New additions

Yesterday I went to a couple nurseries to look for new plants, but ended up going to Lowe's. I got lots of things! I planted some new ground cover to fill space and some new flowering perennials. I added lots of potting soil to the dirt this time, and spread mulch around the box woods I planted earlier. I think it looks a lot better (see previous pictures!) but still very very amateur-ish. My next door neighbor has a magnificent garden, with all types of flowers and trees, and a little pond with fish, and a picket-fenced area for vegetables. They have been living in the same house for 39 years though, so she has had lots of time to expand her garden. It is truely an art, and I cannot even express how measly my little garden is compared to it. I hope my plants thrive and look as nice some day though. I also bought some hydrangeas; I don't know where I will put those yet.... and a pink dogwood. I always wanted a dogwood in my own yard, since we had some in our yard in Fairview Heights.

Cardinals!

Tuesday night we went to the Cardinal's game against the Mets. We won! It was a great game. It was a bit chilly but I brought my roll-up fleece blanket. We ate lots of peanuts, lemonade, and foot-long corn dogs! Mmm~

Morel time

These are morels! Funny looking mushrooms, but tasty!

Jeff found a bunch!

Keeping in Mind

I must learn that the purpose of my life belongs to God, not me. God is using me from His great personal perspective, and all He asks of me is that I trust Him. When I stop telling God what I want, He can freely work His will in me without any hindrance. He simply asks me to have absolute faith in Him and His goodness. -Oswald Chambers

Colors

These are my first attempts at knitting with color. I don't know why I put it off so long. Well the first is a baby hat made with remnants of the yarn used to make the aran slippers and the pink yarn is bebe soy.













This pattern is from Interweave Knits Holiday 2008. It is a brick-stitch tea cozy. I made this with size 6 16" addi turbo circulars and size 8 dpns. The yarn is Katia Peru made in Spain. It is 40% wool, 40% acrylic, and 20% alpaca. It is actually machine washable, which is why I chose it... although I don't have a tea pot to put it on, because I would need to have an occassion to have to make enough tea to warrant a pot! Speaking of tea, lately I am a big fan of yogi organic teas. I especially like the green tea mint garden and green tea lemon ginger. The fasting body tea says: "We’ve included garcinia fruit to suppress appetite and help reduce fats and cholesterol in the liver. This Asian fruit, combined with red clover, supports metabolism, increases energy and aids digestion. What a healthy way to manage your weight and maintain energy naturally.*" It has about 21 different spices, and is very strong tasting. I am not totally sure if I like the taste but it is interesting. http://www.yogitea.com/Pages/OurTeas/BodyTeas/Fasting.html

My flowers

Haha! See George poking his head out the door? He is so cute.

This is our little house. Last night we came home after being in Florida all weekend and once we unpacked and changed clothes and relaxed on the couch, I realized how GOOD it is to have a home to come back to.

I didn't like it at first, but many people helped us renovate the house, and we put a lot into it. It is cozy and it is ours.

The tulips are not open all the way, but I think they look nice the way they alternate with the pink hyancinths.

The japanese boxwoods are still quite small. Some day they will grow to be very substantial.

As you can see, our dirt is very hard! I planted wrong; I should have dug a trench and put in potting soil and then planted the bulbs and then put a little mulch around the shrubs. But, evenso, the plants are surviving!

This is the rhododendrum shrub. It is a flowering evergreen shrub. I planted one of these on each side of the front step.

Aran Isle Slippers

I just finished these today! The pattern is from Interweave Knits Holiday 2008 (there are SO many great patterns in this magazine!) I made these with Alpaca with a Twist, 100% baby alpaca. The color is#2003, "purple myste". The top is knit in a cable pattern, the sides are in seed stitch, and the bottoms are in stockinette stitch. The bottoms are knit first, and then the pattern says to pick up stitches all along the edges with a #6 16" circular. The heel is made by wrapping short rows and then the uppers are knit separately and then stitched to the bottoms. This gave me great troubles because when I was done, they weren't the same so I had to undo the stitches on the right slipper and restitch it so it wasn't as stretched out. I think they turned out nicely. They are VERY soft. I just hope the soles don't get worn out too fast. I bought some suede soles to sew on the bottom but I think it looks better without.