She knits...not much

It sure has been awhile, but I really am still here. The new job keeps me quite busy and, unfortunately, has a not great commute that goes with it. Actually, in the morning, it takes me about 15 minutes to get there; however, then add about 20 minutes walking time to get from the parking lot to my office. I don't mind when it's nice out. At the end of the day, it's the pits. The traffic is beastly, so add to the morning drive/walk time with stuck-in-traffic time of usually 20 minutes or so. No reason for it other than poor roadway planning. I would take the bus, but so far, it's just not feasible.

Memorial Day weekend is the US's unofficial start to summer. The week before was quite cool and so was much of the weekend (but it was nice and sunny). This week is warming up quite nicely. I'm quite glad that we opened the pool early, because now it is up to 81 degrees, so there is no fear of turning into an iceberg. The peppers and tomatoes are planted and looking good so far.

Summer does bring many nice things. I have discovered that the wireless network goes as far as the patio. Now I can both blog and knit out there! Not much knitting has been happening, but I'm making progress. I've changed the heel (many times) and am actually going to think about what stitch pattern that I would really like on the sole before I start.

Aren't these just the coolest flowers? I think they look like something from an alien planet from far, far away. I have one purple and another in white. The centers of these things really are very, very blue (and darker than the pics).

Time Flies

We've all heard that you get more done when you have less time to do it in. I believe that's true. I managed to get through my first week back at a regular job. Honestly, the week just flew right by; before I knew it, it was Friday afternoon.

Progress has been made on this year's "get your act together" project, a.k.a reaming out the garage. One wall is complete and I'm really quite pleased with how it looks. I'm even more pleased at how much brighter the garage appears. We will be moving on to the adjoining wall/corner and then on to painting half the floor. This is definitely a job to be done in parts.

The wisteria appears to be over it's pouting (it really hasn't bloomed well over the past couple of years) and is putting on a very nice show. The weather turned cool this last week, so the flowers are lasting quite awhile.

As far as knitting is concerned, I've started two different pairs of socks at once. The Meilenweit on the left has only the ribbing done as I haven't quite decided on the pattern yet. The bit done on the right is one of Charlotte Schurch's tessellated patterns from Sensational Knitted Socks (actually, it's going to be the one on the cover). The blue yarn is KnitPicks and the orange is Trekking.

Bubba is sure that he likes any activity that includes a cuddle. All this upheaval this week has clearly tuckered him out.

Escargo-away

Our sunny streak took a temporary break this morning with some showers and a bit of thunder. That's OK because we needed just a wee bit of moisture to keep our clay-based dirt from turning to concrete.

When the showers stopped, my front walk was just covered with snails. At least their shells make them more attractive than their cousins, slugs. There are seven of the darn things in this picture. You'd think that with that high a snail population, that I would have a real problem with them damaging plants, but either they don't eat much or I'm not that fussy a gardener (probably both).

It seemed like it was time to open up the pool for the summer. This year, I managed it all by myself as DH is out of town for a few days. Setting up the pump, filter and chlorinator was quite a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. There are a couple of minor leaks, but nothing to be overly concerned about. We may or may not fix them this year. What I'm even more pleased about is putting in the pavers you see here. I have been annoyed at having the hoses dragging in the grass since we put the pool in. Most years I just ignore it; this year, I got busy and put in the pavers that were released from their temporary duty in another project.

The pool still needs a serious vacuuming, but other than that, it's open for business. Bear in mind, though, that the water is a balmy 60 degrees. Thank goodness for solar covers; I'll get that out tomorrow.

I started a new sock, but am not sure if I'm happy with it. It's the Pomatomus sock from Knitty. I like the pattern, but I'm having trouble with it, probably due to yarn choice. I think I'll just choose another pattern for this yarn and go stash-diving to find something lighter weight for the Pomatomus socks.

Finally

The pictures on yesterday's post were taken in other people's yards (except for Bubba). Today, I'll show you some of what's blooming in mine.

We have a few flowering trees, Bradford Pear, Flowering Plum and a Weeping Cherry. This year is quite the exceptional year. Usually, we get to enjoy the flowers for approximately 30 minutes or so before a heavy wind/rain storm moves through and completely washes away the display. Good news for wisteria lovers...our wisteria seems to be done pouting and is clearly planning a very nice flower display in the near future.










Today was another delightful day. I would even call it summer-like. This spurred me on to get started on some more outdoor chores. I've removed the milk jugs and water tubes that were weighing down the pool cover and started skimming leaves off the cover. At the side of our pool is a space between where the pump/filter goes and the pool. Today I dug it out and put some pavers in that space. It has always annoyed me to have the grass all unkempt because the hoses have to be there. Problem solved. Tomorrow, I'm going to finish skimming leaves, yank the cover, start topping it off and attempt to set up the pump/filter. I like to get the pool set up and ready a bit early so that it has time to get balanced and warm up for the season.

The pets kept tabs on me. They seem to think that I need constant supervision or something. Trouble, our other cat, checked on my progress a few times. Gypsy helped with excavation by moving chunks of sod around the area. Bubba? Well Bubba is just a camera hog.

And, last, but definitely not least, today's title is referring to the good news that I have a start date (Monday) for a new job. It's been an interesting (to say the least) journey, but I have a feeling that I've found a new "work home".

Spring has (finally) Sprung

Like many in the north, winter seemed extra long to me this year. It was a mild start, but then it just dragged on and on and on...well, you get the picture. Actually, you did get pictures of my poor, snow-flattened daffodils.

I've been promising blog friends that I would post pictures of some of the trees when they finally flowered. It was quite cool the last few weeks (but no snow), so they were delayed a bit. This week it has finally warmed up and everything is just busting out in flowers and leaves.

Cherry trees are in full flower, like this huge weeping one that I saw on my travels. When you get into more populated areas and also closer to Lake Ontario, it's sheltered enough for magnolias. Not a tree for me, it's too wide open and brutal in the winter in my yard.












As a kid, my neighbor and I used to scour the woods looking for trilliums every spring. We left them be, as they were on the endangered list back then. I found this big patch in a yard the other day and they really brought back some memories.








Flowers are a definite sign that spring has finally arrived, but, for me, not much says spring more than the brand-new leaves on a maple tree and a cat clearly enjoying the warm sunshine.











Note: There has been actual knitting and spinning. The second sock of the ridged wave pair is done, no need for a picture, it looks the same as the first one. I'm also well started on spinning up some white for a vest, also not riveting picture material.