Back in the Dirt

Typical Minnesota weather to go from snowstorm to crocus blooming in the same week!  Just when we had all reached the absolute end of our rope for winter, it relents and gives us a perfect weekend and the collective mood of the entire state improves.

Because of the warmer temps, I was finally able to do what I've been waiting for an entire year to do--get out and work in the yard and garden.  What a treat!  Even though I quite literally had neighbors on every side and spouse harping at me to slow down and take it easy--which I did as best I could--it was so much fun to do those mundane springtime chores. 

Am I paying for it this morning?  Sure.  My endurance isn't back entirely.  Was it worth it?  You bet.

Weather-wise, we are several weeks behind where we were last year at this time.  Flowers that were blooming last March--a very non-typical spring--are just pushing up out of the ground. 

Personally, I'm in a much better place.  Tomorrow will mark a year since my stem cell transplant.  Some myeloma patients refer to that as their new birthday.  It really has marked a new beginning for me now that my cancer levels are low enough to be undetectable by lab tests.   Here's hoping it stays that way for a long time.  Those treatments weren't without their ill effects--neuropathy and pain that I'm still dealing with twelve months out, but I'm hoping those too will diminish as time goes by.

Strange what makes for good medicine.  The whole time I was pruning some shrubs and pulling weeds, I hardly gave a moment's thought to pain or cancer.  Life felt almost normal.

First Official Week of Summer

Thought I'd better snap a few pictures of the June garden before the month slips away.  By the way, wasn't it just Memorial Day weekend?

It's been more than a little humbling to know the garden looks beautiful even without my daily puttering.  Sure, there are a few weeds when you look up close and some spent blooms could be trimmed, but it's not bad.  In fact, the bees love that the thyme has been allowed to spread past the patch I usually allow as they hover over their tiny flowers, chipmunks are hiding in the oregano that is tall and bushy instead of neatly trimmed, and the birds are feasting on the seed heads that usually end up in the compost heap.  It's a vegetation free for all.

As I sit back and make plans for next spring and dream about all the things I'll get to do next year when I can get back in the dirt, I believe I'm learning a few things about letting nature take its course.

My recovery continues to go well.  Food finally tastes just as it should, and my energy levels get better and better as I gain back some weight and am allowed to exercise again.  No hair yet, but that's not the worst thing on a hot, humid summer day.  I was  thinking I should treat myself to something special with what I'm saving on haircuts and "product", but I've likely already made up the difference buying pretty scarves when I see them.

While the garden tends itself, I try and stay busy with indoor chores.  Cooking is fun again and with our son home off and on throughout the summer I have even more reason to spend time in the kitchen.  In the past few weeks I've tried things I haven't made in years. I even dug out my ice cream maker and whipped up a quart of chocolate gelato.  Lucky we had a skinny twenty-something around to help us with that.

I've been making some progress on knitting projects as well.  The afghan I'm working on grows slowly since there are about 400 stitches per row. It still has gotten large enough that it's often too hot to hold on my lap.  I have to save it for the cooler nights.  My sweater is coming along much faster.  I may even start the second sleeve tonight.  As I've been knitting, I've been thinking I might change the way the bands are knit on the front, but I've got to get there first.

No rush.  I want to continue to savor our summer.

More Pretty Peonies

Summer Arrives

I did it!  I got through the stem cell transplant and am on the mend.  Nineteen days in the hospital is not something I would care to repeat any time soon, but I made it and now a beautiful summer is on the way.

The porch is officially open.  The guys cleaned it up on a 90 degree Sunday afternoon over the Memorial Day weekend, and we had our inaugural  grilled brats dinner.  Unfortunately, it's a little too chilly to be out there today, but a warm up is predicted again by the weekend.  This is truly the best room in our house.  I'm so glad it's all ready to go.

Even though I've been out of commission and am still banned, the garden grows on.  It was incredible to see the progress that took place while I was gone.  The hostas are huge, the peonies blooming, and the catmint is covered with busy bees.  I've sometimes wondered what would happen to my garden if I didn't do a thing.  It doesn't look too bad thanks to a kind spring, but it will be ready for me to come back next year with all my plans and pent up gardening energy .

It's actually a good opportunity to try and give my niece the gardening bug.  I offered my small vegetable plot to my sister for the summer so the two of them have planted tomatoes, beans, and a few herbs.  So far, I think my niece likes wearing her pretty boots more than she likes to get dirty, but maybe she'll get excited once she can pick some of her own vegetables.

My husband is helping as much as he can with the yard work.  I don't think  he's developing any great love for it though.  (Maybe I should buy him some pretty boots!)  He still seems to be somewhat unclear about which plants are weeds and which are not.  After a couple of mistakes, he has at least learned to ask before plucking.  As a result, I've got more than a few large weeds sharing space with my perennials.  We'll get to them eventually.  Look away.

Rather than focus on what I can't do, I've tried to focus on some of the jobs that I can do but have put off.  I have sorted through a big pile of recipes, cleaned out my pantry, and knit up some new dishcloths to replace the ones that are worn out.  I do like knitting something so useful and practical.  They're like chips--hard to stop after just one.  I know it's not that exciting, but I think they are pretty when they're fresh and new.  Humble knitting.  These are from a freebie pattern: Waffle Knit Dishcloth.  (Check out the blog that goes with it.)

Finally, even though I have gone on and on about the garden.  I just wanted to point out once again the beauty of plants with ugly names.  Blood roots are the first blooms of the spring, bleeding hearts accompany the pretty lily of the valley.  Well now the garden is blessed by the blooming stalks of the gas plant.  True, it doesn't smell as sweet as the peonies, but isn't it pretty?  Really, who names these things?

Harvest

Cool mornings and earlier sunsets are here to remind us that our summer days are numbered. It's always a bittersweet time of year; sad to see summer come to a close, but we look forward to what's ahead.

It's harvest time.

This has been a strange year in the garden. After a very cool spring, our summer has been HOT and WET. Since I usually struggle with cool and dry, all the plants that tend to be my old reliables suffered while the ones I plant on a whim have flourished.

Except for the tiny tomatoes, which have been prolific as usual, nearly every one of my tomato plants succumbed to some kind of a blight or disease. The Romas gave me enough for a few good pasta meals, but the rest of them barely eeked out a handful of baseball-sized fruits. The bean plants that positively withered in the extreme heat are finally recovering, so instead of getting our fill in July, we've been enjoying our glut of green beans in August.

On the positive side, there's been dozens of peppers. I've stuffed them, pickled them, wrapped them in bacon, and they keep coming. And I've got eggplant! MN weather is not terribly conducive to growing these little beauties, but a miniature variety in this heat has given me a good crop. Caponata by next week, I'm thinking.

Tons of cucumbers. And basil! Holy pesto, have I harvested the basil. So far, I've been using it all fresh, but I need to spend some time making some pesto sauce to freeze for the winter.

The cooler weather has me thinking about sweater days, too. After setting aside the Fyingdales cardigan for a few weeks, I got back to it and now it's ready for fall.

I think this could become a good workhorse sweater in my closet providing it stops with the shedding. It seems to have slowed down after giving it a soak for blocking. A white t-shirt underneath is still not the best idea--unless I would have no intention of taking my sweater off at any point through the day.

The pattern was well written--one minor spot of confusion that I noted on my Ravelry post. There are knitters who have complained about sizing with the patterns in this book, but I thought this was right on. I am a fan of drop shouldered sweaters which tend to be a little on the bulky side. If you're looking for a fitted garment, this is just not your book.

I no more than got the buttons sewn on this one than I cast on another pattern out of A Fine Fleece--Two Hearts. This one I'm doing up in Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride in the color Sable. I even like the name of that color. The cable pattern is easy with great looking results.

Enough. Time to get out and enjoy our late summer day.

Summer Flies

I guess the summer months are more about doing than they are about documenting what we're doing. Given the choice of getting outside or sitting down at the laptop---getting outside wins almost every time. Today with heat indexes into the 100 degree range, I figured it might be a good time to catch up.

I see it's been a month since I last wrote. That hardly seems possible, but we've managed to squeeze a lot into that time. Mostly family events around the 4th and golf trips, another round of window replacement at home, movies, concerts, and the daily good fun of working out in the yard and garden.

It's been an interesting summer in the garden. Some plants have flourished. I don't think I've ever harvested so much lettuce from such a small plot. What a treat to bring in a fresh basket of greens every night for dinner! Other plants have been a disappointment---not seeming to like the swings in temperature and all the rain. I'm still looking for my first taste of green beans (maybe later this week) and several tomato buds have fallen off without setting fruit. That certainly isn't from a lack of bees. They seem to be in abundance this year, as well as toads. Everywhere! I'm afraid I take out several every time I mow the grass.

There's so much basil I'm thinking we should have some pesto soon. I have enough Italian parsley for the neighborhood. But I continue to struggle to grow cilantro. What's the secret?

Of course, that's the fun of gardening. Never quite knowing how things are going to turn out every year. It's just when you think you have it all figured out, that Mother Nature throws you a curve, and you realize you're not as smart as you thought you were.

Thank goodness for the old reliables--like purple coneflower.

Get Outside While You Can

Finally, gardening weather. Well, sort of. We are having a remarkably unremarkable spring this year. Okay, in all honesty, the weather blows. Cool and wet. A non-spring spring. In between the showers I have managed to get most of the garden in, but the poor seeds and sprouts aren't getting much enticement to grow. We just can't seem to string together two or three warm and sunny days in a row.

I'm hoping June will improve our lot--and my odds of eating some homegrown lettuce.

Despite the weather, the perennial beds are filling in nicely. Apparently, the heavy snow cover did a good job of protecting the plants underground. Never content, however, I have shuffled a few things around, and I can tell you, transplanting gives you a whole new appreciation for what's going on under the garden.

In an attempt to make some more room in the vegetable bed, I wanted to move an old rhubarb plant. Those roots were like tree branches! No wonder you can't kill that stuff. I thought that was a battle I might lose in the end. The phlox needed dividing and that was the same story. Those are the plants for me!

Another vigorous "weed" that I love is the Lily of the Valley. They're blooming like crazy right now and a handful of them in a vase perfume the whole house.

Trying to keep up with my regular chores along with the yard work doesn't leave much time for anything else, but I did manage to cast on a new sweater project. As tired as I've been, I couldn't resist that Webs box. I dug out the Berroco Blackstone Tweed and settled on Fylingdales from A Fine Fleece. It isn't a terribly complicated pattern, so I thought it would be a good one for an unpredictable summer.

The yarn is a soft blend of wool, mohair, and angora and is a beautiful dark blue. I'm not such a big fan of these 50 gram balls that roll around and pop out of my knitting basket though.

Before I got started, I read through the notes from other knitters over at Ravelry, and I have to agree, the directions for the set-up row of the cabled pattern are lacking clarity. The directions aren't wrong, but they sure could use some improvement. It helped to know that I had to be on my toes ahead of time.

See all that knitting? That's the result of a frustrated gardener who would rather be outside!

Hope Springs Eternal

This is what hope looks like.

Warm days have been few and far between so far this spring, but I guess the word hasn't gotten out to the crocus. They're going to bloom regardless of the weather, and what a welcome sight. I like that attitude--if in fact crocus can have an attitude--because quite frankly, the only thing that's been worse than the tough winter we've had this year is all the complaining people have done about it. It is Minnesota. It's going to be cold and snowy once in a while, right? Toughen up and look to the crocus!

The rest of the garden is starting to show some activity too. Sprouts and buds are popping up everywhere. I even saw a few stalks of asparagus and could harvest some chives for the kitchen. It's tempting to get out and get some things done, but honestly, there isn't much that I can do at this point other than watching and waiting. I did throw some lettuce and grass seed in the ground the other day. I'll keep an eye on its progress.

I've been having fun piling up finished squares for my Mitered Crosses Blanket. In fact, I've gotten all the blocks completed and am starting to put them together. It took me a while to figure out the best way to seam the finished blocks. The original pattern recommends using a three-needle join which sounds good to me. Who wants to hand sew all those seams?

My first attempt didn't turn out so great. The divot between the garter stitch rows seemed too pronounced. Frog, frog. So then I thought, why not work with that and join them wrong sides together for a ridge that could be part of the design. Nope. Frog, frog.

I ended up going back to the suggested method, but this time I used a size 8 needle--the blocks were knit with a size 6--both for picking up the stitches and working the bind off. The more relaxed seam and some good blocking when I'm finished should do the trick.

Blocking should be exciting. I'm having flashbacks to some past laundry incidents with red and lighter colors in the same garment. Keep your fingers crossed that this yarn doesn't bleed and I end up with a pink throw. Maybe the first step will be to give the whole thing a soak in a light vinegar and water solution just to be sure that the colors are set.

Guess I won't worry about that just yet. I've got more blocks to join and lots of i-cord to go.

Last Gasps

Now that it's officially fall, it's time to face the fact that the garden is winding down for the season. Part of me would like to go through and clear out some of the saddest foliage, but I know that the plant is better off if it keeps storing up strength for the winter months.

Besides, time is better spent enjoying the last blooms we'll have before frost arrives, and since our average frost date has come and gone already, we're due for one any time.

In August my blue salvia looked terrible. Some bug or disease had infested the whole bunch, so I trimmed them way back and now I'm getting a terrific second show of blooms.

The zinnias too had spots of mildew, but the pruning out paid off there as well.

I'm most excited---sad, but this is what excites a gardener---about my snakeroot plants. They are blooming!

It took years for them to get established and every year I would watch for a bud without success. Finally, this year I've got some blooms. They are beautiful plants.

And the hyssop. It's right next to my cherry tomatoes. So, if you want to steal a couple to pop in your mouth, you have to ask yourself if you're willing to take on the dozens of bees that hang out here all day. I suppose the bees are working hard to fill up for the winter, too.

Last, but not least, is this sedum that decided it wanted to grow in the rocks by our service door. Sure it's a pain to walk around it every time you want to go out to the grill. I simply don't have the heart to pull it out.

It's Over

It's official. Once you've been to the Minnesota State Fair, summer is over. Once you go through the ritual of spending almost an entire week's worth of calories and fat intake in one afternoon, fall arrives. Welcome fall.

This is not an entirely bad thing. I am actually quite eager to get back to a "normal" life after the chaotic schedule we've had this summer. We've got one last hurrah to go and then we're back to being empty nesters once again.

The garden sure looks like fall is on its way. Several hail storms have ruined all chances of having my garden photographed for Martha Stewart's magazine. (Like that's all that would keep me out.) While the foliage is hurting, the late bloomers are picking up the slack.

Now I'm glad that I didn't have the heart to pull up the few Morning Glory volunteers that managed to come up in the rock bed around the house. Seriously, never plant these things unless you want to live with them sprouting in your garden for the rest of your natural life.

The mums, too are starting to open up. I'm partial to this one since it was one of the first things I ever planted in my garden after we built our house. At that time, those few mums were bigger that some of the shrubs we had just put in. We've come a long way in eighteen years.

Unfortunately, my knitting hasn't fared (no pun intended) as well. Sporadic progress on the all-over cabled pullover I've been working on came to a screeching halt when I finished the back of the sweater and finally admitted to myself that I wasn't loving the results. Even though the yarn I'm using is one of the yarns suggested in the pattern, I think it's too heavy for the project. It's billed as a worsted yarn, but seems to be closer to an Aran weight, and the knit fabric is just too dense to allow for a nice drape. It seemed pointless to continue.

However, thanks to Ravelry's new and improved search engine, within a short amount of time I had a few ideas for how I could use this yarn with some of the patterns I already had on hand. So far, I'm still in the swatch stage and haven't had the heart to do the big rip-out, but I should be on my way to re-using this yarn soon.

The Woes of Minnesota Grilling

Over the weekend, I patiently waited for the skies to clear without much luck, so I decided that today was the day to get my butt going. No, not mine. (Although that would be required as well.) No, it's the pork butt that's been sitting in my refrigerator for the last couple of days just waiting to be turned into mouth watering pulled pork goodness. (And yes, I know it's not really the pig's rear end. I'm just going for the pun here.)

I trusted my local weatherman last night who prognosticated spotty rain for today and went ahead and mixed up the briney bath for piggy to soak in overnight, but when I woke up this morning and saw dark skies I had my doubts. As it turns out, those doubts were well founded. The butt is still on the Weber, but it's not as much fun spending the day tending the fires when it's drizzly and cool. I should be enjoying ice cold beer while I'm sitting in my lawn chair reading a book, not running in and out adding charcoal with one hand while I hang on to an umbrella with the other.

Another couple of hours ought to finish it off. I always figure that the meat is done when I smell as smoky as the grill does.

Since I've been tied down to tending the hearth all day, I have gotten plenty done at home--even went for homemade hamburger buns for the pork. Now that it's late afternoon, however, this self-imposed lock down is getting a little old. (Can't you tell? I am writing this.) The sun did break through long enough for me to get out and take a few more pictures in the garden.

Back to the Weber.

Peony Update

So pretty.

June in the Garden

June is certainly one of the best months in the garden for perennial blooms. As much as I love to garden and enjoy a wide range of different plants in the yard, I'm not one of those gardeners who looks for a challenge. I don't need to grow that oh-so-rare variety that needs to be coddled and cared for. Instead, I'm always on the lookout for the tried and true that will give me the most bang for my buck--and time. As I'm planting in my garden for the 19th year, I thought I'd make a note of some of my favorites.

One of the oldest plants in my garden has to be the False Indigo. Now this is my kind of plant. It's durable, long-lived, and is a reliable bloomer year after year. Never snub a plant that's virtually maintenance free and still gives such beautiful color in the flower bed. (The catmint behind it falls in that category as well, but it takes a little more effort to reign in its tendency to spread around the garden. Still, worth it.)

Another plant that is easy to grow, once it's established, is the Gas Plant or Dictamnus albus, if you aren't partial to its common name. Allegedly, this plant gives off enough of a volatile gas that on a warm, humid evening you can ignite it simply by holding a match near the bloom. I can't say that I've ever tried it, but it is a pungent plant. If you brush against it when you're weeding, it gives off a strong lemony scent.

Just like the False Indigo, this is also a plant that likes to go in the ground and be left alone, so find a spot where it can stay for the long haul.

That goes for one of my all-time favorites in the garden as well--the peonies. In just a few day's time, these plump buds are going to burst into the most fragrant, gorgeous blooms. I will always love the peonies that are from my Grandma's garden, but I have to admit that I'm really looking forward to seeing the first blossoms from the 'Sarah Bernhardt' variety that I planted in the row a couple of years ago.

The long, warm days keep me from making as much progress as I'd like on my knitting. Those last few inches on the sleeves of my Must Have Cardigan took longer than I thought that they might, but eventually I cast them off and had the pieces of my sweater blocking in the afternoon sun. During last night Twins' game, I finished off one-half of the sweater and tried it on the best I could to see if I should continue, and it looks like it's going to fit perfectly. I guess I'll have a new sweater waiting for me this fall.

Who in the Heck Has Time to be Bored?

One or two of my best days of the year are spent every spring visiting various garden centers to pick out the plants for my flower beds, vegetable garden, and planters. Armed with notes and clippings I've saved throughout the year, I search out several old reliables and hope to find a few new things to add to the mix.

This past week I took those two days, and I think I've got a good start to get going on some planting this weekend. I'm a complete sucker for purple, pink, and lime green, but this year I wanted to try some new combinations, too. Colors like "Merlot" and "Salmon" caught my eye. Sounds like a good dinner, but I'm talking vining geraniums and perky petunias. Now comes the really fun part---digging in the dirt.

In the evenings, once I get the dirt off my hands, and if I've had enough energy left over, I've been continuing work on my Must-Have Cardigan. I ended up knitting both sleeves at the same time for this sweater. Once I had gotten the increases completed for my size, the sleeve still looked a little narrow, so I went ahead and increased to the stitch count for the largest size. Sure enough, when I had the time to do a little investigating on Ravelry, it looks as though I wasn't the first one who had been concerned about a tight sleeve. No worries. It's a simple construction that is easy to adapt. I only have a couple inches to go before I cast off and can begin to put the sweater together.

Of course, there's nothing that motivates me to finish one project more than having some new ones waiting in the wings, and I've got some great ones to look forward to.

At this year's local Sheep & Wool Festival, not surprisingly, I found some beautiful wool. I picked up six skeins of a mohair/wool blend for a cabled pullover pattern I've had for some time, and then a couple of skeins of a kettle dyed wool that I just couldn't resist. There's about 700 yards on the two skeins, so maybe not enough for a vest, but a shawl/scarf might be pretty. (Could it be future travel knitting? We're going to be logging plenty of air miles this summer.)

I'm also excited about attempting the challenge of knitting from a new Japanese pattern book that I ordered a couple of weeks ago. First of all, you have to see how this book was delivered. My lovely new book was wrapped in brown paper, tied with some pastel ribbons, and came with a name plate. Even the bill was pretty! As someone who appreciates the effort of the presentation, I was impressed.

And and then I opened it up! Oooooo. So pretty. The book is entitled New Style of Heirloom Knitting and the designer is Toshiyuki Shimada. I'm crazy for the sweater on the cover, but I think I might try the Am Kamin cardigan at first to break into the whole translation thing. The charts are thorough and there seems to be plenty of help online.

So, what am I still sitting here for? Time's a wasting. Really, who in the heck has time to be bored?