Knitters Connection Coming Up Next Week

I have really gotten lazy about posting, however, lazy I am not. I've been working in the gardens, putting in plants and a few trees in the landscape and tending the vegetables. I've been picking and enjoying fresh strawberries and sharing them with Dari and our neighbors. I've been harvesting and freezing fresh broccoli and turnips and greens and now I have enough in the freezer to last until fall when I'll plant those cool-weather crops again. The butter beans, Crowder peas, green beans and okra are up and growing. We've constructed a fence for them to run on and for the tomatoes to grow against. The tomatoes are full of blooms but I'm not sure we'll have a ripe one by the 4th of July. That's the date Richmonder's shoot for their first ripe tomato of the season. (Oh, I can just taste that first BLT!). The squash and cucumbers are blooming and the herbs are doing wonderful in this heat we're having now that summer is just around the corner. The potatoes are ready to scratch new one's from underneath the vine and the cabbages are huge. Early this week I cut the last of the broccoli and planted another crop of butter beans after I pulled the stalks up and deposited them in the compost pile. I freshened the soil before I planted the seeds, then watered them in good. They should be up in a few more days. I also picked all the greens left in the garden (two sink fulls to wash) and pulled up the turnips to cook in the greens and be frozen. This garden spot I also freshened and another crop of peas was planted. Cabbages will be next vegetable to come out and in that spot I will plant another crop of beans, a combination of wax, black, and green beans. I really enjoy the work that it takes to put in a garden and to harvest and preserve it and Mr. Rō is enjoying helping me.

My recent evenings have been spent knitting the swatches I need to take with me to Knitters Connection next week. A friend from my knitting guild is going with me and I understand the BonAirCat who is also a member of our guild, is going too. I'm excited and looking forward to a wonderful time. We fly on Tuesday and Saturday so that gives us the full three days at the event and a bit of extra time to see some of the city. I'll have photos when I return and hopefully I won't be returning with an additional suitcase.

The iris have finished their bloom for this spring; hopefully we will have more bloom in the fall. Let's hope there is enough rain during the summer to revitalize the re-bloomers. We enjoyed a week-end at the regional meeting in Winchester and visiting Winterberry Gardens. The iris were beautiful and DH enjoyed the additional garden training provided on Friday and Saturday.

Today is my birthday. Tonight hubby is taking me to a local neighborhood restaurant for dinner, well not local in the sense of the village but to our old stomping ground. Helen's is in the Fan District of Richmond and has been there forever. A hole-in-the-wall, not seating more than 25 at most, but with the most wonderful food. We went there for our anniversary a few weeks ago and everything was so good, including the service. We had a table by the window on Main Street allowing us to watch the neighborhood come and go all evening. Anyone familiar with this area of Richmond knows 'watching' can be lots of fun. This morning I awoke and had coffee and was dressed and ready to go outside when I received my first surprise of the day. The 'kids' were all leaving this morning going to the beach for a week and so I was totally surprised when they came in with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and an already cooked breakfast. It was such a surprise since DS had called yesterday and said he wasn't driving down until late morning today and was going directly to the beach. There was a yummy casserole made by DD and a pretty platter of fresh fruits, which she knows I adore, and toasted English muffins along with good jam and jelly. What a way to start my birthday!

Baby Maestro has had another bout with his ear and had to spend the day in the hospital having it drained once more. Poor baby looks so sweet with his one clipped ear full of staples. Maestro loves getting in the pool with me but the Vet said not to let him get his ear wet for fourteen days. Yesterday he cried until I picked him up and held him with the water just under his belly so that he felt he was swimming with me. Spoiled he is and I'd have it no other way.

This afternoon I plan to finish knitting my swatches for Lucy Neatby's class on grafting and get the supplies I'll need at Knitters Connection together. I have to decide what yarn I'm going to use for knitting the mobius scarf in Cat Bordhi's workshop. Wonder if I shouldn't wait and buy my yarn once I get to market.