Monica Knits

The drake is in the water about 8' away watching out for the family. The ducklings have just eaten and mom courageously chased away gulls trying to eat the same food. After dinner mom started grooming by a boat launch and the ducklings copied their mother.

Yesterday evening the tornado siren sounded, so we powered everything down (no blogging) and hunkered down in the basement, while the thunderstorm passed through. We have a small portable TV down there and tuned into the local weather station to keep up with the storm's progress and severity. In our county 100,000 people were without power today, but we were fortunate and did not lose power.

Lush. That is the best way to describe the plants and foliage this year. Even though the water table seems to be lower this year, the rains and temperatures were ideal for plants this year. The day lilies look like they will also be a bumper crop. This first one opened just after the rain.

We are definitely in the dog days of summer (a few days early), fortunately moderated by wind. Shaq enjoyed the breeze, which was at times gentle and at times strong enough to cause his ears to flap as if he were in a car travelling with its windows down. The breeze also made it easy for him to catch scents, just by pointing his nose in the direction of the wind. He even opened his mouth to catch more air, as if sipping a fine wine. In this photo he is taking a break in the prairie among the daisies.

Many of you read the Gold Flame Spirea article: Not Your Usual Spring Colors - Gold Flame Spirea. In spring (right), it is the equivalent of the burning bush with its vibrant reddish leaves. In summer (left) the leaves are green and the tiny flower clusters dark pink. Click here to read the article: Not Your Usual Spring Colors - Gold Flame Spirea.

For the past week or so I have been experimenting with knitted embellishments for 3 purses I am making. One of my ideas was a four leaf clover, a symbol of good fortune, but I hadn't seen one in over a decade, until today. And it was Shaq, our GSP, who pointed it out, literally, during a pause in our jog. Lucky for me, and likely as well for the clover which Shaq watered and fertilized. This is providence; one purse was destined to have a shamrock design element.

Don't be afraid to experiment. I wanted to try felting a piece of knitted fabric, so I made a swatch with cream colored Palette yarn, ran it through a wash cycle and got the pleasing effect I sought: a soft, fuzzy, fabric like a lamb's fleece. After I created this small sample, I read an article on felting in the library which cautioned against felting whites, saying that the stitch definition might not be diffused. Had I read the article beforehand I might not have tried felting a white yarn.

Because of its bright yellow color, you can see the coreopsis from a long way's off, so a few plants can have a large visual impact. These perennials like the sun and brighten a dark green background of foliage.

Turn up the heat. This perennial reminds me of a sunburst with a gradient progression from yellow through orange and red. Again, the cooler spring weather and generous spring rains have resulted in lush foliage and a rich show of flowers and buds.

The Rochester Paint Creek Walkway garden, just west of the Rochester Public Library is a compact island of calm complete with an impressive rose hedge, water garden, fox sculpture, peonies, balloon flowers, sweet william, pansies and other flowers in bloom. At the garden center is a majestic bronze fox, reminiscent of ancient Egyptian sculptures.