Fishing and Planting But Not Planting Fish

A busy weekend but it is time for relaxing. Matt and I drove up to Royalston, MA for the annual fishing derby Saturday morning at his brother's place.

Here is Matt, proud of catching the first fish and the largest fish. Alas, only three fish were caught, including one that was tossed back for being too small. It was warm at 9 a.m. already but the bugs were awful!

So, lots of family, met my brother-in-law's new girlfriend and, of course, we talked talked talked, Matt and I went around the pond in the canoe, and later we had a cookout and a birthday cake for Christina, who will be 28 on Wednesday (!)

Matt is still up there, getting ready for opening day of turkey but I was attending a surprise 50th birthday party for my friend Kathy. Lots of fun and I got to hang out with my good friend Karen and some former co-workers. I miss them!

This morning it is already warmer. Earlier I went out to get a head start on the garden today.

I decided to try gowing the beans up poles in tepee fashion this year. Last year I put up poles in a zig zag and I was blessed with tons of beans, but they pulled the poles over.

Squash in their cage. This helps support the vines and gives me a little more room, as they grow up, rather than all over the garden.

And finally, the plum tree is in full bloom! The pear trees are getting there but they are slower. I am praying there will not be any more frosts!

Some Eye Candy

These are some of my favorites on Etsy.

felt mermaid by 5erg

Mother Earth Necklace by Five Little Gems

Fat Little Owl by Kika's Fancy

Kitty no.20 by Penguin and Fish

Have a great weekend!

New and Turkeys, Too!

Another silk tarot bag added to my store.

I am working on a third, which I should finish up by the weekend.

Watch out all you toms! Turkey season starts at dawn on Monday! Look who's trying to make a getaway:

Apprehended before leaving the scene.

Some delay on my latest shawls. The linen/cotton blend yarn is very slubby and of course I did not take that into consideration when I decided to us the 12-dent reed (12 slots or dents per inch, pretty standard). Anyhoo, the yarn kept jamming up behind the reed, creating balls of yellow fluff. I decided to bite the bullet, after 16 inches of this irritant, to cut the warp and re-sley, using my 5-dent reed instead. The 5-dent has 5 dents per inch, therefore making it wider for the yarn to go through.

And it's working.

New Item in the Store

I finished this last week but only photographed it today. It's one of those things I knit when I'm hanging out with Matt after dinner (my loom is upstairs).

Knitted Silk Tarot Bag

I'm working on another silk bag, made from silk I spun myself.

Gorgeous Weekend

and a tease to what's to come. We put the deck furniture out and had a couple of beers out there, so, it's official! For the weekend, anyway. It's supposed to rain for the next couple of days.

So, the island is finished. We moved a bird's nest there and bought two creeping junipers. I also planted some pansies and primroses there.

I planted flowers in the shed window boxes and on the flower boxes on the deck. It's so nice to look out the kitched window and see lots of color!

Here is my latest weaving project, in progress:

It's a cotton 20/2 with sections of a cotton/linen yarn I picked up in Munich about three years ago. See, you may not have a specific project in mind when you buy yarn, but if you really like it, something will come up.

A Bunch of Stuff

Garden variety of a bunch of stuff . . . literally.

Here is the new bed with mulch. It is a source of pride for my husband. It really is nice. I put up a birdhouse, made from a gourd I grew two years ago. However, the wind blew it off the tree and broke the stem off. It's on our dining room table now.

Look! My seedlings are getting bigger! It's hard to see but I have squash - butternut, spaghetti, and delectica. There are also cukes, tomatoes, and bok choy.

I also bought this ranunculus today. I love them. I wanted them in my wedding bouquet but was told they were more than roses. So I chose dalihas.

And finally, for now, I just finished these mug mats. I'm not in love with them. They're ok. I should have studied the pattern because the pattern is not centered. I should add the second nine threading section to the beginning of it to balance it out. The plain weaves are ok. I love the colors, though.

Now I am measuring warp for a shawl project.

Sunrise

Just completed: Sunrise Shawl

Here I am modeling the shawl. I wish I could find a way to better block out the trees and my head and butt. I did the blur thing on Picnick. I need a real model.

I worked at the store yesterday. Yeah, I actually worked, as opposed to just bs-ing. But that was good. I climbed the ladder and moved pictures around the store. Helped move displays and helped clean the back room for the Business with Pleasure event that I totally was not up on. My fault.

How I Spent My Weekend

No crafts, no weaving, no shopping, no dancing this weekend. Instead, this is what Matt and I did all day Saturday and Sunday:

We made a new bed under the group of trees in the front yard. No grass grows there, except a few scraggily clumps that you still have to mow. And it's a pain to have to weave in and out of the trees when you mow the lawn. Matt shovelled five loads of topsoil and I edged the perimeter, which means I dug into rooty, rocky earth. We grow rocks in New England, as evidenced by this harvest:

These are just a few of the rocks we dug up. I am making another stone path in the garden. Some are nice and flat. These are the remnants of a stone fence that ran though the properties before the development was created.

And . . . my step-daughter called on Sunday evening and said she had to show us something. I thought, oh, she's gotten engaged! But no. Instead, this,

It's Bella! Three-month old mix from a shelter. She is so sweet and calm. But she was also exhausted. What a doll!

Good Buys

So, yesterday I purchased these on Etsy:

Mocha Java Exfoliating Soap

Fiji Spa - Neroli, Orange & Orange Blossom Water

The shop is Primitive Earth Soaps Co. Stop by and take a look around. They are working on new items, too!

I just made these:

Hemp scrubbies. They are knitted, two in a pretty butter yellow and two in a color called pearl, but it's like taupe. I know I will take some to the store but I may put some up on Etsy.

Rainy here today but it's good for the garden. Tomorrow I'd like to work in the yard, pruning the rose bushes, edging the beds, repotting some of the seedlings.