Did ya know?

Did you know that sunflower seeds were so neatly packed in the sunflower?

Sunflower Seeds

This is the same sunflower from a prior post…just a wee bit older.  ;-)

 

Another curiosity from our yard: a Pomegranate Bloom (with a baby pom growing!)

Pomegranate Bloom

GB Hand Dyed Yarn ~ Pomegranate Bloom

And did you know that root beer (one of my favorite drinks) was originally flavored with the roots of the Sassafras tree?

GB Hand Dyed Yarn ~ Sassafras

 

 Finally, did you know I’m updating the shop?  Here’s a peek, with more details to be found on Flickr and Ravelry:

GB update ~ Can she get it done tonight??

I was trying to have it all listed tonight, but I’ve got a Parent/Teacher Conference (darn responsibilities!).  If you’re lucky I’ll sneak it in, otherwise look for it tomorrow morning.  :) 

ETA:  Yep, the update will happen tomorrow morning (10-15-08). 

My Highest Regards

My latest free pattern, Highly Regarded Mitts, is up on the Patterns page!  You can also find it on Ravelry.  Some quick and easy fingerless mitts which use just a small bit of bulky weight yarn – mine use handspun of course.  *wink*

Also, there’s been an update in the shop today, go check it out!

I happened to glance down the side yard this morning, and imagine my surprise when this met my gaze:

Well hello there beautiful!  How could I not run and grab my camera?  A couple more pics of this sunny beauty on my Flickr page.

And Duster Makes Three

I’ve added a new pattern to the Patterns page: the Biffer Duster Wig.  This rounds out my Cotton Cleaners collection.  I’ve been a little slow getting that one up, but I hope you enjoy it!  As with the other patterns I have listed there, please let me know if you find any boo-boos, I’ve tried to make everything as clear as possible but new eyes see new things…

Biffer Duster Wig

Speaking of new things, as we drove up into our courtyard after some running around in the really-really-too-hot-to-be-outside weather, the sugar daddy looked out his window and under the lime tree and exclaimed, “Oh!  It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever SEEN!!  Little poo-poos with their little pee-pees!!”.  I’m pretty sure he was pretending to be all THAT “squee” about it…but after seeing what all the fuss was about myself, I really went over the top with all the gooshy exclamations of my own.  Look for yourself:

Oh.  MY.  I don’t think I can convey to you the true extent of the sugary sweetness that POURED out of my mouth when I saw these little darlings.  There were eight of them and they were no more than an inch high.  They scurried just as fast as their little legs would take them, stumbling and tripping and falling over onto their sides.  Oh!  It was just more preciousness than my heart could possibly stand.  Really.  ReallyReally. 

How I talk to my kitty, Bella, had NOTHING on this…

ETA:  ooo, in all my gushy-mushy-smoopsy-woopsy blabberings I didn’t even mention what those little pookies are!  Thanks for the question, Stacey, they are quail.  :)

Off the vine…

One vine’s worth of grapes (well, what we picked off after the birds had a wonderful time with them):

The sugar daddy spent quite some time squeezing all of these by hand, and the juice ended up being about a bottle and a half’s worth…and who knows how much it would end up being after the whole, dare I say it, FERMENTING process.  Have I mentioned that all of my food comes from a store?  Yes, I do admit, I am more than a little uneasy about “creating” these kinds of products within my own home.  Meat?  Yogurt?  Cheese?  Wine?  All of these things come to me in neat and tidy packages, with no indication of how long they stood at room temperature coagulating, or “aging”, or whathaveyou.  No sir, God created it with his mighty hand and lovingly packaged it in bright labels and cling wrap.  I beg you not to try to burst my bubble.

Anyway, a new respect for the wine-making process was born.  Mostly with my husband as, you may imagine based upon the last paragraph, I was not around when all this squeezing and sloppiness was going on.  We have six vines in the yard, and this WAS the first year they were allowed to fruit, so maybe we can look forward to a somewhat respectable wine yield from our suburban vineyard further in the future.  :)

A New Look!

So, a gave my shop and blog a little facelift.  What do you think?  I’ve never really done much banner making in the past, other than taking a picture and cropping it to size and sticking it up there, so I have to say that I’m pretty pleased with my end result.  I want to be sure to give props to Squidfingers and Textura for their texture and pattern offerings, that really opens up a whole new world!

And while you’re in an admiring mood, go check out the banner in my BFF’s new shop as well…it will be packed full of the most rockingest photographs you’ve ever seen and you can decorate your very own home with them!  I’ve already placed MY order…go check out her Flickr to see the ones that will be going up.

I’ve been spinning away over here, preparing for the Knit Retreat and for my shop update the following week…no peeksies though, I’m keeping it all under wraps until after the Retreat.  If you’d like to be added to my shop update email list and be notified when I update, send me your email address through the Contact Me page up there at the top of the blog.

Later gators!

The Bucket Overfloweth

We’re pushing to get the backyard done, with a little help from Uncle Sam.  Remember that good ol’ Economic Stimulus Plan?  Yep, well it’s playing a large part in the upgrade.

A few pics of what’s going on back there:

Remember these?  they are darkening up quite nicely!

Society Garlic.  So called because you are supposed to be able to eat it and still be a non-offensive member of society.  well, smell-wise anyway…it makes no claims on your personality.  ;-)

My lemon tree, which I love

 I sure hope these do well!

I’ve got big plans for all the lavender plants!

If you don’t hear from me before then, have a wonderful 4th of July weekend!  :)

Small Doses

As I uploaded these pictures to my computer, hubster commented “hey, in little snap shots like that, our place looks pretty nice!” – and it’s true!  Don’t these make you imagine that our backyard is full of life and teeming with lush plants?

 

 

 

Yes, well.  What’s NOT pictured is the big empty dirt space where grass should be.  It’s amazing what that dirt patch does in the way of negative aesthetics…it’s kind of like a black hole that sucks all the “pretty” right out of the yard.  Soon (hopefully) we’ll be filling it with a “Cutting Garden” (thanks, Amanda for giving me the term I’ve been reaching for), where we’ll cultivate a bunch of different flowers for the express purpose of creating fun arrangements around the house.  I’m really hoping I don’t find out I’m allergic to flowering plants.

 

zoo for you!

we went to the zoo last week, and by “we” i mean me, boy, chanelle, boy and girl, wannabe, and buggernut. and i’m pretty sure that until i get some kind of prescription allergy medicine, i should never ever go again. ugh. i thought i was going to DIE when i got home…

but i did get a bunch of pics, and the kids seemed to have fun, when we werent running over them with the strollers and they werent falling down.

i took about two hundred (yes! can you believe that!! dang.) pictures, but here are just a handful for your perusement.

and yes, those tortoises are doing exactly what you think they’re doing. did you know they sound like cows when they do that? yeah, well neither did we until that day… Never know what you’ll learn at the zoo!