Here's Your Sign

Seen at a gas station in Sulphur, Louisiana:





PLEASE DON'T PUT ANY DEAD CRITTER'S IN TRASH CANS.

How bad did it get before someone had to put up a sign? Makes you wonder.

Friday's Flowers

A collection of flower photos from our camping trip at Arcadia Lake, Edmond, Oklahoma.

Ashy Sunflower







Flowering Spurge



Trailing Wildbean



Partridge Pea



Tall Thistle


Wishing everyone a great Labor Day weekend!

Living the Simple Life

Camping in a trailer travel is the simple life. Simplicity is forced on you, because there isn't that much room to bring a whole lot of stuff. All the work that is associated with the upkeep of a home is tremendously reduced, which sets you free to enjoy other things, like knitting.



Simple Crew Socks worked on 64 stitches
Yarn: On Line Supersocke Cotton
Color: Beach - Color 945
Needles: US 1 DPNs

And when I'm not knitting, I'm usually outside enjoying nature. We like to put out seed for the song birds and a feeder for the hummers.



Nature hikes are fun too. There is always something to discover.

A heron on Arcadia Lake in Edmond, Oklahoma



A stand of trees along the lake shore.



A feather in the grass.



A rock canyon at Mineral Wells State Park, Mineral Wells, Texas.



A pecan tree limb twisting in search of the sun.



Then when I've had my fill of the outdoors, it's back to knitting.


Online Supersocke Cotton, Beach - Color 948

Oh, how I love the simple life!

School Colors

The fall semester is starting on college campuses and that means college football is just around the corner. The Preemie Project likes to celebrate the kick-off of Hawkeye Football by providing the NICU at the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics with hats and booties in UI colors. Here is my black and gold contribution for this year.



Patterns: Hat (worked on 48 sts), Booties (worked on 25 sts)
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft (worsted weight)
Colors: Black 9727 and Lemonade 9606
Needles: US 7 DPNs for hat and US 5 straight for booties
Size: Preemie (3-5 lbs)

Last week John and I helped Matt move his stuff back to the dorm. We turned our trip into a mini-vacation by bringing the travel trailer and camping at Central State Park on Arcadia Lake in Edmond, Oklahoma.



We're on the way home by way of Fort Worth to visit Robyn and James.

Friday's Flowers

Turk's Cap

Our shrub is about seven feet tall and twice as wide.



It blooms profusely from spring until frost.



And is a favorite source of nectar for butterflies...



...and hummingbirds.



Same photo cropped way down so you can see the hummingbird perched on the fence.

August

007 Snap a Dozen Days


Needville, Texas
The Home of Friendly People
Pop. 2609

We moved to Needville the first weekend in August, twelve years ago. John took a transfer to Houston, but we knew city-living was not for us. We had already lived in the Houston area two times before and had heard about Needville from friends who lived here. We decided it would be a great place for us to live and raise our children. We were right. Robyn was in 7th grade at the time and Matt was in 2nd. It was our hope that we could live here long enough to get both kids through high school and we have.

Needville is a small town with good schools and a strong sense of community. So far it has escaped the urban sprawl of Houston, but it's coming. Until then, I'm going to enjoy the cotton fields and pastures and small-town-living that I love so much.


The Four-Way Stop in Downtown Needville

You can tell you are in Texas by all the pickups and SUVs. We can tell who's not from Needville by the way they drive through the four-way stop. Out-of-towners loose track of whose turn it is.


The Old Needville Water Tower

This is a well known landmark around here. If you should ever get lost (which would be hard to do), just look in the sky for the water tower and follow it to downtown.


Needville Fire Station

The Bluejay is the school mascot, but it is also the symbol of our town. It is used by the fire department and police department. Everyone around here shows their Bluejay Spirit.


Needville's First Fire Truck

Of course, we have modern well-equipped fire trucks now. This old one sits outside the fire station and represents a piece of our town's history. Click here for a detailed history of Needville.


Entering Needville on Highway 36 South

When I see this sign, I know I'm home.

P.S. For those that might wonder, that's a hawk in the first picture. It was sitting on the sign when I pulled over. I grabbed the camera quickly, but only got this one shot (from inside the truck) as it flew away.

Ribs and Cables

Continued from this post.

My intention was to spin a yarn that would be suitable to knit the neck gaiter from the book One Skein. I was shooting for a worsted weight, but ended up with a bulky weight instead. I tried to adjust the pattern to work with the yarn, but I didn't have much luck, so I decided to knit a scarf instead.



Pattern: A combination a couple of different patterns from the Rib & Cable Quartet
Book: One Skein
Yarn: 2 ply spun from J. Knits 100% Merino Wool Roving
Color: Iowa
Needles: US 9 straight
Finished Size: 5" wide by 38" long



This scarf is for John. It's long enough to go around his neck and tuck into a jacket or vest, but short enough not to get in the way when he's casting a line into the water. It will be perfect for winter nights on the pier or other extreme weather fishing he's famous for.

I enjoyed knitting with this yarn which is extremely soft and squishy. It spun up round and smooth and I really like the way it looks in ribs and cables.