AUTUMN RAINS

Here it is December already and I'm still working on my autumn rains.  Even though the garden is dying back, our back yard still has wonderful colors.  The leaves are a golden brown carpet announcing the arrival of autumn.  How's that for a metaphor and personification. We're learning about figurative language in my English 9/10 class.  

These are giant naturism leaves that somehow got a super dose of fertilizer and then soaked up the rain.  I had noticed how well nasturtiums thrived over on the coast so now I understand ... they like the cooler, damp weather certainly not found here in the summer but in the fall. 

The grape vines don't survive the winter.  This one made a mad dash across the chain link fence.  They die back and then come back on their own in the spring and are in full form during the summer.  



The roses are shooting out long branches but still are producing a few lovely flowers like this one.  As long as I can, I try to bring in a few cuttings for a vase display.

Here's the golden carpet. I never get tired of the gifts from Mother Nature as long as they're gentle gifts like these.  So far she's been a little crabby dumping a lot of rain on us and swelling Stony Creek in Elk Creek from a mild mannered creek to a roaring river.  I took this photo from the bridge that spans the creek. 

As always the knitting continues.  I couldn't survive with out it.  My knitting storage bin is empty except for the two scarves in the next photos.  All my projects were sold at the Eagles Christmas Bazaar.  They were very appreciative of my efforts, and I'm more than happy to contribute.  The money raised goes toward scholarships, and I'm all for that. 

 This scarf I designed myself using stitches from one of my knitting books.  I like experimenting with a variety of stitches, something to learn and the knitting is not overly repetitive and boring.  I used a worsted weight yarn I found at the thrift shop and size 9 needles.  I like to start this type of  scarf with a few inches of ribbing. Love the speckles of color in the yarn. 

This navy blue scarf is made from bulky yarn, and I can see why so many patterns are calling for bulky yarns - they're for fast knitting which produces a thick, warm product. 

Wow! Red!  My good friend, J and I made scarves for the Red Scarf Project.  These scarves will be given to young people who have been in the Foster Care system and are now going to college.  We've mailed the scarves, and they will be given out in February just in time for Valentines Day.  We usually make scarves for the Winter Special Olympics, but this year they had so many scarves from last year's contributions, they didn't need more.  So we'll wait and see what happens next year. 

 I will leave this blog with a photo of Master Gardener D and his faithful dog, Hunter.  All the lovely flowers and summer vegetables are the results of hard work and loving care by the Master Gardener.  Hunter's contribution is limited since he lives for his dinner and to chase his toys. 

Until the next blog, keep on knitting and crocheting.  I hope to have more photos of my family's crocheting projects in the next blog from my niece, D and her daughter, L.  And more knitting from me - I have a cowl in progress.