Spring Beauties

Spring seems to be here for real, and new projects with it. I finally finished Vivian's Big Pink Afghan and got it out in the mail. I think it turned out well and that Vivian will love it, but I have to admit that I got tired of it before it was finished. I suspect it's just because I've had so many blankets in the queue this year. I still have one on the needles, and when it's done there will be no blankets with deadlines for a while. I'll be starting my Christmas knitting because I love to have the gift inventory build up without pressure. There is also the matter of a naked monkey whose pajamas have been on the needles for more than a year. Shana has been very patient, but poor Mr. Foster the monkey must be cold.

I picked our road bikes up from their yearly tune up on Friday, but haven't been for a ride yet. If the weather holds next week will see me getting back out. We'll see how hard a year off the bike has been on my endurance. If I had not been doing the strenuous stockroom work that I recently have it might have been worse, but I expect  to be very disappointed in my riding for the first month or so. I've been picking everyone's brains about good safe routes. I can't wait to get out and see for myself.

After Stitch & Bitch today Wanda and I went out for a stroll through Spohr Gardens. I had never been there and wanted to be sure to get there before the daffodils were finished blooming. It's a lovely spot and well worth a visit. It's so much the ideal of what I would want my garden to be and really far from what my garden can be. Spohr Gardens is only six acres, but so beautiful and well laid out that it seems much larger. It helps that it is laid out on a hill and along a pond. The property also has a lot of old millstones attractively displayed, both as sculpture and as part of walkways. These are not something I can afford or accommodate in my space, but I did get some good ideas from how they were used.  My lot is only a quarter acre, but with a variety of exposures available I have hopes of making it something beautiful.  This year I will put in a shrub border in the front yard and the beginnings of an herb and cutting garden on the south side of my deck. A water feature would be nice...probably I will put some kind of smallish fountain on the deck. When I got back home I "planted" some columbine and viola seeds. I've got more seeds to get in, but I want to wait until I can get my irrigation system turned on. We are still in a drought, with the nearly daily rains I expected not materializing. We are not even getting rain once a week. Although I thought I could turn on my irrigation and outdoor faucets myself it turns out I should have taken better notes. I'll be calling the guys Monday to schedule a visit. Once I can water I'll be outside in earnest making beauty appear in my yard.