Rainy Day Update

The shawl is on hold for now while I order some other yarn. I'll be able to decide what to use when I have the choices in front of me. I know I'll be able to use up any extra yarn I end up with! In the meantime, I'm working on finishing some wip's and have also started a pair of mittens using Rowan Kid Classic.

Thanks to She Knits by the Seashore, I am now fixated on yarns from Australia! Check out the links in this post. And you probably know what a magazine junky I am, well she pointed out two I'd never seen before, so I'm going to have to order a couple issues of those as well!!

I'm having a little less time for knitting as my garden is in the height of Weed Season! I was actually out in the rain this morning hoeing rows. I got the beans, peppers, zukes, cukes and some flowers hoed. If it ever stops raining and dries up a bit, my husband will run the tiller along the pathways, so I don't have to weed those by hand. I set up a little fence along the cukes, so they can climb if they are so inclined.

The flower gardens are looking a little bedraggled in the rain and a couple of holly hock stems (they are 7 feet tall!) have broken off in the wind, but for the most part things should perk up when the sun comes out. I'm letting a lot of plants go to seed rather than cutting them back so I can collect the seeds and add to the gardens next year. So far, I've been able to harvest a lot of Knautia. There should be a lot more very soon.

I've had some extra privet shrubs growing in a row in the veggie garden for awhile as I wasn't sure what to do with them. I finally had an idea for them yesterday! I am going to move them to the end of the mini-orchard and plant them in a row. As they grow and thicken, I will cut an archway thru them!! I think it's going to be so pretty and it will be an architectural element for the garden. I'm not as hoity-toity as that sounds ;-). I'd love to have some old stone ruins like you see in English gardens, but no such history here, so I'll have to make my own in hedge form! It should look interesting in winter as well. So, wish me luck with all the digging and replanting! If only I could get the dogs to dig where I want the holes...

I have also been busy picking and shelling peas over the past few days. I've been getting a plastic grocery bag full each day. Shelling all those peas tends to stain my thumbs green, so I end up literally having a 'green thumb'!

My husband and I watched "Failure to Launch" last night and enjoyed it--especially the scene with the yellow labrador!

And, if you also love yellow labs, check out 2paws for lots of dogs pics and stories. I just found that blog yesterday and enjoyed it.

Well, I'm off to knit now!