My assistant and I were visiting the neighbor yesterday and she told a gripping tale of seeing a Red-tailed Hawk on the ground with its prey out her patio doors and then another one came and stole the meal. I was envious, jealous even, so I kept my eyes peeled and my ears cocked and was rewarded. I heard a commotion in the big trees in the lot behind her house and one of the sounds was the call of that Red-tail. So I watched and watched and soon I saw it perched way up in the branches all the better to glare at the birds trying to chase it away. Durwood wants to entice it into our yard so he can ask it to thin the chipmunk and squirrel herds but I don't think that'll happen.
We're still getting regular visits from a couple of female hummingbirds. I don't know if you appreciate how tiny they are but in the first picture you can barely see her tail as she sips from the port on the back side of the feeder. (see why I spent $12 on one with the reservoir below the ports?) That's her in the second picture after she moved around to the next port. The back one and the left one are the most popular ones; I have no idea why.
The patio pots are looking gorgeous. I'm looking forward to the plants filling out so that the soil isn't quite so prominent but I'm very pleased with the colors and... well, I just like them.
I slipped up keeping an eye on the asparagus and found these three giant spears this morning. Guess what vegetable we're having with our leftover burgers and sweet corn tonight. Go on, guess.
I finished knitting Advent Garland Mitten #7 (the non-green one) on Monday and last night I started crocheting Advent Garland Mitten #8 (variegated green). With the knitted one you start at the cuff, knit up to the thumb, veer off to knit it, and then continue up the hand to the top. For the crocheted one you make the top of the thumb first, break off the yarn, then start the hand at the top, work around and around for a while, join the thumb top, and move down to the cuff, decreasing on either side of the thumb as you go. Neither one takes very long and I'm enjoying the variation in constructions.
In garden news, I was surprised to see that the heirloom variety Wisconsin 55 tomato plant has flowers on it. None of the others do, not even Early Girl, so maybe it's more adaptable. I need to figure out how to rearrange the soaker hose without killing the lettuce sprouts because the herb plants don't seem to be getting enough water. I'll study the problem and work on it this weekend.
May 31--Claude Monet, La Rue Montorgueil, Paris, during the celebrations of June 30, 1878. The air over the city crackled with the sound of flags snapping in the summer wind. The end of June was full summer and Paris made the best use of the day. Flags, bands, the crush of people in the streets, everything in the red, blue, and white of the French flag. Even kites children flew in the parks looked like flags escaped from their flagpoles. Claude sat in the window of his flat, took off his glasses, and painted the blurs, the energy, the feeling of the day. There was a lot of wine flowing, that probably had something to do with the freedom he expressed on his canvas that day.
This morning's sunup sky was a pretty one. Most of the clouds have scuttled away to the east but I don't think we'll escape them altogether anytime soon. It's still chilly enough to wear long pants, at least in the morning. I'm trying not to yearn for warmer days too much because I know I won't like it when it gets summer-hot in a few weeks. Off to work.
--Barbara
Not to imply that I have much of a farm but the buttercrunch lettuces are looking bigger and greener and I spied a teeny tiny carrot sprout or two yesterday morning. Hooray. Everybody should plant seeds, especially people with kids. It's so magical when they start to sprout. None of the tomatoes or peppers look much different than when I planted them except they're less droopy and the herbs seem to be adjusting to sideways life. I've talked to more people about straw bale gardening that didn't have much luck and when I say that I bought the book, they say, "oh, there's a book?" Meaning "there're instructions to help me succeed?" Goofballs. So I'm guessing they poke holes in the unconditioned straw, dribble in some soil and a seed or two, and think they've got it all sewed up. This is why Al Gore invented the Internet. At least do a little web surfing, people, or contact your local Ag Extension office for tips.
I spent a lot of yesterday zoned out playing spider solitaire on my Kindle so there's not much in the way of interesting, hobby-type stuff to show off. I intended to knit a green Advent Garland mitt last night, or start one anyway, but you see what color yarn got grabbed. Next one'll be green. Cross my heart.
I did take a walk around most of the block and discovered that the muscles the outsides of my thighs are seriously out of sorts or out of shape or something because I hadn't taken a dozen steps before they started loudly complaining that they hurt and tried to convince me to turn around and go home. But I didn't. I did shorten my walk a bit but I intend to go out into the sunshine and breezes today and do it again. Take that, whatever-you're-called muscles.
The coleus in the four "cauldron" pots across the front of the house are very happy with their lots in life. They've all perked right up and started growing. Good job. I love the colors of the leaves and how easy they are to keep happy. All I have to do is pinch off the tiny end leaves every once in a while so they make more branches and not let them flower because when they're flowering they stop thinking about leaves and they get spindly.
May 29--Christofano dell'Altissimo, Portrait of Ismail I Sophi, Persian Shah. "I didn't know Persians had red hair. Did you know Persians had red hair?" Virgie prattled her way down the portrait gallery. "Look at that dead duck with its head hanging off the table. Isn't it gruesome? Who'd paint that?" Her constant talking passed from one gallery to the next but didn't stop. "Oh, here are the surrealists." She clasped her hands under her chin. "How do they know which end is up? Do you think there's a big arrow with the words 'This End Up' on the back of each one?" Blanche and Doris noticed that Virgie didn't need a response to any of her comments. It was going to be a long week on the bus.
Happy Memorial Day! Visit a cemetery to pay your respects, thank a vet, and then go have a cookout. Remember why this weekend is a holiday.
--Barbara
I took my lunch out onto the patio yesterday because it was the first day in more than a week that wasn't chilly and rainy. I also took my camera just in case a hummingbird or oriole decided to stop by for lunch too. None did but a robin came for a bath. Robins are gold-medal-level bathers. They come alone, not in flocks like the sparrows do, and they get right down to business. I don't see how they could get wetter and I usually have to refill the birdbath when one is done.
For the last week or so a mama robin has been building a nest on the driveway light of the other side of the duplex. Every time I go out my own door she flies up into the tree and squawks at me to clear the area. This morning when I went out for the paper she didn't move. I suspect she's got eggs.
I took my three new patterns downstairs, measured myself, and then started digging for fabric. I found a lot. A. LOT. More than I thought in some cases and less than I thought in others but there will be no need to purchase fabric for quite a while. Next I have to trace the pieces onto some stiff fabric-like stuff I bought a bolt of at a Sheboygan thrift shop for just such a use, then I can cut out the pieces and sew. I was disappointed to see that the pants have no pockets but my old skirt pattern doesn't either and I fixed that. I can fix the pants too. Maybe not the first, practice pair but subsequent ones for sure. While down there waiting for the first washer load of fabric to be ready for the dryer, I measured and cut out the first tablesetter's placemat I plan to make out of stash fabric. I'm modifying a pattern from Growing Up Sew Liberated because LC likes a "cloth" under her lunch so I thought she
could learn to set the table at the same time. She informed me that I need to make one for me and one for Baba too. There'll be one for OJ also but right now he's more interested in throwing things on the floor than setting the table.
Here's this morning's view. Rain. It's Memorial Day weekend, what did you expect? It's currently sunny but there's more rain in the forecast. Of course. Good thing we don't have plans to grill out--or do we? I might have bought a dozen brats and a quart of Bud to boil them in last night which means I'll be firing up the Weber in the not-too-distant future.
May 28--Albert Sebille,5th Century BC Greek Ship. "It's the eyes that disturb me." Edgar leaned over to murmur into Louise's ear. "Well," she said, "I guess they wanted to see where they were going." The painting was a watercolor of an ancient ship powered partly by a huge, red, square sail and partly by rows of galley slaves at long oars below decks. "Do you think it made a difference?" he asked. She shrugged. "I don't think they sailed much out of sight of land in those days so the eyes were probably more to intimidate pirates or sea monsters. There were a lot more sea monsters then than there are now." He stared at her to see if she was serious. "How do you figure that?" She waved a hand at the painting. "Oh, I have an anthropology degree and I love maps. All the old maps had monsters at the edges, everyone knows that."
Since it's sunny right now I think I'll get dressed (what? it's Sunday and a holiday weekend) and take a walk around the block. I'm feeling tired and draggy, maybe I need to get out and about some.
--Barbara
I went out to survey my domain this morning in the early morning light.
The most exciting was the sight of tiny little lettuces sprouting on top of one of the bales. It looks like I wasn't very good at spreading them out but I'll deal.
There are buds coming on the poppies. They're about walnut-size, all green and fuzzy, until they split open, the hulls fall, and the poppy springs forth. (Orange poppies, not red opium poppies if you're concerned that we've decided to start a small retirement side business. Besides we just don't have the acreage to make a profit.)
Yesterday morning Mr. Hummingbird came to the feeder and I managed to get one not-blurry picture of him. You still can't really see his ruby throat but, trust me, it's there. He's a much darker green than any of the Mrs. Hummingbirds that come around too, and he's way zippier.
I finished Advent Garland Stocking #6 even though I was short of the variegated yarn I started the toe with. I just grabbed another variegated yarn in the realm of orange and made the best of it. I kind of like that it's less than perfect. Then because I noticed that four of the five Advent Garland Mittens I had completed are red, I grabbed the leftovers from LC's sweater and make #6 a purple sparkly one. I have half of the stockings/socks and half of the mittens made. Since donating four knitted "training socks" to the cause I'm debating whether to crochet four more and knit two more so I have an equal number of knitted and crocheted ones. Same goes for the mittens. Should I crochet the other six mittens? Probably. That'll balance things out. We all know that my InnerDespot demands symmetry in all things--except for matching socks.
Look what came in the mail yesterday. It's the three 100 Acts of Sewing patterns I ordered and paid for with my (annoyingly) hand-rolled, mad money coins. Once I've got this posted I plan to sit on the couch to read the instructions (you're surprised, I know, I kind of am too) and then go down to make sure the fabric I'm hoping to use for my first garment is washed and ready to be made into something wearable. I have a lot of fabric downstairs and it needs to become something instead of just being folded potential sitting in the dark.
May 27--August Macke, Our Garden with Flower Beds. Through the keyhole-shaped opening in the wall, Elsie moved from the city to the country. The noise of traffic faded, replaced by birdsong and bees buzzing. Flowers of every color lent their perfume to the air that welcomed her. She carried her sewing basket to the seat in the arbor expecting to get work done. Instead she listened to the trees whisper in the breeze and watched the robins and squirrels squabble over the seed in Mrs. Brodie's feeder.
Okey-dokey. Time to go find some lunch (maybe some string cheese, baby carrots, and a clementine with pretzels for "bread," I think--yeah, that sounds about right--eaten at the patio table--that sounds exactly right) . Toodles.
--Barbara
I'm still not having any ideas of what to knit so I took my bag of Advent Garland mittens and stockings to work with me and, LOOK!, here's a finished mitten and an almost finished stocking--and it wasn't a dead zone at work either. These things are fast and satisfying to make. I think I'll keep at them and maybe get up to 12 of each so that LC and OJ will have an Advent Garland from Meemaw this year.
Yesterday was chilly and rainy and dreary--did I mention chilly? I was dressed for late fall and my feet froze. Of course, I'd taken the extra packet of toe warmers out of my knitting basket when it seemed like it might be getting warm so I just grumbled and bore it. However, last night's sunset offered a hint of things to come seeing as how the sun was visible through the neighbors' not-on fire-today tree (it's the tree that the fallen wires on Easter tried to ignite). This morning the trailing edge of the clouds was nearing the eastern horizon and right now it's bright sunshine outside pretending that the last few days weren't crap.
I was thrilled to see a male hummingbird this morning. He's really zippy so the first couple times I tried to take his picture all I got was grass and feeder but while I was making my breakfast I saw him having a snack at the bleeding hearts and managed to snap a picture. Trust me, even though his back is to the camera there's that little patch of ruby red under his chin.
With all the cool weather the lilies of the valley have taken their own sweet time opening but this morning a few were open enough for me to pick them to send off to DD. See, every spring since she moved to Kentucky I pick a few sprigs of these flowers and mail them to her in a card. I know they'll be smooshed and droopy by the time they arrive but I'm confident that they'll smell like home and that's what counts.
May 25--Lewis Wickes Hine, Riveting Gang on the Empire State Building. He worked up there where the air was thin and the street sounds echoed. Richard clung to the girders by force of will and the grace of God. He figured that it was God's hand that kept him from stepping backwards off into nothingness or getting pushed by the wind that whipped through the skeleton of the building. On this side of the vertical beam the wooden platform he crouched on was cantilevered out over the edge with no railing or harness to keep him there. The rivets that Lew slung his way were red hot and came at him like machine gun fire. In his nightmares he dreamt that one day he'd miss and a rivet would carve an inch-diameter hole right through him, but not today.
They're resurfacing our street for the next few weeks. Right now they're at the side street and main thoroughfare intersection into our little neighborhood but a huge dump truck just backed, beeping all the way, around the court so it could drop its load of gravel where they're working and come back past here probably on its way to get more. This is going to be a pain in the keester, I can tell. I can't wait until they get around to right in front of us and we can't use our driveways. I wonder where they think we'll park. Time to go pick up some tanks--again, and get off to work. Toodle-oo.
--Barbara
And that, children, is today's four-letter word. It's May 24 and I'm wearing long jeans, a long-sleeved tee, and a flannel shirt--and I'm not too warm.
I got my wren house yesterday, got the eye hanger thingies screwed in, made a wire hanging loop that I twisted so it won't swoop all around in more than a breeze, and hung it up. Now we'll see if any wrens come to live there. Wrens are one reason I keep the fountain operating, they like to nest near running water.
I also got a couple geraniums and a yellow-green vine-y thing for the last patio pot. It had started to rain when I wanted to plant it so I squeezed myself under the eaves and only got the right sleeve and right hip of my clothes rained on. But then I figured I didn't have to water the plants in since they'd be sitting in the rain. Pretty smart, eh? This morning when I went out to take the picture there was a chipmunk in the pot already digging things up. Arrrgh.
The reason I didn't plant right away when I got home (before it started raining) was because I'd stopped at the bank on my way back to have my cup of mad money coins counted and turned into folding money. Oops, sorry, the bank no longer has a coin counting machine. What???? The teller told me that they even have to sit with trays and papers and roll their coins. Now that's an excellent use of employee time, don't you think? I refuse to use the coin counters at the grocery because there's a charge. I'll just keep making the bank give me coin rolling papers. And how will they know if I short-change them one coin per roll? Not that I would, of course, but...
**P.S. I asked at the bank this morning how they'd know if they were short and she said that she'd have to unwrap them and recount them. Can you imagine????
The bright spot of that little jaunt was this. It's some kind of succulent and I had to buy it. I don't know what it's called but don't you think it looks like it was drawn by Dr. Seuss? I love it and, even better, the young woman that sold it to me said succulents are her favorite plants so she told me how to keep it alive.
Last night after supper I cast on an Advent garland mitten. I need 12 mittens and 12 socks and am probably halfway there. Quick and easy knitting. BTW, that tail will turn into a loop for hanging the upside down mitten.
May 24--Jean Patou, Evening Outfits in Velvet. They were like a pair of cats defending the same territory. Clarissa, Rissa to her friends, wore a deep aqua velvet dress with a wine satin sash embellished with mink puffs on the ends. Her cape coat was made of the same fabrics with a deep mink collar that framed her face. Mae wore coral and yellow velvet embroidered in silver down the center back of her cape coat and along the hem. Her collar was deep and furry too. They entered the room from opposite sides; you could hear them hiss as they spotted each other.
Meh. I loved the picture but couldn't rustle up any inspiration. Two of Durwood's favorite food store ads weren't included in today's paper so I, the good wife, said I'd stop for one on my way to work and the other on my way home. But first I'm going to the bank with my paper sack of rolled coins. Grrr.
--Barbara
I thought when the sun came out yesterday that we were done with the gloomies for a while but, nooooo, another Low pressure system slotted itself in right behind the one that left so we're in it again. *sigh* Looks like we're in it until Thursday when it's supposed to warm up, but since this coming weekend's Memorial Day weekend I don't have huge hopes for warm and dry days.
This Downy Woodpecker came for a drink before it swooped over to the suet feeder. I've said it before, I know, but I love their tidy black and white feathers.
Hoping to attract some wrens to the mix I dug the fountain out of the garage this morning, gave it a scrub, then ran cleaning bleach through it for a little while before dumping out the suds and putting in plain water. I'm thinking I'll duck into Fleet Farm later to get a new birdhouse for them since both of ours crapped out over the winter. I saw one there for eight bucks a few weeks ago, I hope there's one left.
Helical Sock SOCK #2 is finished so I have two socks knitted from the same pattern. They don't look the same, that's for danged sure, and I somehow managed to make the leg of #2 a full two inches longer. Where was my mind? Better yet, where was my tape measure? The foot's a little longer because the foot of #1 is a little short. I'm a big fan of the colors of #2, more than #1 but I like them both and will wear them both. They're socks, not art. I'm kind of stumped about what to knit next so I think I'll work on WIPs and charity knitting until inspiration strikes.
The lilies of the valley are very slowly blooming. All this chilly weather's slowing them down, I'm sure of it. I wonder if the big patch of them is still there under the spruce tree that was in front of Grandma Stephan's house. I wonder if the tree's even there.
May 23--Delft, Holland, Delft Barber's Bowl imitating Chinese porcelain style. Earl picked up the brightly decorated bowl with the section scooped out of the rim. The shopkeeper glanced up. "It's a barber's bowl," he said. "That cut out part curves around the neck under the chin when you get a shave." Earl imagined the bowl with water and shaving foam in it, resting in his hands while a guy scraped off his whiskers with a straight razor. He didn't think he'd enjoy that. The mark on the bottom said "Delft" with a blue windmill. He said, "I thought all Delftware was blue on white." The shopkeeper shook his head. "This one imitates Chinese export porcelain but it's earthenware." He grinned. "Maybe all those bright colors hid any blood." Earl put the bowl down and moved on.
Well, poo. I had a lunch date with an out-of-town friend today that just got cancelled. I can't be too disappointed because her dad's in rehab here after getting a pacemaker and hurting himself in a fall so it's understandable that he needs her attention first but I even combed my hair and put on a nice scarf. Oh well, I'll just sashay around Fleet Farm looking good--for once. And from there I can go someplace for a few more flowers because I want to plant one more pot for the patio. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine.
--Barbara
After getting all the flowers and seeds planted, getting cleaned up, spending way more time than I wanted to while Durwood checked out the new Meijer store that opened on Tuesday, I sat on the couch, put my feet up, and knitted the rest of the Helical Sock SOCK foot and started the toe. I'll get that finished today because I have to work today (boo!) so I have to figure out what to knit next.
Speaking of checking out the new Meijer, here's Durwood in his scooter cart analyzing the TV dinner selection. If him spending 45 minutes in the Meat Dept. doesn't convince you that he loves grocery stores I don't know what will. I parked myself alongside a display of pistachio nuts and played spider solitaire on my phone until he was finally done. It didn't help that most of the population of the northern half of the hemisphere AND their crying babies were there too. Good thing he decided that things are too expensive there so we won't have to do that again. We agreed to "cherry pick" the specials if it's something we really want.
The patio pots are very happy. Look how perky everything got overnight. I don't think I told you that I bought two mint plants--lemon mint and chocolate mint--to plant alongside the timber edge of the garden. I potted some mints for LC last year and she asked me the other day which leaves were mint so she could pick one and eat it. Gotta have yummy mint leaves for my girl, ya know. (BTW, I didn't murder the mousie after all. By the time we got home from Meijer it had scampered away.)
For birds this gray and chilly morning, we had this male Oriole that was on the crook near the patio--until I pressed the camera shutter but then I "caught" him singing his little heart out in the bare branches at the top of the apple tree. I thought we had only one female Hummingbird coming around but I think there are two. This one prefers to sip at the oriole feeder and the other one likes the hummingbird feeder. It doesn't really matter, the birdie juice is the same in both. This Bluejay spent some time standing on the edge of the birdbath cracking open a seed and then it turned around to show off its pretty face. Smile!
May 22--Edgar Degas, Jockeys. The lithe men looked like butterflies on the backs of the long-legged horses. They milled around on the grass before sorting themselves into a line to parade across to the track. The crowd sounded like the surf breaking on a sandy beach. Leo leaned forward to slap Hector's Holdout's neck and frowned at the pink sleeve covering his arm. Hector's new owner's colors were olive green and pink, two colors that made him look as if he was in the final stages of liver disease. "Don't worry, Heck old boy, even if we look sick we can still run circles around the rest of these chumps." The horse flicked his ears and glanced around as if sizing up his competition.
Like I said, I have to work today. Yes, I've got my lunches made and in my knitting basket. Yes, I'm all showered and decently attired for a day at the dive shop. Now all I have to do is force myself to stand up and toddle off to work. Hey, there's a paycheck waiting for me. Woohoo, payday! I'm outta here.
--Barbara
Today was the day to plant all of the flowers in pots. This grouping on the patio will get one more pot on top of an old birdbath pedestal but I'm sure you see that all of the flowers are red, or mostly anyway, because these are flowers to attract hummingbirds and butterflies.
Speaking of hummingbirds, Durwood was right. I'd no more than sat down with my mug of coffee this morning than this little lady came by for her morning pick-me-up too. I guess I've learned my lesson, no more trying out a new feeder that lets us see the hummers no matter which opening they use just because the bird magazine says they like it. I put the new, $12, full view feeder on a hook up on the retaining wall thinking that maybe one of them will be brave enough to try it sometime this summer. Sheesh.
This is one of four coleus cauldrons I planted. This one lives on the patio and the other three are spaced across the front of the house. One of the front yard pots spent the winter tucked behind a shrub on the corner of the house so I grabbed it to plant along with the other two only to find a little gray mousie in there. Eek. No, I didn't say "eek," really I didn't, but I did tip the pot partway to see if it would scamper out but the mouse didn't get the hint so I tried to use my trowel to lift it out. Well, it didn't understand that either so I might have mortally wounded it in the process. Sorry, mousie, but that pot's for my coleus not tiny gray rodents.
I also got the buttercrunch lettuce and carrot seeds planted in the rectangles of soil on the ends of the bales, and I used my trowel to make little slits along the fence behind the asparagus to plant sunflower seeds in. Hopefully a few of the seeds won't be dug up and devoured by other mice or chipmunks before they can sprout and grow into big yellow flowers. I have never had luck getting sunflowers to grow big enough to make flowers, maybe this is my year.
Someone commented the other day when I was raving about how excited we are about straw bale gardening that she'd forget to water it and it would fail. Well. Here's why we won't forget to water and why we won't fail. It's a hose timer. It runs on 2 AAA batteries and you set the time, interval, and how long you want to water, put it between the hose and the spigot, and you're good. Twice a day for half an hour the bales and the blueberries get a nice drippy drink from the soaker hose and I don't have to remember.
Last night it was all I could do to flop on the couch and knit on the foot of Helical Sock SOCK #2. It's almost time to add the toe. I really like the brighter, redder color of this sock over the more muted, bluer first one but I'll wear them both, maybe even together, because they for sure don't match.
May 21--Islamic, Fatimid Period, The Game of Stick. Once all the freeze pops were eaten most of the kids wandered home to peel off their homemade armor, stow their weapons, and get cleaned up for supper. Will, Alby, and Samuel did not. They were so into it that none of them was willing to say down arms and retire from the battlefield. Samuel stalked across the backyard, in and out of patches of shade, eyes peeled for an opening to tag either Alby or Will with his vile concoction. He caught sight of Will's blond head peeking out from the lilac hedge so he sneaked up behind and let fly. The reeking purple liquid hit Will square in the back of the head making a long stain down his left side. Alby got it right in the face. He heard Will's shout and came running. Samuel was ready and aimed high. Alby fell back sputtering. Samuel whooped his victory yell as he danced out from his hiding place. The war was over. Will and Alby headed home to shower but the pokeberry stains and the Evening in Paris stench didn't wash out. Will's hair was stained purple and Alby had a purple splotch on his right cheek. Neither mother was sympathetic to the exciting story of the War of Harmon's Road.
I need to get out of these dirt smudged clothes and into something presentable because Durwood and I are going to go check out the new Meijer store that opened last Tuesday. We have to go, we need stuff for supper and I need more lunch fixings. Besides the milk's getting a little funky. Really.
--Barbara
My assistant and I were visiting the neighbor yesterday and she told a gripping tale of seeing a Red-tailed Hawk on the ground with its prey out her patio doors and then another one came and stole the meal. I was envious, jealous even, so I kept my eyes peeled and my ears cocked and was rewarded. I heard a commotion in the big trees in the lot behind her house and one of the sounds was the call of that Red-tail. So I watched and watched and soon I saw it perched way up in the branches all the better to glare at the birds trying to chase it away. Durwood wants to entice it into our yard so he can ask it to thin the chipmunk and squirrel herds but I don't think that'll happen.
I finished knitting Advent Garland Mitten #7 (the non-green one) on Monday and last night I started crocheting Advent Garland Mitten #8 (variegated green). With the knitted one you start at the cuff, knit up to the thumb, veer off to knit it, and then continue up the hand to the top. For the crocheted one you make the top of the thumb first, break off the yarn, then start the hand at the top, work around and around for a while, join the thumb top, and move down to the cuff, decreasing on either side of the thumb as you go. Neither one takes very long and I'm enjoying the variation in constructions.
In garden news, I was surprised to see that the heirloom variety Wisconsin 55 tomato plant has flowers on it. None of the others do, not even Early Girl, so maybe it's more adaptable. I need to figure out how to rearrange the soaker hose without killing the lettuce sprouts because the herb plants don't seem to be getting enough water. I'll study the problem and work on it this weekend.
