Grasshoppers!

Well, here we go again. Bugs! Texas should be the Bug state, not the Lone Star State. Just kidding, but I think some folks might agree with me. Anyway, did you know, there are all kinds of grasshoppers? I remember as a child being so excited to see a grasshopper! They were so cool and they were green and looked great. Well, we have a grasshopper kingdom visiting our woods this year. It is the Post Oak Grasshopper Family. They like Post Oak Trees. The grasshoppers nest in the ground and climb the trees to eat the leaves. Apparently, they will move to another neighborhood next year. So, Texas A&M University said not to worry too much about the infestation. Guess what trees make up the woods around our home?? You guessed it!

Notice this guy is really colorful, so if you like bugs or have kids that like bugs, they will enjoy this picture. Me, I am not crazy about bugs anymore.

My daughter is doing a thankful list on her blog. I think that is a great idea, especially since I am inundated with bugs! I am going to start that too. I am thankful for duct tape. We have it wrapped around the trunks of 2 of our trees that hang over the pool and it is catching these grasshoppers and they have stopped falling into the pool. Making my pool cleaning job much easier. One day I watched as one of them thought they could jump 4 feet from one branch to another. Nope, he actually did a dive straight into the pool! Well, maybe he was trying out for the Olympics.

Oh, yes, I am still knitting. Some will put their knitting away in the summer. But, not me. I am working on a shawl pattern and doing another test knit for it. Two of my wonderful spinning friends, Kate and Cindy, are testing it too. Hopefully, I will be able to work out the rough patches of that pattern. For those waiting for the Diamond Pattern, it is still coming. I will post when I get it out on etsy.

Baby Shower

Well, my needles have been at work again this week. I am going to the Denton Spinners meeting this Sunday afternoon and we will be having a baby shower. Two of our members have brand new baby boys. In thinking about what to make for them, I thought about a teddy bear. I used to have a cute pattern, but couldn't find it. Who knows where I put the thing. I only have 1 filing cabinet with patterns in it. They are arranged in file folders, so I can find my patterns easily. ha.

Not this time. Couldn't find it anywhere. It'll turn up now, that I came up with my own pattern and made these adorable(I think) cute little bears. I used cotton yarn for them. To give you a size perspective, I have them next to a blue quart size canning jar.

On the weather side, it is hot. Today we have a breeze, at least.

I have planted a bunch of plants in pots this year. One of my plants is/was oregano. I don't know what I did to it, but one day it was fine and the next it was dead. : I know it isn't the heat, cause I had it in the ground at our other home and it grew and grew. It was in this pot last year, and made it through the summer. Oh, well. I will have to get some more. My spinach is doing wonderfully and it tastes good on sandwiches and in salads.

Crocheting Again

Well, after going blackberry picking, I decided a hat would be a good thing. I had worn a baseball type cap, a white one, as a matter of fact, with a smiley face on the front. Well, my thought pattern was, white=cool. First, that thought in Texas in June is just plain silly! Ha! Cool..... Well, so let's word it like this, white doesn't absorb the heat as black does, so when in the sun, white is cooler. So, I wore the white cap. It did help my face, but the problem I encountered was the white on the underside of the bill of the cap. It functioned as a REFLECTIVE shield! Reflecting all the sunlight into my face. I had sunglasses on, but still couldn't see very well. Since berries are small, I would remove the hat, look for ripe berries and then replace it, because I was staying cooler, even if I wasn't seeing very well.

Actually this project started before the berry picking, but I had put it away in a drawer, to work on some new designs. :) A UFO, UnFinished Object. The project started when one of my handspinning friends brought a pile of old magazines to spinning. I took one, it was probably printed in the late 1970's or early 80's. I found what I liked and cut the patterns out. Unfortunately, back then they didn't print the magazine name on the page with the picture and pattern, like they do now. I thought is was a cute hat. So, here it is.

In the magazine it was all one color, so I added the purple trim, hoping that I wouldn't have the reflective shield problem again. I also added the flower to it. I wear this hat when I am working on the pool, it really does help keep me cooler and I like that it goes down my neck, to protect back there as well.

I don't know if I will ever wear it out in public, since I really am not much of a hat person. But it is doing a great job in my yard. :)