I'm fairly certain they are New England Pumpkin Pie Pumpkins.  They aren't very big and if they were Jack O Lantern Pumpkins then they should be much larger.  I think this particular plant might be more than one seed.  I had planted some seed and it never came up so I replanted it.  Then I had the sprinkler system fixed and now it is getting regular watering.  I hope it is more than one seed.  Can you imagine if it was only one seed planted and the plant got to be this huge?  It's taking over that section of the backyard.  It's like that kids book The Great Green Turkey Creek Monster.

In May 2009 Bryan and I took a trip for our first wedding anniversary.  We went to wine tasting in the Willamette Valley south of Portland, Oregon.  We tasted wine, walked around some very nice small towns, ate great food, and tasted more wine.  In one of the small towns we went to I drug Bryan into a cute quilt shop mostly to admire what others can do.  But right up the street was a yarn shop!  Of course we had to go in and being the good husband he is didn't argue.  (I also went into bike shops with him though...).

This is the conversation that happened while in the yarn shop as I was touching all the yarn:
B: you should make me a sweater.
J: (laughing) why on earth would I make you a sweater?  You don't wear sweaters.
B: I would wear it if you made it.
J: (laughing) no you wouldn't.
B: you should make me something.
J: seriously?
B: yes.

At this point we consulted the shop lady and it was decided to make Bryan and pair of socks.  I had never knit socks before and certainly thought they looked difficult.  She pointed me in the direction of a very easy sock pattern, Knitting Pure and Simple Beginners Sock.  Bryan and I decided on a grey sock yarn.  I bought double point  needles and cast on.  It took a couple of months to finish one sock.  I had to go into my LYS to get some direction on the heel, but for the most part it was a pretty easy sock. I then started on the other sock.

Fast forward to the present.  I had to go back to my LYS to get direction on the heel, but I finally finished the sock!  Bryan now has a PAIR!  The socks are a little big so he is going to use them as slippers (we all wear crocs in the house).  The lady at the shop assured me that one skein of yarn would make a pair of socks.  As I was finishing the first sock, I was sure I was going to run out of yarn on the second sock, so I switched to the all grey color.  I'm never a good judge of yardage.  As it turns out, I did have enough to finish the second sock, but just barely, so I'm glad that I used the other yarn.  Maybe I should have kept knitting and then used the grey after all the other was used up.  We are both ok with how they are though.

Knitting socks wasn't too bad, but it will be some time before I'm brave enough to try them again.  I would also like to learn to make two socks at a time so it doesn't take me that long to finish a pair of socks ever again.  If you have an easy (or favorite) sock pattern that I can put in my ravelry queue, please let me know.

A portrait a week for a year.
This week:  Feeding lettuce from the garden to the ladies.

I finished the book Starting Now by Debbie Macomber.  I liked it, but I thought the end was wrapped together too neatly.  I do like her books and wasn't disappointed by this one.  It was an easy read.  I just started reading City of Bones by Michael Connelly on my ipad.   Too soon to judge that one yet.

Happy Yarn Along Wednesday.

A portrait a week for a year.
This week:  Corrine at the park playing on the dragon.  We had just listened to Puff the Magic Dragon the day before.

C and I trimmed the leaf end outside and then went inside to wash the stalk and trim the other end of the stalk.  I cut the rhubarb into half inch chunks and put them into a large bowl.  Then I dug out my handy dandy sealer and put 3 cups of chunked rhubarb into each bag and sealed them up.

I've always done 3 cups per bag because it has seemed like a good starting point for recipes.  When the bags of rhubarb are defrosted, there is a lot of moisture.  I usually snip a hole in the corner of the bag and then squeeze out the excess liquid.   That method has always worked for me.  I'm not sure if there is a better or easier way.  If anyone has some experience with that I'm open to suggestions.  

Shared: Independence Day Challenge.

I did win a ribbon on my poncho, but I can't remember what place I was in.

And that was the start of my knitting addiction.  Yeah, there were some years there in the  middle when it wasn't "cool" to knit but I'm glad those days are long gone.

After the race we came home, I tried to take a nap, but it just didn't take.  This past week the cleaning and organizing bug hit me.  I've re-done the laundry room which also doubles as my office and crafting room.  Bryan and I have also started re-organizing the downstairs living room.  We decided we have too much stuff so we wanted to simplify and de-clutter.  Plus Corrine's school is doing a fundraiser when school starts.  Basically any items that you would donate to Goodwill or ARC they will take and the school gets a percentage of the weight of everything the school turns in.  So I started to go through our stuff.

I was pretty sore on Sunday.  I've been worse though so I was kind of prepared.  I had a date with a slow treadmill and the foam roller at the gym.  I rolled for about 15 minutes.  Boy did that hurt.  But if felt good after.  I could feel the stiffness in my hips and the sides of my thighs melt away.  Then I walked on the treadmill for 15 minutes at a slow speed just to keep the stiffness from coming back.  I can actually go up and down the stairs now.  Which is good because I continued to clean and de-clutter.

A friend of mine is having a bake/art sale this coming weekend as a fundraiser to raise tuition for her fall semester in school.  She is an artist but on disability so this is how she can pay her tuition and buy the supplies she needs.  I volunteered to bake goodies for her bake sale.  On Sunday I made cookies.  I plan to make some sort of zucchini bread and a banana blueberry bread.  And if I have time something with rhubarb.

So.  Did anyone else do something crazy over the weekend?  Hope you all have a good week.

A portrait a week for a year.
This week:  napping in her "tent" in her room.  Perhaps mama is not the best tent maker?

volunteer tomato

We did finally get some broccoli.  I think the cool weather has helped with that.  The cucumbers are coming in as well.  Our first lemon cucumbers are growing and we are anticipating munching on them!

lemon cucumber

This past week I pulled the rest of the beets and pickled them.  Hubby loves his pickled beets and that is the only reason they are growing in the garden.   The bibb lettuce bolted ages ago, but I've left in the garden to pick for the chickies as an evening treat.

 And on the book front...again so busy with little time to read.  Would you believe that I'm still reading the same two books.  Yep, Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah (although I do only have 30 pages left of that one) and Angel's Flight by Michael Connelly.  I just go these two book in the mail.  I belong to paperbackswap and these were two of my more recent choices.  But.  I've got to stop going to the library.  We went on Monday to turn in C's summer reading list and claim her book prizes and a book I have been wanting to read was on the shelf.  So what did I do?  Yep, checked it out.  And when do I think I'll get it read?
Happy Yarn Along Wednesday!