fledgling

One of the things that has kept us busy the last couple of months is getting ready for a craft show. "But I thought you weren't selling right now, Kim?" you say. And you would be right. It's not MY craft show. It's Lizi's. She's getting ready for her very first, on-her-own craft show booth. Today we set up a table in the basement, sort of a practice run, to see how it all looked and what sort of display pieces we would need.

See these bracelets? Early this year she learned how to make one, then another, and another, and she was hooked. See that striped one in the middle? I don't even know how to do that. It's called a candy stripe, it's all knots, and you wouldn't believe how much time it takes. See the braided ones on either side? That's a box braid. I don't know how to do that either. The green and white spiral one on the right, there? I think she made that one up, or at least seriously adapted it. Same with the green and pink, second from the left. Cool, huh?
I really have been impressed with the way she's learned how to do this all on her own, through the internet and books. I'm fairly adept at many crafts, but she's learned to follow charts and graphs that I would have no idea of where to even start. And she's proud and happy that she's found her "thing," too. She's really worked hard, not only learning the craft but getting ready for this event. She counted 222 bracelets today.

Nice looking table. There's never a guarantee when it comes to craft shows, but I hope she does well.

long winter's nap

Tonight will be this fall's first frost, so I've been busy making preparations in the garden today. It seems that we went straight from hot summer to cold winter this year, with only about a week of nice fall weather in between. It was sleeting not far from here today, which is unusual in November.

So the strawberry patch got a nice blanket of hay:

Of course, Bilbo thinks it's his bed. "Thanks, this is nice" he says. That's okay, he can stay there a while. Sadly, our little kitten Frodo died a few days ago, and we all miss him terribly. So we've tried to be extra nice to Bilbo so he won't seem so lonely. (But when he starts asking me to deliver his canned food to his hay-bed in the garden, we'll have to have a talk.)

Here's the last of the vegetables. My peppers always start doing well right when it's time for a frost. I covered the pepper and tomato plants that still had tiny fruit, but I don't look for them to do much at this point.

The little patch of marigolds has been such a happy sight this year - I'll miss them.

On a happier note, though, I planted a fall crop of snow peas, and they are coming up nice and strong.

Sleep tight, little garden. Dream of lots of strawberries and tomatoes and peppers next year. :)

how about that!

Check it out - SouleMama blogged about my friend Maya's yarn! Read the post here.

And to see more of Maya's lovely yarn, visit her shop! Also, there's her Etsy shop. Or you can just look over here to the right. (I love her yarn, okay??) --->

recuperating

Today was our first real taste of fall, so I decided to go out on the screened porch and enjoy the pleasant weather. I even did a little knitting between sneezes and coughs. (Hope that's not TMI.)

These are the socks I started knitting a while back. The yarn is Serenity Sock Weight by Premier Yarns, in Amethyst. I'm using the Embossed Leaves Socks pattern from the book Favorite Socks. I've discovered that I really enjoy knitting lace patterns from a chart. This is a particularly delightful pattern to knit, and I am pleased with the way they are turning out. I'm past the heel turn on the first sock, see?

This is the new mug from our trip to Gatlinburg. It came from Alewine Pottery. This photo doesn't do justice to the color. And I like the leaf.

checking in

So where have I been, you ask?

Well, I told you about the awful cold, and the muscadine picking. Then there was jelly making - our vines gave us enough muscadines for two batches of jelly. That's a total of 16 half-pints and one pint!

Then there was a week-long trip to Gatlinburg and points east; my normal post-trip headache which lasted 3 days this time; and more sinus/allergy issues after that.

And of course homeschool on top of all that, complete with art lessons and science experiments and field trips and such.

So while there have been stories to tell, I've had no time and energy to write and/or photograph them. My apologies.

I hesitate to say it, but I hope things will get back to normal soon. (The reason I hesitate is that whenever I say that, something else pops up!) But really, this time, things must get back to normal. Or as normal as they get around here. ;)