Socks for Pos!

Pos's FB status said, "Steph is an icicle!" When we chatted, she explained that winter had arrived early in Cape Town and that she was so cold she couldn't feel her little toes. I've not seen my sweet Pos in almost 5 years and thought it would be fun to make her a pair of wool socks that would reach across the miles and give her a big hug for me. She said she'd like them to be colorful and funky, so here's what I did . . .

I found a 100% wool TALBOT'S sweater at Goodwill for $3.75. Very nice and soft!

Unraveled it...and ended up with a basketful of yarn.

Made two 150-yard skeins and used grape, black cherry and lemon-lime KoolAde to dye the blue yarn the colors Pos chose--red, purple, blue and green.

Rolled up each skein in plastic wrap.

Steamed them for about 30 minutes to set the dye.

After they cooled, I rinsed the skeins in cold water.

Hung them up to dry.


One skein and one ball ready to knit.

To maximize the funkiness, I'm going to make the cuffs, heels, and toes blue.

Finished the first sock on April 29. It's short on Beth, so I think it will fit Pos's 22cm foot perfectly. Pos, I'll wash them before I send them to you!

Taddie Bee Herbing

My latest business venture (okay diversion) started out innocently enough. My big bully rosemary plant was spreading everywhere and threatening to take over the lillies and phlox. The thought of tossing perfectly good organically-grown rosemary (that Walmart sells for $3 for a tiny packet or $24 per pound) in the compost pile gave me an idea. So I asked my friend Mike at Cedar Lodge Market if he would like to sell it there.

He said, "Sure! Maybe put it in some baggies."



So, I did....with some printed labels.

I also picked some sage and garlic chives which were busy in the garden just growing.

And then I put them in a basket and skipped (okay drove) to Cedar Lodge Market this morning. Mike thinks they would sell best at 99 cents each. He's not even taking any commission at first! He said lets see how they sell! Cool huh!

And later, I planted some curly and Italian parsley, basil, dill and cilantro just in case fresh herbs really do sell at Cedar Lodge Market. (We can always eat them if they don't.) The business downside about having to "eat" whatever doesn't sell isn't exactly a bad thing in the herb growing business!

Oh, and because I thought it looked neat on the label to have a web address, I also started a blog... evergreen-garden-herbs.blogspot.com

It's not Indonesia . . . but . . .

This post is for Widya.

We don't have blooms 365 days a year like the paradise that is Indonesia. I wanted you to see what's blooming right now in our yard. Most of these blooms will only last a week or so.

The cherry tree is loaded this year. We'll save some for you to eat later this summer!

Periwinkle...a ground cover.

The plum tree. We're still eating plums from last summer's bumper crop...dried, canned, sauce and preserves.

The fig tree Joseph's grandfather planted. It's never produced much fruit. Maybe this year!

Phlox, a ground cover.

Dogwood blossom.

More dogwood blossoms. They start out kind of pink, but will soon be all white with pink tips.

More cherry blosooms!!