No Walkabout today – Work has been crazy busy to start with, and it’s been so hot and humid, it takes away all motivation to go outside during the day.
So… today I give you socks…
Or one sock, anyway. The first of the pair for my coworkers Godmother is complete. I finished it up Monday night. I’m very pleased with that, considering I started it mid-week last week, and didn’t work on it steadily.
The second one was cast on last night, so hopefully I can keep the momentum up and have this pair in the mail by then end of next week.
As I mentioned previously, l let coworker choose the yarn. She chose some of the new-to-me Hobbii Dolce that I bought earlier this year. This is my first time knitting with it. It feels quite soft in the ball, but it’s a little more scratchy worked up. Not terrible. I’d say softer than Kroy, but not as soft as Felici. Being a little more on the rough side, they will probably wear pretty well.
I love the soft gradient of the shades, and the little dots add a touch of whimsy. Hopefully they lift the spirits of the recipient.
More progress was made on the sewing cat cross stitch, despite a certain someone’s best efforts.
The catio was closed off to them for construction (more on that soon) for a good chunk of the weekend, so he was being extra needy every time I sat down. I’m more than happy to have him chill in my lap while I stitch, but he likes to grab at the needle and thread as it comes through on the back side. It makes for some slow stitching.
Still…
I was able to fill in some more of the background and some more of the iron work of the desk. I’d say this is probably a little less than half done. Not back for only working on it a few evenings each week.
The colour for this month’s Rainbow Scrap Challenge is purple!
And rather than leaving it to the last minute, Burton decided we should get it out of the way, right away.
We haven’t been in the studio since we sewed last month’s block, and I think he was missing the treats he gets from posing for pictures with the blocks.
Despite the fact that I feel like I use purple a lot, I had to dig deep to come up with enough purple scraps for this one. Still, I managed it. And once I had all the fabric pulled, these blocks go together in about an hour.
I’ve been toying with the idea of laying them out on point in the final top, and since I now have seven blocks, I thought it would be enough to give me and idea of how it would look.
I’ve got to admit…. I really like it so far. Though I’ll make the final decision when the blocks are all done.
Although it’s just Dave and I and the cats in this big house, we are always making new friends.
The bluejays are pretty shy compared to the ones at the townhouse, but I’m slowly winning them over with a steady supply of peanuts.
And of course, I’m steadily working on gaining Foxy’s trust.
If I sit very still, I can get him to come up and take a peanut no more than a foot from the camera. He always runs off with it to eat it, but never more than a couple of feet away. He’s already learned where there is one peanut, there’s bound to be more.
One thing there is no lack of here is toads. It’s absolutely toad city.
Dave and I are always coming upon them as we are working out in the yard. This particular guy watched me clean up the holly branches I cut away.
And this big, fat fellow hops up onto our side porch every night (up four concrete steps) to catch bugs under the porch light. If we come home after dark, we have to remember to keep an eye out for him so we don’t step on him on our way in. He’s such a regular, Dave has given him a name – Anthony Hopkins…
He’s pretty used to us now, and is very easy to photograph. I can get the camera right up to him and he doesn’t seem bothered at all
This next guy was so easy to photo that I thought he was actually dead at first.
There are lots of backyard ponds around us, so dragonflies of all kinds are a fairly common sight in the garden. And I’m happy to report that this one was not dead – just very chill. He flew off after I snapped a few photo
There have been many butterflies checking out my garden progress, but they are hard to capture.
So far, I’ve only managed this Easter Swallowtail and a wee White Cabbage.
And speaking of wee….
Don’t ask me how I even saw this little guy
To give you an idea of his size, that wooden plug below him covers your average size wood screw. He was TEENY.
Likewise with this dude, who I found later that same day
He’s on a half-grown Lily bud. He can’t be any longer than my thumbnail. And check out that antenna… easily triple (if not quadruple) his own length.
There’s always someone new to meet in this big backyard!
July and August are probably the height of the garden. While the spring flowers are done, the summer flowers are coming full force.
And the soil here is so much better than the heavy clay we had at the townhouse. The tickseed is just busting out all over the place.
As are these fancy black-eyed susans
At the townhouse, these plants were small little mounds, with maybe four or five blooms at a time. Here they are easily 2 feet tall and so thick they’ve almost taken over one end of the catio.
I am in absolute awe.
This fluffy beauty is another type of Susan (Rudbeckia Maya). Twice I tried to grow it at the townhouse, and twice I failed. When I saw it at the garden centre again this year, I thought, maybe third time was the charm. And as you can see, it was! It’s doing beautifully.
I bought this scarlet bee balm at the end of the season last year, so this is the first I’ve seen it in bloom. It’s just stunning. And I love how some of the flowers are doing a double decker thing,
In fact, so are the pink one I brought from the townhouse.
It’s always bloomed well, but this year, it’s just incredible. I really think it’s the change in soil.
I’m also thrilled with this Veronica. I have both pink and purple, and both plants were in part shade at the townhouse. They did ok, but I knew they could do so much better here. The pink one is just starting to bloom, and it’s covered in buds. It doesn’t look like the purple one will be very far behind.
The ground cover sedums in the driveway garden have stared to bloom. The flowers are very tiny, but oh so sweet.
My Asiatic lilies, however, have had a tough time here. They got hit really hard with Asian Lily Beetle, and I didn’t notice until they’d done a lot of damage. Still, a couple managed to keep their buds, and the first one has just bloomed. There are plans to add lots and lots more, because I love lilies. But I’m going to have to stay on top of those darn beetles.
And as much as I’m enjoying everything blooming now, part of gardening is about thinking ahead.
I’m back on the wagon with No Buy July, but I want to share some of the really good deals I got at the end of June, especially on shrubs.
I was thrilled to discover I can grow Azaleas here. I always thought they (and Rhododendrons in general) were too tender to grow this far north, so I was delighted when I found one hardy to Zone 4. (We are Zone 5). It’s called Golden Lights, and I won’t get to see flowers until next spring… but when I do, they should look something like this:
I can’t wait. It’s out front beside the newly chopped holly, and hopefully the morning sun, and dappled afternoon light will help it thrive.
I also picked up another Butterfly bush. This one is called Queen of Hearts.
It’s my fourth Butterfly Bush and will not be my last. I put this one out front. It’s already got some buds on it, so it shouldn’t be too long before it blooms.
I also got a Nine Bark.
Nine Bark is actually a native shrub which is always a bonus, and this one is called Tiny Wine. Like the Azalea, it won’t bloom until spring, but it’s got gorgeous dark purple foliage the rest of the year.
So for now, I’m just going to enjoy every petal out there.
With the big plant stand outside for the summer, there was no where for the cats to sit and look out the window anymore. You’d think that having free range of the sunporch and catio would be enough…
But no… these guys need to be able to patrol the front of the house too. Even if it’s only from inside. Happily, I had an old Ikea coffee table. It was big enough to fit a few of the plants that didn’t make it out side…
Last week, I got a text from the coworker I just made the quilt for, asking for a favour. Her godmother has just been diagnosed with cancer and will be undergoing treatment for a while. She wanted to send her a care package (she lives in Portugal) and wondered if I’d be able to knit a pair of socks to include in it.
Years ago, I made this coworker a pair and she absolutely loves them. She thought her Godmother would love a pair just as much, and they would help keep her comfortable as she undergoes treatment.
Naturally, I said of course. I sent her some pictures of my stash, and she picked out this yarn.
I put Dad’s sweater on hold so I can get these on and off the needles as quick as possible. So far, it’s going quite well. I’m sticking to plain vanilla, so with any luck, they well fly off the needles and be in the mail in a week or two.
For today’s post, I thought I’d share a different perspective on the town… a textured one!
I am a very tactile person – Mom always had to remind me not to touch things when we went places. Dave laughs when we go into a thrift store or anywhere with a lot of breakables, because I still clasp my hands behind my back so I can resist the urge to touch (and likely break) something.
So it’s no surprise that when I’m out walking, I notice textures.
This town has a lot of old hardwood trees (mostly maples, but some oaks as well), and old trees have fabulous bark.
What really fascinates me is not just how rough and ragged it is, but that all three of these trees are maples, yet their bark texture is unique. The one on the right is my favourite tree. It’s near the corner of our street so I pass it on almost every walk. Not only do I love all the yellow lichen, but it’s huge!!! The pic does not give a good perspective. I wouldn’t be able to touch my fingers together on the other side if I gave it a hug. It’s right by the side walk so I give it a pat every time I walk by. It’s a good tree.
Then there are the “trees” without bark
This hydro pole is on our street and I love that you can see the grain of the wood.
This is one of the Norway Maples in the downtown
From the size, I’m guessing it’s maybe 10-15 years old (though I’m not expert) It’s got several cool knots, and lots of green lichen, but what I love is how the lichen stops in almost a perfect line on the bottom of the tree. Fascinating!
And here’s a nice look at some lichen growing on a Bass Wood in downtown. It has a wonderful texture of it’s own. And it doesn’t just love trees.
I love the way it looks on the rim of this old wagon wheel garden decoration.
And of course, buildings provide excellent texture too.
A great side by side of old and new brick walls (when I say new, the one of the left was probably built in the ’80s, maybe late ’90s).
I hope all my friends south of the border are having a wonderful holiday Monday. It was a long weekend for us too, though our holiday was on Friday. We ended our long weekend with a visit from my favouritest person in the world….
Samantha!!!!!
And her husband Michael, of course, who is wonderful too.
While Samantha and I surveyed the gardens, and chatted and just generally caught up, the boys were working inside the house, hanging the light fixtures we got for a steal all those months ago.
First they took down the ugly crystal chandelier in the dining room installed something much prettier
I still can’t believe that we got it for just $25 at our regular second hand store. It’s going to look amazing when we get the walls and floor in the dining room done.
Next up were the lights for the livingroom we got at the same store.
A pair of simple pendants to light up the far end of the room.
Now all this room needs is a new window, and the trim done, and it will be 100% finished!
And last, they replaced on of the outdoor fixtures. It used to be one of those old mason-jar type fixtures.
And now it’s a pretty carriage house style lantern. This was also another great find from the second hand store – just $5!
I made us all some homemade pizza, and then we said our good byes.
And they rode off into the sunset..
Though we will see them again in a couple weeks for Samantha’s birthday!
Wandering Cat Studio 