A pepper a day

A pepper a day keeps us pretty darn happy.  This year we have one plant each of the following peppers:  Anaheim, Banana, Bell, Cubanelle, and Habanero.  Almost every evening, you can find us filling an aluminum covered baking sheet with tortilla chips, sliced peppers and various cheeses.  Sometimes we feel a little sweet and use the Cubanelle.  Sometimes, we are in the mood for a little something hot and use the Anaheim.

Note to readers.  Our Anaheims are not red hot yet, so we spend a dollar at the roadside stand to buy 3 or 4 that last us through the week.  The Habanero's are not ripe yet either but we are eagerly waiting to see a spot of red!  We can barely wait until our hotties are red-hot-n-ready;)

Anaheim Pepper

Banana Peppers

Bell Peppers

Cubanelle Peppers

Habenero Pepper

Garden News....

Monkey Grass
Blossom

My oh my how my garden doth grow!    I have quite a few plants that I still need to take pictures of like the peppers, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and head lettuce which is starting to seed out.  It sure has been a fun little garden this year.

Of course, it would not be Kentucky with out quite a bit of hot muggy weather.  The heat index has been well over 100 deg f. for several weeks now.  All I have to say about that is, 'Thank Goodness I don't live in Nashville anymore!'. I can only imagine how hot they have it!  I loved it in the winter, but summers there were brutal!  We did have a few nights where it cooled down enough we could sit on the deck at midnight and have a cuddle session with Miss Kitty, so it's not all bad!

I really need to get a few snap shots of the crazy sweet potatoes I planted by the tomatoes!  They are insane and I can't wait to eat them up this fall!!!  And I really need to remember in the mornings when I go to check on the tomatoes and peppers to bring my camera to snap a few shots of the Brandywines, Good Reds & Mystery tomatoes before I pick them;)

Basil has since been topped.

Hope we have cauliflower real soon!

Pretty in pink Dianthus

Young Grasshopper munching on my Monkey Grass.

Lettuce & Spinach about to go to head.

Miss Kitty enjoying my lap on an abnormally cool evening:)

close up of the Monkey Grass Blossoms

Did I mention I have a new truck!?!  How exciting is this!  The tundra was going on 11 years old and was in need of a few repairs.  My Dad surprised me with a 2007 Ford F150!  Do I have the best Dad in the world or what!?!

2011 Tour de Fleece - Project #4

Finished yesterday evening. Washed, rinsed, hung from the chandelier & dry as a bone this morning. This corespun lovely has a fingering weight all wool center encapsulated in smooth merino, Tunis, Shetland, coopworth, mohair, silk hankies, silk noil, bamboo, firestar and last but not least lots of sparkly glitzy goodness. Approximately 150 yards and 4 ounces. Might have to pet this little lovely for a little while before putting a price tag on it.

Oh, I did the collages on an iPad app called mood board. Pretty cool huh!?!

Tour de Fleece

Project # 3 for the Tour is a core spun LunabudKnits batt. Chock full of yummy merino, Shetland, mohair, glitz, firestar, Tunis, and a few other tid bits that are slipping my mind at the moment.













It is of course Miss Kitty approved;)

2011 Tour de Fleece Projects #1 & 2

This year, I am numbering my projects in order they are to be finished.  So far, my starter project is done and while the spindling of the Merino & Yak is slowly progressing, the run of Shetland/Angora 60/40 blend is in line to be the second project I finish.

Crosspatch Creations batt purchased at Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival.  Started before the Tour started, but one of my goals was to finish it during.

One of my favorite fiber blends from Vintage Fibers that was traded for during Midwest Fiber & Folk last month.  Love this stuff!!

Tour de Fleece Start

Started the Tour de Fleece this year with a bang literally!  Bill frowns on bringing a spinning wheel to the lake when we go so this year, I opted for a couple of spindles.

After giving the boat a quick clean and hitting the dock kitchen for a greasy burger & fries, it was time to hit the water to drift in wait for the big 4th of July fire works show put on at our end of the lake.  This year it was between Kennedy & Sunset Marinas.  

This is the first year that my allergies have really gone hay wire.  I think that since I have quit smoking over a year ago my nose is really affected by all the things that never bothered it before.  I'm not complaining though as I very much so enjoy being able to breath after going for a short walk;)

Our boat.  Click to 'biggify'.  The arrow points straight at us.

Spindling before the big show.

The pre-show.

The big show about to start.

After the show, get out of the way or prepared to be run over.  This is a wall of boats heading our way to go back down the lake to their perspective docks.

Singles

Dropped the fiber into the lake.  No way am I going in after it.

You too can be protected from the big storm...lol  Amazing what you see on the way to the lake!

Garden 2011

I haven't had much time for posting due to shows and getting ready for shows between shows;) The next show you will find LunabudKnits is the Midwest Fiber and Folkart Festival outside of Chicago June 24-26.

I had a moment to take a few pictures of this years garden as Bill was finishing up his little project. He tells me stories of the 'lettuce box' they had as a child and how they would go out pull up the old door and pick some lettuce for dinner every day. The other day, he comes home with an old storm door someone was throwing away and wood. a few days later, he has his 'lettuce box'. I have to say that he did a very nice job on the construction of the box. Do I honestly think the lettuce will grow in a humid little glass box in the middle of summer? Let's just say, erm, how do I put this nicely..... I think I will sow more lettuce seeds in the fall. And, it should make for a great seed starter in late winter early spring;)

Bill finishing up his lettuce box

Lid open

Seeds

Lid closed

Miss Kitty supervises

Sweet Basil

Cematis

Cactus

Cactus

Delphinium

Delphinium Flower

lettuce seed I started a few weeks ago.

Miss Kitty follows where ever we go.

Fungus Amungus

It goes with out say, we have had our fair share of rain lately.  Enough so that I have wondered of the need to build our own personal little Ark with enough room for Bill, the critters and of course little ol' me.  Well, and enough room for his guitars & my fiberly pursuits of course.  And there surely will be room for all friends and family, but let's hope its doesn't come to that;)

I digress just a tad from the title, but not much.  For you see, with out all this miserable soul crushing endless rain there wouldn't be the bounty of natures little helpers we seem to have now.  Beautiful fungi of all shapes and sizes just in time to help those dead things in the soil decay just a little bit more so that we can have the lovely green growth we so desire each year after the spring showers.

These are just a few we found in the yard the other day between torrential down pours.  Bill was wondering if any were edible and while I love the simple beauty of a mushroom as it pokes from the ground to open it's cap and spread forth it's spores,  I don't think I was quite in the mood to be his 'royal taste tester'....lol

Fungi eating away at a stump from a bush we removed several years ago.

Fairy ring around our pear tree.

The caps do look like frilly little fairy wings do they not?

Cracking caps

This one is my favorite.  A close up of the previous caps.