Looking back, this has been a rather full week. Especially since we came home from South Carolina on
Monday which left a four-day work week. A lot was packed into this short week.
I mentioned in the previous post how much everything grew while we were away.
All the beds are doing well. Here you can look over the two raised beds to the flower garden and the bird feeding station outside the sunroom windows. I have one squash plant and it's loaded with tiny squash. The raised bed in the foreground has several varieties of lavender to the right and the rest is full of vegetables - red and
green peppers, brussel sprouts, two tomato plants, radishes, three kinds of lettuce, and the one surviving cucumber plants (the rest drowned). The other raised bed has a variety of herbs, nasturtiums, leeks, scallions, and zinnias. If you look closely at the flower garden in the background, you'll see about a dozen good size sunflowers kindly "planted" by the birds. They make my garden look like a jungle but I love them.
We're having wonderful salads nightly. Here's an example - includes the three types of lettuce, chives, nasturtium leaves and flowers from the garden. I added broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and grape tomatoes.

So far so good re: the raccoons. The must be too lazy to climb five feet to get over the fence to get to
the gardens. The daylilies I planted down near the pond haven't been so lucky. The deer have eaten every bud off of them. Need to just pull them up, I guess. What irks me is there are rows and rows of daylilies blooming up a storm along our road. I mean they're plentiful! Do the deer eat them??? NO! They prefer mine! Go figure!

The flowers inside are showing off, too. I have several orchids in bloom and they are so pretty.
Speaking of pretty --- I went to spinning group Thursday night and Kathy was there
with her Ashford Kiwi Spinning Wheel. She is known as KraftyKathy on Ravelry and
you can certainly see why. This wheel is SOOOO cute! Her painting is just adorable. From the sheep leaping around her wheel to the polka dots on her bobbins. What creativity and talent!! I bet there would be spinners that would love to have their wheels customized. Kathy even felted a coordinating pink and green ditty bag to hang from the wheel. Kathy, you are just too clever! 
Another pretty Thursday night was Lisa's gorgeous Echo Flower Shawl. This was knit with her handspun and is
perfectly beautiful!
Andy spotted a painted turtle in our yard this morning. On closer inspection, she was laying eggs. Hope Earl doesn't find them. He'll probably think they're appetizers.
The gorgeousness continued Saturday at knitting
group. You may remember Sara from previous posts. Sara is a young knitting phenom. She turns out one spectacularly beautiful project after another. Today, she showed off her elegant The Little Mermaid Shawl from The Unique Sheep. This was a mystery shawl knit-along and Sara knit it in one of The Unique Sheep's stunning Gradience Colorways. This picture doesn't do the shawl and its subtle color justice. It is a very pale pink in the center and works out to a very pearl-like gray-blue on the edges. Did I mention that there are beads on this beauty, also? Sara, you're
amazing!
Ande modeled her completed Pettine. She knit this out of a Blue Heron yarn and turned out just perfect. I love the size of it.
Late Saturday afternoon, Andy and I took the boat out on Caesar Creek
Lake. Caesar Creek Lake is pretty but fairly boring. Not much to look at. The land surrounding it is all state park so no lake houses and/or activity to see on the shore as you ride around. Only other boats and lots of people fishing.
The boat ran really well. None of that mess we dealt with last year that caused us a couple trips to the water with the boat a no-go and needing repair. Of course, we don't have to go far as the lake is right across the road.
We started off in pretty sunshiney weather.

We passed so many people fishing - from boats - motor, sail, and even kayaks - and from shore.
We passed a whole flock of Canada Geese that looked very content floating in the lake watching all the boats go by. Driving by didn't seem to disturb them in the least.

It was a nice trip out.
As usual, I knit while Andy drove. I'm working on a baby blanket for Blakeney (granddaughter due in September). This is the Pine Forest Baby Blanket - a free pattern on Ravelry - and it is super easy. I'm knitting it out of Araucania cotton.
Then, the sky turned. 
Dark.
Very dark.
Next, it began to rain.
Just rain. No thunder or lightning. Thank goodness.
And, it didn't stop all the way back to the dock.
We got soaking wet!
But, as we headed to the dock - into the rain - I looked behind us and saw this beautiful sky.
The sun was bursting through the rain cloud and shining its beams down onto the water. So pretty!
When we got back home, this sight was waiting for me. Another bit of sun in the form of a flower! 
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On another note --- Happy Blogiversary to For The Love Of Fiber!!! My blog was 5 years old on June 17th. What these pages contain! WOW!
I hope you all enjoy reading my posts as much as I enjoy writing them. I confess, I enjoy looking back in the archives to posts written over these last 5 years. It's definitely been a journey. Thanks for traveling with me! Hopefully, there will be lots more adventures to come!