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Saturday 9 February 2013

yesterday evening.....

 
it looked like above. after a day with real spring feeling in the air yesterday we're back to normal today - it has been raining or at least drizzling all day here. and just to prove that we did indeed have snow:
well, ok, it looks more like icing sugar, but at least we had some:) didn't last long though, 2 hours later the sun had burned everything away. that's from a week ago - we've had real april weather during the last few days....
 
 
 
 
 
 
 





I also finished the corriedale I bought from hedgehog fibres. while spinning I thought I might spin a fine silk yarn from hankies I had dyed in similar colours, but it would have taken ages to spin that up, and because I was impatient, I plied with shop bought merino lace yarn instead. I have about a pound of yarn now, but I am still not sure what to use it for. never mind, it'll keep - right now I have "FIA" on my mind!







 
 


 
 
this is how the top looked before I spun it up. the mix with the fine merino made the yarn feel much softer; soft enough I think to wear as a shawl....
 
 
 
 I also finished the valentine's socks. the leg is quite long (for my taste at least), but there was still a good bit of yarn left over. size 43/44 - with a very simple knit/purl pattern and stockinette under foot. nothing spectacular, other than they're my first 6ply socks:) the second was started immediately; my side project when I don't fancy knitting fiddly and don't want to spin either! they're for myself - so no due date for those.
 
 
 
 
 for the last few months nothing happened with the lemons my small tree had set. during the last few days however they started to get lighter and more yellowish! do I see ripening lemons here? I hope so, there are at least 5 or 6 on it and I had planned to try salted lemons with them, because I know that they are untreated and "bio"!
 
 
 
 
 
 
sorry for the out of focus pic, but this is a smaller lemon (I know, it looks the same size:), which is still much greener in comparison.  
 
other than this the garden is still more or less miserable. only the snowdrops look spiffy, everything else is still in hiding or just visible by leaf tips. I can't wait for spring, I've just had it with winter for this year.... though maybe I shouldn't be complaining? the longer the winter, the more time I'll have to work on my Fia sweater....

8 comments:

Eliane Zimmermann said...

gestern traumhaft sonnig, heute regen über regen, ich hab' trotzdem zwei stunden im garten gewütet und das tut sooo gut, der frühling ist zum greifen nah! liebe grüße aus dem südwesten, eliane

Delighted Hands said...

Wow, the newly spun yarn is breath_tangibly beautiful! The lemons will be a treat...hopefully not too long now. The socks look so comfy! Nice job.

Nina said...

Oh I do wish when it snowed here, we got your snow. Friday, we had over a foot of snow get dumped on us. Yuk..
I love the corriedale spun up. It's gorgeous.
Yay for finished socks. I often keep a simple sock project to start up when I don't want to fuss. I call them meeting socks, 'cause I can knit them in a meeting without disturbing anyone!

Andrea D. said...

Tolle Farben hat dein gesponnenes Garn! Und die Zitronen sehen sooo lecker aus, ich liebe Zitronen.

Viele Grüße aus dem jecken Rheinland!
Andrea

Elke Schwarzer said...

Hallo Bettina,
das wird ja eine Wahnsinns-Zitronenernte!
Und die Farben von dem Garn sind auch wieder mal ganz toll. Eine schöne Woche wünsche ich dir!
Elke

Leigh said...

Oh my goodness, your lemons! They do take forever to ripen. All I have to show for this year is one measly lemon. Lots of flowers lately, but will they grow lemons!?!?!

Woolly Bits said...

way behind with answers:(

Eliane - vielleicht ist ja bei euch jetzt auch gutes wetter? aber ich glaube, der sueden bekommt diesmal mehr wolken ab als wir. immerhin - der 3. schoene (wenn auch kalte) tag in folge:) trotzdem sind wir im garten weit hinter euch zurueck....

Cindy - the yarn is untouched as yet. and so are the lemons, because they ripen so slowly!

Nina - I really like snow. just not the havoc it wrecks over here... this country isn't able to deal with more than just a dusting, if there is an inch, there's chaos...

Andrea - ich benutze auch viel zitronen, aber ich glaube nicht, dass ich jemals nur von meiner eigenen ernte genug haben werde:) mal sehen, wann die paar endlich richtig gelb sind, noch sind sie so gruenlich angehaucht!

Elke - danke, bis jetzt war es zumindest wettermaessig nicht so uebel:) besser kalt als nass!

Leigh - you're right, I watch the lemons like a hawk, but progress is real slow:( they have had flower buds since christmas, but apparently they're able to hold the flowering back until the temperatures rise! I have to admit though that I helped with an ear bud. I just keep one close and rub it against the stamen of all the open flowers. actually I only left the top lemon and snipped off the other small ones, because I figured that the small tree couldn't feed them all. seems to work - so far:) and for 40 cm of lemon tree 6 lemons and a few smaller ones isn't bad?

Elke Schwarzer said...

Hallo Bettina,
ja, ich habe auch schon gedacht, dass der Zierapfel Everest die schlauere Wahl gewesen wäre, weil die Äpfelchen so lange halten. Und Nachbars Katze erwische ich leider nie in flagranti beim Baumzerkratzen...
VG
Elke