Author: denisemor

After The Rain

Yesterday’s storm had us all hunkered down. But today the pasture gang was back in action.

with tiny Gus watching from the sidelines

the deep watering was appreciated by this old “came with the place” rose that I transplanted earlier this spring. I’m so pleased that she has survived the move- she’s a rosbust climber and I thought it might be cool to let her ramble up over the sheep/chicken shed

she’s even got a bud! woot! 🙂

lots of other pretty things budding out as well- Reine de Violettes

And peonies are starting to pop!

Yesterday’s stormy weather also provided me with a fair bit of knitting time.

so now I’m almost at the point where I start working the sleeves together with the body and shaping the shoulders.

I think I have enough yardage to finish, but If not, I’ve got a couple bobbins of singles in reserve waiting to be plied up.

The tricky bit will be finding the best blend of Layton shaping and EZ seamless saddle shoulder construction.

Spring in the Garden

Everything is fabulously green and growing like it’s a time lapse video. I’ve been engaged in an epic battle to free our garden beds and borders from the bondage of buttercups, with some (albeit temporary) success. So in this moment that the lawn is mowed, the beds are (mostly) weeded and the evening sun is casting a beautiful glow on everything, I thought I would share some some shots of the things that are keeping my spirits up in the midst of this pandemic.

Roadside rose border
rugosa & lily hedge
rose & perennial bed
veg beds (w/ peonies behind)
potatoes & squash in makeshift compost bed
Boo kitten on patrol! 🙂
fall-bearing raspberries
maybe we’ll get quinces this year?
tiny pears!
cherries!
black currants!
figs!
and the wall of rhodies

The bumblebees are thick on the rhodies right now. They just can’t get enough. I understand the feeling. The spring garden is intoxicating.

All She Wrote

I probably shouldn’t wait to post until Sunday night.

After a busy weekend I’m almost always nearly out of gas.

But here we are. 🙂

So just a couple little things to share as I close out the week

Making progress on my Layton-ish project. I’ve joined the front and back of the body (started separately because of the split hem) and I am safely in the land of circular stockinette stitch.

(It’s a little longer than it looks in that photo, because the hem rolls up a bit.)

I would have been farther along, but I had to re-knit the back 2.5″ of the split hem due to messing up the double slip stitch edges. Not even sure what I was thinking- it seems like such a simple thing. But it kind of threw me for some reason.

In any case, things are rolling along well now, and I really like the feel of the fabric.

Also wanted to post an update on that little rose I started from seed a few months ago

She’s really picking up steam! But what’s that little thing there at the edge of the pot?

It’s another seedling! Where did he come from?

It makes me think that perhaps I gave up too soon on the rest of those rose seeds. I guess I’ll separate him out when I re-pot his sibling.

Have a good week- and stay safe!

Lockdown Productivity

Progress on my Layton-ish sweater

Two sleeves knit, up to the armpits! It’s kind of hard to see in the dark yarn, but there is a little bit of a slip-stitch/cable panel that runs up the outside of the sleeve. Once the sleeves are joined to the body this detail will run up the shoulders and to the collar.

Also got those two bobbins of singles plied up so have plenty of yarn ready to get started on the body-

So that’s coming along pretty well now. 🙂

Also working on getting some fleeces washed- this is the back half of Dottie- drying after her initial suint soak and freshwater rinse

And the garden is starting to come up!

those are my just-spouted snap peas (under a protective layer of wire fence for now)

and the garlics are starting to recover from being divided and replanted.

Spinach, carrots, cukes and squash are poking out as well, but not much to see yet.

And out in the pasture, sheeps and chickens are trying to stay cool in out first really warm weather of the year. In the mid-80’s here this weekend!

They love watermelon rinds- special summertime treat-

nom nom!

Think it’s supposed to cool off and start raining tomorrow, but we’ve sure enjoyed our brief summer preview.