Outside the back door...

I'm happy to say, after a slow start, the garden seems to be thriving.  After a gorgeous, if very wet, spring we're now consistently in the 80's and 90's (mostly 90's), but rain happens every few days.  In recent years, we've had drought conditions by this time of year (lasting into August), so the rain is welcome.

With no tomatoes, it feels like a much less ambitious garden than last year's.  This summer, it's green beans, cucumbers, zucchini and yellow squash, sunflowers, watermelon, pumpkin, and mini pumpkins.

I've had to replant green beans a few times, but I think the bunnies are done munching on the fresh young leaves.  Blood meal appeared to help early on with deterring the freeloaders.  And I have bone meal waiting in the wings to use (if needed) once the flowering starts.   

Recently, on a whim, I bought some new-to-me Goldrush yellow (bush) beans, and planted some in planters yesterday. I'm curious if anyone reading has experience with these.  I'm looking forward to trying them.

I'm not sure why I planted so many sunflowers, but hopefully they'll put on a show soon and remind me.  

Garlic was harvested last week, and are drying in the detached garage.

 

Twenty-two heads of garlic don't look like that many - especially considering I'm making plans to plant this many and more come late autumn from what I've harvested above.    

Growing garlic is a new experience for me.  So far, it's been the simplest thing I've ever grown. In my zone, hardneck grows best, from what I've read.  Instructions online say to dry for 3-4 weeks before using.  Waiting patiently to cut into these cloves is the most challenging part of growing garlic, from what I can tell.

And the first sign of produce planted in the spring has presented itself this week. 

Hopefully this prickly little cucumber will soon grow big enough to find its way into a dinner salad. 

~~~~~

In the challenge category, the last two summers, sedum along the back of the house has succumbed to what appears to be powdery mildew.

This plant isn't in a spot where I even notice it much before this happens. I'm thinking of cutting it down and disposing of it this year, and just hope to catch the blight earlier next summer and apply some homemade treatment to see if that can keep it at bay.

And, to our surprise, and probably the most interesting thing in this post, a couple of nights ago we discovered we have a family of racoons that are attracted to our birdfeeders.  I had heard a little noise out there for a couple of nights before, but figured it was a stray cat and didn't bother to look. This time, I turned on the security light and took a peek.

Yikes!  There were five in total.  We assume it was a mama and her four cubs rooting around in the day lilies searching for any scraps of sunflower seeds that had fallen from the feeders.  

Tapping on the window didn't faze this one. 

So, the birdfeeders are removed and our bird watching is on pause while we hope these varmints move on and find something more substantial out in the wild, or in the farm fields that back up to some of our neighbors. 

Meanwhile, we suspect we've discovered the culprit to one of our neighbors' recently missing koi fish.

~~~~~

Year of Projects 2024-2025 Roundup!

In my post yesterday I explained the internet problems we've been having, so let me just jump to the point of this post and say that I know this Year of Projects Roundup post is a week late.  It just wasn't possible for me to post last Sunday.  

That said, since I don't make any plans for my upcoming Year Of Projects, there's not a lot for me to write in this first post of a new YOP year anyway, so I guess it works out this time.

Let me tell you though... I felt sad last week not being able to create my favorite post of the whole year.  But this weekend, going back through all the things I've made in a year's time was a great mood-lifter.  Looking back at a record of things I've made in the last 12 months is encouraging.  And almost always, I get a nice surprise when I come across some things I had pretty much forgotten about.

So settle in for a scroll down memory lane.  Or just click through the pictures.  I promise I won't mind.  Or even know, for that matter.  

I started the past YOP year finishing up a small (14") Kawandi:

I've had the itch ever since to make another, larger one. I'm just not sure how large a kawandi I have the stick-to-it-iveness to finish. 

Just like in years past, when I put aside thick afghan yarn, I once again turned to my crochet thread to make doilies.  All but the last large doily are from the book, 99 Little Doilies by Patricia Kristofferson.  Kristofferson only assigns these doilies a number, but I usually feel compelled to give them a name.

🠅 Old Fashioned Sunday 🠇

Herb Garden

Not My First Rodeo

Carousel

I found it interesting that the same doily pattern made months later in a different color inspired a completely different name:

Crinoline

Chernozem

Windmill 

Lead Rosette 

And a favorite larger doily pattern was unearthed and made again:

Autumn Splendor 

Before winter's blast, hat making skills were dusted off:

With hats handed off, my first Dahlia blanket that I had started in the spring was finished:

I enjoyed making it so much, I almost immediately began another:

And before the chill of winter was truly over, a Granny Goes Large blanket was completed:

Somewhere in the mix of blankets and doilies, yarny baskets were crocheted:

I loved how these turned out, and would like to make more, but my neck was so sore after making these, I've been hesitant to give them a go again.  

Three and a half years after moving into this house, I finally sewed up some decent curtains for the laundry room:

I pulled out two sweet cross stitch projects I began in 2020 and finished them into mini pillows:

Actively ongoing:

In quiet, tired hours I've knit dozens of dish/wash cloths

and started a many-pieced hexagon blanket:

and the cross stitched Celtic knots I started a month ago are just about finished:

And that is the end of my 2024-2025 Year of Projects!  

Thank you for taking a look!

Internet woes...

We've had internet woes recently and I haven't been able to use my PC to get online regularly for several months.  The kicker was most recently being without internet for an entire week (just getting back online yesterday).  And that was after being off the internet for multiple days at a time the previous two months at least.  Note: before anyone advise that we ask for reimbursement or credit for lost service, I already have.  Over the course of multiple weeks and calls with overseas "agents", we accumulated a credit of a full month on our last internet bill, and still have credit on a future bill.

From the beginning of our personal internet experience, we've gotten our internet access through our phone lines.  It wasn't bad at all at the beginning, but once fiber optic service became available, our phone-line-internet-service began to deteriorate.  To the point, where we now feel like we've just been written off by Brightspeed (has been Embarq, has been Century Link) as relics of a bygone era that will eventually go the way of every other dinosaur.

Forced into the modern age, we watched curiously in recent weeks as fiber optic cables to our country neighborhood were being laid. The big utility trucks that for weeks narrowed every county road we traveled have moved on - taking their Ditch Witch drillers with them.  For at least a week, maybe two now, the busyness has been replaced with silence - as if all that activity had never happened.  Phone calls have netted no information about when internet service will be available through the shiny new underground cables.

Meanwhile, we're on two different waiting lists to get broadband through radio signal when the capacity is available for that.  The radio signal appears at the moment to be our preference.  Hopefully soon we'll get out of this frustrating spot we're in, as every day we have internet through our phone line feels precarious at best.  While this post is a bit of a rant, mostly, while I have internet service and the ability to easily write and publish a post, I'm wanting to let my readers know why I've been sporadic and downright absent so much here (and on your blogs) lately.  

Hopefully today my internet access will hold long enough for me to create a YOP update (which is actually my YOP Roundup post that is now a week late) and pre-publish it so it makes it out tomorrow - even if my internet is down.  If you see a Year of Projects post on Sunday, and I don't respond to comments, you can take a good guess at why.

And if you see me online here and there, your surprise will only be eclipsed by mine. Internet access has begun to feel like a priceless commodity.  Using it with little thought, feels frivolously careless.  

I marvel now how easy and like a game it felt to do a digital fast this past spring. You'd think that would have made me immensely patient when ours has gone out for days at a time. Aside from the frustration of not receiving a service we pay for - with a reasonable expectation that that service will be available - I am utterly dismayed at how much our lives are dependent on having internet access.  Bank records, medical records and communciations, calendars, news, information, inspiration...  

Everything is available on the internet, and when it is suddenly unavailable, I find myself at loose ends and feel unsettled.  And the moment I see that it is restored again, I feel a peace.

This is not right.  It's definitely not good. 

It just is.  

And I don't like the realization one bit.

Flower power...

A new-to-me thing I did last week was attend a flower arranging workshop led by a friend who in her past was a floral arranger for various events, and who has a pretty extensive knowledge of flowers. 

I had some reservations about going though...  reservations of the most selfish kind. I'm a practical person at heart and while I've experienced the benefit of being the recipient of flowers when healing from surgery, historically I'd rather cook someone a meal than spend money on flowers. Not because I see more virtue in a meal, but because that is more in my wheelhouse.  My comfort zone, I suppose.  

Also, the instructions for the workshop unfolded into our buying our own flowers, bring them, along with a vase and some cutting tools.  Suddenly, this started to feel more like work than fun.  But I had said yes, and I didn't want to back out.  

Honestly, the only reason I said yes in the first place is because I wanted to spend time with the friend who invited me, and I knew several of other ladies who'd be there, and looked forward to catching up with them.  I kept those thoughts front and center as I repeatedly told myself to "just keep saying yes".

So... the afternoon before the workshop I stopped at Walmart and Kroger to purchase some bundles of flowers and greenery.  As I picked out flowers, I considered what might look nice with orange tiger lilies from my backyard.  

While I know from experience bouquets in vases can be expensive, because I'm not a flower shopper, I had no idea how (relatively) inexpensive bundles of cut flowers are. I'd walked by the flower display in every visit to Kroger's produce section for the last 20-some years.  But I'd never stopped to see how much the various bundles of cut flowers cost.  Small bundles were $5-8 dollars, and larger bundles were right around $12.00.  Between Walmart and Kroger, I bought three small bundles (one was greenery), and including tax I spent right around $17.00.  I can tell you now, I bought too much.

The next morning, when we all gathered and put our purchases on the tables, it was clear there was far more than our small group could use.  It was eye-opening seeing one gal's treasure of roses she'd bought on clearance for less than $5.00 a bunch. I didn't see anything like that when I was shopping, but I also didn't pay much attention to the roses.  Granted, being clearance-priced meant they might wilt quicker than "non-clearanced" flowers, but I was seriously impressed with her bargain.

I shared my cut-that-morning tiger lilies (that, to my slight dismay, have been the quickest wilting flowers of all), and the rose-toting gals shared their roses.  Another lady had brought greenery cut from her yard, and after some basic instruction, we all set to work making a variety of bouquets.

I don't know when I've had so much fun with three friends, and three complete strangers.  They were so friendly and welcoming.  After lunch and a birthday cake for one of the gals, hugs were given all around as we said our good-byes.  I have no idea if I'll ever find myself again in that grouping, but for a little while, at least, I feel like I potentially made three new friends.

Once home, I could tell my tiger lilies were a tad to tall, but I don't care.  I love it because I had so much fun making it. 

So... my lessons learned are:  

Say yes to genuine invitations that have even a modicum of appeal. 

Invite others into my circles if I'm confident they'll be welcomed.  I may have a whole nother post on this topic.

Flowers appear to be more affordable than I think.   Now that my enthusiasm has cooled a bit, I don't know that I will make flower buying a habit, necessarily, but I do expect I'll now be checking the flower section and every once in a while bring home a bundle - most likely with the thought of including various cuttings (flowers and greenery) from my yard. 

What I already knew:  

Flowers are wonderful expressions of love and care for someone going through anything difficult who may also be feeling isolated. Even the simplest bouquet that I received when healing from surgery felt like a hug while they lasted.  I took pictures and posted them here at the time so I can still enjoy them.

And this thought is just a bonus...  If someone gives you flowers, take a picture of the arrangement - if for no other reason than to enjoy it after the blooms have faded.  I, personally, use these as pictures for these friends who are in my phone's contact list.  Each of my sisters and friends has a picture by her name of a sweet bouquet they gave me when I was going through a time of healing.

I think I'm a flower girl now.

A short stitchy post...

 'Twas a busy week the last seven days - and mostly with good things.  But I'm relieved to see a number of unscheduled days for the week coming up.  With a week full of temps above 90, I have in mind to stay inside for much of it reading, stitching, and generally catching up on homemaking things... We'll see if it actually pans out that way.

Sometime in the past week or so I gave into temptation before I was finished with the first Celtic knot I had started, and began stitching another one.  

You can see (above) the shading I talked about in an earlier post.  I'm undecided at the moment on what floss color I'll use as an outline (or if I'll do any outline).  The instructions suggest using a metallic gold thread - which I have in my stash, but it is lighter than lightest cotton gold floss I'm using above.  I tend to think outlining in the darkest floss I'm using would look best.  

These knots are taking quite a bit longer than I thought they would, but maybe that's just because other things have needed doing.  I'm hoping I'll finish in time to include them in this year's round-up of my Year of Projects - which I think is next week.  

Next, I have this idea to start a sampler of embroidery stitches. Not a sampler to frame, necessarily, but a piece of cloth where I sample new-to-me embroidery stitches.  Sarah Homfray is an advocate of doing this.  I've been bingeing on this gal's videos lately.  If you have any interest in embroidery, I recommend her channel.