SWEET AND FUZZY 
or....
DEMON CAT?
You choose.
RIBBIT!
That awful sound, the sound of me frogging back half of the Purple Pimpelliese. At first I thought I had run out of yarn despite carefully measuring things. The new skein was close but not a match so I alternated rows. Things looked good, very good. I knit. I knit some more. Finally I paused long enough to scratch my head and say, "What the hey....?" Turned out that my decrease side was decreasing at a much slower rate than the increase side. Hmmm. I am not sure why but will try again, this time measuring with each repeat. Knit and Learn.
Oh, and Ms. Frog seems to be very happy though I've stated to wonder how she is going to spend her winter. Hibernation?
A FLOWER HERE. A FLOWER THERE
I have started collecting seeds for next year's garden. I continue to be amazed that things planted years ago and never replanted continue to germinate and grow. The tenacity of Life.
The last of the sunflowers. The birds are busy pecking seeds from the older heads. Get fat little birds, winter is coming.
Petunias
Volunteer morning glories. I've noticed that the flowers of blues and purple like the cooler weather. Summer is for yellow and hot red. Not across the board but a definite leaning.
Autumn crocus
Sedum in bloom
Mums. A sure sign of fall.
NAKED THROUGH AND THROUGH
Yes
Lene, they really are called "Naked Ladies". Also know as Belladonna lily; Latin name, Amaryllis belladona . The greenery comes up in the spring then dies back. In late summer the foliage free flowers poke through the soil and bloom. They're rather hardy souls with a great scent. I've never seen them anywhere but California. My Sunset guide says they are native to South Africa. For me they are a flower of my childhood.
Fall is now here, practically from one day to the next we slid from heat to cool nights and shorter days. I am mostly seeing little tableau consisting of a few flowers here and there.
CRANKINGWith less than two weeks before the Celtic Festival I am knitting up a storm trying to finish up my shawls. I think I am one of the world's slowest knitters. Never did master the tricky style of doing it all with my left hand. I toss with my right making each and every stitch a major event. Another one! Whooo Hooo!
CRACK OF DOOM
Photo lifted from the MSN homepage, probably totally illegal. Sorry.
I logged on last night and read that the area around my friend Kate had
exploded. A large gas main had ruptured. Much freaking out occurred until she called me back, safe and sound and on her way to stay with a friend. Her entire condo complex (and several blocks around her) had been evacuated. Talk about living the exciting life.
The Squeakers slept through it all. Probably dreaming of the day I'll get around to sewing up another sleeping pad.
MISSION DELORES
I recently watched
Vertigo which features
Mission Dolores so I asked Kate if we could go visit the next time I came down. Sure, she said!
As their website says:
Mission Dolores has always had a central place in the religious, civic, and cultural life of San Francisco. Misión San Francisco de Asís was founded June 29, 1776, under the direction of Father Junipero Serra and is both the oldest original intact Mission in California and the oldest building in San Francisco. Today, the Mission Dolores Parish comprises both the Basilica and the Old Mission.
The new building on the right didn't quite hold up as well as the original mission after the 1906 earthquake. 4' adobe walls are pretty sturdy.
There is a lovely graveyard attached to the mission with a large statue of Father
Junipero Serra. The literature says he was a nice guy, modest, kind etc. I'd like to think the artist caught the Father giving some thought of what happened to all the native Indians that became little more than slave labor for the church. From a population of 300,000 to 20,000 in only a few years. Food for thought indeed.
GARDEN STUFF
Arriving back home after having my fill of missions and museums I harvested the Concord grapes to make wine. This will be my first try. I do plum almost yearly but never grapes.
The garden is winding down fast. I'm hoping for a warm fall so there will be a chance of more tomatoes. It wasn't a good year for them but everything else did so well I won't complain.
Kate, winning hands down the giving of the absolutely LAST birthday present, gifted me with a very cool kitchen implement, a cup that is really a colander. Perfect for rinsing a handful of berries, or in this case, some cherry tomatoes.
OLIVE
This particular Squeaker has been seen napping behind easy chairs on bookshelves. She recently learned that if the bedroom closets are left open she can have a lot of fun sliding the bottom drawers. You will hear rollers going in and out, in and out. Or, you'll walk back into the bedroom and see various drawers partly open.
Opal has shown no interest in drawers. She however, figured out that it was not only possible to open the sliding screen door but that it was actually rather easy. None of our other cats, either past or present, ever did that. Since it is still rather hot, it's nice to have the door open with the screen shut so Something Had to Be Done. Being somewhat bigger brained AND with
opposable thumbs we now use a gate that hubby built to keep Omar secured in the kitchen area when he was a
pupster with the desire to go potty anywhere it took his fancy. Turn it on its side and wedge it in and for now at least, Opal is flummoxed. She's thinking about it though.
KNITTING
The niece knitting is done! After multiple tries I settled on a simple pattern for the
wristwarmers and completely spaced photographing them before I mailed the package off. Now I'm working hard to finish up the scarves for the upcoming Celtic Festival. THEN knitting for myself at long last. Okay, I admit it, I'm likely to sneak some personal knitting in regardless. Just.Can't.Help.Myself.
