June Garden Update

Once spring hits full stride and starts the stretch into summer I find it hard to spend too much time inside. And now that school has ended for the year, I've jumped right in to my summer gardening gig, so of course I end up taking care of mine in the evenings and weekends.

I'll have some crafty updates soon, but for now, another tour of the gardens - it's been a busy month for all of the green things. The nice thing about the gardens is that most of the plants have come to me for free. Even today I was planting more hand-me-down's from Mom and moving around some Narcissus bulbs (SO many!).

Spring has Sprung

Winter - Sprinter - Summer - Spring. The last month has brought a variety of weather and it seemed like spring would never come, especially when we went from sprintery weather (when spring and winter can't stop fighting over whose turn it is) into way-too-warm-for-this-time-of-year temps in the 70s and 80s. Then Mother Nature (mostly) righted herself and the weather has been more spring-like - we even had a frost last week. And of course I neglected to cover the veggies that had started to come up. . . though I don't think I lost too many (and that, my friends, is why you always plant more seeds than plants you'll end up keeping!).

Everything needs a good weeding and probably could use some mulching, too. Not to mention the backyard and side yards need a bit of a haircut. And it's only mid-May - things should be filling out nicely over the summer.

Without further ado, a little tour of the grounds here at the Mint Manor at Eastman Terrace . . .

Nate's Retro-inspired Hat

Sometimes you get lucky and get an inspired-one-of-a-kind-only-for-you knit hat from me. . . This winter, that was my friend Nate. While visiting him one night, we discovered that he has a late 80s/early 90s-era Patagonia fleece that has a pretty fantastic pattern in teal, grey, reddish, and black. The minute I saw the fleece I knew he needed a matching hat. It helped that he had seen the hats I had knit for Gala back in the fall (the big scholarship fundraiser at the ski academy where I work) and indicated he'd like one. The time had come to make that wish come true.

The fleece that started it all; it CLEARLY needs a matching hat.
Challenge accepted.
(not the best picture quality, but you get the idea)

Critter Cuteness: Knit Bunny

I saw this cuteness come across my pinterest feed the other day and decided it would make a fun Easter treat for my niece.

Is it break yet?

Winter won't quit. . .

A Home for the Knick-Knacks & Treasures

Remember this sweet little shelf I scored last spring for free?

Short-row Half-circle Hearth Rug

I picked this handspun yarn from the local yarn shop a couple of years ago with the intention of knitting and felting a bag. It sat, and sat, and sat.

Braided Cowl/Infinity scarf

I finally finished the Braided Cowl that I had started back in November. The idea came from a cowl pattern my sister had seen through a friend of hers - the Challah Infinity Scarf. I liked the idea of a braid to add a level of dimension, and I liked the variety of stitches for the different braid strands. My yarn stash contains way too many orphans - among other reasons I have a habit of buying one skein from the sale bin when I happen upon a yarn store while traveling - so I decided this would be a good project to use a few up.

Another busy winter in the works

It's been a quiet month blog & crafting-wise, but definitely busy at school. This time of year we're in the thick of it, with races and camps going non-stop. We have a group in Europe for another few weeks, another was out west for a while just after the Christmas break, and everyone else is traveling weekly around the northeast and Canada, for day trips and longer race series. And, we have races here at school, or rather, over at Mt. Ellen, on the trail where the kids train. I'm on race crew, which means every time the school hosts a race at the mountain, I'm up helping with timing or acting as start or finish ref. We had a big week January 19-23, hosting 4 consecutive days of races (should have been 5, but the Monday races were postponed). It was a long week of long days: I was on the mountain by 7:30am each day (7am on Wednesday!) until 2 or so, then at school until 6pm. Kind of crazy, but I enjoy watching the kids race. And, this is a pretty great view for those mornings my office work requires a pre-opening chairlift ride:

Sunrise from the top timing shack at Inverness

House Project #5.5: The Wood Stove!

It's 37 degrees out; a few days before Christmas (Happy Festivus!) and we're already enjoying the first thaw of winter. Lovely. But it's made better by the fact that I now have the wood stove in. I love wood heat. I grew up with a wood stove, and there are two in my mom's house now. Someday I'd like to have wood heat be my primary source, but for this house, it will be supplementary, and for this winter, it will be sporadic - on the weekends after skiing, or on damp, grey days like today. Since I hadn't planned to have it in this winter, I didn't order wood, although my mom was kind enough to let me have a bit of hers. I may try to order a cord later in the winter, but it's non-essential, so I'll probably just wait until summer.