Catena Expressions

Connections, connections

 

I've been updating my 2005 daylily garden location chart. You can see the revised version needs some work but it's getting there. I took photos as the daylilies bloomed and I'll print those out and put all this in my daylily notebook. It's so much fun. It's even more fun sharing the duplicates with other fiber folks.

Anne will moving to Taos area before long (at least she won't have to change her blog name!!). I can't wait - just down I-25 (sorta!) from me. If this moving hither and yon keeps up, she'll be in my neck of the woods before I know it. :-) I promised I would find her some sensible NM endurance riders. Right now - I don't think anyone will top my last selection of MJ. I really hate that Anne is moving away from MJ - they had a great team going (or going to go) but life is like that - it moves you on ready or not.

B, my partner in crime, came up for the weekend. We dyed some fleece (karakul/rambouillet - half in orange and the other half in lavender) and spun. She showed me a few projects she finished - one is the Morning Surf scarf pattern which was featured in the Summer 2008 Spin-off. There's no greater delight then using your own handspun. B is now on ravelry - barbceiloliv
if you want to add her to your friends. I know she will be thrilled to be welcomed to our fiber community. Just think, she just started spinning last fall!

Add one, lose one. I didn't know Ruth personally but thought a lot of her for a long time. I looked forward to her blog posts and quite frankly, was looking forward to her SOAR 2008 posts. It's hard to believe those won't be happening. The Sheepthrills descriptions of the Saturday Spin-In, her funeral and reception made me cry.

This and That

Got back 15 lbs of roving from Wooly Knob Mill not too long ago. This is "firecat' - a fine wool. I couldn't stand it.It simply begged. You know roving is. There were 30 oz and only 8 oz now left unspun. I'm crocheting the singles with size D hook.I'll show the rest of the lot as time goes by. I had to be stern and put most of it away. That, however, did not keep me from solar dyeing several Shetland fleeces and a karakul/cross for the next processing load.

This poor thing is the "Memories of Ukraine" from the Natural Knitter. I haven't gotten an inch further. I needed silence and that was not happening at the time. It's back on top of the pile. The "firecat" can be set aside for mindless crocheting.

Last May, the tornado tore down the sweet autumn clematis (as tall as the gutters and covered with buds) and threw her into the baby daylily bed. I had to cut the clematis apart to get the trellis off the crib. I've been hovering over the stump of the clematis. I was relieved to see the new growth. M put up a sturdier trellis for her. I hate that it will be a year before my study and workroom are perfumed with her fragrance.

Elizabeth said this is Dot Com. Isn't she a beauty?

The last of the baby daylilies for 2008

I think next year there will be about a 100 bloomers tho. I swear, I am not crossing any more til 2010. This is getting a bit out of hand (and land).

 

This was the first bloom of # 17 08 - compare it to the subsequent blooms which are more red.  I know it's a "purple waters" cross but I prefer the first bloom color more then the 2nd. We'll see what it looks like next year.

I have two "Along the Way" crosses (18 08 and 23 08) - pretty much identical. So much so that I didn't notice the 2nd plant just a foot over from the 1st bloomer. One photo will suit. ;-) I'll wait to decide what to do with these 2 - the plants aren't as hardy as some so I'll see how they look next year.

19 08, possibly 20 08 and probably 21 08 will go new homes. All are duplicates - I think. I'll have to wait for all the 05 06 and 07s to bloom to be sure.

22 08 isn't one of mine. A few years ago (during the 06 Trek-along???) M and I were walking in the Loveland Sculpture Park and there were yellow dayliles blooming. Some had even gone to seed. I couldn't resist. I tossed the 5 or 6 seeds in the baby daylily bed and forgot about them til this one bloomed. I can't tell you how delighted I am - it reminds me of a wonderful day.

crossing the honey-dos off the list

The emptying the room was the hard part - not the emptying - the putting things in my clean study and workroom. Looking at the underside of the carpet told many tales of it's previous life. There was a big grease stain in front of where the previous owners had their bureau. Lots of sand between the carpet and the pad. The flooring is now finished and the rooms put back together. More honey-dos yet to cross off the list.

I've been hovering over this little garden patch. Courtesy of Elizabeth and well worth the wait.

Walk with Me Wednesday

 We've had monsoonal upslope which meant cooler temperatures and rain (and hail, but we won't talk about that). I usually don't move my baby/hybrid daylilies out of their baby bed (I've resisted calling it a crib...but...) til fall after the foliage has died back. Usually by the fall, the flagging I tie on the individual scapes with numbers and colors has faded. This year, since we had the cooler weather, I thought "I''m gonna go for it." I moved the big purples and reds to a vacant spot and the smaller stella crosses around a rock. I had to separate 6 babier daylilies from the big purples and reds - now they will have room to grow. The moved daylilies did pretty well til yesterday's downburst/hail storm. I know they will recover tho.

The middle of the daylily crib looks empty but we all know there will be seeds tossed there in the fall. I was amazed to discover how dry the middle of the crib has been - the bigger plants sucked the moisture out. The smaller plants will be able to catch up on their growth for next year's blooms. That may be another reason I didn't have as many blooming daylily kids this year. That's "Along the Way" that I moved to the crib coz I couldn't find the best place to put it. I guess it will be moved to the front yard in the fall.

 

While I was checking damage this morning, I discovered lilies from Zinlizzie made it thru May 22 tornado/hail and are getting ready to bloom. So many of my lilies were topped that I didn't expect Elizabeth's to make it. What a joy this is! Thank you, Elizabeth!!

And for Cyndy - my sansieveria decided to bloom. It's a bit knocked around (some were on the patio in May) but here they are.

And yes, when my hands aren't buried in dirt, they are playing with some of Grayce's yarn. This may be a scarf. And yes, the handspun alpaca/Shetland sweater is coming along - I really like it. Pictures next time.

7/5 more daylily hybrid/babies

It's always fun going out in the garden to see what is blooming. I moved some 2005  seedlings which obstinately refused to bloom last year.

One condescended. Another pandora's box cross. You will notice this one has a more solid center then the 2008 new pandora's box cross. That's what fascinates me. You just never know.

This is on of  identical 3 2007 red/yellows spiders that I planted in an empty spot in one of the borders. I have 2005 and 2006 reds/yellows in the front yard. If these are duplicates, they'll be off to a new home. Today the 3 plants have 9 flowers which is really striking. Much better then this solitary blossom.

I'm running out of room. And my record keeping is not perfect. And tho I am running out room - this morning my gorgeous ruffled ruby opened so of course I crossed it with some of the new bloomers (#s 4 8 and 13 in case you are curious...but that's it. No more crossing this year!!).  13 (see below) knocked me out - it's a soft red - but it also is crowded in the middle of the baby bed which means I'm going to have a mess trying to move it. It has to be moved tho. I really dread the moving part.

And here's the new bloomers since my last posting (hold the mouse over the photo for the number). I think 12 and 14 are duplicates and will be up for grabs. They are stella d oro (red-eyed stella) crosses - so will stay short. Good for the front of a bed. That's a strawberry leaf with 15 which gives an idea on the size of the stellas.

Thursday

 

M was off for 2 days so we got a lot of stuff done - nothing blog worthy except for recycling his old gas grill into this - complete with some favorite rocks to hold the lid open. It would be more colorful with annuals but I like the ground covers. I have a lot in the front yard - and was pleased to see the prickly pear Chery gave me last year bloomed. As did the yucca. We've tried for years to get a good crop of yucca going and are down to two - the other is a banana yucca hidden in the succulents. Maybe that's a clue, eh?
 
And I was really surprised to find 2 more #8 purples (see previous post) in the garden. I'm holding all 3 scapes together for this photo - they must be from the same plant. I knew there was a big plant in the middle of the baby daylily bed but did not expect this result. I haven't decided what to do with this plant yet. I usually move the babies/my hybrid crosses who have bloomed out of the baby bed - but I am almost afraid to disturb this one. It's soooo happy! You can see the flagging I use to identify the babies who have bloomed and the person they will go to if they are duplicates. The purple parents are all rather finicky - and live under the purple clematis along the west fence. They have scapes but no blooms. It's rather nice to have a very happy purple. Now I need to figure out which ones I crossed - I think it's an autumn red with a purple. This will require some thought.

In the meantime, I cleaned out my alpaca yarn drawer (I have 3 alpaca fleeces in stash and 2 more in roving - I don't need to remedy this...oh, and 2 more being processed into roving!) to do a loose ply of a fawn and a brown with a strand of turquoise Shetland/alpaca/angora/silk. I did this loosely coz I was lounging around (using the Symphony, laying under cats and dogs, not the best way to sit up and ply right) and also I tend to just hold 3 strands together sometimes when I knit/crochet. I figured this will be an on-the-go project and I didn't want 3 balls of yarn tangling in the car. The project is Memories of Ukraine from Barbara Albright's the Natural Knitter. My gauge is right on. I'm rather pleased.

2008 hybrids

My dial-up is still sooooo slow but the town looks lots better then it did May 23. I can live with slow dial-up as people rebuild.

Here's this week's baby day lily photos. The above are repeats from an earlier post so I could put them all in this post for further reference.

I told zinlizzie I didn't think the purples would appear for another 2 yrs. I love being wrong.

Sunday

 

Just so you don't think I'm lazing around here. Almost finished crocheting a copy of the baytree sweater and writing the pattern. Grayce has this colorway labeled "green". The red and green colors almost match the house and new roof...

 

I was looking thru my 2007 baby daylily photos (on left sidebar) and was amazed to see how many had bloomed on this date last year. Only 3 this year - which means I'm attaining my goal of late summer bloomers (or, possibly the truth - it's been a chillier spring/early summer - 52 overnight low last night). I also was surprised to see the colors. I moved the keepers last year and hope they will bloom again. I put some of the broken ones - this inevitably happens when I thin the beds - in pots to keep a closer eye on them. Some of these pots were also recipients of the occasional day lily seed. I had a half dozen day lilies seeds sprout earlier in the spring but the May 22 hail/tornado winds wiped them out. I don't know if they have enough root to try again. So far, not a peep. There are scapes on some of the 2 year old plants which is always encouraging. I expect a lot of bronze and yellow/reds. We'll see, tho.

This autumn red x is blooming now. Big plant, big blooms. It's so big that you can't see the stella d oro cross behind it! I'm pretty sure this plant will be looking for a new home too.

Projects

I have 3 projects going - one should have been wrapped up by now - the Shetland notebook Cyndy gifted me with. All I need to do is clip samples of my Shetland handspun, write up notes while I remember of it (producer, fleece name or number, color, hand spun info, product with directions and finally a photo of the finished product. Putting down the flooring in my study and the workroom slowed this project down. I need to get to it.

But! I am also trying to write up instructions for the bay tree sweater. I found a good sizing chart for 1x - 3x in the Lily Chin crochet workshop book which helps. I had a small purple tape measure on the table but it seems one of the cream colored cats simply could not resist. I have no idea where it is. M and I moved furniture, looked with a flashlight under what we could not move, checked the handier places in the basement and it's nowhere that a human can get to. M and I agreed - I'll have to buy at least 2 more so the other cream colored cat will have one and maybe maybe maybe they will leave the 3rd alone. I have my doubts but it's a good idea. In theory. There is something to be said about cuddly dark tiger/tabby cats who do not mess with people's stuff.

The 3rd on is an all-summer project. The last time I noted where my day lilies are in the garden was 2005. Since then I've moved many, produced many more and my schematic is out of date. I am pretty sure where most are but I've had a few surprises last summer when 3 more blooms popped up in one of the "single" hybrids. Obviously a few seeds were lodged with the young fan and the new plants grew and bloomed. I may or may not separate them. First I need to get photos of blooms, flag the ones I think are duplicates and not cross anymore this year. If I can get the daylilies photographed and sorted out - then next year I could cross my hybrids and see what happens next.  2nd generation - now that's exciting.  2 babies are blooming for the first time.

The one directly on the left is a stella d oro cross. It will stay small. The 2nd one I may have several duplicates of. Both will probably go to new homes in the fall. If you are interested - let me know and I'll flag them with your name.

The vest shown in previous post is drying. We'll see how it fits.