Buongiorno

Buongiorno. I want to learn Italian and figure if I can begin by learning the vocabulary, I will be on my way.

This morning gifted me with a sighting of a small, red fox sneaking through the forsythia in my side yard. The wildlife in my backyard continues to amaze and infuriate me. Yesterday my husband and I chased the same buck and doe twice. There are seedlings missing from the garden by the mailbox and the newly planted hosta have been munched. I planted more seedlings this morning. I had started zinnias, hollyhocks, sunflowers, cosmos, pumpkins, and tomatoes. I did not mark the little peat pots and so I think I have planted some tomatoes by the mailbox. Should be interesting if any of them survive. Toward that end I got out the netting that I had purchased to protect the tomato plants on my deck from being pecked by the birds. I covered the seedling and hostas, fingers crossed. I used to garden intensively but got discouraged when I couldn't keep up with the damage that my animal visitors dealt. I guess I am ready once more to wage the war. On the bright side I just counted 51 tomatoes on the plants on my deck. One plant is a patio tomato plant, then there are 2 Early Girls and 3 Yellow Zebras. They are all organic and are thriving.

The wild raspberries are fruiting up and I have found some small wild strawberries that the chipmunks have missed. The mint is beginning to wander into the lawn, and that is okay with me. Think of how great it will smell when the grass gets cut! My herb garden has seen better days and my lavender disappeared after a particularly bad winter a few years ago. I am going to have to replace that, because deer leave lavender alone, as they don't appreciate the fragrance.

This weekend among other things I got back to knitting my shawl. I could have mad some real headway if I could have brought my needles into the Stamford Superior Court last Thursday when I had Jury Duty, but they consider them a weapon. Above is the beginning spinning I did yesterday of wool roving. The roving is on the left and looks like shiny white cotton, next is the hand spindle and last on the lower right is a small amount of finished yarn. The picture on the right is an update on the seaweed shawl. It is coming along nicely and I can see it being worn with black, accented by gold hoop earrings.

As soon as I get into one project I can see the end in my mind's eye and cannot wait to begin the next. Tomorrow I think I shall introduce you to Olive.

Ciao.