Sugar Bunny Boulevard

Moments

The past several days and weeks have been full of small moments when I think "take a picture!" but I've been too busy to blog about it much.  Some things have a story, some don't - some I'll come back to again in the future if I can.  So I'm giving you a little collage of moments.  And the list of squares received from last week on Wednesday Thursday and Friday. 

I'm trying to make this quick so I can get to the Y this morning.  We went to the Y twice last week plus I did some yard work on Saturday that definitely qualified as a workout, resulting in a 3lb weight loss last week.  I'm inching closer but still haven't reached a mini-goal of getting under 200lbs.  I still have a little more than a month before the seaming party and I would be very happy to have those few pounds off before facing a ton of people at the seaming party.  I'm also getting a hair cut tomorrow.  It'll be pretty major because I haven't had a salon appointment in many years.  I usually cut my hair myself but decided it's okay to splurge a little when what I really want is an extreme makover.  ha

As always, click any picture to see the full size version.

Last week on Wednesday Thursday and Friday we received a lot of packages!  In all of those packages we received 266 squares, 2 yarn needles and a bit more seaming yarn.  There's a PayPal button in the sidebar now if anybody would like to donate for seaming supplies.  Thank You to everybody for knitting squares and everything you've done to help out.  I appreciate it VERY MUCH and am excitedly anticipating a lot of mail this week!!

The squares and yarn needles and seaming yarn from Wed-Thu-Friday last week came from the following people:

• Betsy - Covington, LA
• Kelley - Wonder Lake, IL
• Kandis - Harrisburg, OR
• Anita - Great Barrington, MA
• Cheri - Jacksonville, FL
• Steph  Cincinnati, OH
• Ruth Ann - Moore, OK
• Linda - Kitchener, Ontario, CANADA
• Cheryl - Des Moines, IA
• Paige - Indianapolis, IN
• Knitting Artists of Northern Virginia - Leesburg, VA
• Carolyn - Garden Grove, CA
• Eleanor - Wayland, NY
• Amy - Apple Valley, MN
• Nauda - Melrose, MA
• "Night Ships" knitting group (Ellen, MaryS, Marion, MaryU, Pat, Carol and Nancy) - Ann Arbor, MI
• Barbara - Mashpee, MA
• Sherry - West Roxbury, MA
• Susan - Miami, FL
• Theresa - Eugene, OR
• Anne - Woodbridge, VA
• Lauren - Atlantic Beach, FL
• Leah for Emmanuel Presbyterian Church - Bedford, TX

This batch of mail had so many many MANY sweet thoughtful personal notes to me - thank you every one of you for your thoughtfulness, your wishes for a successful seaming event, and for your time spent on making squares, packing them up, sending them off, and writing dear little notes and letters to include with them.  It's your encouragement and the vision of the seaming event that make it possible for me to see this project through to completion because I'm telling you.... it's big y'all.  It's pretty darn big!!  :)

I might have to take you on a little movie tour of what the den looks like right now!  I'll think about that. 

So have a wonderful week - it'll be a busy one for us.  Kids are starting school.  Benny starts 2-a-days in football today.  We have visitors coming soon soon SOON!  I'm teaching classes (big one on Entrelac tomorrow night) and dyeing yarn.... watch for some pictures soon - but it's so unfair - I'm dyeing for TWIST!  And I don't know if Shelly will be taking phone orders!  But get this - I'm dyeing Panda Cotton sock yarn (bamboo/cotton/nylon blend) by Crystal Pallace.  Yes - you heard that right.  The Procion dyes have been ordered and I'm dyeing cotton.  I've also made another order for my wool base yarn to sell on the blog.  So it's all good and it's all crazy and you get the periodic reports and photos right here!

Take good care of every little thing!  XOXOXOX

Saturday Sky

It's been quite a while since I posted a Saturday Sky photo!  This is the spot where I took all of my morning glory pictures last summer.... this year the MG's are about 10 feet (and further) to the west and the first vine has already reached the top of the fence.  Boy they grow fast.

This is the lapghan donated by Cheryl who was also a Leader for the 3rd grade kids at our VBS this year.  I am getting to know so many nice people in town since we've started going to FBC and also getting to know so many wonderful people all over the US and Canada and Worldwide because of the Greensburg afghan project.  I feel so bonded to the packages we receive, the kind notes and letters that people write, the beautiful squares that you all knit and crochet.  I'm still quite emotionally moved by all of your enthusiasm and interest in the project.  I easily could have burned out on this project a LOOOOONG time ago if it wasn't for your UNDYING support and enthusiasm.  I appreciate you all so very much I just can't even put it into words.

Last night I posted my ECF entry quite late, then checked my blog stats.  People are STILL just learning about this project and hustling to get on the afghan bandwagon!  Welcome aboard!  We're near to the goal but we'll be so very happy and grateful to receive your squares.

It's very interesting to browse my blog stats and see what kind of Google searches are pulling up my original post about the project where I have all the FAQs and instructions listed. I have been continuing to update that post when I have little things to add and tweak.  Somehow I was led back to the Wichita Eagle web site and their collection of stories about Greensburg.  Of course the Kansas papers are going to continue writing about the community and people there long after the rest of the world has gone back to their daily lives. 

There were two articles that really struck a chord with me.  These two articles really REALLY made me realize how very important this project will be to the community and the individuals and families who will receive afghans this fall.  I want to say "especially the children" but it's more than children.  Their parents and grandparents and neighbors and city officials and 911 dispatch - everyone.  Every resident of the community has been dramatically affected by this event.  Every person who knows and cares about the residents of that community are dramatically affected because of their connections there. 

I have thankfully never ever EVER received a hateful ugly negative comment on my blog from anyone about anything I've ever written.  Thank Heaven.  But with my browsing I have run across just two somewhat negative remarks.  One was specifically about this project and was a display of obvious ignorance.  The other was about charity knitting in general and mentioned afghan projects.  I spent a few days wondering if this was really a worthwhile thing to be doing - if you can believe that.  I was questioning the validity and worth of this project.  Wondered if it truly was a meaningful effort because of really just one statement about charity knitting.

Reading these two articles last night reminded me that what I started, and what you have all helped develop, is very meaningful indeed.  There are no words to express my appreciation for your help and the lasting effect that your outreach will have on the people who receive these afghans.  Thank you.

These are the two articles I read:

• The Greensburg Tornado Damage You Can't See
• Greensburg Repopulates Lot by Lot

Saturday Sky

Is it an Impressionistic Kansas Landscape...?

Am I the only one who sees a far distant view across a field of corn or green wheat with a beautiful blue Kansas sky up above?  Maybe squint a little..... now do you see it?  The ladies knitting with me at Panera Bread this morning said they saw it so I couldn't be too crazy.  hehe  That strip of Blue Saturday Sky is yesterday's tiny ball of blue yarn left from the Comforting Jef afghan project.  I love the way it came out looking like the sky in this square - totally unplanned but completely appropriate for the way I feel about that yarn.

This was square number two!  And guess what.... I picked up six squares from the gals at Panera this morning!  Isn't that AWESOME!?  I'm so happy.  Can you tell?  :)

Square two.... and another on its heels.  I'm using what I have to make these squares and I encourage EVERYONE to do the same!  Use what you have!  Think outside the box and have fun making this simple quick pattern.  If I'm not chatting away with the gals at Panera I can usually finish one of these squares in about two hours.  My daughter Suzannah finished HALF of one this morning and it was the first time she ever knit one!  I was so proud of her and she's so excited to be contributing to the Greensburg afghan project!  Yay!

   

If you don't have worsted weight yarn, substitute something else.  Use whatever needle size is recommended on the ball band if you aren't sure where to start - needle size and gauge are NOT important - the most important thing is to aim for 8" squares.  And I promise - they won't all be 8" squares.  But I will *try to* wash and block squares as they come in and try to group ones together that are wanting to be a slightly smaller or larger size than 8".  The important thing is that you send 'em on in!  Don't forget that two strands of sock yarn held together = worsted weight yarn!!  Go with a size US6, 7, or 8 needle and you're good!

A few days ago I contacted all of the local newspapers and TV networks via email to tell them about this project.  None of them responded except the Wichita newspaper wrote back right away to ask if it was my project or a church project?  I replied that I'm heading up the project and the church is supporting it with an address and help with seaming if needed.  Then I didn't hear anything else.  Last night I read an article that made me pause... One that stated there are many "Legitimate" agencies and charities helping but to watch for scams.  Could those people be thinking I'm running some kind of a YARN SCAM??  OH SHEESH.  Of course I thought of the crazy Blue Moon Fiber Arts story with their bank and all that.  I thought "I need to tell the Yarn Harlot that the Muggles are at it again!"  But then this morning as I was about to tell the knitting girls my fears.... Gwen reached for her bag and said, "Did you see that you're in the newspaper?"

My first thought was "This Erases Everything!"  The project has been validated.  Right there on May 11, 2007.  Section A page 7 of the Wichita Eagle.  Buddied up with United Way, Salvation Army, Red Cross, Pizza Hut, and Catholic Charities.  We are REAL.  I cried a tiny bit and then called my husband to let him know.  He doesn't seem to realize that we will (hopefully) suddenly be surrounded by mountains of afghan squares.  Katie does realize this.  I mentioned the tentative deadline of August 1st to my friends at Panera and she said, "So when we get home from spending the summer in Texas the house will be full of THESE?" (that was good for a giggle!)  I sure hope so Katie.

Y'all have a great evening and a wonderful Sunday.  I've been posting so many days in a row I really need a rest.  See you on Monday with what I hope is a great report on the Weight Loss Challenge!  :)

Saturday Sky

Good Saturday Morning To You All!

Last night our Kansas sky produced a monster storm west of us in the middle of the state which spawned many tornados and extensive damage to the rural towns and farms across that area.  Keep them in your thoughts and prayers for healing and recovery from the devistating storms and damage.  Eight years ago this past week I lived in a tiny house in Wichita on a day when there were tornados in Oklahoma and Kansas.  One tornado that went through Wichita that day flattened houses one block away from me and had me hiding in a closet scared to death.  Just listening to the non-stop storm coverage on the television last night brought a lot of that panic back to me.  I'm thinking of those families.

Did you notice our other little family in the picture above??

These precious little babies were snoozing away as I held the camera up to the basket taking pictures.  Thank goodness their mama trusts us!!  Throughout the day we'll hear these babies in a rousing chorus of chirping.  When I look out the window there is the mama feeding them and their little heads are bobbing up and down with mouths wide open.

I think last Saturday I said they were Purple Martins.  They're really Purple Finches!  Sorry about that.  Isn't it amazing how much they've grown in just one week?  Awww.  :)

One clarification on the CONTEST:  One comment per person per POST is eligible for the random drawing.  I did say per DAY, and I do mean that, but it's actually per POST because I'm posting every day until the contest ends on Friday.  Does that help? 

Hopefully I'll have time to pick up some lining fabric and zipper for the Larger Than Life Tote while I'm in Wichita later today.  Yay!  I can't wait to get this put together.  I wound the body yarn into a ball last night and will hopefully get the sides sewn and body made today.  I thought maybe I would wash and block the sides before attaching the body but I need to read through the instructions again before I make a final decision about that.  The yarn color for the body is a dark brownish red.  If I had to give it a name I would say it looks like a Brown Sheep Co. color called Oxblood.

Have a great weekend!

OH!!!  HOW COULD I???  hehehe

Click any picture to see a bigger view.  NOW.... have a great weekend!  :)

Saturday Sky

Happy Saturday Everyone!!  :)

This is the view out the kitchen window from Emeline's place at the breakfast table.  It's not this dark in the kitchen but you know - camera/photography quirks.  I'm not sure that I really ever want to know enough to understand it all.

From left to right:  a) beginning of Shedir chemo cap for my SIL's mother - I really need to hurry up with this because the poor lady is getting chemo treatments in a very cold facility and is already losing her hair; b) Hufflepuff Sock #1 [this] close to finishing - seriously that close - only about 10-15 more rows on the toe - getting great mileage out of this skein of yarn - will pick up Shedir the second I finish this sock tonight; c) swatch in the new Lion Brand Cotton Ease for Michael's to put up on a sign advertising classes - I already have two other lace swatches - I cannot WAIT to use this yarn for something like a sweater, I washed and dried this swatch last night and it is awesome awesome AWESOME!  :)

Not even DADDY has mentioned the sore lack of baby pictures on yesterday's Eye Candy Friday post so before people start nagging me about it.....

Lila says:  Blurry is as good as it GETS Mommy - I'm too busy for a photo shoot!  (She's crazy about carrying bags around now, just like another little girl was around this age.)

Emeline says:  No time for pictures Mommy - I'm watching Harry Potter!  What?  Pose hugging Lila?  I love her but not. right. NOW!  (we took Harry Potter back to Blockbuster for a few days but the withdrawl was too painful and she demanded that we bring him back)

Gotta run!  The diet is going great and I finally got things worked out with www.diabetescontrolforlife.com 24 week weight loss plan.  I really like it!  I'm helping out with a scrapbooking event at Michael's today and then Jeff and I are going out to eat tonight at Abuelo's.  YUM!  Chicken fajitas for me!

Have a wonderful weekend!!  :)

Saturday Sky

Our sky this afternoon.  Beautiful blue.  I did wake up to a few inches of snow on the ground this morning but it was 35F and melting fast.  It turned out to be a lovely springy day!

Would you take a knitting class from this person??  I think this is the picture I'm putting on my "Instructor Bio" which will be hung in the classroom at Michael's where I am teaching knitting classes starting in May.  I forgot to take the camera with me this morning so I didn't get a picture of my store sample knits.  Katie took the picture for me after I took a few bad ones of myself.  She got this in just one try.

Other *wonderful* news about Katie:  she went to a birthday party at the skating rink today and came home with a hurting arm again.  Ugh.  I told her that we're going to stick it out until Monday before going to the doctor.  We still have her splint from the first broken arm (yes, same arm, same place) so she's taking Motrin and wearing the brace.  Hopefully it'll be feeling better and is maybe just a bruise.  I really don't want to deal with the cast thing all. over. again.

Have a FABULOUS weekend - I'm off to dye some yarn for my Hogwarts Sock Swap pal!  Yippee!!  :)

Saturday Sky

Happy Saturday Everyone!!  Here's a sweet little slice of Saturday Sky for you.... just right there at the top... see?

It's a beautiful sunny warm Spring Day here in Kansas.  The babies got a little loopy when I let them play on the porch this morning.

Eye Candy isn't just for Fridays. heh  Here's one more of Lila Pearl with two of her loves - books and her baby.  Awwwww.

The big kids are visiting Texas for Spring Break this week so it feels a little bit like a vacation around here without having to take them to school, cook meals for seven, do that much more laundry, drive them hither and yon, etc etc etc.  I love having them here, but a little break is nice too.  :)

Oh, I finished my Wee Tiny Sock and mailed it off today (one day late because... eh hem... weird little story about the camera disk that I really don't need to retell).  Surely they won't say I can't swap again in my life because I sent it one day late.  I usually send my swap packages a day late - that's just the way I am.  *sigh*  There's a Flickr group set up for the photos called Wee Tiny Sock Swap 2007.  There are such great pictures there of these tiny little things.  Thanks Emily for organizing this fun swap!

I've been knitting away on Ene's Shawl but I'll do another lace knitting journal entry tomorrow or Monday so I'll save pictures until then.  I'm zooming along right now and have finally gotten a few rows into chart three.  I was thrilled to find that my stitch count was perfect when I completed chart two (313 stitches on the needles).  It's getting smaller... it's getting smaller. 

We took the babies to Wichita this morning to visit with their grandparents and visit the Michael's store and see if they had a better needle for this lace knitting (Ene).  I was hoping to get a size 6 in the Susan Bates ... oh, I don't know if it has a name.  But the cord is black and the needles are silver.  I thought the cords looked pretty flexible when I saw them a while back.  I was sorry to learn that their smallest size was a 7 and when I felt the cord - not anywhere near as flexible as I hoped.  SO, I'm going with either the new Addi Turbo lace needles or possibly KnitPicks Options.  Still deciding.  But the heavier this gets (if you can even call it heavy) the more difficult it is to use the current circ with quite a rigid cord.

When we were at Michael's I stopped and talked with their Events Coordinator about whether they are looking for knit and crochet instructors.  They asked "what can you do?"  ha  The manager ran to get me an application and they acted very very interested.  One of the first things she said was "you schedule your own classes".  Whew! And "it doesn't matter if you've never taught a class before."  WHEW!  How exciting!  One thing is that I'd be limited to teaching classes that used materials that can be purchased at their store.  Well hm.  I think that's pretty workable.  I first knew about them looking for instructors when there was a mention about it on the Lion Brand email newsletter that I get every week.  They said to bring back the application next week with samples of items I've made and they'll talk to me about it.  Well Cool!  I'm excited... yet... you know.  Every person that I've read (on blogs) who teaches their first class is always very nervous.  I'm sure I would have all the same nervous insecurities (will they like me? will I have a clue what I'm doing? will I remember how to knit?).  I'll let you know how that deal goes.

I've also been dyeing up the rest of the sock yarn I had here in the SOOT colorway (it's all spoken for at this point) and have ordered more yarn to dye.  This time around I'm getting a shipment of 50/50 merino/silk blend yarn for dyeing.  I am so excited to try this yarn!!!  I'll be doing some more semi-solid colorways when it arrives.  Stay tuned for posts about its availability!  And y'all, it's not going to be crazy expensive.  The merino/silk blend will only be $23 per 100g skein.  I can't wait for it to arrive!!  How do you feel about semi-solids in maybe pink, brown, burgundy, blue (light? dark?)...??  I have one skein of laceweight yet undyed.  I'd be glad to take a custom order if anyone has a colorway in mind?

Have a great rest of your weekend and I hope you have a lovely Saturday Sky!  :)

Our Saturday Sky

Our Saturday Sky dumped about eight inches of fluffy white stuff on top of about an inch of ice!

That doesn't make for very fun driving conditions but the kids certainly do think they need to be out stomping around in it getting their clothes wet and tracking in lots of snowy stuff on their shoes!  Texas kids aren't well equipped in the snow clothes department.  heh

The Saturday Sky also provided a good photo opportunity for these Fetching fingerless gloves that I made for Katie's friend at Christmas.  I'm borrowing a camera for these photos so I'm not used to the settings, etc.  I need a new camera but I really dread the "getting to know your new equipment" phase.  I'm forcing myself to try out the other camera but keep thinking "my old camera would have taken a MUCH better picture!"

Everybody stay warm and safe and we'll see ya throughout the week with a few more finished object photos!  Lila Pearl's adorable little homespun hat is finished and we can hardly keep from squeezing her to death! 

One last word...... THANK YOU for all of the enthusiastic compliments on the Argosy scarf.  I hardly know how to respond to the compliments.  I really appreciate what everyone has had to say about it.  :)

What Am I Doing??

Hi everybody!  Wondering where we are?  What we're doing?  Whether we had a sky on Saturday or not? 

I've been .... oh, I was going to say working.  But seriously ... well, I've been working on some knitting projects.  And spinning.  Keeping babies in clean clothes.  Reading pattern books.  Watching a little more TV than I used to.

Relieving my mind of stress and worry opens it up for a lot more relaxing things to do - like get all excited about the new season of Lost.  And keep track of what day it is so I don't miss Project Runway - OH I just can't wait for Wednesday night.  Lost and PR all in one night - plus Dancing With The Stars!  Big night!  I hope the babies don't want to stay up late this week!  heh  I've gone for many years of not having a routine of watching any certain TV programs.  I've spent a lot of my mental energy trying not to go crazy for various reasons.  So far I've done a fine job of meeting that objective but a few things had to be sacrificed - like watching TV.  I didn't think about it much during those times but now I can look back and see that I didn't have room in my mind even to enjoy mindless activities like watching TV.  I'm thankful that I made time for knitting because it is a very relaxing activity.  And blog reading.  That was my TV I suppose - but it has worked well for me, not being on any particular schedule or anything.  It was always there - I didn't have to worry about catching it at 8pm on Wednesday night.

SOOOO.... I will have a small confession about something in a few weeks.  Akin to Cara's "failure to follow through on being a sock knitting angel".  It's really wearing on me and I will soon get myself and my stuff together enough to tell about it.

As I said, I've been doing stuff.  Oh, I guess I'll tell about our weekend since I didn't do a Saturday Sky or Sunday Surprise post.  With the big kids scheduled to arrive in five days, I've been feeling a little of the twangs and twinges of "life won't be the same here" with just Jeff and I and the babies.  It's a good thing, but yet - it won't be the same.  The big kids will be here almost all the time.  Yes, it IS a good thing, but it still won't be the same.  More noise, more distraction, more food to cook and buy, more laundry, more shoes on the floor, more messes, more people to say "clean up this mess you made please", etc etc etc.  Besides the obvious things, one of the nice things about having the big kids here is that they love helping out with the babies.  Whew.

Saturday morning I woke up and told my husband we need to have a special day of togetherness with the girls.  And we did.  We took them to breakfast at McDonald's - Emeline's new favorite restaurant (there was no old favorite).  She's such a joy in our lives - happy and energetic.  After breakfast we went over to Mr. W's house with a very looooooooong piece of 1" PVC pipe to thrash the stubborn hanger-on-ers out of the pear tree.  We filled two 5 gallon buckets with pears.  Here's a little Saturday Sky for ya.  :)

Lila Pearl and Emeline enjoyed the crisp air.

After gathering pears we went down the street to gather black walnuts.  I don't know what makes me think I want these nuts badly enough to deal with the difficulty of cracking them.  I would rather crack pecans for the rest of my life - these have VERY HARD shells.  So hard that the squirrels don't mess with them!!  When the nuts fall in the street they will sometimes crack open if a car drives over them - then the squirrels run out to eat the nut meats.  When a car isn't available to run over them, we have to use a hammer to crack the nut shells.  Emeline could hardly stand up where we were gathing the nuts because it was like walking around on golf balls - they were everywhere!  Thank goodness I don't have a black walnut tree in my yard!

We watched our Sooners play football on TV, enjoyed taking naps, then grilled steaks for dinner. It was a very nice family day for us.

Sunday we visited with Jeff's parents for lunch then I took Jeff to the office.  He left for a business trip to Nebraska and won't be back until probably Tuesday night.

So the knitting - and spinning - and I'm even planning to crochet.  I've joined a few things. 

Margene's Twisted Knitters Dye-Spin-Knit'along:  Dye your wool, spin it on a spindle or wheel, knit it into something!  I will be putting together tutorials for each step in my dye-spin-knit journey.  It begins with selecting a source for my wool, dyeing of course, spinning on the spindle, Navajo plying, then knitting - either a shawl or socks - I still haven't decided.  I might wait for the wool to tell me what it wants to be.  In the mean time I'm practicing practicing practicing on the beautiful Maple Sugar Candy roving that I dyed a few weeks ago.  I hope to have 100g spun by the end of the week.

Susan and Carole's Lonesome Skein knitalong: (last day to sign up is today!)  I have begun my first project using a beautiful skein of Mountain Colors Mohair in the Wild Iris colorway.  The project began as an effort to knit the Triada moebius cowl/shawl thing from Interweave Knits but I didn't like the results I was getting with the pattern/yarn combination.  I still like the moebius cowl/shoulder shawl concept and have restarted the project with size 15 needles knitting the feather and fan scarf pattern from Scarf Style.  Sorry for lack of links and official names for things - I'm kind of in a hurry.

Vera's Feel the Love knit and crochetalong:  I have admired Vera's passion for crochet and ability to select beautiful crochet patterns for her projects ever since I started reading her blog.  Her defense of crochet as a .... mmm.... I'm lacking the right word - but she just has a great way of showing that crochet isn't dowdy or tacky or outdated.  It's fresh and fashionable in the patterns she selects.  The focus of "Feel the Love" is to use a pattern that integrates both knitting and crochet.  I'm very excited to spend some time browsing for a pattern that says "make me!"  I saw a link to knit & crochet patterns (both in the same pattern) on the web site www.knittingpatterncentral.com.  I'll be going back to visit that link soon to see what inspires me!

And last but not least.... anybody remember that I started the KnitPicks Palette Fair Isle Cardigan Knitalong back on October 1st!!??  Can anybody guess who hasn't even started her cardigan yet or finished practice sock #1 yet?  I'm getting there.  I'm getting there.

Have a wonderful week!!  Only five days until the big kids arrive.  We're all really excited.  :)

Saturday Sky

If you were a morning glory flower on my fence today, this is how the Saturday Sky would look to you!

I am always amazed... just AMAZED at how something so stunningly beautiful and breathtaking as a morning glory flower can come from such a scrawny pathetic near-dead looking vine like they do.  And the twisting and climbing and sneaking that those vines do just to find a place to hang on.  I created a little lattice of sisal twine on the outside of our fence but some of these vines with flowers are draped and hung over the top and between the boards and have flowers on the inside of the fence as well.  It's cool.  And I'm so happy that they grew for me this year.  It's very good timing with the cooler weather because they aren't dead by 9:00am - these flowers are beautiful all day long and then finally wither and turn into something that resembles a deflated purple balloon.

AND..... ::drum roll::.....  If you were a jar of pear ginger jam on my fence, this is how the sky would look to you today!

THANKS for the link to that recipe Norma!!  I cut back on the amount of ginger (unlike Norma) and it's got the perfect amount of gingery flavor to add something different yet it's not overpowering.  It's FANTASTIC!  And guess what y'all.  I've got a TON of pears.  We got 8 half pint jars of this out of the first recipe last night.  I'm going to wait a few days to see how it tastes but there's a very good chance I'll be making this available.  Cause I can't let the pears go to waste and this jam is YUM.  I'll also be trying out a recipe for Pear Vanilla Jam.  NUMMY!  :)

So have a great rest of your weekend and as Sandy says, Look up at the sky!  :)