We’ve dispensed with the hot, humid, dry weather of July and have moved onto the hot, humid, wet weather of August…

The gardens seem to much approve of the latter, and are just going crazy!

The Strawberry Mango Coneflower is absolutely covered in blooms. i bought this plant last year, and I didn’t expect it to get quite this large this fast. It dominates the Little Bee Garden. I may have to expand it next year. I almost didn’t buy this one, because it was much more expensive (part of a ‘pollinator’ series, so they jacked up the price). But I was using my loyalty points, so I splurged. And I’m so glad i did. I may cut some and bring them inside.

The raspberries are doing as well as they always do, but what’s really making me happy are the Blackberries. The plant is now four years old, and it’s gone nuts this year. All those big red berries will soon ripen to a nice deep purple. I’m really hoping I can get enough for blackberry jam.

The Burgundy Blanket Flower (which is really more of an orange-red) has spread out all over the place and it’s blooming up a storm.

The pink Dahlia I planted in the centre of this pot couldn’t take the heat, but the trailing petunias are loving it. As long as it gets water, these things just keep blooming.

My Burgundy Shamrock is in heaven with this weather and covered in little pale pink flowers. I’m going to have to figure out what to do with these guys come fall. They can’t winter outdoors, and the planter they are in has a couple big holes. They will most likely get split up into smaller pots.

These Purple Coneflower were started from seed the second year we were here, and they never fail to delight.  They just get bigger and better every year!

The Black-Eyed Susans aren’t very tall this year, but they are blooming nicely. They are one of my faves because they bloom right through October!

Earlier this summer, I threw some white petunias in a planter, and this weather has really made them shine

And last… the Fuschia in the front hanging pots just love the rain. They bloom and bloom when its wet out!

What’s bountiful in your world?

Earlier in the week I mentioned that my log cabin blocks had been a little neglected.

That was mostly because I couldn’t quite figure out how to work them with my Leader and Ender blocks…

The Log Cabins have a lot of little pieces, so I’d been just burning through my L&Es. But then I realized that I could work on two cabins at a time, and used them as their own L&Es.

After I had that sorted, I was churning out cabins like nobody’s business.

I focused on green and blues and had these nine done in under an hour! Expect to see much more production on them soon! (Especially since most of my other projects are in a holding pattern until I get more fabric.

You may remember, around this time last year, I posted that my favourite festival had returned to it’s original location. Last year, I took Miss Lily, but this year I was flying solo.

I hopped the bus and headed to my teenage stomping grounds. (Hard to believe it’s been 20 years!!!) I was greeted by the site of my favourite fountain.

It was a horribly humid day, and I was more than a little tempted to join a few of the younguns’ that were splashing around in it’s base. Instead, I settled for saying hello to a couple old friends

I love those ducks. And of course, the turtles!

There’s even a rock song about those turtles! And one or two of them have even been stolen!

I think the heat was keeping people away. It was much busier when Lily and I went last year.

The midway was looking a little deserted.

There were more people over at the stage, though it was early for the big performers. The Sam Roberts Band was slated to play that night.

Back in my day (Oh gawd, I sound old!) the bands played at the grand old Bandshell. I understand why they’d want a more modern stage,  but it’s a little sad to see the old stage neglected during the festival. I’ve seen a lot of good acts on that stage.

After roaming around for a bit, I met up with the wonderful Krista (Wren’s Mom), and her parrot Abby.

Krista is a volunteer with Friends of the Aviary. She was there helping out with their booth.

She was also kind enough to offer me a lift home. By that time I was pretty much melted into a puddle, and was more than happy for a little bit of a/c.

Of course, I couldn’t leave without getting myself a little festival bling! This time for my ankle.

The Disappearing Hourglass blocks are done!

I have 30… enough to cover the top of my Queen-size bed, and more than I can fit in the picture! I planned to do 36, but I cut one wrong and totally screwed it up (once you do that, there’s no way to salvage it). I could so 35, but to be honest, I’m really over these blocks. They look amazing, but I just really don’t want to sew another one. And with a border or two, it will be more than big enough with 30 blocks.

Once I get these all trimmed (not looking forward to that), I’ll start assembling the top. This project has been in the works since the beginning of April, so it’s nice to see it finally coming together.

I’ve said before that Rupert is our little enigma cat. One minute he’s  sweet, the next he’s sour. Lately, he’s been more sweet than sour, but it’s hard to capture the sweetness on film…I don’t know if it’s just his colouring…Maybe it’s the dark golden eyes…But he always looks just a little bit saucy!

They are done! And I love them!

The stitch pattern does require a little more attention, but it creates a lovely little branching lace pattern, which is flanked by simple eyelet columns up the sides

The yarn used was our Twisted Top Cat and oh my, it’s so lush, and so nice to knit with. And of course, it feels wonderful on. The colourway is Spriggand, and I love all the little bits of blue and grey with the wonderful shades of sage green. This pattern really benefits form a yarn that’s not too busy, and would look great in a solid or semi-solid too!

But now that these are off the needles, I think I need to put the last two designs of the e-book on hold for a month. I’m really behind on my fair stuff and I have to get my butt in gear if I want to have enough worth entering.

And apparently I have a cat in need of attention…

As you know, I’ve always got several projects on the go, both sewing and knitting. I’ve got ravelry to help keep my knitting projects in check, but nothing for the sewing

On the weekend, I decided it was time to tidy up the studio and take stock of where everything was at.

I currently have five projects on the go:

• Disappearing hourglasses: This project still doesn’t have a proper name, but it’s nearing completion, just a few more stars to go.
• Autumn in the Country: Currently awaiting borders – which means a trip to the fabric store so it’s on hold until next pay.
• Scrappy cabins: Sadly neglected.. but I promise to get back to it soon.
• Leader & Ender project 1 (Four patches): All the four patches are done. They now need their HSTs, which I want to do all the same (white on one side, and black and white fabric on the other side). But I need some more fabric for that, so this project is on hold for now.
• Leader and Ender project 2 (Nine patches). These are going swimmingly and I can usually complete a couple every time I’m in the studio sewing.

The nine patches are made from 4 inch blocks so the finished block is a good size (about 11 inches), so they are building towards a quilt pretty fast. I plan to put 4 inch sashing between each block, so I already have enough for a lap quilt… but I also have enough squares for several more nine patches, so I think I’ll just keep going for now.

Random thing #1:
When we moved here about five years ago, Dave was delighted to discover there was a Scottish Bakery down the street where he could get fresh Scotch pies. He’d go a couple times a month and get himself a few pies, and some sausage rolls.
But this summer the lovely couple who ran it decided to retire, and the Scottish Bakery became a British grocery run by a lovely new couple from Manchester, England.  However, while he can still get his sausage rolls, they no longer carry as many pie flavours, and Dave’s favourite – Steak and Kidney – got axed.
So silly me thought… how hard can it be to make them? The answer… not as easy as you’d think. First… kidneys are disgusting… cutting them up is gross (and I’m not normally squeamish about that), and they smell terrible as they cook. The hot water pastry required to make nice stiff pie pots takes a little practice and a few sneaky tricks not listed in the recipes.
But in the end I managed it.Dave got nine little handheld pies and there was enough filling leftover to make my Dad the “English” version with puff pastry on top.
It was a hit with both Dave and Dad… and now Dad is requesting Cornish pasties… what have I gotten myself into?

Random thing #2
Years ago, I rescued a dying spider plant, and for the last little while, it’s been popping out babies left and right. I’d found containers for most of them, but I still had three hanging (and teasing Burton) when I came across the cutest little teacups at the grocery store.They are the perfect size for the spider babies. The white ones are staying with me, which little red fox is going to live with Mom.

Random thing #3
Dave has a Money Tree. It was a gift from a student, and has lived at the school since it was given to him five or six years ago. Dave is now leaving that school so he brought the Money Tree home…I’m beginning to understand why our finances are in the state they are! I’m trying to nurse it back to life and see if we can get a little more prosperity.

I was hoping to show you a finished baby cardigan today… but…

Yep… I frogged it. I was almost done too…. halfway through the last sleeve. But the shape of it had been nagging me for a while. I really should have frogged back when I first realized some of the decreases were making it a bit wonky. At first I thought it would block out… but as I knit more and more it became very apparent that wasn’t going to happen.

So it’s back to the drawing board with this one. And I’m taking suggestions on baby cardigan patterns… because I still need one for the fair, which is creeping ever closer.

And since I don’t have a proper knit to show you… here’s a cat.