pictures

I don't have any knitting to share because I haven't been doing much--the time change and the weather between them seem to have knocked me out. I'm hoping to get some work done on the 2009 Calendar Scarf this weekend, since I have only 4 more patterns to go. Also I'm working on some pink angora bed socks. I thought I had a complete pair, but I seem to have managed to lose the first one. Fortunately, I have plenty of the yarn, so I'm making a third one.

However, meanwhile, today was an absolutely perfect day, weatherwise--upper 60s, no rain, no wind, lots of sun--really beautiful--and the garden glowed. Here are a few photos:

Virginia bluebells--lots of them! Last year I think I only had 2 or 3 clumps. They're a tad short, but I'm hoping that a dose of fertilizer before they go dormant will help. They're such a beautiful blue. I used to have bleeding heart planted on either side of the tree; they died away, but that particular shade of pink is just ideal with bluebells, so I might try again.

The bleeding heart on the other side of the sidewalk, on the other hand, is going great guns. When I went around to inspect it, I noticed these two smallish purple-and-white tulips, which I swear I've never seen before! The red one needs moving--it does clash! But the purply-ones look great with the bleeding heart.


Close up of a little bleeding-heart floweret. It looks like it's made of porcelain or enamel, doesn't it? And such a delicious cherry-pink!



The purply-tulips get lost against the grey of the tree bark here, but that's all right. Poor Taenzer--having to sit and stay! Dog torture! And what an awkward sit! Usually she gets her feet all neatly tucked under her. Silly girl.


Timber can't be relied on to stay for more than about 30 seconds, but he can always be relied on to look gorgeous. Here he's waiting to pounce on Taenzer as she comes up the porch steps.




It's supposed to be beautiful all weekend, for a change, so I plan to be out quite a bit with the dogs, do yard work, wash the car, run an errand or two, and I just might pack up the Ts and go to the local nursery. It occurs to me, however, that I may again have to grapple with the difference between the van and the Rondo: with the van, I had room for both dogs AND for plants. With the Rondo, Timber will have to share his space if I buy any plants, and he's not exactly known for being observant about where he puts his feet. But possibly it will work if he sits by the window to sniff, and I take a couple of boxes to confine and protect the plants. We'll see. They'd certainly enjoy the ride.

The Picture Edition

Today, the first day of spring, it's windy, cold, and snowing, but last week when it was warm and sunny, I took the camera out into the garden and got some pictures. I love the buds and first leaves! And also my beautiful babies. Do click to see the larger versions!

I was surprised to see so many crocus. Then I remembered that I used bulb food on everything last spring and on as many bulb things as I could remember the locations of in the fall. So obviously I'm going to do it again this year! Mental note: Get more bulb food!



Little siberian squill getting ready to bloom. I don't think they like their position very well, but they do keep coming up and blooming. I'd like to get more, because they are so intensely blue (which frustratingly enough never shows up well in photos).


There are so many unexpected bits of color in the early spring if you go looking for them. Here are some bright red peony buds


and here are some beautiful tiny heuchera leafelets. I think this is Peach Flambe. I love the colored heucheras!


This is daylily Hyperion by the back door. Yay! I have two other patches of Hyperion, and neither of them is poking up their little noses yet, but I suppose this patch is in a more protected position so near the house.


Another of my spring favorites--baby alchemilla (lady's mantle) leaves. I love their fringed edges and pleats. These are very close up--they're tiny, tiny little leaves, smaller than a penny.

I have no idea what this is. I simply cannot remember. I'm thinking it must be an actual something (as opposed to being a weed), since they're all the same and sort of in a little circle, and near the back door, near the daylilies, but I simply don't know what they are. Spring's little mysteries! I can spend the next several weeks hovering and waiting to find out what they are. (Or I suppose I could look up my posts from last year and see what I planted there, but what fun is that?)

While I was trotting around taking pictures, the Ts were playing. Here they are with their favorite balls. Timber obviously could use a new Jolly Ball.



Taenzer, looking particularly handsome. She looks a lot like her grandfather, Valiantdale's Boss v. Icon. The Valiantdale dogs all have a strong family resemblance, but there's an observable difference between the Boss look and the Icon look, even though Boss was an Icon son--must be the East German influence of Boss's dam, Hapi v. Fernheim

And here's the ultra-adorable Timber, boy of my heart. I bet he's the most beautiful dog from his entire litter!

I spent yesterday in Springfield with my sister and had a very good time, but that's a post for later, since this is already so long.

grumble grumble

What daylight savings time means to me:

Disrupted sleep.

Going back to getting up in the dark, at least for the next couple of weeks.

Another hour to look out at the gray, dreary, soggy landscape.

It's been overcast with at least a little rain every day for a week, and they're forecasting another week of clouds and rain. I think my house is going to sink slowly into the mud and I'll have to build steps going up to get out.

In between showers yesterday I walked Timber up to the Square, and he did a very nice job--certainly no worse than Stella at his age, if not quite as connected. I started stopping and saying his name until he looked at me, then I'd click and let him go sniff his next object. By the end of the walk we'd gone from "Timber. Timber. Timber. Timber. Timber. Timber. Timber. Timber." to "Timber. Timber." So that was good. I hope eventually we'll get to the point where he checks in with me without being reminded. He doesn't have to stop and turn around and look at me, just flick an ear or cast a glance in my direction--just to let me know that he remembers I'm there.

So if the rain holds off until I wake up, I'll take Taenzer out today. I don't expect to get as far with her, but at least she'll be out and moving around.

I'm still slogging away on my scarf. I'm beginning to worry that I won't have enough of some of the yarns I'm using, like the cream-colored cashmere. Which is annoying--since I knew I didn't have much of it, I arranged the rest of the scarf around it; it'll be unbalanced if I don't have enough. I'm not sure I have anything in the stash that I can replace it with. I think I have a cream-colored lace-weight wool--maybe I could use that doubled or tripled.

I know I'm going to like it when I finish it--I'm more than half-way finished now and every so often I pick it up and wrap it around my head and neck, and it's so soft and warm and cuddly, it's hard to take it off and start working on it again! I had so much trouble with the last couple of patterns that I've started typing them into Knit Visualizer before I even start knitting them. My concentration is just shot these days; even with the visuals I've had to rip back and start over multiple times when I start a new pattern.

On the other hand, I don't really have anything on the back burner shouting to be done, so I'm just as happy to have this to work on.

Bad Camera!

I wish I could afford a different camera! And here's why:



That's Taenzer with a milkshake cup stuck on her nose. When I aimed the camera for the shot, she was lying down, licking the bottom and just starting to realize she was stuck. It took way too long for the crummy thing to focus, flash, and trip the shutter. This camera is SOOOOOO slow, it just makes me crazy. It actually has a continuous-shoot feature, but unlike my previous camera, continuous-shoot means click (pause) click (pause) click (p-a-u-s-e)... It's really infuriating. I got it for the kids-n-pets feature and continuous shoot to catch Ts in action, and I'm always losing really good shots because it's SO SLOW (yes, I'm yelling).

And don't ask what a milkshake cup is doing in my house, either. I don't want to talk about it. (oink)

Snow Dogs!

There's a LOT of snow out there--

--but the dogs are thrilled.

Of course, it's easy for them--they don't have to do the shoveling! I'm running out of places to put the snow!

Some of the vegetation isn't too thrilled either, like this blue spruce. The poor box bush up by the garage is positively buried.

Meanwhile, at good ol' Forgottonia U, the grounds people and the building services people are having a squabble. As you can see, there are two sets of steps with a terrace between in front of the building where I work. The grounds people clear the first set of steps, the building services guy clears the set nearest the building, and neither of them will take responsiblity for the terrace, which means anyone who wants to get in using the main doors gets to wade through the snow--which then turns into slippery ice.

How grown-up of them.

Calendar Scarf

Ack. It's snowing again. Not a lot, but I'll have to go shovel again. I'm getting tired of shoveling snow. Despite the fact that it's only an inch or so, rather than a foot, I'm still tired of it. I've been shoveling snow off and on since Christmas!

I thought I might update my progress on the 2009 Calendar Scarf. I'm really enjoying it. I like the simple lace patterns, and I love the beautiful yarns.

From the bottom (on the right), there's two shades of handspun guanaco, which is just heavenly stuff. I couldn't believe how soft it is! Above that is yak down, which is nice, but not heavenly. I'm interested to see if it blooms once it's washed. Next is alpaca/silk from Elann, which is very soft, if a bit splitty.

Above that is qiviut, which I'm of two minds about. It's wonderfully soft and when I had the scarf spread over my lap I could tell how very warm it is. My first impulse was "wow, I'd love to have a sweater made of this!" but it has such a halo already that I wonder if it might not pill badly. Nevertheless, it's a beautiful fiber and I think I will continue to treat myself to small amounts of it for hats and scarves and things as often as I can. I've seen qiviut dyed, but I love its natural soft taupey color. Can you imagine a delicious blanket to wrap a baby in? And then the baby spits up on the blanket... Okay, maybe not. But it's still a nice idea.

Above the qiviut is a cashmere/merino mix, and then the alpaca/silk again. Next will be buffalo down, and I'm very interested in working with it, since it's so outrageously expensive. I don't see how the wow factor in it can be any higher than the qiviut or guanaco. Then comes a cream-colored 60% cashmere/40% merino blend, which I hope will work since it's a bit heavier than any of the other yarns I'm using. Then it all starts repeating, though not necessarily in the same order.

I'm enjoying this scarf as much as I did the 2008 version. I think I like the single-colored scarf better, but this is a great way to use these little bits of luxury yarns I've collected over the years.

Just--brrrrr

According to the Weather Channel online, it's 11 below zero this morning. According to the thermometer in the kitchen, it's 6 below. That's not as bad as South Dakota (see Kathleen Taylor's blog), but I think there comes a point when cold is just COLD. What's worse is that I have to go out to buy groceries and run a couple of errands. The dogs will want to come, but I think I'm going to leave them home--I think it will be too cold for them to just wait in the car, even though the sun is out.

Pictures from last night:

Taenzer is sitting in front of a pile of snow at the side of the driveway, to show how tall it is.

These are ice-balls, and pieces of ice-balls, that get up between the dogs' pads when they've been out playing. The round shiny thing is a quarter, for scale. I don't think we're going to go out to play today, but once it warms up a bit I'll definitely have to put their boots on until the snow either melts or packs down too hard for them to pick up.

I have a partial antidote to all this: Now that Christmas is over, the garden catalogs are arriving. Thank goodness the garden companies still send out catalogs, because there's very little as wonderful as looking through catalogs in bed just before going to sleep. Browsing online just isn't the same, and besides, you can't put sticky notes on pages when you browse online.

So far I have catalogs from Jung Seeds and Plants, White Flower Farm, Dutch Gardens, and Bluestone Perennials. I've only flipped briefly through them, but at first glance, dahlias seem to be the plant of the year, along with gladiolas. This strikes me as amusing and old-fashioned, since the last time I remember gladiolas as being "in" was in the 1960s--I used to see pages and pages of them in the catalogs my parents received. I think they've been virtually invisible for years. I guess plants, like fashions, go in and out of style.

At any rate, I look forward to dreaming of summer. Maybe this year I should think about adding some plants that bloom later than June! Or maybe I can get a couple of those shrubs I've been thinking about.

But for now I think I'm going to get a cup of cocoa!

Too cold for Mommies!

Well, I think I've got Timber fixed up. I remembered that a couple of years ago I bought them some winter boots, so I found Timber's and put them on--with much giggling, since it's a lot like trying to put mittens on a toddler--his foot just goes limp and his toes bend and mash all up, so

it takes some engineering to get them on. Plus these were a bit stiff from not having been used for a while. But we got them on, and after about 30 seconds he didn't seem to mind wearing them.

So we went outside, and he did just fine--he ran around and chased Taenzer, who was chasing her ball, and they both had a good time. I was pretty warm, too, except for my hands. I just can't get my hands to stay warm. Even in the house my hands are always cold. My fingers started to hurt after about 10 minutes, eveen with silk glove liners and insulated gloves. I'm going to have to get battery powered gloves or something.

Anyway, they had a good time for about 15 minutes, and I got some happy dog pictures.

You say tomayto, I say tomahto...

So, are you going to call next year two-thousand-ten or twenty-ten?

(And btw, I say tomayto. ;-)

My dogs are really strange. The past couple of nights I've had pork roast (pre-roasted, from the store), sauerkraut, and potatoes, with a little applesauce to temper the sauerkraut a bit, for dinner. Such a good meal; I love the contrast of the rich pork and the tang of the kraut and the earthiness of the potatoes. But strangely enough, apparently so do the dogs. I had left-over sauerkraut after I finished the pork, and they both showed interest in the bowl, so I put a little dab down for them, and they ate it right up. So I gave them a little more, and they ate that, too. I don't think I've ever had a dog who liked sauerkraut before, and now I have two! Strange doggers.

(Guess who just moved to snuggle up and snooze with her head in my lap? Sweetie!)

I was supposed to go to Springfield to visit my sister today, but (a) I had a queasy stomach all night and (b) it snowed this morning. I could have coped with one or the other, but didn't feel like trying to cope with both, so I called her and cancelled. She was in the shower when I called, so I had a chance to talk to my brother-in-law, the one with soft palate cancer; he sounded great, strong and upbeat, which made me happy. But when I talked to my sister later, she sounded so tired--I hope she gave herself a break today and got some rest. She said she was thinking about starting a pair of socks, had her yarn all picked out and wound into balls and just needed to decide on the pattern.

She's responsible for my learning to knit--she started knitting first, and was making wonderful things, and I thought, Well, if she can do it, I can do it! :) She's still a better knitter than I am, I think--I'm pretty slapdash about it; she's more patient and careful and has a great eye for color. I always like to see what she's doing. She did a beautiful shawl-collared Aran sweater for our mutual nephew for Christmas. One time she was visiting, and we looked down and realized we were wearing socks made from the same yarn. Different patterns, but the same yarn. Kinda cool.

I haven't exactly been sailing along on this, but I've gotten back to where I was with the Aran sweater before I decided to rip it back. I think another repeat of the central pattern and it'll be time to divide for the armholes. I totally plan to pick up stitches and knit down for the sleeves, which will entail some tinkering with the pattern, but I'm so allergic to sewing things, I'd rather tinker.

I wonder if I can spare $50 to buy a set of blocking wires and some alpaca-silk yarn for the 2009 Calendar Scarf from Elann.com, or if I should buy more dogfood instead.

Merry Christmas to All!

I hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas, and are enjoying your day in a sea of wrapping paper.

I gave the dogs chews for Christmas. Taenzer finished hers first, so I asked her to "help" me unwrap prezzies by scattering the light and/or small ones on the floor and asking her to bring them to me. I think she enjoyed it.

I got some lovely things. There are a beautiful bowl and cup that are probably handthrown and are definitely hand-glazed. They're so beautiful I'm afraid to use them!

There's some honey from Germany that's a very clear sunshine gold, and has a vanilla bean floating in it--mmmmm, can't wait to try it in tea. There's a gift card to Barnes & Noble, which I'll take with me Wednesday when I go to meet my sister in Springfield. There's a lot of chocolate! There's a beautiful little book with German Shepherd pictures--egads, GSDs are beautiful dogs!--and a gigantic GSD mug (18 oz.) to add to my GSD mug collection.

And there is some GORGEOUS sock yarn, 50% superwash merino and 50% tencel, from spinningbunny.com and hand-dyed in the Paintbox colorway. I haven't worked with a tencel yarn before. It's very soft, and I'd almost rather make a scarf than socks from it, but it would be a pretty colorway to work in one of those patterns where you pair it with a dark solid so it looks like stained glass (like the cover picture on Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks )

There's also a little black and silver GSD angel, and when I put it on my PC tower, it miraculously began to read pictures off my camera, which is why there are pictures with this post. Alleluia!

I had Brie, fresh-heated bread, and a pear for lunch, and then we went out and did kitties. After that we stopped by the office so I could print out the last pattern for the 2009 calendar scarf. I had planned to play ball with them in one of the hallways that has carpet, but there were two people in the building, one a dog person and one not so much so but the dog-person's SO, so tolerant of being unexpectedly assaulted by a large furry beast (I didn't know his office door was open!!!). They were pretty good, and settled down fairly quickly. Not quietly sitting, like Stella, but milling rather than leaping uninvited into laps. They both showed off and did their tricks and both people exclaimed "They're so well trained!" At which I laughed immoderately. It was kind of them to say, at any rate. Then we came home and since it's gotten much colder, the ground was hard enough for them to run around in the play yard for a while, so Taenzer is MUCH happier than she was yesterday. Now it's snowing outside, and I'm planning a little Christmas dinner for myself of chicken, dressing and gravy, and corn.

"And I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight: 'Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!'"