Stormy Weather

 

I live in Minnesota and we have some pretty crazy weather here. This past winter was one of the coldest and most miserable.  This June we are full of floods and heavy rain, and it looks like we are going to have our wettest June in recorded history.

Last night after yet another round of heavy rain blew through we had the most amazing pink sunset and this huge Rainbow was out in the sky. It was actually a double rainbow - hard to see the second one in these pictures - but it was just amazing. I stood outside, swatting mosquitoes the size of dump trucks, and tried to capture the magic on my camera. It was so pretty!

Summer Days

It's the last legs of summer here in Minnesota. We are warmer than normal for this time of year and I find myself trying to enjoy every moment of it. When I am not studying or working I try to go out and enjoy my yard.

I have been planting sunflowers the last couple years as they make me really happy. They are so pretty and the birds just go bonkers for them. This year they have turned into squirrel feeders and these awesome huge sunflowers are largely getting bent from the weight of a squirrel climbing up it's stalk and eating away like it's some giant buffet I planted just for them. But we have a few that are still reaching for the sun and I really enjoy their smiling faces.

On the knitting front, I am still working away on my Ghoul School socks. I finished the ribbing on the cuff and am knitting away on the sock. I am trying to decide how long I want them to be before I start the heel flap. I am leaning toward making these a bit shorter, partly for speed and partly because I think I will lean toward wearing these around Halloween (since they are pretty Halloween/Autumnal tones) and we really don't need the warmth/length in the fall that we would need in January. And I tend to wear two pair of socks during the winter anyway, so yeah. I am leaning toward these being a bit shorter.I love the feel of this yarn and am really enjoying the knit.

Other than that I have just been working my job ans studying for school. My on-line class has been very challenging in that it is run pretty poorly. The test I was supposed to be able to take this week was not open to me to access, so I studied all last weekend for it and then went in to take the test only to find I could not. When I e-mailed my instructor I got no response. Several students (including me) also left messages in our discussion boards and got no response there either. So mostly my online course has been a study in frustration. I will be starting my third class this next Monday and hopefully things will start to really chug along for me after that.

Time to do some knitting.

Second Sock Progress

I AM making progress on my 2nd sock. I keep knitting until I hit 7 inches, and then I can turn heal number two. I am happy to have been working through these socks - but I admit I am already dreaming of my next socks. I dream of skinny fingering weight yarn in CRAZY colors and afterthought heals. I dream of Magic loop and toe up two at a time on two circular needles. **sigh** I think my summer of working on WIPs may fall to the superior force that is sock knitting.

Now that winter is over, I find myself so busy I can hardly think. I have gardens on my brain and grilled food in my tummy. Summer is so brief - that we really try and suck up every bit we can around here. I have been grilling and gardening and even got the first lawn mow of the year under my belt. (And had a massive allergy attack from all the mold and dust and pollen I kicked up - THAT was fun - NOT!)

Slowly slowly I am getting my gardens cleaned up and redone. Here is a photo "Before and After" shot of the Bird Bed.

I have several bird loving perennials in this bed and then I edged it with Snap dragons and Zinnia. Can not wait for the flowers to POP! Also on this bed (not pictured) is my new Hummingbird Feeder. I hung it out last weekend and already have had many customers at it. There is nothing like watching a hummingbird land and drink nectar.

Secret Flower Lover

When Emma thinks I am not looking she will go around and sniff the flowers in the pots to see what they are all about. Although she stripped my Cone Flowers a little bit one year - she is really good about not digging up my flowers or eating the plants. I do spend a bit of time on the ASPCA web Site looking at their lists of Dog Safe plants. (Also good for bunnies, cats, horses......) I got rid of my chives and rhubarb after reading how toxic they were.

It's another hot week here in Minnesota, so there is much watering of the plants after the sun dips down everyday. I just plug in my headphones, throw a ball or two for Emma who often walks around with me - staying well out of range of the hose, (Our girl is not a fan of the hose!) and go from garden to garden. It's nice to see what's changed - what's popped up or what is struggling. Plans to transplant or split a plant often happen while I am watering. I will also recite the names of the plants (if I can remember them!) so that I don't forget what they are called. A nice summer ritual.

Emma in Bloom

While I go out to water my plants at night Emma will often join me and hang out in the yard watching me work. It's fun to have her tagging along while I go from area to area.

She is such a clever thing. When she saw Tom and I out in the strawberry bed intently pulling out berries and eating them up she got in on the action, grabbing a red berry and shooting across the yard with her spoils. I often wonder what we could train her to do if we had the brains for it.

Every summer I get lots of pictures of Emma laying outside, just being a happy dog. Good times.