Entrelac, Tattoos, and Tomato Plants

Yes sir, now I have tattoos too. I received three of them yesterday. They are used for body mapping to locate the exact spot where I am to receive radiation. I will begin treatments on Monday and will have one every day for four weeks. Hopefully I will then be rid of Hodgkin's disease and cancer free. I'm looking forward to having a normal life once more with plenty of energy to run and sing and dance; like a young girl going on her first date. The difference is, I want to garden, knit, play with my granddaughter, enjoy my family, and be able to travel.

Tuesday I signed up for an entrelac class and was shown how to knit the first triangles so I could have my homework (the first row) before class begins tonight. We are making a gorgeous stole using Nora's Silk Garden Lite yarn. I chose colorway 027, beautiful blues and browns. I've been wanted to learn entrelac for some time now so the classis a way for me to 'do it' and stop procrastinating. Plus, it's being offered my FYS and will be a treat to knit along with the other ladies. If I remember to take my camera tonight I'll take a photo of the stole the shop has on display.

I've had a couple of e-mails from my upstream partner in the No Sheep Secret Pal Skein Exchange. She sent a nice e-mail telling me about herself and her family, I have to do the same for my downstream pal. Some of the new non-wool fibers on the market are so beautiful. I'm looking forward to this exchange and plan to get my first downstream package off next week. This is a two package exchange – fun!

This morning I put out some pepper plants and planted tomato plants in the garden while DH power washed the decks in preparation of opening the pool next week. I've been test growing the tomatoes in a big pot in the sunroom, then on the deck to see if an early start inside will produce tomatoes before July 4th. There are blooms now but will have to wait and see what the transition does to them. There are a few ripe strawberries in the patch that we put in this spring and the Vidalia Sweet onions are beginning to show growth. There are a few beans blooming, need to plant more, and want to plant okra, Speckled butter-beans and Crowder peas (I'm a Georgia Girl). I will buy a couple of squash plants, only enough to make squash pickles – oh, they're so good on a roast beef sandwich or with a vegetable dinner, and I'll buy a couple of cucumber plants because they too will produce more than the two of us will use. I'll share with my daughter and our neighbors if there is extra, generally there is.

Last week I put up the hummingbird feeder and late in the afternoon sat on the porch knitting, having a glass of wine and watched the hummingbird zip back and forth from the feeder to the crepe myrtle trees. They are always so active at that time of day making their preparations for the night. So far I've only seen the one but others will come as the weather gets warmer. It was such a thrill to have baby Eastern Bluebirds in our boxes this year. It would really be a thrill to find a hummingbird nest and see how tiny the little creature must be before it leaves it's nest.

We've put in another bed for perennials and now have to fill it with plants. So much to do and enjoy each spring but never enough time to accomplish it. How do I chose between all the things I love. My days are getting longer as I try to crowd something more in each day. I like getting up early and having coffee as the birds wake up and begin chirping. Lo, life is good ain't it.