It happens every time… I say “I really need to stop spending money and stick to a budget” and the Universe goes… HA! Here’s some cool stuff you just HAVE to HAVE!

Case in point

Cast iron spider stepping stone! Definite must have.

Decorative spider garden stakes… you need seven of them. (Yes. Seven. Yes, I bought them all)

Vintage tricycle planter? Oh yeah – definitely need that. It was a little rusty, so Dave gave it a fresh paint job. I’ll be potting up some plants and putting it out in the garden today.

Another ceramic long-haired black cat? Of course you need that…

The first one I bought obviously needed a friend.

Spice of Life Lasagna Pan (Roaster) that you’ve been searching forever for? Totally going to find it when you’re sticking to the budget!

I guess I’ll stick to the budget starting tomorrow…

It was a short week for us….

But we are pretty jealous of our friends south of the border… we could use another long weekend!

With the Sanderson socks off the needles, I needed something new on the needles. And I was really feeling the need for cables. I haven’t knit cables in AGES. I searched, and searched and searched but could not find exactly what I was looking for.

So… I got out some graph paper and designed it.

And designing a knitting pattern is something else I haven’t done in ages! But I’m liking the result so far.

I’m not sure if I’ll release it when it’s done. I don’t have the pattern software I used to, so I’ll have to see if I can figure out something else to draw up the charts from my messy, handwritten notes.

But for now I’m just going to enjoy the knit

We are full into Butterfly season here… at least… we should be. Normally as soon as the weather warms up in late April, early May, we start seeing two butterflies regularily – the Red Admiral and the White Cabbage.

I’ve seen exactly one Red Admiral this spring. And the Cabbages, normally, there’s four or five (or more) flitting around the garden at any one time. But not this year. Up until last week… I was lucky to see ONE Cabbage flitting about. But slowly…

Their numbers have been picking up.

The last month, these guys have been a common site.

It’s a Pearl Crescent. It’s a small butterfly and one I don’t normally see until a little later in the year. It’s main larval food is asters, and I have lots of those, so that’s probably why I’m seeing it a little earlier this year.

And we have a new butterfly to the garden this year.

It’s a Common Sootywing. And it’s a tiny one! Think the size of a dime. I only saw it the one day but hope I see it again this year.

Last… we have a moth

This one is a False Crocus Moth. I’ve captured it a few times over the years so it’s a fairly common vistor to the garden.

I have seen a few other butterflies I haven’t been able to capture, including a monarch, a yellow swallowtail, and a little brown butterfly I couldn’t identify. My goal for July is to get out in the garden with the camera as much as possible to capture all of my little winged friends.

Despite having a long weekend… I did not finish #17. This is for two reasons:

1. I spent about 80% of the weekend in the garden. I got up early each day and headed right out. I worked and worked and worked until noon when it got too hot and humid to be out there. Then I came in to the A/C and sewed in the afternoons. Then I made dinner, and headed back out to the garden until dark. There just wasn’t much time for stitching before bedtime.
2. There are A LOT of French knots on this one! And boy do they take time!

So… making progress. Just slowly.

When I left Mom’s the other weekend, I left her with the penguin quilt to do some fancy quilting on…

And she knocked it out of the park. As you can see, the pattern is pretty simple – just a panel surrounded by some flying geese. But her quilting takes it up several notches!

I told her to quilt it as she saw fit – and she never disappoints! She’s a true artist with that machine!

The whole thing is backed with a cozy flannel. Which, while not part of the fabric line, matched pretty darn close! I got it from Joanne’s ages ago. (and let me just say I’m really upset I can’t get fabric there anymore!)

The quilt is in the shop now – and is part of the 20% off sale! It only lasts until tomorrow, so if you’ve got your eye on this one – don’t delay!

You all know I’m fascinated by all the wee creatures in my garden. And sometimes, some of them are extremely wee!

My neighbour and I came across this itsy bitsy grasshopper while we were poking about the gardens the other evening. I have never seen one so small – he couldn’t have been bigger than a centimetre or so.

Hanging about with him was a little hoverfly.

We have several different types of hoverflies in the garden and some of them are super tiny!

These little things – Red Banded Leaf Hoppers – are another common sight. They are brightly coloured but I had a hard time getting pictures of them. They are small, fast, and like to hop out of frame before I can get focused!

June may be almost over…. but summer is really heating up. We are smack dab in the middle of a hot, humid stretch.

Almost all the roses have bloomed, but they do prefer things a little bit cooler. They still bloom in the heat, but they go over really quick. I really need to get out there and do some dead-heading.

The daisies have started blooming too.

As has the bee balm

There’s still a few foxgloves left.

Same with the Delphiniums

Interesting – the blue ones on the right were a LOT more blue last year. You can see a touch of it in the bottom flowers.

The lily show is just beginning.

And it’s looking like the Milkweed show will be fabulous too. Good new for the Monarchs!

With a few exceptions, most of the flowers starting to bloom now will bloom right into fall.

Like the Yarrow

And Coneflowers.

And Tickseed.

I’ve got a lot of weeding to do, but the gardens are ready for a sunny July!

I forgot to share the pictures of Winnie I took when I was at Mom’s.

Not long after I arrived there, she laid claim to my overnight bag.

And the next day, she supervised the sandwiching of the four-patch quilt.

There’s no denying she’s a beautiful specimen of a cat. But…

She definitely still hates me.

***

And… in case you missed it on our Facebook page

We’re having a sale! Head on over to the shop!

Saturday was devoted to something I do every other year or so…

Taking field fresh strawberries and turning them into jam!!! Dave doesn’t eat sugar any more, so a batch of jam will last me almost two years. I got a flat of berries, which makes two batches, so I have some extra jam for giving away.

I know some people like chunks of fruit in their jam, but I prefer a very smooth jam, so this is my secret weapon.

The actual making of jam is really easy and fairly quick. It’s the prep work (sterilizing jars, preparing the fruit) that takes the bulk of the time, so the blender helps speed things up a little too.

Out of the flat, I got 17 jars of jam (plus a little extra in a dish in the fridge). Several will go to Mom, and I’ll give many more for Christmas etc.

Since I had all the jars out, I decided it was finally time to jam the golden raspberries I’d save from the garden last year.

Their yellow shade had dulled a little in freezer, so it looked a little like canned cream corn when it was cooking. But it certainly smelled like raspberry jam!

There were only enough berries for a half batch, so I only got four jars out of the raspberries.

Two of these are going to Mom too. But I’ll keep two for myself. And that will have me set for jam for many many months to come!