Smoky Days

We haven't seen the sun for days now. The air is hazy with smoke from the fires west of us and sometimes we can actually smell it. The Indians fire has been burning since early June and the Basins fire is one that started last Saturday with the dry lightning storms that hit California. The news says that over 800 fires were ignited that day. Both of the fires that are affecting us are in the Santa Lucia mountains west of King City and south of Monterey. Not that far from here as the crow flies.

However, the garden continues to grow well and is providing more and more of our veggies. Tonight we had zucchini, crookneck squash, cucumbers and lettuce for the salad as well as a lemon for the fish. The lettuce was a mix of red and green leaf lettuce, arugula, frisee, spinach and basil leaves. The spinach is sort of lying flat instead of standing up as you would expect, probably because of the warm weather. But it was good anyway. I was afraid the arugula and frisee would be too bitter but not at all. We also had chard that I bought at Farmers Market on Wednesday but I think our first chard will be ready to harvest in a week or so.

I used the greenhouse sink to wash the lettuce, then poured the waste water into the basins around the squash. It made me feel really good to not let all that water go down the drain. I still haven't gotten the shadecloth up in the greenhouse but today was fairly cool. On a sunny summer day, it is unbearably hot in there without the shadecloth.

This morning husband brought in a Blenheim apricot. It was fairly hard and slightly green on one side, so I wasn't tempted to eat it. After dinner he asked me about it, so I rinsed it off and cut it in quarters figuring I would let him learn for himself by tasting it. Before I handed the pieces to him I popped one into my mouth and all I could say was "Oh, my gosh!" It was the best-tasting apricot I've eaten this year, green spot and all. Absolute heaven.

On the sewing front, I finished quilting the first piece of flannel for the doll bathrobe. I still have to do another piece but it's pretty boring work so I decided to do other things for a while. I finished the basket liner I've been working on and mended my reusable Target bag. Tomorrow I have some mending to do and probably some pants to shorten for Mom. She will need to try them on tomorrow morning. Then I should make the block of the month for the Pinnacle Quilt Guild and not leave it until the last minute. Then maybe I'll get back to the doll clothes.

I'm on the sixth row of clue 2 in the Anniversary shawl. So far the pattern is really easy and I'm working on 144 stitches per round, so the 24 rows should go pretty quickly. I will need to increase to 288 stitches at the end of this clue and, at that point, I should be able to do it all on one circular instead of the two I'm currently using. I may need to order a longer cable though.

Not Dead, Just Resting

I really am still alive and kicking. I just didn't realize that it had been three months since my last post. There's been some knitting, quilting, gardening, reading, a lot of cooking and a bit of exercise. We've lost our last cat, Clementine. We've gone from winter to summer and I didn't write a thing about spring. Well, no use crying over what can't be changed. Best to just move along.


The garden is producing summer squash, lettuce, cucumbers and peppers. Lots of tomatoes, but none ripe yet. The green beans are racing up their trellising but haven't produced any blossoms and the Blenheim apricot is heavy with pale orange fruit, still rock-hard.













I haven't done any knitting on the Spring Surprice Shawl since I came home from SF in March, but have not given up on it. It's in a bag behind my chair just waiting for a time when I can give it my full attention. I have almost finished the Spiderman Laphgan. Didn't get it done in time for O's birthday, but will try for Christmas. However, I recently asked him if he still liked Spiderman and he replied that he liked Batman more. But I think it'll be okay on the day.

I frogged the green toe-up socks because I couldn't figure out the heel directions being as I am using a different number of stitches than it calls for. Also, they were a bit too small around; so I did a swatch and am knitting on 56 stitches instead of the 48 I was using. Also, I found some generic directions for the heel in the pattern and will use those when I get to that point again.


My current project of choice is the Goddess Mystery Anniversary Shawl. It's circular and I had some real difficulty getting started but, by the time I got to the end of Clue 1, things were going pretty well. I haven't started Clue 2 yet but it's 24 rows of 144 stitches, so it will almost certainly take longer. and Clue 3 comes out Saturday. That will start with 288 stitches. I probably should have tried the EZ Pi shawl first, but never got around to it.

Grandma's Progress

This was yesterday afternoon. It was a sunny day and the temp was in the low 70s so L asked Mom if she wanted to take a walk and she said yes! She used her light walker to go down the steps with no problem and commented that this is how she used to do it. Then she switched to the Hugo and off she went. Down to Cienega Road and back. They talked about the flowers along the way and she didn't seem to even notice how far she walked.

Quilters Meet

Bearded iris that SW gave me last fall.

We five met at SW's house tonight. First time we've all been together since the January Sew-Day. SW is spring cleaning and we all went home with bags of magazines - cooking, gardening, health. We'll be happy for months by the time we finish trading back and forth.

Making Progress

Mom managed to walk down the stairs this morning; coming back up was difficult. The physical therapist needed to help lift Mom's good leg more than last week. The bad leg, on which she stands when she is lifting the other one, seemed to be somewhat weaker today.

These are the stairs - pretty impressive, huh?

Sunday in the City

I've been here since Wednesday. Mom's recovery is coming along nicely. Last Thursday she walked down the front stairs, with a great deal of difficulty. To come back up, she did 2 or 3 steps, then sat down on a pillow for a few minutes, then did 2-3 more. She was very shaky by the time she finished, but I think she was pleased with herself. Since then she has been practising in the house using an exercise step.
The physical therapist comes again tomorrow morning but I'm not sure we will do the outside steps since it will just be the two of us and Mom. We are still aiming to take Mom back to our house on Thursday. Hope it happens!
KAS and her Mom spent yesterday afternoon with us. KAS helped me wind another skein of the shawl yarn and then we played Spider Solitaire. I hadn't tried it but my hairdresser told me about it and she's right, it's loads of fun. I won more than I lost in level 1, so today I moved up to level 2. I had a lot of trouble until I read the hints. That and the flashing helped a lot and I finally won a game. I'll have to see if you can turn the flashing thing off - it feels too much like cheating for me. When I win something, I want to know that it was only me doing it!
Thursday I had to rip out 12 rows in the Shawl. The row where I had the problems was the one I had planned to put a lifeline in. Friday I re-knitted the 12 rows but haven't touched it since. So I'm still on Clue 4, about a third of the way through.
Yesterday and today I worked on the lilac Feather and Fan shawl which is going to my sister. I only have about 30 rows left to do. Then I have to weave in the ends. No blocking because it's acrylic.

Lovely Spring Monday

This is the bed in front of my sewing room window. I planted spring bulbs a couple of years ago and, although this bed doesn't get rain unless it's a really big storm, the daffodils and iris manage to keep blooming each year. The bed is quite overgrown with the snapdragons I planted in 2006 and I keep promising to cut them back and pull weeds, but somehow it never gets done.

I pulled some of the carrots I planted in a raised bed last fall. I think they may be a little past their prime, but still edible.

I haven't worked on SSS since I completed Clue 3 while I was in the city. I did print out the remaining clues and plan to print Clue 10 when it is released tomorrow. I am driving back to the city on Wednesday and will probably stay until the following Wednesday. I doubt if I can knit 7 clues in 7 days, but you never know and I would hate to be caught with not enough instructions printed!

I haven't gotten much accomplished since I've been home - I find it difficult to settle to anything in depth. I will be so glad when Mom is able to come down here and we can get back to a somewhat normal life.