Corn in the Courtyard?

This is a picture of one of the planters in our courtyard at the front of the house. Notice the strange looking plant growing up to it's right. We think it might be corn. We have a bird feeder directly behind where I'm standing and think that the seeds might have come from it. There are actually two stalks. I tried to take a closer shot so maybe you can see them.

Still with plants, I have a night blooming cereus in the dining room. It came from a cutting off a cutting off a cutting from a plant that was my grandmother's. My aunt still has the original plant. My sister has a plant also. As it's name implies, it blooms only at night. The last time the original plant bloomed was when I was about a year old. Several years ago I gave a cutting to my next door neighbours. Christine called me all excited because they have two blooms growing on theirs. I spoke to my aunt and she said the last time it bloomed, the blooms were about 10" before they opened. They are about 6" right now. It only blooms for one night and the fragrance once the bloom opens is apparently unbelievable and fills the entire house. Christine thinks it might bloom later this week. I'll keep you posted and will take some pictures.

My sister called on Saturday afternoon to tell me the sweater arrived safe and sound and she loves it. Apparently it fits my niece also. I hope they'll share.

I walked both days over the weekend. Sunday morning I did my 3km in the same time I did before I broke my ankle. It is pretty much pain free most of the time except when Dan frictions near the bone bruise and the ligaments. I'm going for physio after work tonight so we'll see what he says. I'm doing better on the wobble board but still don't like it very much.

I've started a sweater for myself out of Cascade 220 Heather. It's a fairly short, asymmetrical cardigan. I'm up to the armhole shaping on the left front. I always start with one of the fronts when I'm doing a cardigan so that if there are any tension issues, I haven't put too much effort into it. I've got to rip out the alpaca had I'm working on. I tried it on our Styrofoam head and it's too tight. Back to the drawing board.

I'd better go. Have a good week.

Happy Knitting!

Susan

It's Finished!

I finished my sister's sweater last week. I'm very pleased with the results. I went up to Mary's Yarns in Unionville to get the buttons. I wanted really fabulous buttons as it is such a simple sweater and I found the perfect ones.

It's been a busy week around here. We've had a couple of major shipments arrive so we've got some extra help in the warehouse. I'm invoicing like crazy. It's sometimes hard for our shipper to keep up.

I've started a new sock (I know I've got at least three others on the go, it's a sickness). It's Lang's Jawoll Aktion Denim. I love the taupe /blue combination. I don't have plans this weekend so I'll work away on it. I'm working on an alpaca hat for work to match a scarf and wrist warmer. It's almost finished.

I went to see Julie and Julia last Saturday. I loved it. Now I want a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I think I'll ask for it for Christmas as it's a little expensive. I might give my sister a copy for her 50th birthday in September. Meryl Streep was fantastic as Julia Child. They showed that Saturday Night Live clip of Dan Ackroyd imitating Julia Child. It was too funny.

We had a terrible storm here last night. North of the city in Vaughn a tornado touched down. Many houses were damaged and 20 will have to be demolished. It was kind of scary. I was at physio (it's on the lower level) and I was surprised at how dark it was when I got out of the elevator. I called back up there after I got home to warn them. They both have long distances to travel and thought they should be forewarned. I think we're supposed to have storms both days on the weekend. Oh well.

Well, I'd better go. Have a great weekend and Happy Knitting!

Susan

My Lily

This is one of the Stargazer Lilies in the back garden. Three out of the four blooms are out. I think it is absolutely beautiful. I have another one a little to the left of this one that has seven blooms on it. I checked it this morning before I left for work and the first bloom had come out on it. I think it is supposed to rain on Sunday so I hope they don't get battered to badly. This is a picture of it a couple of days ago. Look at the height of the snap dragon in the background. We've always had great success with snap dragons but this one is unbelievable.

I went to Stratford with my friends Joan and Cynthea yesterday. We had a lovely lunch at Pazzo and then saw The Importance of Being Earnest. It was absolutely wonderful. Brian Bedford was fantastic as Lady Bracknell. I drove. It wasn't too bad until we got to about Mississauga and the 401 ground to a halt. I don't understand how an accident in the right lane of the collectors past Bayview can cause all lanes in both the collectors and express to clog up for that distance. Anyway, I didn't get home until almost 8 o'clock.

My next door neighbour's son Derek is an archaeologist. He has applied for a job in Egypt. It is a six month stint. They are filming a series for the History channel and he had to do a video audition and post it on youtube. He started it with an Indiana Jones type move involving our garage door. He was sitting in the garage sketching an artifact (pretend you're in a cave in Egypt) and all of a sudden the garage door starts to close. He jumps up and rolls out under the door just as it closes and loses his hat. It was really well done. Then he took them to Honduras (the woods north of our house) to show them the Mayan dig he'd been on when he was at University of South Florida and then he took them to Turkey (the Scarborough Bluffs) where he'd been on dig when he was at the University of Bristol doing his masters. Anyway, the casting agents thought it was fantastic. Last night he had a phone call from Hollywood. The director thought it was fantastic also and he has a phone interview with the director on Monday. Pretty exciting!

I'm working on another hat for work out of Super Alpaca. It's going to be a simple 2 x 2 rib to match a scarf and wrist warmer set I did a few years ago. I started a sock for myself when I was at physio today.

I'm off to have my hair cut and a mani/pedi. Looking forward to it.

Have a good weekend and Happy Knitting!

Susan