And still more front yard pretties

My clemmie has finally decided to show it’s stuff — every year, I tell Sweet Baboo that I don’t think it’s going to come back. (It just looks awfully dead in the spring) And every year, SB says “wait and see, it will be beautiful again”. And of course he’s right. Again! This year, it seemed to blossom even later than usual, so I found a very nice picture of a blossomed clemmie and showed it to mine — and okay, I made a few veiled threats under my breath — and VOILA!!

This is another one of my peonies that has blossomed. I love the deeper pink colors in this one. I don’t remember what the name of it is. I remember when I could rattle off the Latin name and genus and when it blossomed and for how long and which zone it would do well in — now I just enjoy the blossoms!! It doesn’t seem as important as it once did.

Oh, and look who’s looking all cute and hunky mowing the lawn!!

One sock down, one to go

I’ve been spending my evenings teaching myself the fine art of knitting with 3 needles — well, four actually. I’ve also taught myself how to turn a heel, work a gusset and graft stitches — all words that were totally foreign to me just a couple of weeks ago. And here’s a pic of my first sock…….

…..which I took just before I grafted the toe seam. I was just so proud of it!! Notice how I shaved my legs and polished my toenails just for this occasion!!

The yarn shop that I am frequenting had the most interesting sock/in progress work/metal slider thingy. I tell you, I just don’t know what to call this thing, but according to the owner of the shop, she has a guy that makes them for her and her alone. There’s not another source for it in the whole U S of A, I’m told. So of course, here are some pics of the little beastie.

This is what it looks like assembled with your knitting inside. It’s really made mostly for sock work. You line your needles up into a side by side arrangement and then slide it into the tube. There is a short cover that goes over the end to hold it all in place.

(This is the beginning of my second sock!! So cool!!)

And this is what it looks like apart — see the big opening on the tube? That’s where you slide your needles and sock or whatever in progress into. It holds it all together nice and tight — you can just toss it (literally) into your purse or pocket or what have you. It stays together!!

If you would like to see more information about this fabulous accessory, Click Here. On the left side of the page, there is a box titled “What is all the buzz about?” and there is a link below that says “Find Out Here”. It gives a much better description (and also a brief history of the item) that I have in this blog.