Gardening chitchat and a bit of crafty stuff on a Slow Sunday...

Hello - well it has been a busy week... got some things done but only a couple are really blogworthy... first off I have no complaints about the weather... it has been gorgeous here in SW Ohio... and that said my heart breaks for all of those affected by Hurricane Helene...  so much devastation.... and  it is obvious it will be years and years before many areas will recover, if ever. I've followed my usual routine in these situations... prayers and charitable donations... and I hope it makes some difference.  I'm always reminded of the words of Mother Teresa, "Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love."  I try to follow that philosophy.

So the nice weather had me parked out on the sunroom porch quite a bit... and I made a little progress on Heart in Hand Harvest Tiny Town...

now there is some error around that middle tree but I'm just soldiering on... 

And I've been into sock knitting lately... I finished this pair of socks...

I alternated 2 different highly patterned Opal yarns and I like how they turned out. The heels are a dark maroon color. 

And then I stumbled upon a pouch that had another pair of socks... I don't remember the name of the manufacturer.... it isn't Opal but the colors are pretty... and I was halfway done with the second sock and was able to  finish it off Saturday morning...

So now I can cast on a new pair of socks totally guilt free as I ignore the at least  half dozen pairs that are half done..... have a bunch of new Opal skeins I want to play with...

now I do not NEED any new sock yarn... but I sure LOVE new sock yarn.  I'm thinking I may do a purple pair.... or maybe a pink and yellow... to be determined.

I didn't get around to getting any of the Halloween decor out... and right now I may or may not do it... I'm very happy with the Fall stuff and I really like the Thanksgiving stuff... now I do have some cute Halloween stuff and a couple of smalls that I stitched last year and never FFO's... not sure how this will turn out but it will be okay no matter what I do. 

I did add some Fall decor to the phone niche in the hallway... the little pillow is from Blackbird Designs called Waiting for the Harvest... it was charted in all black but I added color and I made it more symmetrical.  The cute pumpkin scarecrow is from Postcard Pantry... I love their vintage looking pieces!

I got NO sewing done... but I did order some pretty backing fabric for the Sandy Gervais  4 patch quilt. Right now my plan is to finish that top by next week and that should be doable... 

And here's the gardening chitchat... as of typing this on Saturday Nick and I worked for about 90 minutes on Friday and probably 3 hours on Saturday and with Nick's help and the dump trailer from Dan we ha cleared out the beds in both the side and front yard... hallelujah!!

Here's the side yard...

Here's the front yard...

 And you can look here and to see a video  that show how much stuff was in the beds...it was a TON of stuff!  No exaggeration!

Here's is the dump trailer... and this is a thing of beauty right now. In cutting things down we didin't have to chop them up and shove them in those paper lawn waste bags which saved hour of so time and so much energy. I had Nick climb into the trailer several times and smoosh things down so we could get as much as possible in it. 

Not sure the exact length of this but it  is pretty BIG... here's how it looked when we filled it the first time...

That's a 5 or 6 foot ladder next to it for some scale... Dan's partner Evan came by and took it to the dump site and returned it about 2 hours later and we added a bunch more ... and the big portion of the work is DONE!!! I still need to go out and tidy up the beds and rake  the detritus out but that is gonna wait till Monday.  Saturday and Sunday the temps were low 80's ..probably the last 80 degree days this year... as of Monday a cold front is coming through and the next days the highs will only be in the low 70's... PERFECT weather in my book! I can't wait!!

Before Dan dropped off the dump trailer on Friday, I spent about an hour harvesting and saving marigold seeds.

This is a quart size bag and there are lots of different varieties of marigolds.  This year I just tossed down a bunch of these seeds and they took off... in fact they overwhelmed the little ones that come in a flat ... these got about 18" tall and were wild and I loved the look. Plan for next year is to forgo the ones that come in a flat and just direct sow seeds... and I'm thinking I may pass on cosmos and just go with more marigolds. The cosmos got way too tall ... the marigolds would be more medium tall ... and I think I'd like that look.

To prep for this endeavor I did go an get a cortisone shot in both of my knees on Tuesday and I will say so far I am feeling very good. I didn't take any naproxen until Saturday afternoon and I don't think I'll need it again for a while... it is a bit of a strain on my knees to stand and hack things to the ground... but I'm doing it without a lot of discomfort... and that's a win in my book!

One of my goals in cleaning out the beds was to hopefully find the glasses I lost a couple of months ago. One afternoon,  I was out there working and sweat was dripping off my face so I put my glasses on top of my head... and somewhere along the way they fell off my head. Now I tried to retrace my steps but there was no rhyme or reason as to how I was moving about .... but I'm happy to say I FOUND THEM!!!

Now they were a dirty mess but unscratched ... actually it was Nick that spotted them ... my fear was I would find them but only after I had stepped on them as they blended pretty well into the ground...they are cute and I had only had them a couple of days when I lost them... they were a spur of the moment purchase from Costco.. I get all my glasses there... the prices are great and they have some interesting frames but if you don't get them when you see them there is a chance they won't be there later.... 

So plans for the rest of this week.. I rescheduled the appointment for the waterworks company to come and inspect the meter... now it is on Monday... but I'm still annoyed as the only time frame they give you is 8am - 4pm with an "assurance" they'll call 30 minutes ahead of time... really ??? in this day and age??? how would anyone who works full time be able to do this?  You'd have to take a whole day off to accommodate them. Fingers crossed that they do come early so I don't sit around and wait for them all day and get more annoyed with each passing hour... grrrr... 

Tuesday is devoted to Elliott, Wednesday I'm doing breakfast with friends and a semi-annual doctor visit... got my bloodwork done...so HDL was high but that's the good cholesterol, right?   my A1C is up a bit too... and my glucose was just a tad about 100... so we shall see what they say... I know if I could lose a few pounds it would help but the older I get the more  firmly the fat is attached to me... it is happy with me and it doesn't want to depart...Thursday I'm taking Nick to hang out with a friend... pizza for lunch and then they want to go to a Halloween store and get some ice cream... it will be a nice outing... and Friday I'm having my car detailed... I treat myself to this about twice a year... I found a local company that comes and does all the work in your driveway... 2 to 3 young men in a van ... the bring their own water and electricity... and afterwards my car looks and smells so good. I'm not going to be hauling anymore flowers around till next Spring so it should stay clean for a while. 

Well, the days certainly seem to fly by... I'm always occupied with something but I do notice that everything takes a bit longer to accomplish... and I just have to be content with that, right? I never lack for something that entertains me... plenty of shiny stuff to play with...LOL

I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today...and I think I'll veg a bit ... as of Saturday evening when I'm typing this and am POOPED!!  Every year at this time I wish I had planted a bit less, but the problem is I plant a little one day and a little another day and maybe a whole lot another day as the season goes on... and it looks so pretty... but it all needs to be cut down in a much shorter time span.  I tell myself to be a bit more restrained every season, but then if you know me, you know I never really pay close attention to what I said... sigh... and at this stage of life I doubt that is gonna change...

Hope your week ahead is productive...

happy stitching-

carol fun