Haiku to Autumn....

Dressed in reds and golds

Royal in her finery

Atumn has arrived

Third Time Not the Charm....

I've knitted lots of scarves, done a few shawls, some hats, some felted purses, some dishcloths. I decided I wanted something a bit more challenging. So I tried the 5 hour baby sweater. No real reason to do one - just wanted to try it. Seemed simple enough - even though it does involve putting stitches on three separate holders - doing the sleeves separately and then stitching them up, then going back to the body of the sweater and so on. First try, it turned out whonky. I re-read the directions and realized I had missed a step. That is my story and I'm sticking to it - LOL! Then I tried it again. Got to where you put all the stitches on one needle and start the rest of the sweater. Messed it up again.... Couldn't blame it on the directions this time! Just operator error.... So, yes, I tried it a third time. I got the logistics down, but still had some major mess-ups. Decided there was no point in knitting on it more, so I bound off. Emily, my Cabbage Patch Doll says her new sweater is quite delightful!

Tuesday Teasers....

"A good house, deep in the woods, with a garden all around it and a river flowing past it. Fruit trees, and flowers planted for the bees. A place to grow my herbs. Silence in winter, and in summer nothing but the birds. Lonely as the grave, and every bit as restful."

and....

He was not listening. He was as deep in his own shocked thoughts as I was. "Do you mean she was a witch? A real one? I know people said so, and she used to laugh. She said she sometimes saw the future a bit, and she would tease me about that, what was going to happen to me, but it was always funny, I mean just fun. Wasn't it?"

If I've tempted you to read this book, it is "Thornyhold" by Mary Stewart

Care for a Cupcake....

Several years ago, I got a knitting book that had these adorable cupcakes in them. They were done with double pointed needles. I went to my knitting group and someone there brought a finished one in they had made. I sooo wanted to make one too. But try as I might, I could not conquer doubled pointed needles! I also tried the other methods of knitting small patterns in the round - magic loop and using two circular needles. Again, I failed. Gave up for another year or so. Finally last week, I watched an online video (over and over) for the magic loop method. I went downstairs, grabbed my yarn and long circular needle and tried it. Success!! Granted, my needle was too big and I didn't have the right yarn for the "cupcake paper". Nor did I have the right circular needles for the "frosting" and had to knit it flat and seam it up. But all in all, it turned out pretty cute! It is much bigger than it is supposed to be - which if it was a real cupcake would be more than fine in my book - LOL! So, today I went and got the right needles and the right yarn and $40.00 later... I can now try it again.... I'll let you see the finished product when I get it done!

My Poor Little Guy....

I feed the squirrels every day (along with the birds). I swear they are sending out an email - hey, stop by the Huson residence on your way South! LOL! Anyway, this little one has been coming around all summer. I call him "the baby". I always know it is him because he stays right by me while I put the seed down. A couple of weeks ago, he showed up with a messed up eye and his head was all torn up. It looks like the eye is actually gone.... I worry about him being out there, but he seems to do fairly well.... I just talk to him gently when I'm out there and he just seems to relax and go about his eating....

Tempting Tuesday....

"So much has changed," I said softly. "It looks the same, it seems the same, but there are so many of them gone now, and you can feel the holes where they were. What long shadows they cast..."

and

Oh Peter. Don't leave any of us again. We are all here, every one of us, all together in this place I love more than any other on earth.

If I've tempted you to read this book, it is "Colony" by Anne Rivers Siddons

A Teeny Tiny Visitor....

Wish I could get a picture of him/her. But alas, it would be like trying to capture a picture of a fairy.... You see, my little visitor is a hummingbird! I'm so excited and delighted.... My first time ever seeing one was about 5 or 6 years ago when I was on vacation with my parents. We were eating by the window at the Inn where we were staying and there he was - flitting outside of our window. I couldn't believe I had gone all those many years of my life without seeing this joyful gift of nature. The other night, while sitting on my couch here at home, I looked up and there was one flying around the feeders where there are spots of red. He was drawn to the colors I guess. Then about a week later, I saw him out there again. So I immediately went and got a hummingbird feeder and filled it with sugar water - never expecting he would come back and find it. I put it up last night and this afternoon, he has been zooming back and forth - drinking to his heart's content - or hers....
What a thrill to see this small creature.... it makes my heart sing!

Tempting Tuesday.....

All at once Emily let out a yelp and plunged into a tangle of honeysuckle. "George, she cried". "He's fallen over! Damn it, I knew he was unstable!" In some alarm, Diana ran after her and found her struggling to raise, not the fallen body of a man, but a slab of gray stone, shaped and smoothed by human hands.

and....

"Wild roses, Andy said. They were in full bloom along the fence the first time I ever saw this place. Big fat crumpled pink blooms, weighing down the branches - grown wild and rampant, uncared for but surviving somehow for God knows how many years"

If I tempted you to read this book, it is from "Vanish With the Rose" by Barbara Michaels....