"A Couple of Knitting Items....."

I just finished knitting a shawl for my daughter in law, Julie. It is for her birthday, which isn't until the end of September, but not knowing how long things will take to knit, one has to start early. :) (Yes, I have things started for Christmas, too) ;)

I asked neighbor Bridget to model it for me so that I could take a couple of photos. I think it turned out very nice and hope Julie is happy when she receives it, too.


And the back view......


I also began work on another baby piece. It is a pattern from the well known knitter, Elizabeth Zimmerman. She is no longer alive, but her daughter, Meg Swanson, has taken over her knitting legacy. Thankfully, she has re-written this pattern, because I have the original in a book of EZ's and would never have attempted it if not for the re-written version. These are the 2 color pathways that I have chosen to use for 2 Baby Surprise Jackets. While at the store (Wisconsin Crafts), I couldn't decide which combination was my favorite, so bought both. A little girl can use 2 jackets can't she? LOL Our neighbor Anna, was also at the store, giving me a 25% off coupon, too, so buying both sets of colors made even MORE sense! :)

"Our Stop at Henry Vilas Zoo...."

I joined Maniphone, Jonathan, and the boys for a bike ride around lake Wingra last Thursday. We also stopped at Henry Vilas Zoo.

Here are the flamingos......heads all nicely tucked under their wings. They must have had a hard day posing or something to be so tired.


Henry and Maniphone with Momma Kangaroo.



Henry and Jonathan emerging from a slide from inside the mountain.


Dad Jonathan giving a little help to Henry as they climb down the rock wall. Simon had no trouble scaling it or coming down.


Simon and the "Antlers"!


Back to Momma "Roo" with both boys in her pouch.


Mr. Tortoise and his passengers, Simon and Henry.


And what would a day at the zoo be without a family portrait? ;)

"Pasqual's Gathering...."

While Maniphone and Jonathan were in town, we organized an gathering of "former neighbors", meeting down at the Monroe Street Pasqual's.

Here is Benjamin, being the "Little Man" by occupying himself with a straw and scoping out the place. ;)


Henry wondering why he is posing for a photo......


Former neighbors Tim and Amy brought their crew down to join us.....from left to right are: Sam, Alex, Tim holding daughter Lilly (Sam's twin), and Maniphone.


Benjamin with Mom Angela and Papa Andy. You can see why he is so cute, eh? :)

"How Our Potted Garden Grows....."

The plants in the pots on the deck rails and large floor pots have taken off and grown very well. These cherry tomato plants look a bit spindly, but they are bearing tomatoes even so......


The purple peppers are growing slowly, as peppers normally do (I seem to recall?) but the ground cherries are doing especially well.


A close up of the ground cherries shows their little lanterns, where inside reside the little cherries, which "supposedly" taste strawberry-like.


We had some stronger wind and these blew off. Unfortunately, they are not ripe, but we could at least see what to expect. This is our first attempt at growing ground cherries.


Our Better Boy tomatoes are growing exceptionally well! The top pot has one plant, while the lower one has 2.


A view of all 4 of our Better Boy tomato plants. Even with all of our potted vegetables not being in full sun, I am very happy with the results.

Our 1 pot of impatiens on the front deck is also filling in quickly.

"Maniphone, Simon, and Henry...."

In yesterdays post, we were visiting with Maniphone and the boys on the front deck. Afterward, we went into the backyard to check out the chickens. I had the boys throw "scratch" through the fence to the girls. Scratch is a mixture of cracked corn and other small grains. Simon on the left, Henry on the right.


I put more scratch in the blue scoop so it was easier to get a good handful for the guys. Buffy and Heather certainly were glad to see Simon and Henry!


Henry decided that a small handful wasn't enough at one time, so I picked him up so he could dump a larger amount all at once. The girls were clucking VERY happily!


Henry also checked out the rest of the yard, including inside and around the greenhouse. :)


The hammock was a much enjoyed ride. ;)


As they were about to leave to go on their way to more visits, Don took this "group" shot.


Henry and Simon getting ready to RIDE! :)

"Visitors!!!!"

Our former neighbors, Jonathan, Maniphone, Simon, and Henry are visiting Madison this week, from their home in Grand Forks, North Dakota!

Jonathan stopped by Sunday morning on his way to meet some friends. A 45 mile bike ride was planned.


Later that morning, Maniphone and the boys stopped by on their way to some friends that live in the Nakoma Neighborhood. They are staying at Arbor House on Monroe Street which is so convenient to our neighborhood.

Here are Henry and Maniphone saying hello to Copper. The boys are a bit skittish around dogs, so Henry is being a bit hesitant, but doing well. :) Simon and I were in the house making the boys some treats....sugar cookies topped with a lemon yogurt/cream cheese mixture, then topped with blueberries (Thank you Ms Molly Bee!).


After we came back out onto the deck, we chatted while the boys ate their treat. Here is Simon eating his after taking the blueberries off. :) Turned out that Henry wasn't having anything to do with blueberries either. :) What big brother does, little brother does......


Henry and Maniphone. After the treats, we all went out to see the chickens.


Photos of feeding the chickens and more tomorrow.......

"Unrelated Items......"

As some of you may remember, I was in the hospital with my 2nd knee replacement when I got the call from my son Patrick, that he and his wife Julie, were going to have a baby. They've since found out that the baby is a girl.

Since I was "home bound" for a good 2 weeks after surgery, plus when I did get the OK to drive, I really wasn't feeling up to going yarn shopping. I did however, find some yarns in my "stash" and was able to begin knitting items for my grandchild. The results are in the following photo. One blanket, 2 sweaters, 2 pair of socks, and 3 baby hats. I managed to knit a few things, but nothing was gender specific, so I will have to remedy that with at least 1 new piece using a shade of pink. ;)


Totally unrelated, is the condiment called Bacconnaise. Don, who loves anything to do with pork, especially bacon, found this on the internet. He sent me the link and while I was perusing the site, I found retail stores where it is sold. One just happened to be our local Copp's. Don is one happy guy now. :)