Bubbles

I know, I haven't posted for a while. Doc20 and I have been to Portland to visit CareBear. We had a wonderful time. We've also been working in the yard -- planted some Impatiens in the front flower beds.

The backyard is starting to look nice as well...

Also, do you know what this is?

Another hint...

Tada! Stained Glass Bubble Socks. I really like this pattern. And, it's pretty quick to knit. I am usually a really slow sock knitter, but it only took me about 2 weeks to finish these.

Portland

This last week I went to Portland to visit CareBear and took these photos at an outdoor mall and the Rose Gardens.

The weather was perfect. One day we did the "Fruit Loop", visiting several fruit orchards and fruit stands in the Mt. Hood area. We also did some shopping and eating. I had a great time!

Frogs

In our backyard, we have two ponds...

this one

and this one.

Usually, several time during the summer, we have waves of frogs come to serenade us with their LOUD croaking. Of course, they don't start their entertainment until around 10:oo pm. Doc20 will go into the backyard, armed with a pool net and flashlight, braving the mosquitos, to catch and send to frog heaven the current crop of croakers. I know this is not very "eco-friendly" and they do eat bugs, but earlier this week he had a record catch for one night. You try sleeping with FIFTEEN frogs calling their girl friends just outside your bedroom window.

A couple of things

This.....

is a Peony.  Peonies don't usually grow in Texas.  I think it's not cold enough in the winter or too hot in the summer or something like that.  However, this one came from my back yard!  I have had this peony plant (bush?) for at least three years.  This is the first and only bloom it's ever had.  I was hoping for more, but I'll settle for this one.  I love it.  Maybe after producing this one this year, it will learn how it's done and have a lot more next year.

And this....

is Baby Bird.  She is almost 3 months old now and a real cutie.  Today was my day to keep her while her mom went to work.  We worked on learning multiple bubble blowing methods and had a great time.

Football...already?

Last Friday we were going to fly to Lubbock for the Texas Tech spring scrimmage football game on Saturday.  As most of you know, since I am retired from American Airlines, we fly stand-by almost every time we fly.  You have to be pretty flexible - time wise - to fly that way.  When I got up at 5:15 am on Friday morning to check us in for the flight, I found that the flights that had been only half full on Thursday night were now full.  Since there had been bad weather in Lubbock the night before, flights had been canceled and the passengers moved to Friday AM.  Great.  The third flight on Friday still looked pretty good though, so we decided to go ahead and give it a shot.  After waiting in the airport for a hour or so, the weather from Lubbock the night before arrived at DFW and canceled the fight we were waiting for.  So, we just got in the car and drove.  

My reward was going to be getting to visit the one yarn store in Lubbock, maybe in all of west Texas, when we got there.  I discovered that they went out of business last January.  Great.  

We went to a Tech baseball game that night (I went and sat in the car around the 4th inning because I was cold).  Saturday we went to the football game -- the weather was really nice.  And then to dinner at Orlandos.  Today we drove home and stopped on Thurber for lunch.  It was pretty good.  

I did get some car and football game knitting done though.  I'll post some pictures later this week after I fix the part that I did wrong.

I will end with some on my favorite flower photos from this past week.  Enjoy!  

One Million (almost)

Done. 

One million planted in one day!  

Mother Nature stay away!

Send your hail another day (like January or February would work).

Bedding Plants

So, I have a million--well maybe not a million--Impatiens waiting on my front porch to be planted in the front flower beds.  By planting these, it also moves us to the top of Mother Nature's list to be next for a hail storm.  I'll cross my fingers and hope that someone else out-plants us and passes us on that list.

Baby Sitting

Yesterday was a fun day.  My niece went back to work for the first time since having Baby Bird and I got to baby sit.  She is just going to work one day a week, for now, and that works perfect for me as well.  We had a good day.

Doc 20, a huge Texas Tech fan, already has her working on "Getting her guns up!".  He's has a little way to go....   We still need some more practice.  But, its a start!

More stuff from the back yard.  This is a columbine, 

and Maidenhair Fern,

and Bog Lilies.

This afternoon we are flying to Portland to visit with Care Bear.  She has several fun things planned for us to do while we're there.  It should be a fun time.

Azalea Explosion

It's an azalea explosion in our backyard!   (The front yard as well.)   I love this time of year when everything starts to bloom.

And Wood Hyacinths,

 

and Honeysuckle, too.

I've also been knitting a lot and had to order some additional yarn to finish the cardigan from the workshop.  It should come in a day or two and I only have a little bit left to go before it's finished.  I'll post photos when it's done.

Fabulous Friday

This morning Doc20 and I FINISHED bagging all of the leaves.  The whole yard is DONE!  Then we went to lunch at one of my favorite burger places and then bought mulch for the paths and flower beds. All of them have been spread.  We'll have to get more another day. 

I've also been working on some photos of the flowers currently blooming in my yard.

These two are camillas,

And this one is a daffodil.

Some knitting is also being done.  I'm working on a little boy's pullover sweater.  I'll post photos when it's done.  

Tonight, Doc20 and I get to babysit our nieces' new baby, Baby Bird, while she and her husband go to a movie.  Baby Bird is 3 weeks old today.  I'll try and post some photos later.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Weekend Work

We had a busy weekend.  Doc20 and I worked on getting the last of the leaves up from the back yard.  He did most of the bagging and I did the detail work around the edges and trimming off the dead stuff.  We took out some old rose bushes that we didn't like any more and planted the new one.  We're trying one of the older "antique" style rose bushes that are supposed to be more resistant to diseases.  The azaleas are almost blooming.  I think we're ready for spring!

I've also finished my latest knitting project.  It's the Silky Shawl designed by Miriam Leth-Espensen.  I got the pattern and silk yarn on my last trip to Santa Fe in September. It was a fairly quick and fun project.

Free Friday

Since today is Friday, Doc20 is home today.  He works four days a week and is off on Fridays. We usually try to do something fun or something that we've been putting off doing on the days he is home.  Today, we made the rounds of our favorite plant stores and started thinking about what new plants we might want for the yard this spring.  Today we only found one rose bush and an orchid on sale to add to my collection.  

I also worked quite a bit on my current knitting project.

I'll post a finished photo in a few days when it's done!