In Summer's Heat

Happy Summer, everyone!

I'm quite deliberately attempting to survive the insufferable heat. I have about 5 weeks to go, right?

I've been watching wintry Youtube videos, baking pumpkin pie, and staying in the air conditioning.

I love this stained-glass heart. It was made by a dear friend for us, in honor of our 35th wedding anniversary this summer.

I've been spinning quite a bit, a plan of mine to pass the summer. I start with these lovely batts.

It spins up quite smoothly and nicely. I got two large hanks, and one small one made from the "leftover single."

Late one afternoon I drove 1/4 mile down the road to this lovely scene -- the north prong of the Bay River, complete with shrimp boats. This is an undiscovered piece of water, used only by fishermen like those who man these boats and bring back shrimp to sell on the little docks. Locals line up there once weekly with their coolers to buy.

I did this little painting, inspired by a photo I took at my brother's farm in W.Va. It does not do the scene justice, I'm sorry to say, but it was my best attempt. 

I'm nearly out of soap to sell at the market, so I made two batches this week! 

 I've had to change the recipe I use, after all these years. Olive oil has become so outrageously expensive, so I had to find a different recipe. It turned out just fine.

I hope you are surviving the summer heat wherever you are, friend. In late August, I plan to escape to W.Va again where temperatures will be beginning to cool in the evenings, and autumn's early whispers will be wafting among the hills.

What a July 4th Week!

 No, we didn't do fireworks, but yes, we did go to the beach! Mostly we did LOTS of work in the pasture. Without further ado, here are some photos of the week, complete with great-grandmas and babies and good food!

NO MORE metal in the ground! The raised beds are gone, phew! Also, you'll note there was time to relax (a little). My son made me a wonderful new potting bench/table, which makes me happy every time I look at it. Adam finished upholstering the blue chair (a roadside find) with his mother's help. Our pear tree seems to be producing a bit this year too. Maybe some pear butter this year?

A Mountain Trip and More Pirate Ships

Hello, all! Adam and I have been on a wonderful anniversary trip in June. We started at a KOA in Fancy Gap, Virginia, just north of Pilot Mtn. It was a very nice campground with a comfy "cabin."

We spent some time on the Blue Ridge Parkway, such a lovely, calm drive. We visited Mabry Mill, and we ate some pretty yummy food.

Adam sewed and I painted.

I'm in West Virginia visiting my mother and brother/sister-in-law. It's very relaxing here, although rather hot for WVa in June. We spend time on the front porch in the early evenings.

 I have been painting these fun (rather silly) "pirate maps" of Oriental, a cute little village near us on the Neuse River, full of boats and tourists in summer.

Aren't they fun? I hope they will sell at the market. The place names on the maps are taken from locations in the village. But no -- Oriental is NOT an island.

Thanks for stopping by! Stay cool out there!

June, Glorious June!

I made a very simple berry tart with a store-bought crust, last summer's frozen blueberries from my brother and sister-in-law's farm, and fresh blackberries and strawberries from a local produce market. The blackberries were huge and so yummy! I was pleasantly surprised that the tart turned out so well -- not too sweet.

Here's another healthy dinner that Adam made recently, a stir fry.

I finally finished knitting this simple shawl -- just a shoulder shawl where you increase one stitch on both the beginning and the end of each row. I used yarn I'd spun from Malabrigo Nube fiber. Not an easy spin, at all! But the finished shawl is just fine.

And below are two bobbins of yarn (singles). The first is from some delicious red batts that I buy from a local fiber studio. They are just luscious to spin! The second bobbin is full. It's various wool dyed with soft natural dyes from plants in our yard. With both these bobbins, I'll spin a second bobbin much like it, and then ply the matching bobbins together to get finished yarn.

Then I should have enough yarn to knit a shoulder shawl with each one, or whatever else I want to use the yarn for. I should have quite a bit more of the red yarn, and may eventually knit a sweater with it.

For my birthday I had a lovely lunch in Beaufort, right on the waterfront. We saw a touristy pirate ship go by!

 Today is our first really HOT day with a high of 93 degrees F. Ugh. I'm inside in the A/C for the duration!

Happy summer, all you friends out there!

Blooming in May

May has flown by, hasn't it? It's one of my favorite months, before summer's heat hits and I melt into a hibernating puddle of misery! Here's a photo of the gardenia bush just a few minutes ago:

It always performs well, but this year it's really blooming its heart out!

Just across the driveway is my long herb bed. It's bursting at the seams. I just added 2 small chamomile plants.

I keep telling myself that I can't put one more thing in that bed.

Here's our back deck, on the north side of the house.

That's a shade sail that we drape over it to make some shade. I believe in the value of impatiens each summer, so I pot lots of them. Here's my little potting area:

Last week we finally -- finally -- after years of staring at it, cut up and removed the Terrible Dead Hot Tub. Now I have an empty place to fill!

Right now I just have some cherry tomatoes in pots, and a struggling lavender. Eventually it will come to me, what I want to have there.

Have any of you spinners ever tried to spin Malabrigo Nube fiber? It's hard! It's soft as silk, and oh-so beautiful, but it's quite compact and difficult to separate and draft out, before spinning. Anyway, I spun up two hanks of it last year, and at last I'm knitting with it. 

It's lumpy and bumpy, but I'm having a go anyway. I'm turning it into a long triangular shawl to go around the neck. Not a big shawl to cover the back, but one designed to hug the neck and shoulders, cross over the chest, and perhaps tie behind. 

I'm alternating between garter stitch and stockinette. It's 100% wool, so it will be warm in winter, and very soft merino around the neck. I'll show you when it's done.

Happy nearly-summer, friends! If you live in the  U.S. South, you know it's pretty much here already, right?

The Latest Happenings:

 Hi, all. I noticed that Henny Penny posted (twice!) and figured I should come say hello also. 

I've had a busy week. Traveled out of the state for a few days, and then played catch-up for a couple of days ... and then the week is over! I've missed my studio and the quiet creative hours there. The two dogs love to come in too, and sleep under the desk.

I'll post a few photos here, and if I have anything else to say, I'll do that too.

Adam and me:

A painting I did, using a friend's photo as inspiration:

I sewed some bunting for the first time ever! I will do more because it was fun and turned out quite well.

Today I noticed that our gardenia bush is starting to bloom.

Lucy. Sigh! She has not settled down quite yet.

Elderberry bloom heads, from over a week ago. Soon ... berries!

I made this skirt recently from scraps of Batik fabric that a friend gave me. It was a fun project, but I was lucky that it did fit when I was done.

That's all for now! I hope you're having a lovely weekend. We've had spotty, heavy rain today, really soaking the ground. We needed it. Probably the last of the cool weather also.