In The Home Stretch

On Friday, Mason-Dixon Knitting released their latest Field Guide, Wanderlust.  It's all about knitting socks with a basic top-down pattern, a basic toe-up pattern, three different cuff patterns, and a bunch of stitch patterns that a person can slot in as desired.  That reminded me that I still haven't finished my Zauber Afterthought Everything sock so I hauled it out, knitted on it some last night and got to the second heel, so now I'm knitting my way up the second leg to the cuff.  Once I get there I'll remove the white waste yarn, pick up the live stitches that are released, and knit heels, then I'll pick out the center waste yarn, catch the stitches, and knit the toes.  THEN I can page through the book to find a sock stitch pattern I want to knit.  (I've got my eye on one that looks kind of like ripples in water.)




 



Another poppy opened up this morning and I managed to catch this bud just started to break out of the hull.





The poppies on the side of the house are about done blooming.  I only got around to look at them once because of CG moving back and forth on the skid steer ferrying loads of gravel and blocks.  He got the last of the gravel filled in behind the wall today and left to work on another job while waiting for the soil to fill in the top of the wall and repair the lawn to be delivered.  I asked him to yank out a couple old scraggly stumps and bushes on the western lot line and told him that I'd like him to plant a couple berry-bearing shrubs or bushes there for the birds.  Negotiations will continue.



This morning I realized that it would be smart to wait until autumn to dig up the perennials in the front quarter of the garden plot.  Then I can weed out the violets more easily, divide any plants that need it, and replant smarter.  There was another big flower on the spiderwort this morning.


Once the sun started to sink, around 5 o'clock, I went out and mowed the parts of the lawn that I could reach.  The front yard was empty of pallets of blocks and the branches of the volunteer tree (the stick truck came today) so I could mow the front and side and a bit of the back.  It looks much better and I got all nice and sweaty.  Did I mention that it got up over 70 degrees today?  Finally.  I wasn't sure I remembered how to dress for temps that warm.

17 June--Barbara Malcolm, Horizon. 

On Sunday I was the first one up.  Though I loved having my family visit, I was happy to have a few minutes to enjoy my tea in peace.  Autumn is my favorite time of year.  The colorful leaves, the sweet scent of apples from the orchard, and a hint of wood smoke from the old Ben Franklin stove in Hank’s workshop down the lane all made me regret that summer was over.  But being a farmer’s wife, I appreciated winter because it was the only season I got to spend as much time as I wanted with Bert.  He worked at the feed mill during the winter and had regular hours.  I treasured the memories of evenings Bert spent at the kitchen table, poring over seed catalogs and bulletins from the county agricultural agent while I made supper.

            I was sipping my tea and watching a pair of chickadees at the feeder when I noticed David’s bouquet.  He’d picked a mixture of bronze, deep red, and pale gold chrysanthemums.  I was sure it had been Sara’s idea to add a few branches with leaves still clinging to them and some bare ones.  I thought it made a pretty picture with the bird feeder and still-green honeysuckle behind it.

Picture!  I promised Clara I’d paint her a bouquet picture for her bathroom.  These colors would be perfect in there.  I grabbed my sketchbook and pencil and got to work.  I was scribbling away when Sara came down in her robe, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

           “What are you drawing?” Sara asked as she poured herself a cup of tea.

            I waved the pencil at the flowers and said, “I just realized how pretty this looks with the feeder in the background and wanted to sketch it before I lost it.  I promised Clara a picture and this might be just the thing.”

“Good idea.”  We spent the half hour before the boys got up brainstorming how I could make the painting look the way I envisioned it and what colors to use.  Sara promised to send me a few of her favorite watercolor books.

             “I won’t be painting for a while with a new baby in the house so you might as well use them.”

“Thanks, dear, I really appreciate that.  I’ll take good care of your books.”  I felt that I might be an artist after all.

I was sad to wave goodbye to my middle son and his family on Sunday afternoon, but glad there was still enough light to get back into the studio and work.  I had every confidence that the phone lines between my sons and daughters-in-law would be burning as soon as Aaron and Sara got home.  I imagined Merry, Sara, and Lisa assuring each other that their mother-in-law was “just going through a phase.”  And I could hear the boys grousing about how everything was going to change now that “Mom’s gone nuts.”  Those three never did like change, I thought.  I hope they didn’t learn that from me.  But, if they did, they’re about to learn something new.

I spent a very pleasant and satisfying evening in the studio sketching my ideas onto paper and laying in the washes for Clara’s bouquet painting.

The cleaner's coming tomorrow and with any luck the dirt will come so CG can finish the wall, repair and reseed the lawn, and we can work out how much and when he can plant me some shrubs.  It's supposed to stay warm-ish the rest of the week.  Fingers crossed.  Oh, I need to check out how many and what style sprinklers I have.  There's going to be lots of lawn seeded that will need watering daily.  I'll probably buy another oscillating sprinkler and another hose timer.
--Barbara