summer begins

Not being a gardener from lack of practice, I was thrilled to see this hydrangea revive after a freezing winter and blossom back to life. Mind you, it only had two blossoms like this, still, very beautiful and pleasing. I need to make more room for it in its bed. It is wedged between a very active jasmine and a wild hydrangea, that, though much larger, had little to show for itself this year. It reminds me so much of the hydrangeas in front of my mother's last and beloved home in San Diego, overlooking the ocean. So, a touch of nostalgia.
We are having a very hot beginning to summer. Thunderstorms. Heat index up to 105 - 110 degrees. The indoor/outdoor thermometer has had readings consistently over 100 degrees for over a week now. Two weeks? Hard to remember, it just feels like it has always been hot.

So, what do I decide to knit when the temperature goes soaring? Socks! About a month ago Knitting Daily sent out a free Cookie A. pattern called Cubist Socks. Here is my just about completed pair made with a wonderful self patterning sock yarn from Schoeller +Stahl, Fortissima Colori, Socka Color, color #9048. I love how it turned out looking like I did a lot of Fair Isle work. And I have to say 'bravo' to Schoeller and Stahl who arranged to have both skeins of wool start at the same place in the color sequence so that creating a pair of socks that match was pretty effortless on my part.

Having had so much success with the cubist socks I decided to go looking for other Cookie A. patterns. I came across one called Pomatomus from Knitty, the winter 05 issue, and here is my start of that one. This one had a little bit slower start due to all the knit stitches being worked tbl, but now I've got about 4 1/2-5 in. and it is going well, intriguing pattern. This is Lana Grossa's Marmi, color #7002, a 100 g. skein with @ 420 yards, so one skein should easily do the pair.

In the meantime I am working on making some hand spindles and practicing spinning on them for a class later in July. It has been so long since I have spun on a drop spindle! So practice, practice, practice!

Sophia's first hours

Ok, ok, I know I have been missing for awhile, but here is the reason. My new 'nieta' Sophia was born mid morning June 3rd, by caesarian, with me translating for mom in the operating room until I started to pass out due to the heat and not eating and being awakened at 3:00 in the morning and, here is the key piece of information, seeing the size of the needle being used for the spinal injection. So I missed the actual birth, but papa was there and we were all together in the recovery room when Sophie was brought out to mom all bathed and swaddled and ready for hugs and kisses.

She is very sweet, weighed 7 1/2 lbs, was 19 3/4" long and in very good health at birth. So good in fact that they allowed all to go home mid day Saturday, just two days old. So far it is eat and sleep, eat and sleep, but she is starting to look around her a lot more and the challenge is to keep her 2 1/2 year old sister from poking her in inappropriate places. She loves to kiss her though, so that's good! And Jennifer her 8 year old sister is getting a crash course in diapering and taking care of the two year old, Katie.

In all the traveling back and forth around southern Mississippi I am continually surprised by coming across scenes like this camel. In the same location I enjoyed seeing the llama and alpacas in the water, below.

And a family I visit in Bogalusa have had a peacock adopt them, and he is in full dress calling for a mate.

About two weeks ago I was visiting Marina when all of a sudden a truck pulled up at the end of the driveway and asked if we had seen any peacocks. We explained that, yes, there were two that normally stayed around this house, but were nowhere to be seen at the moment. It seems that the peacocks had escaped from the local park not far away, and the park officials had sent off for two pea hens to accompany the two males; in the meantime the males had escaped. Last week at least one of the males had made it back to the park. Here's hoping the other one will make his way back as well, because as the park workers said, there is no way to sneak up and catch a peacock!