Back To It

Well, after a bit of a hiatus to knit baby sweaters, I'm back to my charity hats.  This time, I dug through my stash and found a skein of Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn, which I'd bought years ago and couldn't bring myself to use.  I decided it was high time I cast something on with it, especially with the new Hobby Lobby opening up in Batesville soon. 

And that's just what I did.  

This is the first time I've worked with this yarn, and I'm impressed with how soft it is.  The colorway is Royal Gorge, and it's royally gorgeous.  Heh... I crack myself up sometimes. 

OK, moving right along...

Cody and Brennan stopped by yesterday evening on their way home from Memphis and visited a bit.  We went out to eat at a local burger joint called Spencer's, then as we left Spencer's, I suddenly exclaimed, "Oh look!  A rainbow!" And Brennan said, "It's a double!"  

Sure enough, there was a huge, gorgeous, full arc double rainbow right in front of us. 

It's been so long since I've seen one of those, and pictures didn't do it justice.  At all.  I asked Cody if we could drive through the lake and across the dam, where I took a whole lot more pictures that didn't do it justice. 

But it was still gorgeous.  Then Cody missed the turn and we had to drive all the way down 333 to Highway 7 to get back home.  Oh, and we took Riverdale Rd instead of driving down to 51 Highway, so it was a nice little outing. 

Before they left, I gave them that old gas weed eater I had, showing Cody where the gas tank needed to be re-attached.  He said that it shouldn't be a problem to find screws to fit, and I said, "It's a good weed eater; it's just too heavy for me.  Ten years ago, I could handle it.  Now, not so much."  He was glad to have it, because they hadn't gotten around to getting one of their own yet.  I'm glad to have the battery operated one, because it's so much lighter and quieter than that gas monster. 

While I had the shed unlocked, I dragged that old storage tub out and put it in the back with the rest of my gardening stuff.  This morning, before it got too hot, I cleaned it out, then got the finished compost from my tumbler and put it into it. 

I tried to get some out of that big composting bag, but there wasn't much that was ready.  The way it is supposed to work is that you add plant matter into the top, and there is a little door to get the finished compost out of the bottom.  I got a few handfuls out, but that was it. I think that one will take a while, because I was putting sticks and stuff into it.  

Then I got my thatching rake out and scratched up enough ground ivy to fill up the empty side of the tumbler-- the other side having fresh grass clippings from when I mowed last week.  I only put things like grass clippings, leaves, and weeds into that one, so it breaks them down pretty quickly.  

By that time, I was pretty sweaty, because before I'd even started that, I did something else.  Remember when Ian The Landscammer left huge ruts in my front yard?  He said they were just tire tracks, so he shouldn't have to fill them in, but they're 4" deep.  So Justin The Good Landscaper had told me to fill them in with sand.  That's what I'd intended to do -- go up to Lowe's and buy sand to fill those ruts in -- but then I remembered.  

I have all of that red clay that I've already paid for.   And because we haven't had any significant rain in July, the stuff in the garden spot that I'd run the roto-tiller over a few times was still pretty loose, so I was able to scoop up a couple of bucket loads with my garden trowel, picking the rocks out as I did so, and haul them around to the front.  This is all I got done this morning, because I decided it's the day of rest, and by golly, I was going to rest. 

So that's just what I did.  I came inside, took a shower, then watched Marcy's latest garden vlog. If you watch it, you just might hear a familiar name in it...By the way, Cody and I were just talking about this yesterday, how it rained almost non stop from April to then end of June, then when July got here, it just stopped.  Seriously.  On June 30th, we were 10" above average for our area, and in July, we're 2" below average for the month.  Our total for the year is still 6" above normal, but still...By the way, I'm using the Raindrop app, and it's pretty good.  There is a free version, which is what I'm using, and also a premium version.  I don't know what's all included in the premium version, though.  I haven't really looked into it. 

Anyway, it's supposed to cool off later this week, so I may get out and fill up the wheelbarrow with that stuff and really fill those ruts in.  But tomorrow and Tuesday are still supposed to be brutally hot, so it's going to have to wait. 

And finally, for no other reason than that he's totally cool, here is my Venus Fly Trap, Marty Mac.

His growth has really exploded this year, but I've read that this is typical when they get to be about 4 years old.  I'm afraid he'll out grow his pot and I'll have to split him soon.  

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get something to eat, then watch some TV and knit on this hat some more. 

Laters...