This, That, and Everything Else

It’s Sunday morning. It’s my son’s birthday. It’s been a lovely weekend so far. I anticipate a lovely day today.

I could leave it at that. But you know I won’t.

It seems that our yard is no longer a construction zone, thankfully. Fences have been raised, pergolas built and all the tools and extra wood have been put away.

This pergola is closest to the house and was to have been continued on the other side of the fence. The tenants there, though, decided they didn’t want one. John put up the hanging baskets but has since decided that they’re a bit too low. There are plants in the baskets, but they’re still too small to see from a distance. The baskets aren’t complete yet; I still have some seedlings in the house that will be planted in the baskets when they’re a little bigger.

This is the pergola at the back of the yard. The fence down the center of it marks the center of the yard. There is an old grape vine along the fence and M now has it tied to the pergola in order to train it along the top. He’s also planted grape vines on either end (where the wire cages are) and a lilac at the center front. In a couple of years, this will be a lovely shady place to sit on those hot summer afternoons.

To help celebrate the completion of this project of immense proportions, we had a yard party last night. All the residents of the house, the landlord and a few friends (and former tenants) were here for Beef on a Bun and whatever else was contributed. John cooked the roast beast; there were platters of veggies and dip, a hot crab dip (my contribution), freshly baked chocolate chip cookies (more than one person sported a smear of melted chocolate on their cheeks or chins), rhubarb loaf, pasta salad, and more! All in all, it was a lovely evening that turned out a lot better than someone (no names mentioned) had anticipated. Now, if only the weather had been just a touch warmer… patience, I know.

In knitterly things, the monster pants are finally off the needles. Now comes the fun part…

…weaving in all those ends! I’m not sure I want to face that today. I think I’ll finish the second little pink hat instead. Once the ends are woven in, though, all that remains to do will be the embroidery (teeth and eyes), sewing the waist casing closed and inserting the elastic. Then, they can be mailed off to Ethan. I do hope Kristen will take some pictures of Ethan wearing these. I’m really looking forward to his reaction.

Now, it’s time to get out there and enjoy the sunshine. It’s supposed to be a nice, sunny day today.