Friday, March 27, 2015

Friday Mishmash - Spring Spruce Up, Continued

But wait - there's more!  Our succulents mostly survived the wintery freezes, but the bed that they are planted in gets really weedy, so Jeff wanted to plant them in clay pots, and then sink those pots into the bed - this way, when he wants to kill the weeds, he can remove the pots and spray weed killer without worrying about hurting the plants:
I like seeing a bit of the red clay pots contrasted against the mulch and the plants.

We also found some bedding plants that were marked down to $1/each, so we got the other end of the front planter bed all nice and pretty:
The bigger, flowering plant is the lone survivor from last winter - but the new plants are the same, so they should all grow in and look nice pretty soon.  The lush green plants are Daylilies - they come back every year and look great.

We planted this desert-ish plant last year and since it made it through the winter, we will probably put another one in - this bed is pretty sparse:
You can see the Indian Hawthorns (there are two planted next to each other - they were looking pretty sticky last year, so we put them together in hopes that they'd look OK, which they do) next to the desert plant.  Far right is our poor oleander - it doesn't like the hard freezes of winter and looks burned.  This is after I've pruned a lot of the dead stuff, too!

After 15 years, we had to replace some of the edging plant along the walkway to our front door - this stuff did really well, so I can't complain:
Liriope - it will have purple spikey flowers later on this summer.

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I had to have a TB test this week, and I was once again, amazed at our technological world, as the nurse said I could just text her a picture of my arm if it looked normal, instead of having to schlep back in to have her look at it in person.  Gotta love it!

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Sit and Knit update:  I finally finished the second of a pair of boot cuffs:
I only have one to show you because I gave the first one to Cary, who I was knitting these for, to try on for size.  Yarn is Brooklyn Tweed Shelter, colorway is Thistle; pattern is Simple Cable Boot Cuffs.
I did not like this yarn - it was full of twigs and all kinds of debris, and I kept having to pull it out as I was knitting.  It wasn't soft at all, so I knew I couldn't make a hat or cowl with it.  Boot cuffs seemed like a good idea, as they don't actually touch your skin.  So, Cary got a pair (just in time for winter to be over), and I've put up the other two skeins of this yarn (in a blue colorway) for sale on Ravelry.  Some people like it, but it's not for me.

I am currently working on three projects - when I get tired of doing the same stitch on one, I switch to another.  Plus they're on different needle sizes (and varying yarn weights) so I think it's better for my thumb joint - I don't get it fatigued so quickly:
Left:  GAP-tastic cowl - this one had been on hold after I knitted the gray part because I didn't love the second color I had for it...I wanted a true purple and it had too much blue in it.  This yarn (Madelinetosh ASAP) was finally restocked last week, so I was able to get the purple and get back to knitting it.  Bottom right is a tiny baby sweater - the pattern intrigued me, and I had the yarn, so I decided to knit it.  Now, I don't have a baby to bestow it on just yet, but I'm sure one will pop up one of these days.  Top right is the Yowza 3 shawl, which is turning out to be as crazy colorful as I'd hoped!
I have to share this picture - I was trying to get a shot of how big the cake of yarn is, but Henry's ears peeking out from behind it made me laugh.  I was disturbing him by using the bed (and the good light) for my pictures!

Have a great weekend!

12 comments:

  1. I love your new spring plants! We buy little plants to start with too
    its so fun to watch them get bigger every year.
    Can't wait to see your finished shawl. I love the colors you have chosen
    to knit this in. I totally get having three projects going at once. Right now
    I am still in between projects can't seem to pick something and just settle
    down and knit oh well hopefully soon. Have a great weekend.

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  2. Everything looks so great already. I can't wait to see it in full bloom!

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  3. What a fun update! Love seeing your plantings--how clever to put the pots in the ground :)
    I have a few of those liriope too--I think they're really pretty. Interesting to know that they're a plant that can survive Texas weather!

    Love the boot cuff! What is with these yarn companies that think its okay to put sticks in their yarn?? Yes to 3 projects at once! Yowza 3 looks very fun. But I love the cowl too--seed stitch, right?

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  4. I wish I had a green thumb - plants come to my house to die, although I am very proud that I have kept one of the plants that I got at Tony's memorial alive all this time - maybe because I have it near his picture that I look at every morning when I wake up, so it reminds me to water the thing!

    I can't remember if you posted it or not, but did you ever get the microwave egg cookers I sent you? You should have gotten it the last week of February because I mailed it out before going to Key West.

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    Replies
    1. I did get the egg cookers - emailed you right away, but perhaps because you were on vacation, you missed it? Anyway, thank you - I have been using them and in fact, had a homemade egg mcmuffin for breakfast this morning! :)

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    2. Great! It must have gotten lost in my email - so glad you love them as much as I do! :D Happy Hump Day - its 70 degrees here today and I can't wait to get the hockey puck out of work!

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  5. I'm jealous of all the plants - it's going to be another couple of weeks before I see any green in my neck of the woods!!

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  6. Your plants make me want to run away to Texas! At least some of the snow is melting around here, although my yard is holding on since the sun isn't hitting it quite enough.

    I wonder why yarn would have debris in it like that? Very odd. But the boot cuffs are cute!

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    Replies
    1. Yarn comes from sheep, who are outside and get dirty...but most companies do a really good job of cleaning their fleece before it becomes yarn. Not sure if this particular company thinks the debris is a charming added "feature" but I sure didn't like it.

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  7. Your garden looks great! I am so, so jealous right now :D


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  8. Have you ever used Preen to keep the weeds from sprouting? I use it in my flower beds each spring and it prevents most of the weeds from sprouting although a few do come up that I pull when they are small but it is so much easier than constantly pulling or spraying weeds all summer long around delicate plants. You can buy it with or without fertilizer - I get the "without fert." kind. Have been using it for years and get it at any store that carries garden stuff.

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  9. Your garden looks great! We don't use weed killers in our garden, I'm removing it the old fashioned way, not that I enjoy that very much LOL. I divided up the garden in 4 parts and will do a little bit every week so it's not that much work all the time. The gardener did such a great job that I want to keep it clean.

    I love the photo of Henry :) I had to look twice to see him. Like the coloured yarn too very much.

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