Made in the Shade?

Before: my front porch, exposed... faces west, dontcha know, so the sun just bakes everything. During. There's just something really cute about a couple of pairs of feet dangling in mid-air, isn't there?

After. It still needs to be stained, but it's already cooled the living room down significantly. Just in time for the new heat wave.

On the knitting front (you just knew there had to be knit content, right?) I'm still sorta struggling with Pea Pod. I did mess up the pattern, but I think it can be fixed. If not, then it's rippppp back and redo. I've also joined the Beadwork KAL Yahoo group, which might encourage me to get busy going through my magazines for the pattern. Beadwork is a Jade Starmore design, mainly knits and purls, and it looks like a good challenge. Of course I need a challenge--have I mentioned the trouble I'm having with Pea Pod, which is a very simple lace pattern?

Anyway, once I get that Adirondack chair cleaned off, I can see me sitting out there to knit in the early evenings. Wanna come join me??

By Request

There was a comment made somewhere (which shall go nameless) wondering what I look like. This is one of the better pictures of me. I'm having fun, giving my baby brother a hard time. You know you are no longer a spring chicken when your baby brother turns this grey! I particularly like how gnarled my hands look. Oh well, they can still knit, so I'm not complaining. They can still open wine bottles, too, sometimes with a little assistance from a tool of some sort. The champagne bottles are definitely left to the daughters. I'd show you the pics of the three of them trying to wrestle open a bottle, but I'll save them for some time when they need to be blackmailed. (Let's just say, they were taken from behind...)

Home Improvement, Part ??

This is the fence... that was slammed down by a 150-year-old oak tree, with a nearly 6' diameter trunk. Obviously the fence got the worst of it. The driveway did very poorly too, but what you see in front of the old fence is the NEW driveway. Yay!


This is where the old deck was. You can just see the shiny new back door. Well, those blue French doors have had a very hard life. I could show you close-ups that would make you weep for them. The deck succumbed to an assortment of ailments, but its final demise was wrought by a talented demolition crew. The tomato plant is a volunteer, and has produced masses of delicious cherry tomatoes over the last two summers.
However, it is sad but true that the tomato plant is not as valuable as access via the back of the house. I am terribly weary of bringing everything in from the front, as it is a long hike back to the kitchen. Here's a closer view of the fence in all its cheesily-repaired glory. Do note that the panel on the far right was put up upside-down. Oh, and I hate those umbrella trees. Nasty icky things!
Good-bye fence! Goodbye termites, and goodbye yellow jackets that had made a nest on the fence.More fence bits, including the extremely ancient and elderly chain link that was the front part of the fence.
Can I knit while this is going on?? Of course! Pea Pod is now back to where it was when I ripped it all out last week. There will be pictures as soon as the lace panel begins to look like something other than a bunch of holes and crossed stitches.

Test

For several days now, all I've had on my blog is the Blue Screen of Death. This is a test post, to see if anything will show up.