Lavender Wake-Up

I began Lizard's mini lavender farm in 2021. I tried to extend it at least a bit each year, but then Parkinson's limited his access it. I had to spend a year's worth of lavender expansion budget on rock stairs to enable him to climb into the garden. Then he lost the ability to balance on slopes...

This year we decided to dive into the apple trees we'd wanted since the day we bought the house, technically ending the mini lavender farm expansion. I was beginning to realize Lizard would not be able to care for his lavender garden anymore, and then, the end came so quickly, I truly was not prepared. Emotionally, spiritually, physically, the works.

My first re-visit to the sun-baked mini lavender farm a week or so after the Celebration of Life, my initial thought and reaction was, "What's the point?" What would it matter if I let it die? He was no longer here. It was no longer his lavender. I didn't know if I would be able to hold onto the home by myself. (I'm still not entirely sure I can, but I know I should not make that decision before the one-year mark.)

A couple of weeks later, I decided the lavender farm isn't going to take care of itself, and Lizard would not want me to let it die, so I'd best try to revive it. Thank heavens lavender is drought-tolerant.

I replaced two of the lavender plants that didn't make it through the winter with home improvement center lavender and the third with the only home-grown-from-seed lavender tall enough to survive transplanting. That was back in May. I'm proud to say all three are still going strong, as is the rest of the mini lavender farm. (And the other two home-grown from seed lavender are finally tall enough to transplant, but I'm waiting until fall.)

The entire mini lavender farm is in need of new and fresh mulch, as well as and some rock border replacement, thanks to the local wildlife. The new apple trees also are doing well, although I have yet to finish the landscaping around them because it's just been too darned hot.

We bought a mature wisteria and a blueberry bush when we bought the apple trees. The wisteria found the pergola all by itself. I haven't had to train it or the mourning (pun intended) glories I planted at the base. They are healthily climbing and doing their best to bring me daily cheer.

The third and final clematis didn't survive our July heat dome, and I'm throwing in the towel on clematis. No clematis on this property has survived more than one year in 18 years, so I give up. Mourning glories and wisteria will suffice for the shade I hope they will produce within the next couple of years. The ivy that came with the house didn't survive the transplanting to the pergola, even though everything I've read says ivy is extremely easy to root. There's always the Virginia creeper that seems to grow wild everywhere here...

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed some of the leaves on the wisteria were turning yellow. My heart sank. I googled and learned I need to mulch the clematis in this heat. I couldn't afford to buy more mulch, and the lavender needed to be pruned, so, I decided to use the lavender trimmings as mulch.

I hate cutting the lavender because it feels like I'm killing it. (It's actually necessary, but it's a mindset thing for me.) And yet I LOVE cutting the lavender because the smell is SO incredible. Now when I water my wisteria, I'm overcome by the wonderful aroma of lavender. And the wisteria looks healthier!!!

A few years ago, I generated a bunch of AI images of bears in a lavender field because I'd missed my award-winning shot. AI has improved a bit since then, so, last week I tried to generate new AI interpretations of a bear in Lizard's mini lavender farm. I'm tickled with the new images. But I'd rather have real photos of bears in Lizard's lavender.

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Snowflake Monday

I'm really feeling the love of serving others and working together to make the world a better place. Here's another flake destined for Operation Ornaments.

You may do whatever you'd like with snowflakes you make from this pattern, but you may not sell or republish the pattern. Thanks, and enjoy!

Finished Size: 5 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 7 crochet hook, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, water soluble school glue or desired stiffener, water, glitter, small container for glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line

Heartfelt Snowflake Instructions

Special Stitches

Popcorn Stitch (pc): Work 5 dc in designated st, take loop off hook, insert hook through top loop of 1st dc and replace loop on hook, pull loop through top of 1st dc.

Make magic ring.

Round 1: [1 pc into ring, ch 3] 6 times, omitting last 2 ch of final repeat; 1 dc into starting pc to form 6th ch 3 sp of Round. Don't pull magic ring too tight.

Round 2: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 1 hdc and 1 sc over post of dc directly below, [in next ch 3 sp work (1 sc, 1 hdc, 1 dc, ch 3, 1 dc, 1 hdc, 1 sc)] 5 times; in next ch 3 sp work (1 sc, 1 hdc, 1 dc); ch 1, 1 dc in 2nd ch of starting ch 2 to form 6th ch 3 point of Round.

Round 3: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 2 dc over post of dc directly below, [ch 3, 1 sc in 3rd ch from hook (picot made), in next ch 3 tip work (3 dc, * ch 8, 1 sc in 4th ch from hook and in each of next 3 ch, ch 1, 3 dc)] 6 times, ending * on final repeat; ch 1, 1 dc in 2nd ch of starting ch 2 to form snowflake tip and base for foundation sc, 1 fsc in top of dc, 3 more fsc, ch 1, 1 dc in bottom of fsc just worked to form 6th ch 3 tip of Round.
NOTE: If you are not comfortable with fsc, work 6th point same as previous 5 and bind off, rejoining on any tip.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

Round 4: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 2 dc over post of dc directly below, [working down spoke, 1 dc in top of next sc, 1 tr in next sc, 1 dtr in next sc, sk over next 2 sc, next 3 dc, next picot, next 3 dc and next 2 sc, working up next spoke, 1 dtr in next sc, 1 tr in next sc, 1 dc in next sc, in ch 3 tip work (3 dc, ch 7, 1 dc in 3rd ch from hook and in each of next 2 ch, ch 4, 1 dc in 3rd ch from hook and in next ch, 1 hdc in top of next dc, 1 sc in bottom of same dc, sl st in next ch (heart picot made), ch 1, 3 dc)] 6 times, omitting last 3 dc of final repeat; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2; bind off. Weave in ends.

NOTE: If you're having trouble with the heart picot, see the photo tutorial here. Although this heart is just a bit different than in the tutorial, the technique is the same.

Finish: I've been stiffening my flakes with undiluted, full-strength water soluble school glue for quite a while now, and I've been squishing the glue onto and throughout each flake with my fingers (yucky mess!!!) instead of gingerly painting the flakes with glue. Yes, it's a mess. But it's faster. And stiffer.

Tape wax paper or plastic wrap to top of empty pizza box. Pin snowflake to box on top of wax paper or plastic wrap.

If using glue, mix a few drops of water with a teaspoon of glue in small washable container. Paint snowflake with glue mixture or desired stiffener. Sprinkle lightly with glitter. Wash paintbrush and container thoroughly. Allow snowflake to dry at least 24 hours. Remove pins. Gently peel snowflake from wax paper or plastic wrap. Attach 10-inch clear thread to one spoke, weaving in end. Wrap fishing line around tree branch (or tape to ceiling or any overhead surface) and watch snowflake twirl freely whenever you walk by! Snowflake also may be taped to window or tied to doorknob or cabinet handle.

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Friday Fortius

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Quickie Quilt

Found out Wednesday night last week I had been invited to a housewarming. On Saturday night. Yikes. I had to inventory my panel stash (long story for a different day) to find if anything was suitable for a boy toddler.

Baby animals fit the bill, but it took me hours to inventory the panels. Again, long story, but not today. I didn't get to actually start working on the baby quilt for the new neighbors until Friday night.

Made the panel bigger, then created a backing and layered the sandwich before bedtime Friday. I opted for straight-line quilting on Saturday morning due to the time constraints.

Finished the quilt binding (which had to be pieced from every brown solid scrap in my stash) five minutes before the housewarming was scheduled to begin. It was my first social event in years, other than church on Sundays. The quilt was a hit, and the toddler spent about an hour telling me what sound each animal made. Impressive! He could even make an elephant noise!

Linking up with Alycia Quilts.

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Wordless Wednesday

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Leaping Lizards

(affiliate links to my designs)

A week or so after Lizard passed, one of my friends told me I would find him when I began doing again the things we loved. Another friend told me to watch for signs that he might be near.

I will be candid. I have not heard or seen Lizard or felt him near. I wish I could, but I also realize my task might be to walk by faith. And I'm doing the best I can. Yet, I have looked, listened and paused quite frequently in search of any kind of sign he might be near. I'm kind of to the point that I don't actively search for him anymore because it's too disappointing. I now try to be grateful for the time we had, strengthen my faith and live worthily that I can be with both him and my Savior again one day.

I saw lizards in Lizard's mother's backyard on Mother's Day. That was an annual thing for the last five years, I think. We began making Mother's Day trips over there as soon as it was safe to travel again after we were all vaccinated. The trauma was still so fresh this Mother's Day, seeing the tiny little lizards doing their pushups made both Lizard's mom and me cry. The little lizards are not unusual for her. She sees lizards about nine or ten months out of the year.

I first got back on my bike about six weeks after Lizard passed. It took that long. And I didn't really want to ride then. But I had no choice, unless I Ubered, which I didn't want to do. I was dropping off my car for routine maintenance, and I didn't want an Uber charge on top of whatever the car was going to cost. So, I rode my bike home from the shop. In the rain. I cried almost the entire way. I told everyone who asked that the sky cried with me the whole way.

I'm really thankful now that I took that first ride. It enabled me to get back on my bike. I'm typically riding twice a week now. I've been up Waterton several times. I've seen some great wildlife. But no lizards. Which is not typical. (And no bears, which is just my extreme wishful thinking...)

Until last week. My sister-in-law has been riding with me at least every other week, just to get me back on my bike, but she wasn't able to ride that day. So, I went alone. We had planned to do a different trail than either of us had ever done, but because I was going to be on my own, I decided to ride up Waterton.

I saw nothing on the way up, which isn't that unusual. On the way down, I passed a baby snake in the middle of the road. I circled around for a photo, then used my front bike tire to encourage it to get out of the middle of the road so it would not become a pancake under someone else's wheels.

Suddenly, a very large lizard charged right at both me and the snake!!! The lizard was a little bigger than the snake. I thought I was in for a showdown! I was so shocked, I didn't even think to get the camera ready.

I didn't know who was going to eat who! They were staring at each other, and the lizard kept looking at me, then looking at the snake. Finally, after just a few seconds, the lizard scampered off behind me.

I looked it up when I got home. Snakes will occasionally eat lizards, and lizards will sometimes eat small snakes. That was just fascinating to me. It still is, really. I've never seen anything like that before, and I feel what I witnessed was better than a documentary, even though nothing happened. Just to see two completely different species face off like that!

After I got the baby snake safely across the road (after one cyclist who didn't see it nearly did run over it caused it to jump about two feet in the air... I'd never seen anything like that before, either), I asked Lizard out loud if this means he was there with me. I felt kind of bubbly inside.

All the rest of the way down the canyon, I kept wondering if the lizard was a sign.

At the bottom of the canyon, another large lizard ran across the road right in front of me. I wondered aloud again if this was a sign. Was my Lizard with me? Did he know I was thinking of him?

Then, out of nowhere, five planes flew overhead in formation. Like they were practicing for an air show. On a Tuesday! There were no air shows I knew of. (I did learn Colorado's 150th birthday was last Saturday, so perhaps they were practicing for that.) Lizard would have been overjoyed!!!

I asked God without praying. I think I said something like, "That has to be a sign. Lizard would have loved to see that. He HAS to be near."

I was still happy inside, so I'm going to believe Lizard either knew what I was doing or knew I was thinking of him. He knows I'm trying hard, and he knows I'm trying to be more faithful, and that makes me feel so good.

This week I realized I waited 45 years to find my Lizard. I can't wait to see him again, but I know from experience, I can wait. He was worth every minute of waiting 21 years ago, and he's worth waiting for now.

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Snowflake Monday

I liked the little heart points on last week's snowframe so much, I decided to use them again on today's flake. We're going to have an ornament party for Operation Ornaments in about a week, and all of my snowflakes from this year will be donated to wherever they need me to send them. Because each of my snowflakes will be going to a different family, I don't mind that lots of them have hearts. Spread the love.

You may do whatever you'd like with snowflakes you make from this pattern, but you may not sell or republish the pattern. Thanks, and enjoy!

Finished Size: 4.75 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 7 crochet hook, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, water soluble school glue or desired stiffener, water, glitter, small container for glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line

Angel Heart Snowflake Instructions

Make magic ring.

Round 1: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 1 dc in ring, [ch 3, 2 dc in ring] 5 times, 1 tr in 2nd ch of starting ch 2 to form 6th ch 3 sp of Round. Pull magic circle tight.

Round 2: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 4 dc over post of tr just worked, 5 dc in each of next 5 ch 3 sp, sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2.

Round 3: 1 sc in gap between 5/dc groups directly below, [sk next 2 dc, in next dc work (2 tr, 2 dc, 1 hdc, 2 dc, 2 tr), sk next 2 dc, 1 sc in next gap between 5/dc groups] 6 times, omitting last sc of final repeat; sl st in starting sc.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

Round 4: Ch 10 (counts as 1 trtr and [ch 5), sk next 2 tr and next 2 dc, in next hdc work (1 dc, ch 13, sl st in 3rd ch from hook, ch 7, sk next sk next 7 ch, sl st in next ch, ch 1, 1 dc), ch 5, sk next 2 dc and next 2 tr, 1 trtr in next sc] 6 times, omitting last trtr of final repeat; sl st in 5th ch of starting ch 10; bind off. Weave in ends.

Finish: I've been stiffening my flakes with undiluted, full-strength water soluble school glue for quite a while now, and I've been squishing the glue onto and throughout each flake with my fingers (yucky mess!!!) instead of gingerly painting the flakes with glue. Yes, it's a mess. But it's faster. And stiffer.

Tape wax paper or plastic wrap to top of empty pizza box. Pin snowflake to box on top of wax paper or plastic wrap.

If using glue, mix a few drops of water with a teaspoon of glue in small washable container. Paint snowflake with glue mixture or desired stiffener. Sprinkle lightly with glitter. Wash paintbrush and container thoroughly. Allow snowflake to dry at least 24 hours. Remove pins. Gently peel snowflake from wax paper or plastic wrap. Attach 10-inch clear thread to one spoke, weaving in end. Wrap fishing line around tree branch (or tape to ceiling or any overhead surface) and watch snowflake twirl freely whenever you walk by! Snowflake also may be taped to window or tied to doorknob or cabinet handle.

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