How does my garden grow!

I am a bad blogger. It is August 11th and this is the first post of the month. It is hot here in North Carolina mid 90's so the heat is on. We did get some rain today. I have cast on for the August dishcloth swap for my swap partner over at Ravelry Dishcloths ar us group. I am reading Dropped Dead Stitch, by Maggie Sefton. My mother picked some great looking tomatoes out of the garden today and okra, cucumber's. The picture I am posting are tomatoes from my garden. I think they are German Johnson's.

Dish Cloth Swap part II

My partner in the July dish cloth swap from the dish cloths r us group over on Ravelry received her dishcloths so that mean I can post pictures of the dish cloths I mailed to my partner. I enjoyed the swap with this group and I have signed up for the August swap. I have not spent any time knitting this week. I have an idea of what I want to do for the August swap. I am very please with the fact that tomorrow is Friday and payday! I will have money for a few minutes. Posting a picture of what I sent to my July swap partner.

Dish cloth swap

I received 2 beautiful dish cloths from my swap partner over at ravelry. I participated in the July dishcloth swap in the dishcloth r us group. I have already signed up for the August swap. I love bright colors and Smilingdolphin sent 2 very pretty and bright dishlcoths 1 knit and 1 crochet. I have not heard weather or not the person I mailed to has received her package or not, I hope so it was mailed on Friday. I am posting a picture of the dishcloths I received. It is very nice to come and have something other than bills in the mail. This is just a quick post no time for reading or knitting this weekend I helped my daughter move into her first apartment. I will tell you about that later.

Checking in on Humday.

Well its hum day and the weekend is on the horizon! I had a not to bad Sunday my daughter and I and her friend my second daughter went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I enjoyed the movie but I feel somethings that really needed to be in the movie did not make it to the movie. I would have loved to have Dumbledore come to get Harry at the Dursley's it was one of my favorite parts of the book. There was no Dobby or Kreacher and they are very important to the book to me, nothing about Bill and Fleur's engagement no funeral for Dumbledore. How will they tie all this together in the last movies. Monday was not so good long day at work due to a very important system on the computer not working all day. Tuesday not so bad at work and after work one of my dear friends picked me up at work and we went to David's a new restaurant in Asheboro. It looked great on the outside and inside and has a large variety of food. We both had Steaks and my ribeye was great, so was the steamed vegetables and french fries. It was a nice relaxing evening. Tonight I listened to the President talk about heath care reform and then the Lionbrand podcast and weaved the end to the dishcloth I plan to send to my swap partner on Friday. When my swap partner receives her package I will post a picture. I cut 2 eggplant of my Japanese eggplant and 1 from the green. We had some rain today but I think the long dry spell we and in late June early July did my squash and zucchini in and they are dying. I need to pull the squash and zucchini up and maybe plant the butternut squash I brought last weekend. I am posting another picture of my Japanese eggplant. It is amazing what you get from a tiny purple bloom.

A Wonderful Sunny Day

I did almost nothing today. I did spend sometime staking my tomato's. A few of my tomato cages needed a few stakes added and so did the tomatillo's. So I staked the tomato's and tomatillo's. I did not knit or crochet today . Spent sometime reading the second book in The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society series, by Beth Pattillo. I am posting a picture of the tomato's in my garden. My daughter will be her tomorrow and we are going to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

Summer Garden

Well we had very good rain yesterday, and like always just when I was about to step out of the door it started to pour. When I got home from work the garden looked much better the rain really helped. Today we put a off brand of Miracle Grow. We have a lot of tomato's on the vine and my Tomatillo's are coming along I need to stake them. I will post a picture. Something happened with the dishcloth I was working on somewhere along the way I lost 3 stitches I had 35 and now only 32. So I have a backup dishcloth to send to my swap partner. I plan to mail off this weekend.

Monday Eve

Quick post to say I am still working on the Dishcloths r us July swap. I spent the day watching t.v. and knitting. I spent time on Ravelry and Crochetville. Work tomorrow and I am ready for Friday already. Great new episode of Trueblood to night. It rained for half a minute around 11:30 and I hope it will start again and continue my garden looks pretty sad. I water yesterday but you just can't substitute for nature by watering your self. I hope the book I ordered will come in by Wednesday I need a good read. I am the proud grower of a great Rosemary bush posting a picture. I had to cut some branches off and tie it up hoping to get the bush to grow up instead of around.

Oh how sweet it is...

Oh how sweet it is because it is the weekend baby! So it is late on Friday night and I don't have to get up and go to work tomorrow. I am almost finished with one of the dish cloths that I plan to send to my swap partner on Ravelry, with the dishcloth r us group, all I have left to do is weave the ends and take a picture so that after my partner has received I can add it to my projects on Ravelry and post a picture on Ravelry and here. I plan to cast on another dishcloth this weekend so that I can send more than one cloth to my partner. You know it is very relaxing to listen to a past lionbrand podcast and blog. I am posting a picture of the eggplant from my garden and I must say what a difference a few days make. On a previous post I have a picture on this eggplant I wish I could get more than one at a time. I think by the end on next week this could happen a few more blooms are on the plant. You can't make a Moussaka with one Japanese eggplant. The are long and slender not like the large eggplant that most of us are use to seeing in the store.

Friday Eve

Well I have made it to Thursday only one more day to make it through and my weekend will start. I am working on a dishcloth for my swap partner over at Ravelry, so far so good. I can't give the details because I have to wait until after the swap. It is a great looking pattern. We have in this part of NC hit a dry spell and we are only getting what seems like a few drops of rain. We need a nice steady slow shower. If we don't get rain by tomorrow I will need to water the garden. Well not much to report tonight. I just wanted to check in for a few minutes. Flower from my yard.

Tuesday Ramble

Well my lovely long weekend ended today when I had to get up and go to work. I wish I had asked for the day off so that I could have watched the Memorial service for Michael Jackson. I should have went to lunch at 1:00 instead of 12:00 today so I could have watched more than just the family traveling to the public memorial service. I must admit to the fact that I cried this evening when I watched the replay of Michael's daughter talk about her daddy and how wonderful he was as a father. I hope someone will air the memorial service all the way through again this weekend. Even though I had a nice long weekend I did not spend that much time knitting. I did finish my sock and as I stated in a previous post I cast on for the second sock. I joined a swap on Ravelry. A dishcloth swap with dishcloth ar us group that I joined sometime ago. I already have several finished dishcloths I can select from to send my swap partner but just in case I don't want to send a dishcloth that I already have done I cast on tonight and I am on row 7. This weekend on the family channel they are airing all the Harry Potter movies. I knew someone would so everyone could prepare for the latest Harry Potter that premiere's on next Wednesday. Since the movie premiere come in the middle of the week I try to get tickets on Friday for Saturday the matinee. Yesterday of course we put chicken on the grill and I made a squash casserole, my first and with the squash from my garden. The picture I am posting is of a squash that made it into the casserole. I have lots of little green tomato's trying to grow on the vine so happy.

Another Great Weekend.

Well my 4th saw great. Spent the day with most of my family. My Mother, Aunt, Cousins and Daughter and her Boyfriend and her friend Gin. We had a cookout the food was great my Daughter made Shrimp and Chicken Kabobs. I got the recipe from WFMY News 2 website in 2006. The kabobs turned out really well. Besides the Kabobs had hamburgers,hot dogs, ribs, and chicken, salad, slaw, macaroni and cheese, an peach cobbler. We had some family members that did not get to come so food was left over. So that means no cooking today. I finished up one sock and cast on for the second. I tried the sock on and it is a little big but it fits okay and it feels good. I forgot to take my camera so no pictures. I think I will need to take a class on circular needles, yes I know I have used double pointed for the sock but for some reason I could not get it on Thursday when I cast on and tried to start a blanket. The blanket was just straight knitting not in the round maybe I cast my stitches on to tight. My plan is to work on the hat I cast on last week and maybe try to cast on the blanket again. Garden talk things are moving along in the garden so far we have had some cucumbers and squash no zucchini yet but the eggplant has started to grow and the tomato's are in bloom. The picture is of the eggplant in the garden.

Seventh Month

It is already the seventh month of the year. I find it hard to believe. Time and the month's pass by so quickly when you have all those things to worry about examples the mortgage, electric, and the natural gas. I am listening to an old YarnCraft podcast while I post because there is nothing on t.v at this time. I plan to add a few more rows to the shaping of my sock. I had planned to start my 4th of July holiday weekend by not working tomorrow our office is closed on Friday, but I did not get my case processed through Monday today. So I will go to work tomorrow and leave at 12:00. I will have to push I only have a few to get done but it get hard when computer systems you depend on to aid you in the process of these cases are down and not working. Oh well such is life! Well happy crafting! I am posting a picture of a fig that is currently growing on one of the fig tree's in my backyard. I love fig's and this year I plan to cook with my figs. In the past my Mother has made preserves and we eat a few if we can get to the figs before the bees. I have notice on Foodnetwork and other places recipes for savory dishes, and fig tart lets. So if I manage this I will tell you. The fig is a strange tree you get fruit but no blooms. The leaves fall off every year in the fall and then in the spring one day the leaves sprout out and then one day out of no where the fig's start to grow. I find it strange because tomato's, squash, okra they all have blooms. People consider tomato's a vegetable but they are really a fruit. Peach trees bloom have a flower but not the fig. Okay I am finished with my ramble.

Shaping the toe

Well while listening to the Yarncraft podcast from Lionbrand tonight I finally started shaping the toe of my almost finished sock. So far so good. I will work on it again tomorrow night. I broke down and cast on a new project last night nothing big, just a hat I got the pattern I think last year in an offer to subscribe to to Vogue Knitting Magazine. You use on skein of Noro/KFI Kureyon. I have a skein on Noro I am not sure what kind I think it is silk garden. I lost the wrapper. The pattern is a simple rip stitch pattern. Just managed the cast on. I plan to cast on a baby afghan tomorrow. It is a free pattern from Lionbrand. I was trying so hard not to start a new project before I finished my socks. Oh well!. Its the last day in June and I hope tomorrow will be my last day of work until next Tuesday. The office is closed on Friday for the 4th and I asked for Thursday and next Monday off. I am trying very hard to get several cases done through Monday so that I can have the two extra days off. I plan to finish and this time I mean finish my sock and cast on and work as many rows and I can of the second sock in the pair over this long holiday weekend. My mother found the first cucumber of the season and I think by the end on the week we will have enough squash for a casserole. The squash casserole maybe a strictly southern thing I am not sure.

Saturday

Well here I am on a Saturday with 18 to 20 somethings in my living room listening to music and playing cards. So I think I have a long night ahead. It is my daughter's friend's and her cousin's. To me this was a long and sad week The death's of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett was very sad. Michael was a very talented singer and Farrah a great actress. I feel both to young to die. I am still reading Death by Cashmere and working on my sock . I have not spent time knitting since Wednesday but I plan to pick up my knitting tomorrow and shape the toe on my sock. I am trying very hard not to start any new projects before I finish the socks but it is very hard. I have the yarn and the circular needles for the baby afghan in the Leisure Arts pattern book The Shop on Blossom Street from the Debbie Macomber book. I want to cast on the baby block afghan. Since I spent some time last Sunday crocheting I want to finish an afghan I started I think in 2006 also. I really need to be strong. No new projects until my socks are done. Happy crafting.

Almost a Sock!

Well my first sock is almost a sock. I added a few rows tonight and by my measurements it is almost 8 inches and according to the direction I need to stop 2 inches before the end. So hopefully by the end of the week I will get the toe shaped and bind off by the weekend. I plan to start the second sock immediately after I finish the first. After last night and finishing up the baby afghans. I really want to do a little crochet. I have a red afghan that I started I think in 2006 maybe 2007 I really need to check past post's to see if they will give me a clue. While I was looking around Lion Brand Yarn's I noticed a wonderful and what looks like a very easy baby blanket. It is the Diagonal Comfort blanket in the pattern they use Cotton-Ease. I think I want to use one of the many baby blanket yarns I have in my stash. I have had this yarn for a long time. I have TLC Baby and Lion Brand Yarn Pound of Love. I think I will try my very best to at least finish the first sock and start the second before I start the baby afghan.

A Return to Crochet

Well I paid a visit to YouTube to brush up on my triple and double crochet. I found to great video's to help one to help me with an unfinished baby afghan in crochet lace shells and one in crazy or brick stitch. My daughter needs a gift for a friend's baby shower. So I found two UFOs and finished them today. The baby afghan's only needed a few stitches and a little end weaving. So she choose between the two afghan's and now I have one ready if she needs one for another friend. It seems so strange that her friend's are moving into the marrying and family starting stage of their lives. Still reading Death by Cashmere. No work on the sock today. Tomorrow I promise. I will spend a few minutes before I go to bed reading.

It's Friday Night!

Well it's Friday night and I am at home sitting in front of the t.v. watching 20/20, and surfing the net. I have not worked on my sock today. I will read later tonight. Spent some time sitting out on the deck very nice and relaxing. I am fighting the urge to start any new projects before I finish my socks. I want to start a scarf . I am really trying to be strong. A display at Bella Filati. I love chickens.

Friday Eve!

It's Thursday night and I can't believe I still have on more day before the weekend. I came home today and relaxed for a few minutes and then ate dinner, then spent time working on my long suffering sock project. I plan to read a few minutes before I go to sleep. So I think I will give myself at least a B for working on my sock almost everyday this week. Happy crafting!

Keeping a promise

I made a promise to myself that I would spend sometime every night knitting a few row's on my sock. So far I so good spent some time this evening after work knitting a few rows on the sock. I have been reading and visiting Ravelry and crochetville tonight. I don't think I will knit anymore tonight getting ready to get in bed and relax do some reading. I need to get Death by Cashmere read by the 26th. I should go to the bookstore and by the book so I can have the pattern at the end of the book. In a previous post I talked about my visit to Bella Filati in Southern Pines in a previous post. The picture is of the window at Bella Filati. www.bellafilati.com

Time

I feel that there is not enough time in a day to do the things that I want to do. First out of necessity I have to spend 8 hours per day working. Gotta pay the mortgage,car payment, and keep up the utilities. Then by the time you come home unwind for an hour or two it does not leave you with much time for reading, knitting, and blogging. So little time so much to accomplish. I made myself spent time knitting a few rows on my sock while I listened to this week's lionbrand podcast. I am determined to get both socks done before the end of the summer and start a new pair. Went by the library on Monday and picked up my interlibrary loan, Death by Cashmere, by Sally Goldenbaum it is A Seaside Knitters Mystery. I did not realize so many author's wrote knitting mysteries. I love the books because they don't go all CSI and at the end of the book some add either a recipe and pattern or just a pattern. I started the book last night and I think it will make another great summer read. It is better if you can buy the books that way later on you can try the pattern checking the book out of the library does not give you enough time. The flower is Spider Flower, Cleome Sparkler Hybrid (hassleriana) a very nice woman that I work with gave me a few plants. It is a very pretty flower. I received a catalog in the mail last week from Park Seed Co. In the catalog they have the plant listed as an annual but the plant that my friend gave me reseed's it self I think this one is the Blush it comes in 4 colors.