News From The Nest

Out With The Old

... and in with the new.

Andy said he could make a pan for under the old washer - the one the overflowed all over everything last week - and put an alarm on it. Then, WE'D have to watch it while in use. I'm wondering what the WE was all about. WE means ME because HE is usually in bed when clothes are being washed. 

My answer to the pan and alarm idea ---- a big fat NONONO!

Maytag Centennial ---- washer is tier 3 energy efficient / Energy Star thus qualified for 15% discount. The matching dryer was from the scratch and dent section so was $100.00 off. Bought them at Lowe's and got an extra 5% off. I sure hated to spend the money but I'm not soaking up a washer full of water again from the utility room, kitchen, and basement. That was awful! Thank goodness all the water that ran into and through the ducts didn't harm the furnace.

It's newfangled - doesn't have a center agitator. You also can't select the water level - it is supposed to sense how much water to add by the amount of clothes you put in. A telepathic machine. Hope we like it and hope it gets the clothes clean. I've done two loads tonight.  In each load, there were clothes that had spots on them that looked completely dry. Did it just spin so hard that it spun the water right out of those spots?

And, the lid LOCKS! How's a knitter supposed to felt?????

We had a Whirlpool set in Virginia. They had lasted 20+ years. I bet these don't.

More VA Trip

Mom and Daddy and, of course, Lily came to South Boston today to keep me company while I waited for Andy to finish at work. We ate lunch at Peroni's and then went back to the plant to knit.

Mom finished knitting the Encore baby blanket for Eryn and Brian that she started in Ohio. She was hurrying to finish so she could send it with me to Richmond. It turned out great! She knit the one shown on the cover of the Encore 8-Hour Baby Blanket booklet in Encore yarn white and then a variegated white, yellow, and green.   

Around 3:00 PM, Andy finished and off we went. Richmond bound. 

We took Eryn and Brian to dinner at Kitchen 64. Then, we drove to downtown Richmond to see the building where Taylor's restaurant will be. (More on this later.)

Our last stop was Sweet Frog on Cary Street. I really think Ohio needs a Sweet Frog. Maybe I should quit my job and open one or more Ohio. I'm telling you ---- this would be GREAT! This place was a hoot! Full of people! Very very busy! You go in and get a bowl (small, medium, or large). Next, you move along the wall of yogurt (like in-wall soft serve ice cream units) and take as much as you want. When you get the end, there are tons of different toppings from fruit to candy and everything in between. When you're done, they weigh your bowl and that's how you pay - by weight. I was very boring and had tastes of green tea, cake batter, and coconut. I had a little shredded coconut, some chocolate jimmies, and a Maraschino cherry on top.

Eryn and Brian will be having a baby girl in September. They have the nursery all ready - a nice cool shade of green with white furniture from Ikea and brown and pink accents. Eryn loved elephants as a child so is decorating with them. She found these precious decals on Etsy. Too cute!

We're at Hampton Inn for the night. We'll meet Brian and Eryn in the morning for breakfast at Panera's across the street.  Then, we'll hit the road back to Ohio. A very quick trip.

Now for some super wildlife cuteness ----- Mom went out to Raywood Garden Center last Saturday and a lady came it with this 3-day old baby. It's mother was killed in the road and gave birth to this tiny thing. Mom didn't know the exact sequence of events but anyway - the lady was taking her to the wildlife center in Greensboro, NC. Mom said the baby loved being held and would snuggle up to your neck. At one point, she went and hid in the display of hanging baskets. Just too cute!

 

Slipped Away

That's right. I slipped away! I'm in Virginia.

It rained just about the whole way from Ohio to Virginia. So what else is new?! Seems like the whole country is saturated.

I'll see Mom and Daddy tomorrow and then Brian and Eryn tomorrow night before returning home on Sunday. A quick trip.

Trying to get all my ducks in a row last night so I could concentrate of work stuff this morning, we had a domestic disaster. The washing machine overflowed. Water everywhere. Our utility room is just off the kitchen and it was full and flowing through part of the kitchen when I discovered it. I woke Andy and grabbed armloads of towels and he grabbed the wet vac. Then, we realized that the water went down into the register into the ducts. I went down to the basement and water was dripping everywhere from the ducts. Everywhere onto all the boxes of stuff still packed from our move to Ohio. Amongst this basement stuff ----- all my yarn
stash, rug hooking supplies, projects, finished pieces, equipment, books, photographs, etc. What a panic. I unpacked soaked boxes and wiped and sopped leaving my former dye pots on the floor catching the drips.

Of course, it could have been worse. It can always be worse as this week's national news has shown us. No washing machine and water in the ducts -- mere inconvenience.

We might be washer shopping on Memorial Day. I'm hoping for good sales.

We had a horrible horrible storm in the wee hours of the Thursday morning. I was working at the computer when all of a sudden, all hell broke lose outside. It just sounded different. I got Andy up and we turned on the TV to the local weather. There was Waynesville with a circle going round and round - hovering right over top of it. Hail 3 inches in diameter was reported. When I headed out toward Interstate 71 Thursday morning, I hit detours due to downed power lines from the storm. It was really something.

Thursday evening, my last appointment was at 4:00 PM in Westerville. As I neared Waynesville around 8:00 PM, this is what I was heading into. A huge black cloud hanging right over Interstate 71 South. When I reached that spot in the road, there was a wall of rain. 

I still have computer work and reports to do but there's lots of knitting time between South Boston, Danville, and Richmond,Virginia and back to Ohio. I brought blankets to work on for both grandbabies - almost finished with Landen's (Lace Coverlet) but am just getting started on Blakeney's (Pine Forest Baby Blanket). I also brought a couple of other projects - need to do the second baby boot (Debbie Bliss pattern) for Landen, started Little Colonnade to teach at Main Street Yarns, and am still working on Pettine.

More later!!

Garden Friend

I love visiting my garden spots. 

There's something about donning a pair of gardening gloves and pulling up a few weeds or dead-heading a few flowers. 

I love snipping garden offerings to bring inside to fill a vase.

A vase full of flowers - no matter how small - always makes me smile. 

The color, the fragrance, the birds chirping overhead (fussing at me because I'm in their space) ---- love it! 

Here, this lavender plant is in full bud. Anticipation of the fragrance and color it will bring.

So peaceful.

Fiber Fun

I traveled to Troy, OH this morning for the Upper Valley Fiber Fest. It is a one-building affair at the fairground. No matter the size, I can always find something that I'm interested in. This time, it was polymer clay jewelry and buttons by Lilian Nichols, Jenkins Turkish Spindles, merino and yak blended roving in a beautiful deep red, and another colorway of roving named Stargazer Lily.

I love fiber festivals. Don't get me wrong, I love my knitting shops, too. There is just something about talking with the vendors. People who create items from what they have available, grow, raise, etc. I also love supporting these folks. I truly respect their creativity and understand their passion for what they do. I've always been the kind of person who thinks - I want one of those but I don't have the money for it so I'll learn how to make it myself. Of course, I probably could have bought the item ten times when you add up all the dollars the supplies and lessons, etc. cost! It wouldn't be near as much fun, though.

There were freshly shorn alpacas from Hawkspass Farms. Very shy and so cute! There were llamas, too. Food and drink could be purchased. And, parking was right at the door of the building. 

One really cute something that I couldn't pass up ------ my granddaughter's first felted purse. Of course, I'll have to save it for a couple of years.

The festival is happening tomorrow, too, with a spin-in scheduled. Check the web site for details.

After stopping by Lowe's and Krogers, I made it home and got to work. I didn't do reports but potted plants. I got almost all the way through everything and ran out of potting soil. Andy is going to Lowe's tomorrow and will bring home another bag. Hopefully, this will do it. 

Earl Gray kept a close eye on me while I was outside. That is, he kept a close eye on me until he closed both of his! He loves these cardboard boxes from Allyson's Gardens. He uses them as scratching posts and also as a cozy place to nap.

I've been meaning to take a picture of the lake. There is a watermark - a dark line - all around the shoreline. The water was up that high on the trees. Amazing! That's a whole lot of water to raise the lake level that much. Click on the picture to see it better.

Tomorrow, finish potting everything and do reports. Caesar Creek Pioneer Village is having their Spring Gathering. I'm going to have to fight the urge to go over there and spin. It's going to be tough!

Knitucky

I had a work appointment in Kentucky Thursday afternoon. On my way back home, I sniffed out a knitting shop. One that I had not been to.

Knitwits.

This charming little shop is located in an old house on Buttermilk Pike in Crescent Springs, KY. I met Janet, one of the owners, and Sheryl. Together they pointed me in the direction of lots of discounted merchandise and more. You see, they're having a "We Need An Air-Conditioner" Sale. And, I did my part!

They had some of my favorite players and several yarns that were new to me. One was String Theory fronm Blue Hill, Maine. Two skeins of this gorgeous stuff followed me home in the Posy colorway. This yarn is supposed to be sock yarn. But, with a content of 80% merino, 10% cashmere, and 10% nylon my feet will have to do without. This stuff is going around my neck in some form or fashion. I'm thinking shawlette.

I also bought 3 skeins of Berroco Vintage Chunky yarn in  Blush (#6123) colorway to make the Jeannee Chunky (Plymouth Yarn Company #1383) cardigan for our September granddaughter. It should work up in a snap!

Other things I purchased - Schoolhouse Press Pattern #19 for Elizabeth's Zimmermann's Tomten Jacket and the CEY book High Seas (has several wonderful shawls in it). I also succumbed to Debbie Bliss' Booties, Blankets, & Bears book all because of these so-darn-cute baby boots on page 94. I have just got to knit these for Landen to go with his vest. With the two grands coming this year, I'm sure I'll get good use out of this book. 

I was also entered into a drawing for a wonderful assortment of goodies -- a whole bag full of knitterly things.

If you're in the area - and, if you're not - make a trip. Go check out Knitwits in Crescent Springs, KY. Here's their web site and they have a blog, too. Help the cause and get those knitters air-conditioned by summer!

The area of Kentucky I was in was so pretty. Everything was so green! Lovely houses and cute shops. I snapped this picture as I was driving back from Kentucky to Ohio. this picture is as I was crossing the bridge into Cincinnati. What a cool skyscape. I passed the fields where the Cincinnati Reds and the Bengals play. So much to look at!

Tomorrow - Upper Valley Fiber Fest at the fairgrounds in Troy, Ohio. It's a small show - easily doable in just two to three hours. I plan to go early and hope to be back home by early afternoon. It's just an hour drive - two round-trip - for me. I have to get back home and M-U-S-T make myself do reports for work. End of the month will be here in a jiffy and I have tons of reports that have to be done and I DON'T want to work over Memorial Day weekend. So, see you bright and early at UVFF!

Doings And Departure

Mom, Daddy, and Lily left this morning. It's always so sad to see them go. We had a really nice visit, though. They were here five whole days. Just wish the weather had been nicer.  We would have liked to have done more outside. It was just too wet and cold.

We still did a bunch - went to Wild Birds Unlimited in Springboro twice, Bead Circus in Lebanon twice, Main Street Yarns in Mason twice, Christopher and C. J. Banks in Mason, Yellow Springs Pottery and the The Village Greenery in Yellow Springs, rode by Young's Jersey Dairy, went to Wooly Bully in Springboro, ate lunch at The Golden Lamb in Lebanon, stopped by a Graeter's Ice Cream shop for scoops of ice cream, visited lots of shops along Main Street in Waynesville, made several trips to Allyson's Gardens in Lebanon, stopped by Dorothy Lane Market on Saturday to see the knitters and eat lunch, visited shops in Lebanon - especially William & Mary that stocks my soap and cream lotion. That's a lot of ground covered!

During Mom and Dad's visit, Andy finished the sides of the raised beds and I finished planting the herb / vegetable gardens. 

There was knitting time, of course. Mom and I both finished this cowl / scarf pattern (Plymouth Yarn Co. Kudo #1898). She made hers out of Cascade Sierra and I made mine out of Plymouth Kudo. Mom even started on a second cowl using a different color of Sierra. She also started knitting a baby blanket pattern for our granddaughter due in September from #636 The Encore 8-Hour Baby Blanket book. If you have this booklet, she is knitting the blanket shown on the front cover. I started on a baby blanket for Blakeney, too. Mine is the Pine Forest Baby Blanket (a free Ravelry download) and I'm knitting it out of Mirasol Cotanani (60% Pima Cotton, 40% Merino Wool) in color 403. I got this 20% off at Temptations in Dublin last month.

The trips to the Bead Circus in Lebanon were to learn how and to get jewelry making supplies. I finished this necklace with earrings to match and three other pairs of earrings for Mom. I also made three pairs of earrings for me! They're kind of like Lays Potato Chips -- I can't stop making them!

The earring bowl, seen here to display the earrings, was made by Greg Neal of Neal Pottery of Lebanon. I purchased the earring bowl and his yarn bowl (no doubt inspired by his knitting wife, Amy) at William & Mary in Lebanon.

MAN! I think I need a nap! I'm exhausted!

Or, maybe I'll just go knit. Or, maybe I'll make more earrings!

Raised Up - Before and After

In the May 7th post, I wrote about the two new raised beds. I also wrote about the pots I planted full of a variety of plants. Well, I've had a time with raccoons!!!! They dug my plants out of my pots, played in the raised beds until they look like Swiss cheese there are so many holes, bent my shepherd's hooks over, dumped all the peanuts-in-the-shell out of the peanut feeder, stole my 3 blocks of suet (1 large one), and even broke the rebar pole and made off with the big rusty metal daisy on top that held a suet block. I looked and looked for that daisy and finally found it yesterday minus the suet at the edge of the pond in the weeds. VARMITS! 

Now, I'm taking in all the suets and peanuts inside at night and hanging them back outside the next morning. I'd been covering the raised beds - first, I placed a pot over each plant, then laid sheets over everything and weighted them down with rocks. Each morning, I had to take everything off. A VERY big pain!!! Gracie kind of liked the sheet-covered beds. In the second photo, you can see her holding holding the sheet in place as I'm trying to dismantel everything.

I resorted to red chili powder, red pepper flakes, and cayenne pepper for the pots and in-ground garden. So far, so good.

For the raised beds --- Andy to the rescue!

We knew that if we wanted to have any vegetables, we were going to have to have something that was fenced in to keep the deer out. I really wanted a whole fenced in area with a gate and the whole shebang. Lack of money and time = what I ended up with. I think it's going to work well.

I have display screens that I used to use for rug hooking exhibits. They are in sections and very lightweight. Andy came up with a similar concept for the garden. These should take care of the deer and small varmits like skunks and rabbits. The darn raccoons will probably just stand back and laugh at them!  

To work in the garden, I can take one or more panels down and then just put them back in place when done. There are rods at the corners of the beds and the conduit and wire panels just slide right over the rods. I planted two tomato plants, green peppers, red peppers, Brussel sprouts, yellow squash, cucumber, and three varieties of lettuce.

Everything is way too close together. 

Andy..........I need a another raised bed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[The yellow daisy-like flowers came from a weed in the garden. I let it grow because it was so pretty and I love its flowers!]

Today, Mom, Daddy, and I were going to go to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. It turned out to be very cool and rainy. So, we relaxed around here this morning and did a bit of knitting. Andy finished the garden screens around lunchtime and then we all rode up to Yellow Springs. The pansies were so pretty! Also, this clematis. It had been trained over an archway and was full of blooms. So delicate and looked kind of like a dogwood blossom.

Tomorrow, I have to work but hope to squeeze some time to take Mom and Daddy to Wooly Bully and Wild Bird Unlimited in Springboro. Then, we want to head down to Lebanon for lunch at The Golden Lamb and visit a few shops along Broadway. Last stop will be Allyson's Gardens (again) for just a couple of things.

How many of you went to the grocery store today and made those Knock You Naked Brownies from yesterday's post?????

Lazy Day

Today was a lazy day. Mom, Daddy, and I took our time getting out of the house this morning. Mom and I knitted on a cowl pattern we purchased in Main Street Yarns in Mason, OH. (Pattern details later.)

We headed to Dorothy Lane Market - ate lunch and said "hello" to the knitters. There was a good number there today. We didn't stay long - ate lunch, said "hello" to the knitters, and got a few groceries. Diana and Sarah, knitting mother and daughter duo extraordinaire, had two beauties to show and tell. Diana was wearing  her gorgeous red beaded shawl. (I forgot to get the pattern name.) The color in these photos looks more orange. The true color is a brilliant red. Her shawl pin, purchased from Etsy, is a the perfect touch. Sara had a yarn bowl with her that she made. I LOVE it! She spelled out YARN around the bowl. She is one talented gal! Takes after her mother, I think!

Then, we headed to Wild Bird Unlimited and stocked up on rations for the feathered friends. Next, we were off to Grandma's Gardens. They are more expensive than Allyson's Gardens in Lebanon but the staff is very knowledgeable and they have some unique items. 

Mostly, we've just done a lot of this ---- sitting and visiting! Very enjoyable!

If the weather is pretty tomorrow, we may go to the Cincinnati Zoo! So, stay tuned!

*** Mary, a friend from Richmond, just emailed me the link to the The Pioneer Woman's blog with a recipe for Knock You Naked Brownies. They are supposed to be a very close match to Dorothy Lane Market's Killer Brownies. Thanks, Mary!!! From me and all the blog readers out there that will be rushing out to the grocery store to buy the ingredients for these decadent brownies! We thank you! ***

Company

I have company!

Mom and Dad arrived Thursday afternoon. Oh, and Lily, of course! They must have had a tailwind from Virginia because they were here by 2:30 PM. 

I helped them unpack, finished up a bit of work, and then Mom and I drove into town to catch the post office before it closed. 

With Daddy settled in with a good book and Lily nestled down into her dog mat, Momma and I headed to to Allyson's Garden in Lebanon. If you've never been --- it's a must-go-to for all gardeners. Great selection and terrific prices. I took several pictures of Mom in the greenhouse. She LOVES flowers!

I checked my bluebird boxes last night. Box 1 has two Tree Swallow eggs in it. When I opened the door, Momma Bird was on the nest so I ever so quietly closed the door.  

Box 2 had four baby Bluebirds (see picture). There had been five eggs so I'm not sure happened to leave only four baby birds. While were were eating tonight, we watched as a Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird spent a few minutes frollicking in the bird bath. 

Box 3 has another Tree  Swallow nest with one egg in it so far. They make such pretty nests - covering the eggs with feathers.

I've been working in the gardens. It's been hot the last couple of days and things have really grown. Is there any flower sweeter looking than a pansy?