Randomday - Playing Catch-up

Yikes, that was a long blog hiatus. Summer is hot, life is busy, the blog goes begging. Sorry about that.

 I did not document the 4th of July here... but it was good.

 I finished a few knitting projects... this T-yarn rug for Charissa's wedding on size 15 needles...

 ... and these Stashbuster Spirals socks for a Christmas gift on size 0 needles.

This is one of the three new pairs of socks I have cast on, but the only one I've photographed so far. And I have placed an order for more yarn with KnitPicks. I should really do a stash report, but that would require me to do math. And I have plans to cast on a bunch of things besides socks. Most recently I have decided to try the Hamilknit hat for Quarta.

Here is the (about) 70-year-old Hydrangea bush in our front yard. Did you know you can root new Hydrangeas from cuttings in water?

This is how you do it. It doesn't always work, but if you keep a green leafy stem in water for long enough, it often sends out roots. And then you can plant it in a pot, and then you can set the pot in the ground over the winter, and then you can plant the whole plant the next spring. We now have a yearling start that's in its own place, and a potted cutting that is doing well (pictured above before I potted it), and a new cutting that is just starting to grow roots.

This photo was taken a month ago... the yearling plant has two blooms now. They are pink because there probably needs to be more acidic material added to the soil. But I am proud of being able to grow these. Our landscaping, along with everything else in our house, is aging and some of it is at a stage where it needs to be replaced. Maybe this little plant will be around for another 50+ years!

It is bizarre that it is August already. I need to get started with all the back-to-school shopping, and paperwork for Tertia, and doctor's appointments that have been put off.

I will call a halt to Randomday for today and determine to pick up the blogging of the incredible fleeting summer soon.

July 4, 2013

 Daniel wished he had Instagram.

 Quarta made a fruit salad like she read about in Highlights.

Secundus was the grill chef.  Chicken tenderloins marinated in Thai-Malaysian Curry-Ginger Marinade for Tofu from Passionate Vegetarian... really good for meat too! 

 Strawberry Pretzel Dessert - an ode to my Midwest upbringing.  Pretty sure it passed for a salad at church dinners when I was growing up.

On my Grandma's china.  Grandma Maffett, not Grandma Bogue.  I don't remember Grandma Bogue ever making this, (and she was the undisputed queen of desserts) but the creamy filling is a lot like her Davy's Delight.  Which is a recipe I'll have to share sometime because it's not known to Google, apparently.

I got a tiny bit of spinning done for the Tour de Fleece today too.  We have hours to go before dark and then it will be noisy for quite awhile in our neighborhood.  The kids bought sparklers and spinners and those pathetic "glow worms" and "magic colored snakes" for later.  The best way to enjoy the snakes is to throw a whole package of them into the firebowl, according to Daniel.  We only do non-airborne fireworks, but our neighbors go all out.  Yesterday it sounded like a an entire fireworks stand went off all at once at one point.  Oh well, the country only turns 237 once.

CCXXXVII a patria condita

Tour de Fleece, day 6

I missed blogging on the 4th of July.  This photo was taken yesterday morning, but is actually of Day 4's spinning (July 3).  I finished bobbin 5 and plied my first two skeins that day.

This photo was taken this morning, of yesterday's spinning, so Day 5.  I made the boys run the barbecue and did very little prep work other than making the potato salad and answering the constant stream of questions... everything from "do we have this?" or "where is this?" to "how do I do this?" so that I actually did have to get up and down quite a lot.  Still, it's probably my most productive day yet.  I plied two more skeins, then refilled bobbins 1 and 2.  I haven't washed any of the 4 skeins yet.  I'm trying to keep records of which colorways are used in which skeins, and how many yards they total, but I'm not always terribly scientific.

Vancouver goes insanely all-out for the 4th of July.  Everybody seems to volunteer at one of hundreds of fireworks stands supporting different clubs, and everybody (except us) seems to buy hundreds of dollars worth of fireworks that make going to sleep anytime before midnight on the 4th extremely dicey.  Allergies combined with all the smoke in the air make most of us very stuffy-nosed, and the kids tend to be grumpy the next day.  And anything that didn't get exploded last night will be waiting for us tonight, I have a feeling.  All of this, and the temperature is still in the 60s... no heat wave in the Pacific Northwest!

I'm a bit frustrated with my ineptitude with photo editing.  I've apparently exceeded my quota for this blog, but it still lets me upload photos from my computer for my daily posts, just not to dress up my sidebar or anything.  Apparently I have a Picasa account although I don't know how to use it.  Other people on Ravelry are making lovely collages of their work in the Tour de Fleece.  I know how to do that with some programs, like beeclips which I used last year, but it would probably take a long time and I'd rather be spinning for now.  Eventually I'll get around to having somebody who understands computers teach me how to manage the photos I take for the blog.  It seriously can't be that hard, and hopefully could be done without obligating myself to lifelong monthly fees.  When I scale that particular Mt. Olympus, I'll let you know!