Last Week's Garden Work - Picture Heavy

Ok, folks. Whether you wanted to know about it or not..lol..I decided to show you what I did last weekend.

We start with a trailer full of "poop dirt". It's from the manure pile of the farm of a good friend. Lush, rich soil. :) This pictures is showing half the amount of dirt that we started with. lol. So we had alot! I really needed to freshen up my beds with some new dirt. They were looking so sad and really packed down. Since these pictures were taken we had some seriously humid, wet, hot weather and the garden loved it. Everything grew at least 1/2"-1".


Bed #1- Left side: Celery, Middle: Lettuces, a Cheddar Cauliflower and 2 Eggplants in the back by the trellis. Right side: Pansies and 3 more Cheddar Cauliflowers.


Bed #2- Left Side: Red Bell Peppers, Middle: Nasturtiums, Banana Peppers, Hot Salsa Pepper, Summer Squash and Zucchini, Right Side: More Hot Salsa Peppers and a Green Bell Pepper.


Bed #3- Left Side: Yellow Pear Tomatoes, Middle: Kellogg's Orange & Green Zebra Tomatoes, Cucumber, Right Side: Nasturtium and a Kellogg's Orange Tomato


Bed #4- Roma Tomatoes, Cantaloupe, Some big red slicing type tomato (can't remember the name), Chives and Purple Onions.

Bed #5- "Sorcerer" Pumpkin, so far.

We dug up all the weeds surrounding the lilac (that in 8 years, has never bloomed, tyvm), then filled in with poop dirt and planted some columbines on the right side and 3 varieties of basil, 1 oregano, thyme and Sage on the left side. In the background you see my very, very sad front steps. They must be replaced this year.

Now for some basic "Flower's About The Home" pictures.

First up we have the carnations my beautiful children gave me for Mother's Day. They are still hanging on as I type. Not nearly as vibrant as when this picture was taken....but still smell pretty good. Carnations are my favorite flower. :) The white ones in this bouquet were particularly fragrant.

My "Christmas" Cactus that really has no idea what time of year it is. It usually blooms at Easter and Thanksgiving....but, this year I got a little pop of color in between. :)

Bonfire Begonia. Funky. Original. Pretty.

Columbine. Sweet. I have them in a pink/yellow mix and I have one waiting to be transported to my mom's in a lovely purple.

My daughter's Fuschia plant. She fell in love at the Greenhouse and really, who could blame her?

Beautiful, dusky Pansies.

Last, but not least, Purple Iris. Faithful. Pain in my Butt. Took over the side of my house and we get about 20 flowers a season. lol

Ok. So that's it for today. I really do have to get some work done! lol Hope you enjoyed a trip through my garden.

"Elves"- The Knitted Baby Blanket- Swatching

I am swatching. Yay! My first time ever!! :)

I have never been a fan of swatching, so for knitting I've never done it. This time, however, is a different story. I have an afghan design in my brain that is dying to come out as the companion blanket to my "Faeries" crocheted blanket from last year and the pattern stitches I am using, I have never done before. I don't think I've ever shared "Faeries" with you before because I was going to seek publication for it...and it's been on the back burner for about 6 months...

Anyway, we've moved on to "Elves", the knitted companion blanket to "Faeries". It is going to be earthy and neutral. Oh! and it's a baby blanket!

So there (up there^) is the beginning. :) It is making me happy.

New Adventures...again...

Well, I am on another new adventure.

I have gone back to work for my father's company three days a week to run his office. The reason I am needed is such a loooong and seedy-ish story of frustration, lack of trust and anger that I won't bore you with the details. Besides...I don't like to air dirty laundry in public.

So, needless to say, I am back to work 5days/week. On the one hand, I love having something to do everyday. On the other hand, I am afraid of what's going to happen to my house. I am already not a great housekeeper. Things get kind of cluttered. Now, with two teenagers home and no mommy to make them clean up after themselves....*gasp*...I don't even want to think about it. They have also expressed the fact that they are not thrilled about being home alone every day. While I can sympathize with them (my mom went back to work when I was 13 and I was lost), I don't see any other way of doing "this" without me having a second job.

My job for the last year and a half cannot guarantee me more hours each week. So I decided that I was going to pursue a second part time job. I don't really want to leave my current job. But, with powerlifting nationals happening in Corpus Christi, TX next year and wanting to go on a family vacation this summer...amongst many other things, like everyone needs new clothes and shoes, etc...we needed more income. We live very basic on our current checks...there just isn't anything more for anything else. Anyway, I prayed about it and asked God to provide a job that wasn't going to interfere with church and the plans I already have in place. Lo and behold, he provided me this one (where I really wanted to be anyway), for more pay than I was expecting. God is good, is He not?

So now I will have access to the internet and hopefully will be a MUCH better blogger and sharer of patterns and pictures than I have been up till now. As a matter of fact, I tried to plug my memory card into this computer and it was having none of it. So we shall see. I swear my patience is being tried with this camera!!

I have completed one of the afghans that I was planning as a graduation gift, along with the matching slippers. I have at least one more to go...maybe two, but I have a feeling I will not be completing those until after graduation. We'll see. I have a picture of the blanket, I really do, but I can't get it off my SD card right now. May have to wait till a different day if I am unable to figure this out.

Ok, I'm signing off for now. Have a great day!

Lillies of the Valley

I'm having another random moment.

The Lilly of the Valley. Probably one of God's most perfect flowers.

Delicate in it's appearance, yet resilient in it's strength. This little beauty will take over any space it is planted in. In Northern Wisconsin, it flowers in May. Which could be 65 degrees or 35 degrees. It braves any weather and any circumstance to make its presence known.

I happen to have a small bouquet of them on my desk right now. They are cheerfully dangling over the edge of a cheap, red plastic cup, giving off their intoxicating perfume. I braved a very cold rain as I was leaving the house this morning in order to enjoy this little burst of Spring in my cubicle.

How delicate is the human race? Yet, how resilient are we when we are facing a trial? Can we beat off the bad weather and force our way out of the storm to show our beauty and share our intoxicating perfume of triumph? Can we be a burst of joyful Spring in the dowdiness of everyday life? Who can we touch today?

Things to ponder.

Knitted Coffee Cozy

Once again, this is the pattern that I started with. I MUST give her credit! She designed a beautiful thing...I executed it poorly!

So like I said last week, I had to modify the pattern to something that I had an easier time doing. I loved the original pattern stitch, I just needed to start from the bottom and work to the top.


My design on the left....The original design on the right. See my wonky bind off edges on the original one?!?


This is the backside of mine.

Knitted cup cozy pattern

material: less than 2 oz of yarn, 7dpns

CO 40st, join to make circle
row 1: k1, p1
row 2: inc, continue in established pattern around.
row3-16: repeat rows 1 and 2 ending with 48 stitches
row 17-18: purl each st aroundBO in purl.
Cut, leave long end for winding.

National Day of Prayer...for ALL.

If you are a pray'er....today is an opportunity for you.

Most people have the misconception that today is a 'Christian' day. There has been an uproar in our government about making such a day illegal or against the Constitution. First of all, how dare they try out outlaw my rights? How dare they presume that I will sit down and shut up because they tell me to? Quite the contrary...I will stand on the mountaintop and scream even louder!!According to Wikipedia this is what the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights has to say:

The Bill of Rights prohibits Congress from making any law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, guarantees free speech, free press, free assembly and association

This applies to all religion, not just the Christian religion. It seems as though the Christian religion gets targeted by anything relating to restrictions of rights. We feel it most keenly, because we are currently the majority in the religious sector. Yet, we have to remember America is the melting pot of the world. Many, many, many people have come to America seeking freedom from religious persecution. Just as the founding fathers of our nation did. Only to find themselves back in a nation that wants to try and tie the hands of the religious once again. They don't have that right. And if they force it.....they won't have a country left to run. We are a nation of religion, whether our government likes it or not.

While I am a Christian and I do pray to God. (Not Allah, not Buddah, not Hari Krishna, not Muhammed......God. The God of Israel. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Father of Jesus Christ. Just to be completely clear about whom I am speaking.) This is simply a day of prayer. This is a day that I encourage you to exercise your religious freedom, whatever that may be and PRAY! Our country needs it desperately.

Here is my prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father,
Today I am praying for my country. I am lifting my President up. I pray for his safety and the safety of his family. I pray that wisdom surrounds him in the form of advisors and influencers. I pray that he uses wisdom in decisions he makes concerning my country. I pray for my Congressman and Senators. I ask you to guide them when making choices concerning laws that will affect our state and the people in it.
I thank you that YOU are a God of more than enough. This nation is still the best nation in the world with the most freedom and hope (and not because somebody used it as a campaign slogan). Thank you that you strengthen our military as they defend our freedoms. Thank you for their sacrifices. Both the soldiers and their families. And I thank you Lord that they are not abused in these worldly conflicts they are being thrust into. Please protect them from harm. I ask you to bring them back to us safely and not consumed by the horror they have had to endure.
Thank you for the prosperity of your people and the people of this great nation. Thank you for continued freedom to express your love and grace!
Father, I will lift your name before the nations and not be ashamed. Please use this voice to give you glory!
In Jesus' Name,
Amen

Now..if you haven't....go pray. I'm sure that He would like to hear your voice today. :)