Again with the rain by sheer force of will. I spent all last evening watching some storms on the radar. They were pretty far west, and I wasn’t sure they were going to make it here. But this morning it’s raining beautifully, and I am thrilled to pieces that our plants and ground are getting a much needed soaking.
It was even hotter yesterday, with crazy wind. Even so, I forced myself into 15 minutes of weeding, and you know what? That rose of sharon garden is looking pretty decent. And after today’s rain, it’ll be even easier to pull those weeds.
On that note, guess what those weeds are? Those millions of weeds? They are new little rose of sharons. Apparently I wasn’t aware of just how much they like to reseed. This year I’ll take the copious amounts of time to deadhead that thing as high as I can reach. I don’t really want to do this type of weeding again.
I had hoped to commute by bike this morning, but the morning rain made that a fail. Unfortunately, this means I won’t make my goal of commuting by bike once this week, as we’ve got a funeral to attend midday tomorrow, and Friday I get to walk Max, Miss Marja’s dog. So car is needed. Because I couldn’t commute in, I had extra time in the morning.
And that means I was able to finish repeat 5 on the first side of the tibetan clouds stole. I committed to 3 repeats this week and I’ve already knit two. I really think this thing is going to be absolutely glorious once blocked!
I also finished up the next ball of yarn on the purple scarf, as I’d hoped. Now I’ve only 4 balls of yarn left to go on that. I am feeling mighty accomplished with my knitting right now. It’s nice. With Tour de Fleece right around the corner, this bodes well for my stash.
The one thing I’ve noticed this week with Miss Butterfly at camp, despite really missing her company, is that it is true that I just plain have more mental energy to get stuff done with her gone. I’ve been productive around the house and with other stuff that just plain needs to be sorted, and it feels really good. She’s got another week of camp coming up, as well as her annual trip to visit my parents, so I am just going to take advantage of that mental energy and work with it.
I guess that’s about it from here, happy halfway through the week!
Suzy Sells Sea Shells 
Oh, that Tibetan clouds! I might have to try it in spite of the warnings about errors, it is so lovely.
And the Rose of Sharon – yikes! Can you go heavy on the mulch after you get it weeded? Will that reduce the number of volunteers?
I love that you freely admit to missing your girl but also that you have found some good in your childless time. One less (very active) person to coordinate with, and more time for the things you love to do. It’s camp for you as well!
It’s already heavily mulched. They just sorta weave their way up through the mulch. I did a little research and apparently this is a thing that they do. Of course, I am also thinking “Why am I not saving one for someone?” Which, maybe I’ll try in the future. In any case, it’s good to know so I can take some precautions in the future. The tree is far larger than I can reach, so deadheading will only minimize the problem, not fix it. But it’s a start!
The Tibetan Clouds. Well, the non documented error that I mentioned was entirely user error. I never made that same mistake a second time. The necessary changes are documented, so if you choose to do it, just make sure to look up the errata. The book is really good too, there’s a lot of stuff in there I really want to knit! (Knitter’s Book of Wool.)
Heavily mulched and it still managed to self sow that much? That stinks! Maybe it should not be in a garden, but in the middle of the lawn where it will get mowed around. Closely. lol. At least it is happy in your yard!
I looked the pattern for Tibetan Clouds up on Ravelry, pattern only available in the book at this point, but I found a woman in my knitting group who has it and will lend it. I will take a look at it and at the errata – maybe I will print it off for her so she has it with the book in case she ever wants to make it. I looked up the errata on the book in general, and holy cow, there is a lot of it! Makes me leery of ever buying books again! But your stole is just so pretty, I might have to risk it.
Oh that is going to be gorgeous blocked. THe color is amazing. Im glad there are some positives to your girl being at camp. Little rose of sharons were always around us in Glenview. Sadly the transplant here did not make it. I ordered a yard ornament to celebrate Fireman’s mom who had the original ROse of Sharon. She always had parakeets and I found a parakeet wind spinner on line. That will make us think of her !