Monday, June 14, 2010

Not Enough Sense...
...to come in out of the rain.  How many times have I heard that over the years?  I grew up on a farm, and in farming the right amount of rain at the right time is like money in the bank, and so I have always enjoyed a good rain.  You can drive the woman off the farm, but you can't drive the farm out of the woman...or something like that.
I mowed today, and it was hot. Not unbearably hot, but hot enough for a Yankee woman like me to raise a sweat.  So after mowing for several hours, when it started raining, I checked the sky for lightning, and when I didn't see any sign of that, I decided to stay out and enjoy a nice summer rain.  I turned my face to the sky and felt the soft, cooling drops.
I had some things to plant, a lilac bush and some strawberry plants.  I planted the lilac next to the new back porch and the strawberries around the well head. After I finished my 'farming' chores, I strolled down to the stream to rinse my muddy hands and feet, and then just sat on the bridge for a little while to enjoy the shower. 
There is something calming about rain. 




In other news, I've finished some more socks.  These are in Kroy Socks in "Cascade Colors".  I like working with Kroy. It has a nice hand, is affordable, and is not too splitty.  Its one drawback is that the yardage seems a bit short. Do you see the darker blue toe in the picture on the right? That's how close I came to having enough yarn to finish the pair.  There's a tiny spot of blue from my scrap yarn basket on the toe of each sock.
The pattern is one of my own devising, and I'm afraid it doesn't show well in these pictures.  I like the long color repeats, and I just wanted something to add a little texture without taking away from the stripes.  I call the design "Stumbling Blocks" for the little trip-ups that life always seems to throw in my way. 
I have also finished Ms. Nina's socks from the Hailey's Roses pattern.  I need to get them in the mail soon...I'd have been in a bigger hurry to do that, but I'm pretty sure there's not a big need for wool socks in Alabama in the summer.  These are from my "Haley's Roses" pattern in Red Heart "Heart and Sole" Ivory, and Opal Uni-Color Pink.  This is the first time I've used the Red Heart sock yarn. It's inexpensive and nice to work with, but it looks as though the yarn is going to pill rather badly.  I may be replacing these for Ms. Nina fairly soon. :(
 
Have a wonderful day, and if it's raining, have sense enough to go out and enjoy it! :D