July « 2007 « Stoneview

Marvelous Mail

A few weeks ago Christine told us about her friend Peaknits Blogiversary contest. She admitted she was a bit hesitant because she thinks I always win but nevertheless she told us about it. Imagine my chagrin when I did, in fact, win. Honestly Christine, if you had hundreds of blogs on your bloglines you’d be entering contests left and right and you’d win more stuff too! What’s cool is that the same morning I found out about the contest I’d been admiring her adorable booties over on Ravelry. When Peaknits has a contest, she really does it up right. Not only did I get a gorgeous pink colorway of Yarntini (a favorite for sure!) but there’s also a fabulous little handmade bag (note the interior detail and the zipper pull) as well as some delicious chocolate, a scrummy candle, and some adorable summery stitch markers. Thanks so much Ms Peaknits! Speaking of contests, here’s your chance to get even Christine (and you other knitters be sure to check out Knitting Sutra’s contest asap, you won’t be sorry).

One of the fun things about being gone for awhile is that the mailman has left all sorts of goodies in the mailbox and on the doorstep. Not least of the new arrivals is the latest Redbird Knits sockclub kit. This one is a lovely two-fer. I think the blue one will be the perfect mindless knitting filler so that one will have to go on the needles right away. I also received the copies of Dominknitrix and Poetry in Stitches I’d anxiously been waiting for.

We had sufficient rain this year that combined with the occasional sprinkle when the house sitter came enabled the garden to survive until our return. The Stargazer lily has opened as well as the sunflower our chipmunks planted. The sweet 100s tomatoes are beginning to ripen and my first zinnia has bloomed.

River of Grass

Even though it’s off-season, we took a drive down to Shark Valley and road the tram through the Everglades. Most of the wildlife was familiar to me already but I definitely enjoyed seeing it and I learned a lot about the ecology of the area. I kept remembering grad school days when the ecology students walked around muttering, "sedges have edges and rushes are round" to themselves. When the tour guide described the saw grass those mutters made perfect sense.

Florida visit continued

We never miss the chance to cook while we’re in Florida. It’s always a joint effort, something that doesn’t usually happen at home. We enjoy trying new restaurants while we are visiting as well.

There are a lot of birds that visit the pond behind the house, the anhinga among them. If you walk out into the backyard he stretches his neck and croaks at you indignantly. We saw woodstorks and cranes as well but I didn’t manage to catch them with the camera.

We try to squeeze in as many trips to the beach as we can manage. I’m not fond of just sitting at the beach so poor Jason has to slog along after me on long beach walks. I did manage to sit for a brief while so he could enjoy a dip in the ocean.

Florida Sunshine

Monday afternoon we arrived in Florida where we’ve been taking morning walks greeted by tiny tree frogs and the scent of plumeria and gardenia. The sunsets over the pond behind the house are lovely. Tuesday night we went out on a turtle walk and observed a Loggerhead turtle laying her eggs. We really lucked out at the scouts found a turtle very quickly with only a short walk away.

Rocky Mountain National Park

On Sunday we drove down to Great Smoky Mountain National Park. We hiked out to a waterfall where I found this snail, about the size of your thumb. The orange stickers are warning signs since some folks have tried climbing, slipped and then died when they fell. No one paid these signs the least bit of attention which we found a bit surprising.

Much of the road through the park traveled alongside this pretty stream. Nearly every pullout had a car and below in the stream would be folks with big rubber inner-tubes.

We took the drive out to Cades Cove which included some lovely scenery, several old churches and some other old buildings where folks had lived and farmed.

Family Potluck

Saturday was the big reunion potluck where there were between 100 and 200 people depending on who’s estimate you accept. We had lots of good food and the kids had a blast in the horseshoe pit.

We took a break from the crowd and walked around Martin Station which housed several different types of animals and was staffed by several re-enacters. I spoke for awhile to a spinner who was working with flax. She’d learned to spin in New Hampshire so we had a nice chat about resources there and she recommended Earth Guild as a place to get started with supplies.

Afterwards we had a look around the town center and looked into some of the antique shops there. I saw some tea cup and sandwich plate sets just like the ones I got from Grandma. I can’t recall if I have 8 or 12 but they are exactly like the ones in the shop.

Stick to your ribs

Friday evening we had a stick-to-your-ribs dinner at Webs where the family filled the back room. There might have been some singing and dancing and I might have found a kitty to pat.

Saturday morning we hiked up the trail again, this time cajoling family and friends to join us. I snagged a nice Saturday Sky photo for Sandy, a tri-state sky. My hair seems to have gone all frizzy in the heat and humidity, something it’s never done before.

Cumberland Gap

Despite some travel hiccups we arrived last Friday afternoon at our B&B in Cumberland Gap where we stayed in a historic building that at one time functioned as a grist mill but was an art school even before that. Our room had a view of the "pinnacle" in Cumberland Gap National Park.

When we arrived the innkeeper was nowhere to be found so we sat in the little park across the street for awhile and admired the lovely butterflies. We wandered down to the end of the street and found the Daniel Boone post. Across the street from that was the Cumberland Gap National Park and we looked at the trail map. The cell phones finally cooperated so we left a message for the innkeeper and took off on a little hike.

We hiked out to the actual gap and then continued on past the Daniel Boone marker and up to the tri-state marker where we stood in Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky all at once. There was a nice view of Cumberland Gap coming back down the mountain.

A flower a day keeps the doctor away

Isn’t that how it goes? The honeysuckle has really outdone itself now and the hummingbirds are so fond of it that they will buzz you if you walk too near, particularly early in the morning. The foxglove is new this year and seems to be happy in it’s new home so far. I love the colors and scent of the marigolds and it’s just a bonus that they deter unwelcome pests. I think this year the nasturtiums have done better than ever before but I’m not sure if it’s due to the cool wet spring or the fact that I planted them on time. The oriental lilies continue to put on a lovely show and I really look forward to seeing them get better established and more vigorous.

Fruits and Veggies

My little garden is hanging in there and just as it was time to leave on vacation the tomatoes finally began to turn ripe. I tried in the past to grow them on the patio in containers only to have them attacked by birds and squirrels alike but so far they seem to be safe in the garden. The squash and zucchini bloom like crazy but no fruits develop so I wonder where my pollinators are. The cucumbers have just begun to bloom so I’m anxious to see if I have better luck with them.