Morning

My favorite time of the day.

Weekend Project

Had some cotton yarn left over from a project and that little purse has been tickling my fancy for a while. Started yesterday, finished today. Good yarn therapy. :) My traveling woman will travel with me to the hospital on Thursday.

Pattern: Catherine Purse by Louisa Harding from the book "Knitting Little Luxuries"

Now I am off to watch Cats on TV.

Garden Things

My garden is not growing as well as in previous years. It is probably a combination of cheap seeds, lots and lots of rain and the fact that we are a bit pre-occupied with other stuff that is going on in our lives and don't take care of it as we should. Grass, weeds and bugs flourish, the veggie plants not much so. The zucchinis have finally decided to get going, the cucumbers have died, all but one and the radishes are going into bloom without forming anything edible. The strawberries on the other hand are taking over the world and I have to come up with something to keep them from swallowing up the raspberry plant. The peas are starting to form pods and the beans have reached the clothesline and are now starting to bloom. The tomatoes seem to be the only ones that are doing well, they did not come from the cheap seeds. The weather is hot and muggy and I think all the humidity has encouraged the development of ticks in the area, I found several on the cats, one had not yet bitten the other one was full and had fallen off. Gross!! I love country living, too bad we actually live in the city. :)

I fought with the bumble bees this morning to get some lavender for drying.

Yarn Therapy

I saw on Jackie's blog that she has started this project - Traveling Woman - and decided to give it a try. That's how far I have come.

Long Weekend

Rain, food and a bit of gardening.

Sunflowers (this year in a different location, used liquid fence to keep the cats from sleeping on them and it seems to have worked, much better than last year).

Lavender (and bumble bees)

The first pepper.

Roses (did not have as many as in previous years, we cut the bush back a little and one part of it had died).

My first hollyhock (I loved them when I was a kid, planted some last year a little too late in the season, this year they are growing).

Homemade vanilla ice cream with dark chocolate-orange brownies.

Grilled shrimp with salsa, sour cream and mandarin oranges on tostadas.

Lettuce from the garden (almost 1 lb).

Del has his pre-op appointment tomorrow and my stress level is off the charts today. I think I go and get myself some yarn therapy. I do so wish we were on the other side of all this already.

Knitting

I just finished Del's Sweater. I love the pattern and the yarn. And he loves the sweater. ;)

I also knitted a dozen dishcloths for which I am actually getting paid. :)

Lavender Blue

Something New

One of my goals for 2010 was to learn a new craft. I would really like to learn how to weave but until I can afford a loom I am getting started on spinning instead. I treated myself to a starter kit with drop spindle and some fiber and can't wait to try it out.

Summer Food

With the temperature climbing steadily towards the 90s, cool and easy summer food is entering the weekly menu.

Grilled Shrimp Wraps (with salsa, mango and sour cream).

Chef Salad

New Toy

I got a new toy. An ice cream maker that works without salt. The first trial run was lemon sorbet which came out a bit runny, the gel bowl must not have been in the freezer long enough. Tried it again last night and it was much better. Can't wait to try different kinds of ice cream.

From the Garden

Surprise!

After the first Christmas in the house, I threw the cut off leaves of my - not blooming at all - amaryllis into the garden and later I stuck the bulb into the ground too, just to see what would happen. Well, the leaves took root and the bulb started growing and this year I have this:

There are at least three amaryllis now and all three of them are blooming or getting ready to.

Good things still happen around here.

Sofa Cushion #2

Same fabrics differently arranged.

And here they are both together.

And the whole mess that is our sofa. ;)

Colors

Day lilies are blooming in the garden and look so nice in my favorite vase.

A new cover for a sofa cushion (made this morning from upholstery fabric samples bought at the thrift store a while ago, will make a second one tomorrow).

An oddly colored cat that lives in the neighborhood. She is actually chocolate brown all over with a slight tabby pattern on the tail and a white spot on the chest. I have never seen a cat in that color before. She is shy and difficult to photograph.

Weekend

Food.

And a new knitting project.

The weather was gorgeous, the food (all homemade) was great and the Celtic Festival was a lot of fun. We met interesting people and are thinking about joining a Scottish Country Dance group once all that "c-stuff" has been dealt with. The dancing is a lot like the Irish dancing we used to do in Vienna but a little slower and the people in the group are very nice and closer to our age.

I joined an online support group for women in the same situation as I am and they are a big help when things get a bit too much. I gladly follow their advise to take care of myself, rest, relax and do things that I enjoy. I dug out my relaxation CD, got some books and crafts projects ready and keep myself busy with house and garden. As they say the facts are easier to deal with than the emotions.

Bookmarks

Before I started working on the label for my mom's cookbook cover I re-acquainted myself with cross stitching by making these patterns for future use as bookmarks and today I finished them. I just backed them with matching fabrics.

The Good Stuff

That's what I will be keeping my focus on in the coming weeks and months, the good, the pretty and the positive things in my life, like a fresh rose from the garden

or my yawning Kitty basking in the sun.

The "C" word

Well, it has happened. The dreaded "C" word has entered into our lives and we will have to learn to live with it. The diagnosis did not really surprise me, after the kind of year we had so far I had almost expected it.
But I have noticed one thing, with all the bad stuff that happened so far, there was always a solution - not early enough to spare me some stress, but it worked out in the end which gives me hope.

Strawberries

The strawberry plants we bought last year survived the Winter and are thriving. We already picked more than a pound and they are sweet and yummy.