A Full Weekend

The past two weeks sure have been sultry!  It was so hot that for a solid week we brought our buns inside to keep cool.  They never would have made it out in that heat and humidity.  Since they don't have the option to burrow into the cooler ground like the wild rabbits, we created for them their own little underground sanctuary - in our basement, which stays a nice 60 degrees year round.  I have a feeling they were much obliged.

The garden (for the most part - I'll get to that later) is doing well.  As a matter of fact, it's doing so well, that I'm realizing that I should have planned it out just a little better.  My butternut squash is taking over the whole lower quadrant.  Not surprising in that I planted 8 seeds (all came up) in a 4 by 8 plot.  I didn't have the heart to thin them out.  And now they will be the squash monster that takes over my whole garden; I'm sure of it!  The roma tomatoes plants are full of fruits.  Beans producing like mad.  Okra enjoying the ridiculous heat.  And pumpkins starting to trellis up our TV antennae tower.

This past weekend we travelled up north to help move my brother and sister-in-law back home.  It was a long and exhausting process, and by the time we left to come back down to the farm, you could tell everyone was whooped.  Even after the moving truck had been unloaded, it was still a full weekend.  We visited the local farmer's market (Eat Local!) and open air market - something new for Warren County, and went a saw a movie.  And of course ate more than we should have.  That always happens when mom's cooking.

Can you find the Sphinx (Hummingbird) Moth?

This is not to say that we didn't find time to relax as well.  We certainly did.  I took the opportunity to shoot some pictures of the flowers and wild life in her gardens during one of those times.  My mom's flowers always seem to attract Sphinx moths.  I love these little things.  They never stop flitting from one flower to the next.

Chinese Lantern Plant

I acquired this plant from a friend of mine when we both lived at the barn.  I think these are fabulously bright and wonderful!  I love the orange color they change as they mature.  Inside is a tiny little fruit that reminds me of a type of tomatillo.  Don't just go out and eat them though, as I can't tell you if they are edible or not.  Some have told me they are edible and others have said they are not.  If anyone knows for sure, I'd love to know!

Knitting Addictions

I ran across this animated short a couple days ago, and the whole time I watched it, I sat there shaking my head thinking, "I can relate!"  I would knit just about anything to keep on knitting.  Once upon a time I ran out of fiber, so I actually spun up some plastic bags into 'plarn' (plastic yarn).  I never did knit it up into anything as someone felt so bad for me that I had resorted to making plarn, that they gave me one of their sheep fleeces to process.  I will not deny that I have a fiber addiction.  I have more fiber up in my craft room than I could probably process in an entire year.  Then again, who knows.

So to all my other fellow addicted knitters, crocheters, and fiber artists, I hope you enjoyed this clip!  Happy Knitting!

The Buck Moon

Tonight's Buck moon rose to a chorus of coyote's out in the back pasture.  It couldn't have been a more perfect scenario.  As a matter of fact, I have never heard the coyotes so close, and so active before.  It was just as if they needed to make sure that the man in the moon felt welcome as he looked down over our hills.  In the background, the fireflies dashed to and fro lighting their little paths all over the sky and through some of the tall vegetation (including my garden).  It was picture perfect, really.  


The full moon goes by various names as it rises each month, and varies according to different peoples and traditions.  From what I have read, the Buck Moon dates back to the Native American peoples of the northern and eastern regions of North America.  It's reference it to the the new growth of velvety antlers poking out from the foreheads of the bucks this time of year.  We visited an animal sanctuary this past weekend which houses and cares for a small herd of reindeer.  I got to feel first hand what that wonderful velvet feels like and now have a better appreciation for the name of this month's full moon.  All I can say is that velvet is a wonderful texture to feel.  


It's nights like these that make me thankful that I live in the country and not the city.  I realize to each his own, but oh the wonderful sounds of nature.  It's peaceful.  And that's how it should be.