Monday, May 18, 2020

A Colorful Yarn

A new shawl project is imminent!  Thanks to my blog friend KathyB!  :-)  She had a giveaway on her blog of a gift certificate to her LYS - local yarn shop - and I won!  I texted back and forth with the owner and decided upon this yarn she had.  I ordered two skeins of rich dark purple for the body of it and ordered one other color for the lacy edge, pink.  They are out for delivery!  I then found more of the same yarn in some lovely jewel tones and they are here ready to go.


The color names are clever, from the top left, Green Olive, Seaweed, Pacific Rain, (below from left) Appletini, Merlot, Berry Campari and Grape Punch.



This is what it is made of.  


This is the measurements.


The maker.  


This is my favorite color of all time.  I love how this looks handspun and also it's soft and has a lovely sheen.


Oh.. and look what finally came from Australia.  Yes.  I was perusing eBay for the heck of it and this huge collection of vintage faux tortoise shell knitting needles was looking for a new home.  WELL.. I felt honor bound to adopt these and give them a good home.  You should have heard all the reasons why my long-suffering husband gave me why I did not need these.  But the heart wants what the heart wants and I didn't want these beauties to be tossed in the bin for lack of a saviour.  Right?  RIGHT???  What put me over the edge was the ones on the left, the tops of them are so pretty and they had some bigger diameter ones which I like.  I have gifted some from my current collection to my knitting friends and have in mind to do some more of that.  :-D


OK, how about going outside for a bit?  My Siberian Irises have performed beautifully this year after taking last year off.  :-)



My Scentamental rose is blooming.. sooo pretty and fragrant.



The pink Rosebud Azalea is at it's peak.  A stupid blackberry is coming up through it, we're constantly fighting these horrible invasive species in our yard.


My white Rhodie with yellow markings is in bloom.  Love it.



Funny enough the buds are pink before they open.  I think this is Madame Masson.


The dark purple marked Rhodie is looking good, too.  I think it's name is Sappho.



Our tall raised bed is doing well.  The beans and peas are climbing, the potatoes are all up, the onions are up and our row of carrots is doing good.


The biggest potato.



The salad garden is also thriving.  It's been raining for days with the occasional sunny time.  



I will be taking my trug out soon to harvest the bigger lettuce leaves for dinner!  :-)


See the flowers on the tomato!  Yay!


The Clematis, two varieties, are looking good!



I must say, the Bolivian Begonia sure does grow fast!



Every day that the weather is dry and warm I go out and walk around checking on the garden growth and then go back and enjoy time in the rocking chair by the pond, watching the birds and listening to their song, then feeding the Koi and watching the new "kids" now that they've finally gotten brave enough to swim around and eat.



Keiko, the big one and I've named all the smaller koi, Tiger is the orange and white striped one, Pierre the one with a black beret on his head and Ashley is the mostly gray one.  I'm still trying to name the 2 new goldfish.  How about Marmalade for the big one and Kumquat for the littler one?  



I must tell you that it's very difficult to get all 6 of them in one shot.  :-)


And lastly, Dayle found a recipe on Facebook and made it for us and it was delicious!  Click HERE for the recipe.  It's called "Amish Country Poor Man's Hamburger Steak".  We did not have regular mushroom soup so used Golden Mushroom soup.  Still delicious!  We also added snipped fresh chives and parsley from the garden.  :-) We served boiled Yukon Gold potatoes and to top it off, some fresh asparagus that we traded eggs for from our friends Bev and Gary at the end of the road.  The next time we will add fresh mushrooms and minced fresh onion.  We had two meals each from this - but the 2nd night I used some bulk sausage and made sausage cream gravy to top it off as we didn't have much gravy after the first meal.  It was even better!



So.. a good weekend.  How was yours?  Do share.  
((hugs)), Teresa :-)  

12 comments:

  1. What a great post Teresa. Your new yarn is beautiful and will make a stunning shawl. Of course the knitting needles are fantastic too. As a recipient of a pair of your tortoise shell needles, I love them and have actually used them!
    Your garden is really growing isn't it? You're going to have some delisious veggies to feast on soon.
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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  2. I am so happy that you used the certificate and found that awesome yarn. I love the queensland collection! Your rhody in purple is amazing! We have just dandelions and the promise of many flowers that are not yet open.
    The weekend was a bit tough. Zach still has no phone. The weather was super dreary. But, I did make good shawl progress, and we had a zoom with our good pals who moved to Colorado, last night. We are also enjoying the The last Dance on Espn about our Chicago Bulls. We will finish tonight

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  3. You certainly have some lovely colors of yarn in the basket, Teresa! I so enjoy seeing all of your beautiful garden complete with a pond and koi. Your flowers are delightful to see as our spring blossoms are now fading.
    Our weekend was quiet. We walked the trail each day and had a Skype Sunday session with our children and grands. Take care and stay well.

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  4. All that yarn make so happy! What gorgeous colors. And those needles....wow. They are amazing. Araignee

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  5. I had to laugh out loud, when I read about those lovely vintage knitting needles looking for a home. So happy you stepped up to take them in, you're a funny lady with a heart of gold.
    Dayle's garden looks wonderful and tomato blossoms already!

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  6. The Queensland yarn is beautiful and an interesting combination of types of fibers. I hope you enjoy working with it. It is exciting to see how fast and fabulously the plants and flowers and trees and fish are growing on the Kasner Farm! Before dropping off my ballot at the library drop off box this afternoon, I stopped at Freddie's and got a painted white wooden trellis on sale. I haven't yet found the right planter for the pretty purple Clematis I was given. Sunday afternoon Lis and Gary dropped off supplies for me from their Costco run. It was great to see them even from a safe distance. Sunday morning I participated in some online church services. I walked the mile condo loop over the weekend several times and today when it wasn't raining I FaceTimed with my niece Becky while walking and showed her some of the pretty flowers and then gave her a tour of my condo. 🤗

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  7. We've had a good, but very quiet week. The weather has cooled down significantly and is mostly dull and cloudy with light rain. Your garden is looking glorious! Our veggies are also doing well. That yarn looks delicious. I might take a lookie at it. Take care. Best, Jane x

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  8. The new yarn is stunning Teresa, what a wonderful choice and like you I fell in love with the colours. I also loved the knitting needles, what a great collection I wouldn't have been able to resist either. Your garden is doing so well. Great and very tasty looking meal.

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  9. Beautiful yarn Teresa, it will be such a joy to knit with it. And those knitting needles!!! Aren't they just amazing? What a lovely treat.

    Your garden looks so lovely, all the beautiful flowers and colours and textures. I imagine a walk through your garden is an amazing sensory experience. xx

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  10. I plan to try the recipe that you posted today sometime soon. I tried the March 30th Kielbasa sausage, rice, carrots and sweet potatoes recipe that Dayle had made and it was delicious. I can't wait to see the shawl that you knit.

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  11. I am amazed at how fast everything is growing where you live. It seems like you just planted those raised beds and look how full they are getting already. Your flowers are so pretty and you have such a huge variety. I am always impressed that you know the name for all of them. Thanks for sharing!

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  12. Wow your veggies are certainly growing quickly there Teresa!! The garden is looking wonderful , and all your flowers are beautiful. Congratulations on winning that lovely yarn, it's going to make a gorgeous shawl. And the knitting needles...well, I can see why you just had to have them, knowing you are a true collector...they are a special set not to be passed up. Enjoy your week my friend. XXX

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