Saturday

It was blissfully cool this morning and so we decided to do some cleanup work in the garden. It now looks a bit less than a jungle, but still kind of wild. The grass was so high in one part, that one of the cats completely disappeared in it while walking! Usually that only happens when they lay down. We cut the grass and took down the dead bean plants, discovered two mantises and I took a few pictures. We have black-eyed susans growing in abundance all over the place this year, they must all be self seeded because I never planted any. On the other hand, the columbines I planted did not show up at all.

I am back!

I am just not good at taking breaks. ;)

The past almost two weeks were kind of busy, after Del went back to work I caught up on my housework and eased myself back into all kinds of projects.
Here is what has been going on, mostly food, cats and crafts.

Lots of salads were eaten.

And a yummy chocolate cake for the weekend.

A simple pizza with tomatoes from the garden.

I must say that for people on a tight budget we eat very well (Del says it is because of my talent in the kitchen, I can't help it, I just love to cook.).

My trusty observers of everything that goes on in the garden.

And my darling Kitty of course.

I know it must be in here somewhere.

An early morning visitor, who, sadly was at the end of his/her life cycle and died later that day.

And a few craft projects. I finally found a way to use this piece from the 12 x 12 x 12 challenge (which so far is only a 12 x 12 x 5 one for me).

While watching the Tour de France I knitted another "Wool Peddlers Shawl" with the leftover yarn from Del's sweater.

And this is an ornament for a friend in Israel. We are doing a Christmas ornament swap on one of my quilting lists and since she has no use for Christmas ornaments she asked if we could make her a quilted ornament for her Succoth hut. The dove is the symbol of our group. It is cross stitched.

The weather has been hot with frequent thunderstorms, my garden is one big mess, the zucchini plants died, the peppers are not producing, the radishes went to seed without ever producing anything edible. The only things I am picking are tomatoes and even those look like they are on their way out. The grass, weeds and bugs are doing very well and we have one pair of gold finches who are really enjoying the sunflower seeds. Not even the flowers I planted for the hummingbirds came up worth anything and we had a wasp nest in the bird feeder, yuck, now we need a new feeder but that has to wait until Winter. We have a lot of dragon flies this year and also oodles of wasps in all sizes and colors. I think we will give most of our beds a rest next year and try container gardening instead, I am tired of fighting the bermuda and crab grass, which can only be conquered with chemicals and I don't want to use any of them in my garden.

With all the medical bills to pay off our budget is even tighter now and we decided to suspend our TV service for 6 months to give ourselves a bit more wiggle room. I wonder if we will get it hooked up again in January or if we get so used to being without it that we just keep it off. When we first moved in together we did not have TV either and did not miss it much. There really is not much on worth watching anyway, we have an extensive video collection from the time when movies in English were only available on video in Austria and we have lots of books and games and other projects, I am sure we will not get bored.

Now I am off to start working on my project of the day ( a new idea of mine, it seems to help me get things done).

Take care and thanks for still reading.

Summer Break

See you all again in a few weeks, take care and have fun!

Summer Food

Yellow

Happy 4th of July!

In the Garden - From the Garden

New Dishcloths

Aunt May's dishcloth is rather addicting. ;)

And as usual - inspected and approved by my little helpers.

And one for Christmas.

Summer Decorating

Another Shawl

This is going to be my last major knitting project for now. I have to get working on some quilts and some Christmas ornaments for a swap. It is a comfort shawl for a little girl who will undergo surgery in August. Her aunt asked me to knit a shawl for her.

Finished!

My Traveling Woman is finished.

Garden Things

Lesson Learned

When planning on knitting in the hospital waiting room while your husband is undergoing surgery take a simple project. I just frogged most my Traveling Woman because there was a boo-boo in the pattern somewhere and I am not very good at picking up stitches in a lace pattern. I am now down to the setup rows again and ready to re-start the lace part.

Good News

Del had his post-op appointment today and we got the final pathology report. They were pleased with how well he is healing, all the nasty things that were still in his body came out and the report was good. We are in the clear for now and hopefully for a long time. It was organ contained and had not spread. He will go back for his next check up in three months and then regularly every 3 to 4 months in the first year, every 6 months in the next and so on. He will be able to drive again in a week, is not allowed to lift more than a gallon of milk for another 5 weeks and we will see when he is good and ready to go back to work.

Right now I am very relieved and very tired. The "C"-word will always be a part of our life but hopefully a part that keeps getting smaller with each year that passes.

Take care everyone and women - tell your guy to get a check up, the earlier it is caught, the better.

The Longest Day

I just came home from the hospital. Del's surgery went very well, the doctor said it could not have gone better. They had him up and walking already and he had solid food for dinner, he has no pain, just feels very dry and thirsty. He will be coming home tomorrow.

Miss Kitty is spooked by all the strange happenings around here. Yesterday she freaked when she saw a bowl of jello jiggle and today there were strange people coming into the house and then I came back without her daddy. She looks very bewildered but I am sure she will come around soon.

I am extremely grateful for friends who spent the whole day with me at the hospital, an excellent surgeon who knows his business and the very nice and friendly staff and volunteers at the hospital. And for all the prayers and good thoughts that carried us through the day.

New Dishcloth

Deb over at homespun living shared the pattern for her Aunt May Dishcloth on her blog. Of course I had to try it. ;) I think it is really cute and easy to do. Thanks Deb!