Clematis, On and Off the Vine

Been spending my knitting time working on lace projects--participating in the Seasons of Lace and using the great wine collection of lace yarn I bought from KnitPicks. First finished project was what I call the Clematis scarf, since it reminds me of the clematis I planted in my back yard that winds up and around and through the tree (sometime of ornamental spring blooming tree) in my back yard. The yarn is my favorite alpaca--well, 80 % baby alpaca and 20% silk. It's soft to die for!

I completed two more lace scarves and I have one Monkey Sock completed. I still intend to get back to my Candle Flame Shawl, a pattern and yarn I bought two summers ago and never got past the first five or six rows!

It's a wonderful time of year--long days, bright skies. I enjoy working in my yard. Two years ago, I had all the grass dug up and I've been working at filling it with flowers. A mixture of perennials and annuals, lots of Butterfly Bush and other butterfly/hummingbird-attracting flowers, a Smoke Bush, and of course, to add smiles, some sunflowers.

The smaller side front yard is filled with miniature roses. All summer long, I take small vases of these roses in to work to share with my coworkers and friends. My favorite miniature, for both its color and fragrance, is called Vista. It's a shade of lilac. (Can you tell I like purple in all its varieties??)

I buy the roses on-line from Nor-east Roses, which is now in California. But my brother worked with the original owner (now dead) outside of Boston and has wonderful stories about how he developed roses and insisted on perfection.

Besides working full-time, gardening and knitting, I keep myself off the streets! Not that the streets in Moscow, Idaho, are that dangerous anyway!! It's hard to believe that August is just a few steps away!l I better get away from the computer and spend more time outside!!