purlsandmurmers

Deck progress (no knitting)

May was cooler than usual and I couldn't get any of the contractors to show up and work on my ongoing deck project.  So why do they pick the hottest week of the summer-so-far to all show up and work -- and why do I have to keep dragging myself out there in the hottest part of the afternoon, in the sunniest part of the yard, to look at everything and answer questions?

I am drained, I tell you just drained.

But it is looking good:

The privacy wall on the north end of the deck, protecting us from the neighbor and people coming down the driveway.  And another view of the same thing seen from across the deck:

Generally I think it looks great.  But do you notice that the colors don't match?  The deck is gray Correct Deck as specified in the contract.  The contract "deck built according to plans".  The contractor tells me they don't have to paint the wooden parts of the deck to match the gray deck material because the contract doesn't specifically say that it must be painted.  He is right, the word "paint" does not occur.  It never occurred to me that it needed to.  I thought that if you are building a gray Correct Deck deck, you would make everything match (and this contractor came very highly recommended by many people).

There is a whole lot of painting to be done here.

What does this have to do with knitting?  Nothing except that the exasperation factor is eating into my knitting time.  And I would never promise someone a gray cashmere sweater and then knit the collar and button bands out of  brown cotton while using the excuse "you said the sweater should be cashmere, you didn't say anything about the collar".

It probably isn't the same thing, but it sure looks that way to me.  It certainly has been a learning experience.

Presenting spring...knitting

The sun finally emerged today although it remained unsettlingly cold.  The Azaleas took the newfound light as a promise of warmth and finally opened from what had begun to seem like a permanent budding state:

And I have managed to create a swatch for my next project although I have made no progress sewing up the two waiting in the wings.

I offer a photo simply because I thought the swatch was so pretty sitting in the sun:

The yarn is Jaeger's Albany cotton ribbon in shade # 262.  It is destined to be this sweater  from Jaeger brochure JB11.

Tulip Mania continues

The tulip fest continues.  The peony flowered tulips are now open in all their glory.

And especially Black Hero, which has really captured my imagination this year.  I always have a black tulip, usually the classic and classically shaped Queen of the Night, but Black Hero has proved to be long lived and spectacular.

I must have a vase of tulip goodness in my sewing/knitting room at all times, inspiring me with their vivid colors, beguiling me with their scent:

Extravagance

I admit that I am no minimalist where tulips are concerned.  There have been years when I have planted hundreds, carefully planning my choices so as to have several weeks worth of extravagant tulip displays in the house. Luckily since most of the vegetable garden cannot be planted until late May there is adequate time for a generous tulip crop.

This year's planting was more modest, but we are certainly far from tulip free: 

from classic:

to gaudy extravagance: 

I love them all.

Even the smaller flowers emerging from older bulbs that managed to miss being evicted from the garden beds are beautiful:

And last, but far from least, are the tulips planted in the front of the house in the new Iris bed.   Spring Green and Black Hereo form one of my favorite color combinations.  I did not intend to pick these as they are seen every day from the front of the house and the driveway, but since a large part of this flower bed is currently obscured from view by the temporary location of the spa and various trucks and heavy equipment, it seemed only fitting that  a few should be enjoyed indoors.