Would You Knit a Gingerbread House?

Isn't this a fabulous piece of embroidered vintage linen? A friend who speaks German says it means: "Do it like the sundial, only count the bright hours", which, I assume to mean, "look on the bright side".

Lovely...

It's a dresser cloth, approximately 3 feet by 2 feet, it must have taken the maker such a lot of time and effort, it always breaks my heart to see something like this end up in a thrift shop - I had to give it a home.

I've been on a real tear with regard to new acquisitions lately, and not just linens...

I'm afraid I've amassed quite the collection of old books lately, even Nigel (who never criticises) remarked on how many there seemed to be...

...perhaps I should blog them all one day...

I really need to steer clear of the shops, it's not like I don't have enough projects to keep me busy:

The Lady Grey continues to haunt my days (just a ghost, of course, it's not materialising into anything concrete).

Lining is cut out...



I started a new shawl called Kiri by Polly Outhwaite. It's suppose to be a fairly easy knit. I'm working it in Elann Super Kydd in black. I made the mistake of starting it in a dimly lit room one evening, and it promptly had to be started over.

Here's a snap of the scraped first attempt:



so sad...

Also, on and off the needles lately has been Alan Dart's Gnomes at Home.
I started this project thinking it might make a cute Christmas display, but after finishing the first gnome,



I decided the gingerbread house was a tad tacky. I did finish the gnomette, but have yet to take her picture. I'll show her next time, she's rather sweet, with crooked ears.

Also, just look at what's been on and off the lemon tree!



Yes, it's a bumper crop!

Exterior Shot

The new stucco and painting are all done now. I think the place looks fabulous - though the back garden looks a state, and, between the stucco-ers and the painters, all the plants all the way around the house are thoroughly trampled. The stucco colour is called "Sagebrush" and it's a yellow-green colour. Nigel keeps eyeing it and asking if I'm "sure" it's really green, which I am. At the moment the house colour is competing with the grass and trees, making it look more like tan, but once the snow is on the ground it's going to look very obviously green. I'm absolutely certain that this is a perfect colour, it's going to be a colour that changes with the light and season. The trim colour is by Benjamin Moore, called "Ivory White", another ideal shade. Prairie light is very strong and yellow, so plain white paint can look both stark and dirty if it's tinted with blues or grays, a good prairie white always has yellow, green or red as a tint.

So there.

We had the dormers painted a medium gray to blend in with the roof - another good call, I think.

Later this summer we'll be having a deck built in the back, and a small bit of landscaping done, and then next year will be the year for some exterior "finishing touches" - seeing which perennials have survived and maybe planting a tree or some shrubs in the front.

My wee lemon tree is doing well (despite the terrible weather).



We still have three lemons, the largest is here. I wonder how long they take to ripen? Perhaps more sunshine and less rain would do them some good. We've had lots more blossoms, but I haven't seen any new fruit, probably too much rain and wind. still, I'm very pleased with it's progress!

I've also made loads of progress on my vintage cardigan; finished the back and one and a half fronts. I'm loving the greeny-olive "sludge" colour, but it just doesn't photograph well, so I haven't been taking pictures. I might alter the pattern and add some colour at the yoke, we'll see...

Here's a video to make up for my lack of blogging lately...



The music piped onto that old clip is by Daft Punk, check out the link to their video, they don't allow their videos to be embedded into blogs.

Wow! I sent this off to publish and forgot to tell everyone Happy Canada Day, and also to wish my youngest a Happy 14th Birthday.

Happy Canada/Birthday Day!!!!!