What a Difference

Dear Mom,
Mother Nature finally managed to bless us with 6 consecutive days of sunshine. I cannot remember a more dismal spring- with November gray days, snow, rain, and wind chills. I was suffering from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) symptoms in April! But what a difference a day or two of sunshine can make. It was still chilly (I was dressed in layers with a wool scarf and headband) but with the sun shining and John, Dear freshly returned from his annual checkup- blades sharpened and spark plugs sparking- I was finally able to get out and mow.

Spring is way behind schedule here on the cul-de-sac. I wander out seeking signs of new growth, buds, blossoms. I see the green spikes of my Lily of the Valley emerging, and the Trillium is up but hasn't bloomed. The redbud trees are just starting to bloom and the serviceberries look like they will any day now.  Early in April, feeling cheated of spring, I ordered 200 bulbs to plant this fall for next spring- If all goes according to plan I'll have drifts of siberian squill and snowdrops in the backyard borders.

internet image

Today, I'll hang sheets to dry on the clothesline.

Tonight, we'll sleep on crisp sheets fragrant with spring sunshine.

The cold weather did allow me an opportunity to wear my most recently finished project. When I started this, I didn't imagine wearing it until late next autumn.

 This is Isager's Tokyo Shawl, in the dark colorway. Rather than knitting garter stitch borders as the pattern instructs, I worked an icord edge along with the body of the shawl so I could hide the yarn tails in the tube created by the icord. 

I've a pretty cardigan on my needles, which I will share as soon as there is something photo-worthy to share. And Donna Reed is getting dressed with a lovely dusty blue and white set of towels.

Off to enjoy the sunshine!

Love,

Kim

Milestones

Dear Mom,

When the neighbors started lighting fireworks the other night, I looked up from my knitting and realized that Independence Day was upon us. I made a note to call the vet for some drugs for Olive and then sat back in wonder at how it could be almost July already. I'd lost a month to recovery.
Happily, I am feeling quite myself again and realized on Tuesday, June 21, that I was back.

I do some of my best thinking while pulling weeds.

~ Martha Smith      

 I'd spent the day outside, tending to my sadly neglected herb garden. I had dirt under my fingernails. Time flew by and I felt no twinges or fatigue. My secret fears that I'd lost myself for good were put to rest. On the heels of that came the crashing realization and acceptance of all that I'd been through since learning of the aneurysm. I'd been in Deal With It mode and it wasn't until yesterday that it all hit me. All along I knew I was lucky and thankful, but I didn't let myself be truly scared. But now that it is over I indulged myself in a very few tears of Thanksgiving....

A single grateful thought toward heaven is the most perfect prayer.

~Gotthold Ephraim Lessing

Recovery wasn't the only thing that happened here in June. The Young Man, who graduated from IU in May, moved into his own apartment and started his Job with a local CPA firm.

Our Young Lady graduated from high school and is ready for her next chapter studying Art and Illustration, armed with several Art Scholarships. She is headed for University of Southern Indiana. (I've already scoped out the fabric and yarn shops near Evansville.)

Change brings opportunity.

                                                                                                            ~Nido Qubein

And now that the Young Man has Moved Out, I am on my way to claiming that room as my own! Soon it will be home to my loom, spinning wheel, and sewing machine, a table for watercolors and my rocking chair. I imagine the dining and family rooms will feel much bigger (and less cluttered) when I have everything organized in what I am thinking of as My Studio.  I had the Young Lady help me choose paint colors and there are sample patches on the walls.  I've chosen a very light lavender.

I couldn't resist this wee pig I spotted at a local garden shop. Rather than hide him in the garden, he will be a door stop in my room. Isn't he cute?

I'll be back with more "studio" pictures as the room progresses. LOTS of good stuff happening here!

Love,

Kim

How Does My Garden Grow?

Dear Mom,
Can you believe a month has gone by since we planted the cottage flower garden? So far, everything seems to be thriving. I've just lost one english daisy and the delphinium I transplanted has disappeared. I'll make a trip tour favorite local nursery to replace them. I've added some Dame's Rocket transplants from a friend's garden and some sort of sedum ground cover between stepping stones from the same friend's garden.  I need to thin out the marigold seedlings, which will require some hard hearted-ness on my part. I am not sure I can actually do it. I think every single marigold seed germinated! I should probably sprinkle more zinnia seeds throughout some of the bare spots as fillers until the perennials can.

The temporary Olive barrier fence is still in place. I've tripped over it enough times that I am ready to take it down and keep my fingers crossed that she will not trample everything. However, the fence  is now working hard at keeping the peonies from falling into and smothering the cranesbill so it will remain until I invest in a plant support for the peony.

I planted both perennial and biennial varieties of foxglove. It is the biennial foxglove that is blooming now.

This is ice plant- something I'd never heard of before. I fell in love with the charming little daisy-like flowers. The foliage looks like it is a succulent of some sort. The flowers open and close with the sunshine.

English daisy

Daisy and columbine in bloom along the fence border, under the pussy willow. I've planted stock, asters and pinks along the edge.

The fruit on the serviceberry trees is ripening. We planted one just outside the screened porch to filter the sun as it sets. I have a somewhat hidden spot to watch the birds eat the fruit. They are quite determined and acrobatic, and extremely entertaining. 

I've tried three times to get this next photo to load vertically, not horizontally. I give up. Just tilt your head onto your right shoulder and pretend. 

I am slowly but surely lining the borders in the back yard with rocks. A new cul-de-sac is being developed as part of our neighborhood, in what has been part of a horse farm for as long as I can remember. I wish some things could stay the same. Anyway, that abused and savaged piece of farm field is ripe for rock hunting, and My Hero and I armed ourselves with a shovel and the wagon and went hunting. I was able to fill in one section and have 3 more areas I'd like to cover. Don't worry, I won't line the entire back yard! 

As I am writing this and uploading photos, I realize that our backyard is a reflection on the new chapter in our lives. We've taken the swing set down.  17 and 21 year olds don't climb into tree forts, slide down curvy slides and see how high they can swing. Our goal was to raise adults, not children and letting the swing set go is expected. However,  I can't help but wonder if Maybe the world would be happier if we never stopped swinging.  

As I contemplated the demise of the swing set, I began to plot a use for some of the lumber. Up 'til now, my clothesline has been a retractable line that extended from the house to the swing set. Might we build a real clothesline with some of the salvaged swing set? 

Yes!

 I now have 4 lines for pegging up my wash. I think I will actually be able to dry all the sheets and pillowcases and maybe even a blanket at the same time. 

And lastly, because we are talking flowers and marigolds- here is the shawl I knitted using the handspun, marigold dyed yarn. Elle decided to tiptoe through the tulips squat in the marigolds for this photo shoot. I used Orlane's Textured Shawl Recipe, and knit up every single centimeter of the yarn. (I had to go to the tiny bit that was left on a bobbin to finish binding off the last 20 stitches.)

 This came off the needles last night and blocked and dried while I slept. There is something very soothing about knitting and wearing shawls. This one is knit from the top down, so I cast on using the skein with the least amount of yardage and worked my way up in yardage as I worked my way down the shawl. It will be nice wearing this one with its ties to summer marigold flowers.

Enjoy the sunshine and blue sky. My sheets are going to smell heavenly!
Love,
Kim

Monday

Dear Mom,
It is nearly noon on Monday as I write this. I am puttering, still in my jammies (but wearing an apron!) and because I've crossed many things off my To Do list, I am rewarding myself with a fresh pot of tea and some blog catch up time. We had a busy weekend and sitting here in my quiet house feels good.

It is that time of year when keeping on top of the outside and inside work is overwhelming and feels impossible. We've had a string of wet, humid days and yesterday, even though I knew Olive would be tracking wet paw prints in, I could stand the condition of the kitchen floor no longer and mopped it. I think it took at least an hour to dry. I know it is cleaner that it was yesterday, but it looks like a floor that dried in puddles and prints.

The busy weekend really started on Friday. I taught my knitting class on Friday morning, got home in time to take Olive to an appointment for laser therapy on her elbows, then picked you and your garden tiller up on the way home (scaring Olive with the tiller handles hanging over the back seat). We dropped off the tiller, headed to The French Seam to take advantage of their Birthday Sale- I got fabric for another Factory Dress and buttons for a sweater- and then home to till up the garden.
Knowing that rain was coming, I did manage to get the vegetable garden planted on Friday evening. I was a sweat-soaked, limp rag when I finished. My glasses were sliding down my nose, sweat was dripping in my eyes and when I showered, my clothes peeled off in twisted clumps.
Carrying on with my 'Keep it Simple' approach, I only planted tomatoes and green beans this year. In March I planted potatoes in big containers and added cabbage on top, knowing the cabbages will be harvested before the potatoes are ready.

After all that I should have fallen asleep as soon as I sat down. I must have been running on an adrenaline burst or something because I stayed up very late. I finished a sweater and stayed up to watch the newest episode of Outlander as soon as it was available for viewing  On Demand at midnight.

Here is the sweater, freshly blocked and finally dry. Knitting with cotton is never my favorite thing, but this Rowan Handknit Cotton is agreeable. My hands are ready for wool, though. I've been contemplating shawl patterns that I can knit using my marigold dyed handspun.

This sweater is  a basic raglan cardigan. I made a sort of hybrid neckline- taking some of the stitches out, crew-neck style, right away, and then decreasing the rest in a gentle v-neck slope.

I picked up the button/neck band and mitered the corners, adding 2 stitches, every other row, to the outer corners and decreasing one stitch on the "inner" corners every 3rd row. It worked out as I'd hoped it would.

The stitch pattern is "Wildflower Knot Stitch" from one of the Barbara Walker Stitch Treasuries. I've used this in sweaters before. It is one of my favorites. Here are some close-ups of the buttons I purchased on Friday. Aren't they perfect?!

You can see, in that first photo, and in this next photo, that my flower garden is coming along. The peony, no longer blocked by the hot tub, is thriving. It should start blooming soon.

I've had to put some temporary wire fencing around the garden to keep Olive from running through and bringing mud in. The nasturtiums are sprouting in the planter beneath the bird feeder. It looks like I've just lost one english daisy- everything else looks healthy and my marigold and zinnia seeds have sprouted. I have had thousands of safflower seeds to weed. I wish the birds were just a little bit neater. I use safflower seeds in the feeder because the squirrels don't like it. Having that feeder right outside the kitchen window in enchanting and I was treated a week or two ago with this:

A pair of rose breasted grosbeaks were guests for a few days. I was hoping they would stay for the season (I'd already named them), but I think we were just a stop on their spring migration.

Okay. One more thing and then I really should get dressed! Writing this blog post was interrupted once when Olive accidentally-on-purpose opened the storm door and ran out to chase our neighborhood fox. I must not have had the door locked firmly. Luckily she did not run far and is not built for speed. I am sure I was a sight to see frantically chasing after her in my jammies and apron with leash in hand. Thankfully, she fell for my desperate shout of "car ride" and the view of her leash pin my hands and came running. I guess she is also proving that the laser therapy is working, because she did not come limping back after that effort.

I have more watercolors to show you, but I'll save that for another day.

Love,
Kim

Hot Tub Time Machine

Dear Mom,
Over the last winter, when our hot tub coughed up its last breath and My Hero decided it wasn't worth fixing or replacing, I immediately started plotting out what I would do with the space while trying not to look too pleased to be rid of the thing. Not that I minded having it- we had lots of fun with it- I just didn't enjoy the view of it out my kitchen window.
My Hero loved that hot tub after hockey games and on winter days.

Our Young Man and his friends filled it to capacity and over-flowing on occasion,

and we will never forget the harrowing episode when the guinea pig escaped and hid out under the hot tub.

And Patsy jumped in and enjoyed some spa time, too!

Once the hot tub was hauled away, My Hero took apart the deck underneath. I was expecting to see a network of chipmunk tunnels and a warren of rabbit nests, but the dirt was black and ready for planting.

I decided to clear out the overgrown and undesirable perennials I had growing in the space between the house and the hot tub and start fresh. And I had the inspiration to ask for your expertise to help me plan the space.
My Hero and I relocated the bird feeder into the new garden spot. Now I'll be able to bird watch from the kitchen and porch. I planted nasturtium seeds in the planter around the base. And I've rescued all the surviving hopscotch stones the kids and I made all those years ago to use as paths to the hose spigot, bird feeder and across the garden. (I'll need a way through to cut and tend all the flowers I am imagining!)

The area was finally cleared on Sunday afternoon, and on Tuesday we were ready to plant. The weather was perfect.

You alerted me to the fresh delivery of perennials to our favorite nursery and we stocked up on Foxglove, Delphinium, Tickseed, Shasta Daisy and English Daisy, Forget-me-nots and Hollyhocks, Cranesbill and Pincushion Flower and snap dragons. 

I moved a Stella Daylilly and left the Peony and Sedum where they were. We planted some of the zinnia and marigold seeds I'd harvested from last year's garden and added some purchased 4 O'clock seeds to fill in some gaps. My plan is to add some spring flowering bulbs this fall into the spots occupied by annuals.

It took us several fun hours of team work to get it all planted (we imagined ourselves a surgical team) and cleaned up.  I am looking forward to watching this garden mature and envision masses of cut flowers in the house.

When I got up this morning I was almost afraid to look out for fear that all our tender plants had been eaten down to the nubs but the rabbits, or carried off in great clumps by some wicked perennial-eating vulture. Happily, all is well and looking invigorated.

Between demolishing the deck and prepping and planting this garden, My Hero and I could use a long soak in a hot tub.

Love,

Kim

About that not-so-brief intermission...

Dear Mom,
Those who are keeping up with your Holton House blog will have guessed at some of the reason for the lack of blogging here. You've happily sold your house and the packing, storing, transplanting and relocating may have given us lots to talk about, but little time to actually post anything here. And that wasn't all that has been happening.
Now that I have time to sit and have a "chat", I don't even know where to begin, or if I should even try telling it all in one great big catch up session or try cutting things down into smaller bites. I think I will start where we left off back in March(!) and see how far I get.

As part of YOUR move, a few things have come to live new lives here, and other things are just living here until they can live with you again- like your computer and some plants. One of the things I get to keep is the workbench from the garage. Our garage is bursting at the seams, but this workbench is now a coveted potting bench on my back patio. It nestles perfectly under the window and I can see it doing double duty as an outside buffet for all that entertaining I do. as if. I have a rich fantasy life.

I will gloss over the adventure that was getting this workbench and the one from your basement relocated. It wasn't pretty. But My Hero and I both live to forgive and forget. I have both feet still attached to my ankles and he was not found crushed dead at the bottom of your basement steps.

 We chose an exterior stain an My Hero set to work painting my soon-to-be potting bench.

This photo was taken shortly after we placed it under the window. We removed the aging flower box that once hung beneath that window. And just in time as the flower box fell apart and split in two as we lifted it off the supports. My new potting bench is now holding flats of vegetables, herbs and marigolds that are waiting to be planted in the garden. FYI- the garden was tilled yesterday, just in time for a nice rain. Once it dries up enough that I don't get mired in compost and mud, I will plant! I have 3 varieties of heirloom tomatoes, green bean seeds, red potatoes and cabbage. I'll surround it all with zinnias and marigolds.

I believe the beautiful display of crocus in my front yard this spring was a payback for our winter. Each autumn, for the past 3-4 years, I've added 100 crocus bulbs to the front lawn. I think the squirrels eat most of them. But this year, that heavy blanket of snow protected those bulbs and I had blooms much as I imagine each year when I plant. These photos were taken hurriedly, but maybe you can get the idea. I'd like to think the whole lawn will be filled with blooms one day. I'll keep adding more bulbs every fall. If anyone knows of a way to discourage the squirrels from digging them up, please let me know!

A bonus addition to my backyard came one afternoon when we were transplanting some of your perennials to the wooded area of your new lot that will be untouched by landscaping and construction. I am so happy you will be able to leave an area in its natural state, with wildflowers in abundance! Turning around to gaze over the portion that was soon to be cleared revealed Trillium, what I hope will be Dutchman's Breeches, and some Spring Beauty. I rescued some of those and transplanted them to the shady  places in my backyard. The Trillium seems very happy already and I've been rewarded with blooms.

The ice and snow permanently damaged some of our trees last winter and we've removed what we could manage. We are now waiting for the professionals to remove two big spruce and some stumps before we re-plant. I was grieving the loss of that landscaping and the privacy it offers, but am excited about freshening things up and the new things waiting to take their place. It really has been busy here. I thought we would NEVER get all those sticks and twigs cleared up! I believe that Olive thought the purpose of all that chopping was to provide her with a lifetime supply of sticks. She would select a stick, drag it out of the pile and chew on it awhile. While we were at it, we removed the tetherball pole since Olive's elbow is not allowed to jump and twist anymore and relocated our fire pit to the former tetherball site. The original fire pit was a family project years ago. When a nearby field was being cleared to make way for a new subdivision, we all put our boots on and filled the back of the station wagon with field stones. We picked a spot in the back yard and handed a shovel to the Young Man (I think he was about 11 years old at the time), thinking it would take him most of the afternoon to dig. Thank heavens we looked out a short time later to check his progress, because he dug the pit in no time flat! My Hero ran out to tell him to stop digging! We lined the hole with pea gravel and field stones and had a beautiful fire pit. When we discussed moving the fire pit, I couldn't bear to bury all those stones and do something different in the new spot. We dug up every rock, hosed them off and My Hero placed them into the new pit. I do think ours is a much prettier and natural looking fire pit than those made from landscape pavers.

Painting, moving and digging aren't all I've been up to. There is always knitting. Lots of it.
These next two sweaters were knit as class samples for my knitting classes at Village Yarn Shop.

Zephirine Cardigan

Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece

Buttons from Fastenation Studio

Mr, Greenjeans
Cascade Venezia Worsted yarn

And this next sweater ……evolved. I started spinning this yarn with the thought of knitting a shawl or sweater with an ombre sort of effect. Plying the yarn in hopes that I could create a subtle transition in color. I think I did okay at that part, but finding something I was happy with when it was knitted was a challenge. I started and stopped a few different projects- nothing was just right. Then I saw something on ravelry that was really far out (especially for me), but it made me rethink exactly how I was using the yarn. Thankfully my dearest knitting friends talked some sense into me before I started knitting the odd sweater that eventually acted as my inspiration. ( I'd even gone so far as to purchase the pattern!) I am intentionally not sharing the link to the sweater because I am not saying the most flattering things about it. My friends gave me the sort of quietly sympathetic look that I quickly interpreted as them trying to figure out how to talk me out of a Big Mistake without hurting my feelings or squashing my creativity. Can I tell you that I have some REALLY ESPECIALLY GOOD FRIENDS? 

I let the Idea of that weird sweater simmer, and realized I could use what attracted me to that sweater in a traditional sweater construction. And this is what happened:

An almost entirely short-rowed, round yoke constructed sweater, of entirely hand spun yarn. I couldn't be happier with the look or the fit of this sweater. I used the formula for the shaping of the round yoke sweater found in The Knitter's Handy Book of Top Down Sweaters by Ann Budd and then German Short Rowed my  way from top to bottom, switching colors at random. There will never be another sweater like it. It was actually a liberating experience/experiment- the closest I will ever come to free form knitting. 

Okay. Enough catching up for now. I still have lots of stuff I want to share with you, but should really save that for another blog post on another day. It feels good to be back here and I don't want to spill it all at once and have nothing left to say!

Love,

Kim

Conclusions

Dear Mom,
My garden experiments were not exactly scientific- no control groups, too many variables, etc- but I did learn a few things. Like what NOT to do next year.
If you remember, I planted seed potatoes in three different ways: In a large pot, in my compost bin, and in the ground. After harvesting all three, it was obvious that IN THE GROUND was by far the best yield. Harder to harvest, though, but fun if you think of it as digging for treasure. Which it is. The compost bin was easiest to harvest and also had a good yield. The flower pot did have some potatoes in it, but it also contained a bone that Olive had buried. Perhaps the bone and the disruption caused by its burial affected the results.
Conclusion: I will grow my potatoes in the ground next year.

As for tomatoes grown in the bag of soil.....Despite Brother's success with this method, I have to say it was a FAILURE. Very disappointing. VERY. Dis. A. PoINT. InG. For a girl who loves her fresh, garden-grown, EatThemHotAndDustyRightInTheGarden Tomatoes, it was foolish of me to take the risk and grow them any other way.
Conclusion: I will grow my tomatoes in the ground next year.

I think I am going to need a bigger garden.

Love,
Kim

p.s. good stuff on my knitting needles.

p.p.s Olive is still limping.

Favorite Things Friday

Dear Mom,

ZINNIAS!

 Love,
Kim

Bounty

Dear Mom,
Our nearly idyllic summer is evident in the produce I am harvesting from the vegetable garden. On Saturday I went out to check things, as I do daily, and found green beans that had either grown over night or had been hiding themselves under the healthy, bushy plants.  I easily picked over a pound of beans and could probably pick another pound today.

I have also been experimenting with growing potatoes. My potato tower did not do so well last year, but it wasn't a good summer for growing anything. I decided to ignore last year's poor showing and try again. This time I planted in the ground, in my compost bin ( a potato tower of sorts) and in a flower pot. The seed potato bag said the taters would be ready for harvesting when the vines yellowed and started to wither. That pretty much described the condition of the vines in my compost bin, so after harvesting the beans I overturned my compost can and was thrilled to discover the most beautiful red potatoes! I was scrabbling through that dirt like Scarlett O'Hara did in when she was starving and found a carrot in the soil. - Right before she declares that she will "never go hungry again". I could almost hear music playing in the background.

this is not my hand
this hand belongs to Brother

I will let the potatoes keep growing in the ground and in the big flower pot- the vines there haven't started to die back yet. Needless to say, we had potatoes and green beans for dinner Saturday night!

I found a very delicious recipe in a special publication by Taste of Home magazine. This issue is dedicated to Diabetic cooking. I purchased my copy late in the spring and don't know if it is still on the newsstands. I tried out this green bean recipe last night and it was delicious. I filled my plate and made it my entire dinner.

Green Beans Provencale

1 lb. fresh green beans

4 green onions, sliced

2 T. minced shallot

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 t. fresh rosemary, or 1/2 t. dried rosemary, crushed

1 T. olive oil

1 1/2 c. grape tomatoes, halved

2 T. minced fresh basil, or 2 t. dried basil

1/2 t. salt

1/4 t. pepper

Place beans in a steamer basket and steam in a large pot of boiling water for 4-5 minutes or until crisp tender.

In a large skillet, saute the onions, shallot, garlic and rosemary in olive oil until vegetables are tender. Add the beans, tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper. Saute 2-3 minutes longer, or until heated through.

Love,

Kim