In addition to teaching music, occasionally Dave also does set-up and sound for musicians affiliated with the school he teaches at.

This past Saturday, he had a gig to set-up for at the Milton Farmer’s Market (a town about half an hour away from us) and he asked me if I’d like to join him. Really, I think he just wanted to use Dory to haul gear, but I went along anyway.

After the speakers were set-up and sound check was done, I was released from roadie duty to go explore the market.

They close down a chunk of Main Street for it, and there’s a nice assortment of vendors.

I love all the colours of summer!

I got Dave a zucchini and some fresh green beans. Mom was in need of onions, so I got those for her, as well as a basket of peaches for us to split.

I did manage to resist buying myself a bunch of roses…

But I faltered when I came across a lady selling perennials. I ended up coming home with a Physostegia. I’d never heard of it before, but it’s a little like a Foxglove. In a few weeks it should bloom looking something like this:

That was well worth lugging musical gear!

First, I want to share something that was shared with me on Facebook…

“A resident of Hamnavoe, in Burra, Shetland, Anne Eunson decided to knit herself a beautiful lace fence using twine. The fence is fashioned from strong black twine – the same kind that is used to make fishing nets, and Anne knitted it up on specially adapted curtain poles. It took her about three weeks to knit enough lace to surround her front garden, using a 23 stitch repeat of a familiar Shetland lace pattern.”
Photos via Laine Glover‎ to Social History

All I can say is HOLY CRAPOLA! I admire this lady’s gumption! Not only is she knitting with TWINE (that’s got to be hard on the hands!), but look at the size of those needles. I can’t work with an 8mm needle for very long without losing my mind. And what a spectacular result! It sure beats chicken wire!

Still, I think I’ll stick with knitting in my garden, instead of knitting to surround it…

Despite the humidity, usually around 4 or 5 p.m., the sun has moved behind the trees and it’s comfortable enough to sit out back while the cats get some fresh air. Since finishing Wren’s cardigan, I’ve been trying to put a few rows on this pair of gifting socks (not saying who because they occasionally read the blog) each day. (And don’t they just match fabulously with my new dress… I feel no remorse!)

As a result, I’ve got the first sock complete. As you can see, I decided to just do the foot plain on this sock – partly because it’s more suited to the recipient (She mostly wears running-type shoes, so they’d be hidden anyway), and because frankly – the pattern has me bored to tears! I don’t know why… It’s not hard, it looks pretty… it’s just so darn tedious!

Oh well – the sooner I get that second sock done, the sooner I can move onto something I enjoy more! To the garden!

 

 

 

Back at the end of May, I took a panoramic pic of my backyard gardens. Now that summer is in full swing, I thought it would be fun to compare then and now…

What a difference a couple of months makes!

The Coneflowers are blooming beautifully. I’m hoping they will help me get pics of all the beautiful butterflies that have been coming to visit. There have been so many this year, but they never sit still long enough for me to snap a picture!

And speaking of beautiful – look at my gorgeous Casablanca lilies. I love those curling petals – she’s definitely a show stopper!

You may not recall, but a couple years ago, I bought two daylilies  – weeks apart. One called Autumn Joy and one called Crimson Pirate. When they started to bloom, I kicked myself, because they seems so similar to each other. But they’d never actually bloomed at the same time…

And now that I’ve seen them side by side I feel a lot better! They are definitely different! (Autumn Joy on the left, Crimson Pirate on the right).

My pretty pink Speedwell is doing so nicely this year!  I have a purple one in the sidewalk garden but it hasn’t bloomed yet.

And it’s harvest time! I don’t have a lot that’s edible in my gardens, but what I do have we certainly enjoy.

Are you enjoying any fruits (or vegetables) of your labour?

Well my bloggy friends… I did it… I fell off the fiscal responsibility wagon with a resounding thump.

I’d like to say it was just a minor slip up, but in reality, it was a pretty big fall, and I’m bruised and broken….

It started innocently enough. It was a little less than a week before Dave’s birthday, and he mentioned that he needed some new plain t-shirts for work (he can’t wear logos as per the dress code there).

I knew Old Navy usually delivers quickly enough, so I took a quick look on the site… that was my first mistake… the Old Navy site is a like a gateway drug for me…

Anyway, they had t-shirts for Dave and they were only $7. But you need $50 to get free shipping. But Dave only wears two colours in t-shirts – black and charcoal grey There’s no way I was buying him eight t-shirts in the same two colours.

So I took a quick look in the dress section (second mistake). And there it was… in my favourite Fit and Flare style.

If you know anything about me, you know I have a HUGE soft spot for red dresses.  I am a bit picky on shade  – something Old Navy and I have been fighting about for a few years. They finally got it right earlier this year with a pretty red with black polkadot one. But this one… this one is even better.

But I still wasn’t quite over the free shipping limit….

Oh be still my heart!!!! PINK AND PLAID!!! Pink is another colour Old Navy has struggled to get right (they seem to prefer a band-aidy salmon colour), but they nailed it in this beautiful dusty rose!  I actually didn’t feel too bad about this one… it’s a style I’ve tried before and wasn’t too keen on. I was 99% sure I’d be returning it… but then it arrived… they must have tweaked it because it looks so much better than the previous ones (maybe I’m just blinded by that pink plaid.)

Now if this wasn’t bad enough… this little dip in the unnecessary spending pool netted me a pile of Old Navy Supercash… basically, in a week, if I spent another $125, I’d get $50 off.

I should have just thrown it away. It’s not really saving money if you’re spending it on things you don’t need. But I didn’t. And then I got the reminder email (damn you automated marketing programs!!!!).

Yep… I fell for another red beauty (this red is even better than the first…) as well as the gorgeous green one. This style is new this year (I already have three….) and it’s a fun twist on the fit and flare (it fits just as nicely.)

But remember, I had to get that cart up to $125 to get my $50 off….

They say your purse should match your shoes, right??? This is actually not something I’ve ever subscribed to. Though I do have a thing for snakeskin accessories… and those pink sandals… well they are just so darn cute!

So here I sit… with fabulous new clothes and an empty wallet… but I will get back on that wagon! But maybe I’ll unsubscribe from the Old Navy emails first….

Sometimes you just capture the most purrfect moment.

I used my afternoons, after completing my day job work to bang out a couple of blocks for the camp quilt, and in very short order, I had them all done! (This is such an easy pattern!)

This isn’t the final layout; I just wanted to see them all together and get a sense of size and how they would look (if you look closely, you’ll notice some blocks in the wrong direction).

I still have to cut some grey triangles to fill in those edges, but I think this is going to be one fantastic top!

With all the humidity, it took a little while for Wren’s Christmas cardigan to dry after blocking…

But finally it did and I was able to get the buttons on and call it complete! And isn’t it just the sweetest little thing?

I just love knits with that old-timey look. The purple yarn gives it a touch of modernity, but it still has that classic feel.

The buttons were from my stash – nothing fancy, but I have a lot of them. Wren has a habit of losing buttons, so if she does, it’s easy for me to sew on a couple more.

And with this, I have just four Christmas presents left to complete! The rest are socks, so  I probably won’t have them done by the end of summer, but it won’t be long after!

Since we had so much Chinese food left on Sunday, and I didn’t have to worry about making lunch or dinner, I threw caution (and the housework) to the wind and dove into completing the Time to Sew top.

I started at about 11 a.m., and with a brief lunch break around 1 p.m…

I was pressing back the last border before 5 p.m. And doesn’t it look fabulous? It’s so big, I had to take it outside for a decent picture. You couldn’t see the whole thing on my bed.

For cornerstones, I used this tealy-blue fabric that was leftover from the Petal Noir layer cake.

Outside borders were a clearance bin find that had been kicking around my stash waiting for the right projects.

I’ve got a beautiful purple floral for the back, and I’m still deciding on binding. I was hoping to quilt it this weekend, but it looks like Dave has made some plans for us (he’s doing sound at a concert for his school and is dragging me along to help), so this one may have to wait.

Still, it feels good to have the top done!

It’s Monday, and you’re probably back to work… but how about taking a break and having a little walk through my garden?

With the heat and humidity, the roses have been taking a bit of a break, but both Chicago Peace and Blue Girl have managed to push out a couple small blooms. I’m worried I’m going to lose Blue Girl, she’s not looking so good this year.

The Delphiniums have also settled down, except for this delicate little variant I have out front. It’s not as big and robust as the ones I have out back, but it’s sweet.

You’ll recall that the Hollyhocks have started blooming – I’ve already showed you this lovely white one. But the seeds were  mixed pack…

… and this year, these two pretty double-bloom versions have started showing off too.

The coneflowers have started to bloom… which means I’ll hopefully be able to capture some pictures of all the butterflies flitting through my yard.

My Black-Eyed Susans have started to bloom too – and as pretty as they are, it makes me a little bit sad… it means we’re on the downside of summer.

Another sign… my Toad Lilies have started to bloom. They’ve also spread like crazy, so I’m hoping for good show this year. They are small, but spectacular!

And before I leave you for the day, here’s a quick check in on my  sunflowers. They got planted late, so they are not quite as far along as they could be (the tallest is about 2 feet tall), but the squirrels have left them mostly untouched. Maybe in a few weeks, we’ll have some budding up.

What’s bloomin’ in your corner?

As I mentioned previously, this weekend saw Dave celebrate another birthday. We had plans to hang out with the lovely Samantha and her family yesterday afternoon and then head out for a nice romantic dinner. Unfortunately, Samantha got stuck at work… though in a way it was a bit of a blessing, because I woke up with a migraine and fought it all day.

And like most of North America, the weather is absolutely sweltering. So we decided to spend the day in the house, lazin’ about in the air conditioning.

When it came time for dinner…

…we had some Chinese delivered! Luckily, I had the foresight to pick up the cake the day before so I didn’t have to go out for that either. No pictures of the birthday boy, because he’s shy. But I promise, he’s just gets more and more handsome with every passing year!

And happily, because plans got changed, I was able to finish up Wren’s Christmas cardigan. But I’ll save that for a post mid-week!