It’s been a strange, off-again-on-again spring, with some weather extremes. At the end I was wondering who stole our spring, as it turned quite chilly again. Not quite cold enough for frost, but get the cozy old sweatshirt back out sort of weather.
Here are a few outdoor highlights:
Wind spinner – a nice birthday present!
Crabapple tree
An old redbud
Serviceberry in bloom 🙂
April sunset
PS. I just added another pattern to my Ravelry store – it’s perfect for a very special occasion!
Looking away back – to my first published design, which appeared on the cover of the first issue of Knitting World (succeeded first by Knitting Digest, then Creative Knitting). The sweater is still here somewhere.
Meanwhile, back at home, it looks like spring has finally made it, after several hiccups. Lots of things in bloom, and I’m really wanting to get going on the garden.
Redbud by the house.
Passing through.
And saving the best for last 😉
High speed dog!
Thought I would stick my head back in the door 😉
My grandmother – practically everyone called her Muttie – was a huge part of my life growing up. She’s the one who taught me to knit, probably in self defense to keep me occupied, and though I don’t recall seeing her knit very much, she did a lot of crafts, including weaving. I still have her small 2-harness loom. She also taught me to cook, and I continue to learn new things in that field. Tomorrow would have been her 122nd birthday.
Muttie with Mom & Aunt Peg (ca. 1926)
a very merry Christmas (or holiday of your choice) and best wishes for a great New Year!
hope someone’s here – things have stayed busy and the poor blog has been seriously neglected for much too long! The garden’s long gone, though some of it (mostly green & wax beans, and roasted tomato sauce) lingers on in the freezer, knitting projects have come and gone, and of course more’s on the needles.
The most recent one I can talk about, Tangerine Leaves can be found in Knitter’s K113, and was lovely to knit!
We got a pretty good snow (for us – probably 6-8″) starting on Thursday, and it’s been Bird Central, with cardinals, juncos, chickadees, titmice, canaries, some rather unexpected robins, bluebirds, yellow-rumped warblers, a couple of pileated woodpeckers and swarms of cedar waxwings, which are going after the berries on the cedars, and the year’s bumper crop of persimmons.
Cedar waxwings feasting on persimmons
Toby’s been loving the snow, in fact it’s been hard to get him to come in, even when it’s been in the teens & 20’s, and he comes in with snow sticking everywhere, including ice balls in his feet 
Maggie’s more into cozy spots – here’s why it’s hard to get the bed made around here 😉 
We’re trying to get ready for the holidays, but there’s always something more to do! 
Lately, I’ve been searching for summer squash recipes, and found a couple of keepers. 
Saut̩ed Baby Squash with Basil & Feta РI had small, but not baby pattypan squash, so I cut a white one and a yellow one into wedges and saut̩ed them until lightly colored on each side (this pretty much eliminated the excess moisture I get with most squash preps), subbed green onions for the leeks, cut up a couple of Roma tomatoes, and totally forgot to add the cheese, but it was yummy and will certainly be repeated. Sweet peppers would be good in this too!
Another keeper was Skillet Mexican Zucchini – the original recipe is meatless, but I sautéed strips of chicken breast (cleaning out the freezer), then added them at practically the last minute. I skipped the pickled jalapenos, and I’m not sure if I remembered the cheese, but I did stir in some sofrito and chili powder with the garlic and onions, which gave it a bit of zing.
Yellow pattypan squash.
Volunteer butternut squash.
Since there are more squash in the garden, these may get replayed soon 😛
The Knitting Camp trip was great as always. In addition to all the usual wonderfulness, after some years of blog and email virtual visiting, Angie and I were able to arrange a real meet-up in Cedarburg WI for lunch at Cream & Crepes (yum!) and some visiting after lunch. Fingers crossed that we can do it again! 🙂
Meet-up in Cedarburg.
A friend at Camp had made the Scallops & Ribs top (Knitter’s K110) and brought it for Show & Tell, so of course she was also part of my Show & Tell. I love her choice of color!
Natascha’s Scallops & Ribs.
I had a wonderful time, but of course the downside of trips is catching up when you get home. The garden (especially the beans!) kept growing while I was gone, and I’ve frozen quite a few beans to be enjoyed next winter. They’re still coming in at a pretty good rate, and the little French fillet beans (Calima) are definitely on the do-again list, in fact, probably more of them and a bit less of some of the other varieties. 
Except for a very few here & there, we’re still waiting for the tomatoes, but the squash and cucumbers are coming in at a manageable pace.
My new rose bush had a tiny, but nice surprise for me – I wanted red, and this is a lovely red.
Prairie Clogger (Griffin Buck rose).
If anyone’s looking for me, I’ll probably either be in the garden, or in the kitchen dealing with the veggies 😉
Time for Knitting Camp – can’t wait to see everyone 🙂
Joyknits! 