Kites and Cherry Blossoms

Today, the Ponderer and I loafed.  We really did need a tiny little break from all the earthmoving going on in the veg garden.  So we met a friend and her cute West Highland terrier at the Mizumoto Stroll Garden to do some お花見 (ohanami), and do some kite watching, too.

お花見　(Ohanami)

I had read that a tea is made from the blossoms of cherry trees and I was sorely tempted to take a few to try.  I did taste some of these fresh flowers, but I really could not discern any flavor at all.  So I didn't take any blossoms home to infuse.

Water fall area

Moon bridge

Wisteria closeup

There are so many nice little nooks and views within the stroll garden to savor.  I really enjoy stopping to reflect while slowly ambling along.  Although that was difficult to do today, with so many people out and about.  There are quite a few water features interspersed in the landscape, which is quite welcome on warm days.  March ended this year as the warmest March on record.  It's hard to imagine strolling about in shorts before May.

We first came to the garden last fall for the Japanese Fall Festival.  I was sooo dissapointed as the rains pelted us and other festival goers.  They packed up most of the displays, cancelled the taiko drummers, and sumo wrestlers.  Why no, I'm not bitter, why do you ask?  So yay, no rain today!

It was also nice to bump into the founder of the garden as we enjoyed taking in the views.  She remarked that a lot of work had been done over the winter, pruning, and replacing some of the wooden features.

Tea House view

I have yet to take a tea ceremony, but the tea house here seems quite lovely.  And a good place to contemplate by the water.  
I was pleased to find the wisteria blooming along with the cherry blossoms, dogwoods, and redbud trees.  There are quite a few beautiful specimens of pine and spruce trees along with Japanese maples.
(Well, it IS a Japanese stroll garden, ですね?)

Unfortunately, the heat had taken a toll on my battery life, and couldn't take as many pictures as I'd liked.  

Anpan+Ramune+Calligraphy

Like most festivals, there were some food vendors.  I got to sample some Japanese soda.  Oishii desu!


I've really become hooked on the anpan that we get from the local farmer's market, Farmer's Market of the Ozarks.  It is sooo good.  The Ponderer had pooh-pooh-ed it, doubting that bread+sweetenbeans would be a good combo.  He has now been brought over to the dark side (insert creepy Darth Vader breathing, here. LOL).

Go fly a kite?  Maybe not.

There were also students from a local highschool practicing their calligraphy skills, as well as a chance to try your hand at origami.  Of course my name has an "L" in it, which doesn't exist  in Japanese.


The winds were too light to really fly any kites, but we enjoyed watching the children, or rather their dads, runningaround, trying to get their kites airborne.  For a nominal fee,                you could make a simple kite , and now it makes sense why I couldn't find any kite string last night. I went to 3 different stores looking for some, and not one roll could be found.  

Don and a sleepy friend

A bonus: Don got to spend quality time with a sweet pooch!

My brain is mushy...

because I've been in the sun too long. LOL So long, my scalp got sunburned. But the beds are almost done, and we've sown a lot  of the seeds we have. 

I've been poking around in the shed there behind the Ponderer, and scored some soaker hoses!  

I also found some old sliding glass door screens that I plan to take the screening out of and use as a trellis for the cukes.

The most back-breaking work should conclude tomorrow (provided I can schlep out of the bed in the morning) or day after next.  Boy, oh boy are we gonna sleep well tonight!

Digging in

The work in the veg garden is moving along quite nicely now...

About half the beds are in place, the potato/onion bed is planted.

For the veg rows, we forked the surface of the soil to fluff without turning it.

You can see the rows generally laid out with (of course) spare yarn and sticks--very high tech!

After the beds were marked, and forked, I dug down into the walk ways, removing the top layer of the soil and putting it on the adjacent rows.

Most of the stones we found as we moved the soil ended up being deposited in the bottom of the walks, mostly for drainage, as I planned to put mulch on top of them.

Here are the beds after the mulch has been added in the walk ways, and the tops of the planting rows have been raked smooth and a thin layer of screened soil applied for a seed bed.

I remembered to apply some sunscreen, sadly, DH did not!

Garden progress

So we got to do a little work in the veg garden today...I think we might get some things planted before the rains move back in in a few days.

It still looks kinda rough, but I think it'll do after we move the screening area...

Of course, Ollie came to supervise and make sure we did everything right.

Thanks Dear, for helping me today!

Rain, Rain...

It's been raining for quite a few days here.  The gardens are way too wet to be messing around with the soil, so I've begun to pull out my collection of seeds to decide what to grow this year.


We got quite a few onion sets to put in, and DH got some nice berry plants, too.  I know I want to grow some lettuces, peas, beets and baby corn.  Along with some tomatoes and peppers...oh heck, I want one of everything! LOL.


Here's a pic of the outside kitty trying to keep dry AND hunt birds in the rain...

I don't think he's really fooling anyone, do you?

Rainy days...and what to do about them

I did while away the day

With some toe nail paint

Anime and crochet !

Finished object!

If you came for the knitting content today, I do have some to share...

I finished the lilac cardigan late Sun night...I was so happy to give it to the recipient!  I think she really liked it!

Since it's acrylic, I didn't block it...

My gauge was just slightly off, but that seemed to be to my advantage some.   It's final measurements were 30 inches  around and 13 inches long.  Pattern's finished size (for 10-12 years) was 29  inches around by 13 1/2 inches long.  I knew I wasn't going to get row gauge, so I kind of bit my nails and hope it would be the right length, esp since the pattern uses a charted out  yoke.  I suppose I could have altered it (the chart), and stretched it out to make it the right length, but I am grateful I didn't have to.  I didn't see a whole lot of problems with the pattern, save the placement of the button holes.  Even in the photograph provided, they are not evilly spaced.  So I did frog out the 3rd and 4th stitches in the right side band and redid the button holes at a more even interval.

Color is very variable in these pics as the light was hard to work with...

And it was sooo much fun trying to take pics in 30 mph winds! LOL  Thanks to a patient Hubby who will hang onto flying dresses!

The flowers that bloom in the spring...

I always look forward to the progression of flowers...mostly the tiny wildflowers that bloom in the grass.
The bluets are one of my faves,

The camera really doesn't do them justice, as I was fighting the last of the evening light.

Here is a freakish looking buttercup...sometimes they make 10(ish) petals.  I found quite a few sporting extra petals.

The johnny jump up's are really abundant this year, and look good with the bluets.

And lastly, this white violet.  Dad had planted one a loooong time ago, and it seeded off into the grass.  Every few years a white one will pop up from place to place.

Sometimes I wish for a more manicured look to the yard, but then I'd have to trade these little beauties in for monoculture...don't think so.  

I'm wearing orange...

So today is St Pat's day...I don't really celebrate it, as I am a pagan of Irish descent.  But I do like to make some of the foods of my heritage so I put together a little feast.

Beef  stew with stout and carrots, boxty, and soda bread.  The soda bread turned out wayyy better than any other recipe I tried.  I doubt that it's very traditional, but it is yummy.  I served dinner on our small collection of Blue Ridge Pottery, which is where a lot of celtic people settled here in the US...

On the knitting front, progress continues on the little lilac cardigan.  I had to frog and reknit, as when I put the sleeves on the needles, my joins were too loose to overlook.  

And check out this yarn barf!  I'm afraid I'll be spending as much time untangling as knitting from her on out. <sigh>

New project

I've started a new knitting project for a sweet little girl.  She and I share the same birthday, and I feel she should have something special this year...especially since her dear grandfather passed away just 2 days before.

This is a DROPS design s22-22 cardigan with a feather and fan motif.  It has a yoke construction, short sleeves and just 3 buttons.  The yoke is really kicking my behind--280-some odd stitches!  I feel like maybe sometime this century I'll finish--LOL.  The yarn is Lion Brand's Pound of Love in the Lilac color way.  So far, it's not too terrible to knit...

On the crochet front, I've kind of stalled on the hexagon lap blanket...too many other irons in the fire that are time sensitive...but I will pick it up soon again.

I feel so guilty for putting it down, now that I see all the pretty, bright colors.  Hmmm, must finish cardigan!

Yum Yum

PIE!

Work

So I enlisted my patient hubby to help me with a little side project in the veg garden.

As with most construction projects, it took longer than what I thought...LOL.  It's not perfect, but it is a little bit straighter.  Now I need to replace the fence, make the gate, and ready the beds for planting. Like, yesterday.

I made it down the hill to pick some of the last of the daffodils and hyacinths.  They are sooo pretty, and I was glad to see that the grape hyacinths have spread around.

Moving in

So I think I might start blogging again....this time with more of an emphasis on life in general in stead of crafting.

Been living with my mom for sometime, and have noticed how run down her place has gotten since Dad was sick and passed away.

I'm starting with the veggie garden and the herb patch.  Look at their sad state.....