ants and grasshoppers

Some of us are ants, and some are grasshoppers.  I for one, must be an ant.  Each day I am busy preparing something from the garden for winter storage.  This week it is beans and broccoli...but the tomatoes are starting to blush, and soon I will begin working on them.  I am very thankful for such a bountiful harvest this year.  The yield has been more than I could hope for.  However, the routine of freezing and canning is starting to get boring.  Besides, it leaves little time for fiber arts.  So here is a sink full of beans that see when I close my eyes to go to sleep. 

And here is what happens after a few hours of slicing and packing and canning.

 

Oh yes, I worked on the "cheater" socks while the beans were being pressurized...I finally tried some of the self-patterning yarn everyone has been talking about.  What fun, one can simply knit away and watch the magic!  I purchased this yarn from the Mannings, and should have brought more while I was there.  I am surely going to make another pair, just cannot decide whether or not I really like them.  When they are all finished, I look at them and think they came from the Walmart or something.

These socks will be something to stash away for winter as well.  After all, the moral of the story is "it is best to prepare for the days of necessity".  Thinking of snowy days during the dog days of July is oxymoron-ish, but planning ahead is wise.  I heard from our coal distributor, who is urging us to purchase early, and without a discount this year!  According to him, he has never seen the market like this before.  As a matter of fact, he announced that come October, all bets are off, he cannot even guarantee that he will have any coal to sell after that!  And so, we shall start packing away the coal now, rather than waiting for the cooler months.

Many thanks to Jeanne, who emailed me with suggestions on how to adjust the other sock pattern to continue the eyelet pattern on the heel flap.  After fiddling around for sometime, I was able to adjust my stitches correctly, now must decide if I want to rip back to the cuff and start over again!

So dance away grasshoppers, as for me, back to work!