Catch Up Notes

Do you remember the nest of finches?  The finches did abandon the nest; we wonder if perhaps they were in the process of actively abandoning it when we stepped in and "saved" the nest.  They left it Easter Sunday.

Monday I made up hummingbird syrup and put it out in a feeder.  Yesterday the first hummingbirds came in for a snack.  I do not know if they were transients or residents but I suspect they were transients.  During the afternoon, I was in the garden when a female buzzed up behind me; she circle around me and stopped to take a good look.  Throughout the day, there were at least two hummingbirds and maybe more.

The iris are beginning to bloom; this is an all time early start for me.  The temperatures have been quite high and are blasting the flowers.  I did not get out quickly enough to take a picture of the first one to bloom.

This one is Gigolo or possibly Colortart; I am afraid that neither name is very complementary.  The reason I have trouble remembering which one is which is that the other one is almost the perfect negative of this one.  They both have almost the same colors but in reverse.  They are a very striking pair but I think they are not going to bloom together this year.

This beauty is Arpege. 

I could not resist this cute pair of viola. 

I was trying to take this picture of the dictamnous when the hummingbird buzzed me. 

Do you remember the sweater vest that I started knitting and stopped about a year ago? 

Unfortunately, I have not touched it since.  As much as I wanted to use my new yarn to make my knit lace scarf, I talked myself into finishing the sweater vest.  Currently, I am knitting six rows daily.  Right now, I am half way up the right side between the bottom and the place where I will begin to shape the armscye. 

It certainly was not a good idea to wait so long to finish the second front piece.  I made a couple false starts and I wonder if my yarn tension is comparable.  I was reluctant to start the last piece because I was and continue to be afraid that I will run out of yarns.  I have reached the point where I will use other yarns in place of the medium, dull green which looks dangerously close to running out.  I am keeping my fingers crossed. 

Last week, I spent a day making thread winders.  Do you want to see them?