out of the shed every time we went in ( the nest is closest to the entry) but now when she is sitting, she sort just keeps her eye on me and allows :) me do what I need to do. I took this photo mid morning yesterday, when she must have been out foraging.
Four perfect eggs:

I planted all three of the amaryllis in one pot a couple of days ago. I had them loosely wrapped in newspaper, and they were again sprouting in the dark. I think the stems will be shorter this time, but there seem to be many more blossoms at once. they are outside on the front porch which gets some of the afternoon sun, so it's a good spot for now.

Talking of porches, this is the little side porch and landing I mentioned I had scraped and painted the other day. a view to the west, and of the door to my studio/workroom. My herb patch is below right. I may paint the door the same chocolate colour as the door frame. The back and front porch railings are touched up only every few years because they have full roofs, but this one needs doing every other year because it is only partially covered and is on the moister, north side. The second floor siding needs some painting as well. I sat there on Sunday and Tuesday mid morning for a few minutes after the rain stopped and the sun came out. The sunlight was just right then.

The rhubarb is not as tall as it could be because I pulled up about 75 percent of it last fall due to over crowding. My mother-in-law makes the best apple-rhubarb pies. My friend E. , who has a strawberry farm, makes a terrific strawberry-rhubarb pie as well. I like the sweet/tart flavours, but one slice for the summer is usually my limit. ;)

I remembered to bring my camera when I went walking down the lane yesterday, but I saw no deer as I often do. They are very stealth when they visit our yard, but I can usually see some in the evenings in the neighboring field.

I'm doing cheese/spinach quiches for a gathering this weekend, and maybe a cold barley salad; yum!

I hope your Mother's Day celebrations are wonderful!

It's May!

The rain came last night, and now, at 7 in the evening, is coming still-- a day late for April showers, but the sounds were soothing. No thunder or lightning, just heavy rain. Of course it is now cold and damp, but at least it's not snowing, and the trees will be blossoming soon, and the lily leaves are 6 inches high. As well, we were able to get an early start on some outdoor projects, so that's a plus. A northeast view of the backyard at 6 :12 pm:

There is something about damp weather which makes me want to knit. I've nearly finished with the wrap, only six inches to go, and I've started a pair of anklets which I've made many times before in red and blue wool, so I thought I'd try this lambs wool and acrylic blend in zinna. The lace pattern is from my knitting encyclopedia, but the the rest I made up. My bamboo needles are in use on another project so I must use the aluminum ones, which I don't like as much.



Another packing tube of lovely papers for bookbinding, including antique"italian postcards"( cartolina postale italiana, it sounds much better in Italian :) ) The print of the writing is quite small so I can only make out names addresses, but the colours are lovely.

Etsy has changed the "items sold" link in all the shops to" sales," so the numbers are smaller. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I'm glad I made a sale yesterday, since it's been slow there for a while. thousands more sellers have joined in the short time I've been a member.

Happy weekend everyone!