An envelope made of pink yarn really does look a lot like the pink pussy hats that were symbols of protest a few years ago.
I made a trivet to go under it, too.
It’s my first trivet/coaster and it isn’t perfect. And the cozy’s a little loose. But, it’ll work for what I need it to do.
The cozies at the tea room had little flowers in the corner. That may get added later. But, it’s beyond my skill set right now. And I have a couple of afghans to finish.
I’ve wanted a cozy for my tea pots for a while and the patterns I found on line were more complicated than my present skill set. Top Hat Special-Teas in Florence, SC uses cozies that are rectangles folded over and stitched together on each end with a flat square placed underneath. I really liked how easy it looked to make and they were very functional. So, I decided to make at least one for myself.
One of the patterns in my most recent afghan kit is called a seed stitch. I like it because it’s easy and it makes a nice, thick weave. (I used it for Jeff’s infinity scarf.) It alternates single and double crochets with the other one going into each when you go the other direction. So, you start with an odd number of stitches.
I have a couple of skeins of pink that I bought and changed my mind about and I decided to use the lighter one for a cozy (Micheal’s Loop & Thread, soft rose). I can do that more thoughtlessly than some of the bits of the afghan I’m working on. So, it’s a fallback project when my hands want something to do and my mind isn’t into it.
I got my white teapot down to estimate how big I think it needs to be. But, I think I’ve made it larger than necessary. I didn’t really feel like ripping it out to start over because I’m fairly far along.
But, looking at the size difference again is going to change my mind about that. It’s not like I have a schedule for getting it done and I think I’d rather redo it now than be unhappy with it later.
I’ll use the dark pink to learn to make a round to go under it once this is done. And I have some leftover red if I decide I want to learn to make a flower for decoration.
How girlie is this? Pretty damn girlie.
It really looked awful. I have no doubt that the people down the road shook their heads at the mess when they left the neighborhood.
There’s a tree-of-heaven and a Chinese silk tree in there. And a briar that may or may not have been a wild blackberry. Random small maples, cedars and some elderberries were giving it a try, too.
The lilac by the fence has had a Chinese silk tree and a maple trying to squeeze in for a couple of years. I thought I killed them last year, but, they are going to need more persistence.
I got them out and treated with Triclopyr again. And I’ll put more effort into not letting them grow next year. Also, more Triclopyr until they just give up.
I sprouted some muscadine seeds a few years ago and I’m hoping to use this side of fence to be a trellis for the vine. If it ever makes fruit and they match the parent plants, they will be HUGE grapes.
I have promised plants to Cannon’s neighbor. So, I lifted some irises that weren’t doing well by the fence and took out one of the Red Hot Pokers that was nearer to the HVAC to take to her tomorrow.
This side is all swamp sunflowers. They are wonderful for the pollinators in the Fall. But, they do not get enough sun here. I think I’ll move them over to the corner of the fence next Spring and make this side a shade garden.
I really do believe that once I get this all cleaned up, maintaining it next year won’t be as much of a chore.
When Chuck first started sharing his work, he made zines. He gave them / sent them, free of charge, to anyone he knew that was interested in having them. After he had done several, a friend suggested that he get a space at a zinefest at The Fruit in Durham. So, he did.
We tend to share access to stuff. Like, he uses my phone number to get the discounts at groceries. And we both use the same login to Duke Power and our credit union.
When it was time to pay for his table, they were taking PayPal for the fee and I am the one with a PayPal account. I hate PayPal. When I had occasion to change my name, they thought they should be given copies of paperwork that I thought (and still think) isn’t their business. If I want to call myself Murgatroyd von Pussylips, it is not their business to get documentation as long as the info connected to the bank is valid. And I wanted to change my usename. Nothing else. I did not think it was their business to see my marriage license to justify changing that.
So, I try not to use them. I don’t want to give them money.
BUT, I still have that account and Chuck needed to send money. So, it was used.
When it was time to load in, it took a few minutes to locate. Because, in spite of the form he filled out to register the space, this was what we finally found.
I guess I’m working my way from easiest to hardest/worst mess.
The beds in front of the house are managed. Off the patio is in good shape. It could use more mulch. But, it’s not bad and can wait a while.
A spice bush is planted in the empty (no longer weedy) spot in front of the shed. That also needs mulch. I can do that with a bucket or 2.
The zinnia patch around the well is done. It has been mulched.
I think of the roadside bed in 3 sections. The shady part is (now) between the silver bark maple and a persimmon (male, no fruit.). It has a dogwood that I transplanted from a friend’s yard, a ‘Rising Sun’ redbud, the rice paper bush, a camellia, some Eastern columbine, some straggly mums, calla lilies, irises and the hellebore patch. The middle is partial shade and goes north from the persimmon and includes the peonies, 2 black leaved crepe myrtles, 3 fancy spiderworts, 3 azaleas, more irises, trout lilies and spotted bellflowers. The sunny part has ruella (devoured by deer this year), crocosmia, solar flares, monarda, a Japanese quince, more irises and the big leaf magnolia.
Today, I worked on the shady section. I have cleared out Virginia creeper, boxwood, pin oak, maples, cedars, and dogwoods. Most of them weren’t knee high, some were just a couple of inches tall. A boxwood growing up through the dogwood was more significant. Some, I pulled up. (Cedars are surprisingly easy.) Some, I cut as close to the ground as I could get and poisoned with Triclopyr.
While I was doing that, Chuck cleared up the southern fence. There are 4 crepe myrtles there that I planted 21 years ago. Also, some blueberry bushes. The crepe myrtles have been putting out shoots and crowding the blueberries. Not any more, baby! It’s shockingly tidy over there, now.
Left foreground is some deadwood waiting to be cut up for our fire pit. Behind that is a small green shed with a forsythia bush on the left and a ballshaped compost bin to the right. There’s a Chinese silk tree immediately behind the shed. Along the fence are 4 crepe myrtles with small blueberry bushes in between them. Between the last crepe myrtle to the right and a Bradford pear on the other side of the fence is a small patch of lily greenery. There’s a small butterfly bush in the corner. The green in the foreground on the right is a fig.
Behind my fence are 2 sheds in my neighbor’s yard, a cart with junk on it, the deck behind her house, the white van that has been parked there for as long as I’ve lived here with part of a wooden pallet leaning against it.
If you can zoom in that far, you can see the propane tank belonging to the neighbors on the other side of her.
I am the Audience 