Flower Friday : : Dahlia

I picked the last of the dahlias today.  It's chilly at night and it's taking longer for the sun to climb over Wildwood Mountain and shine into our dirty living room windows. We've spotted a skunk's feathery tail disappearing over the edge of the back deck as we open the door for Ozzie's 'last call'.  The space below the bird feeders is already heavily populated with ground squirrels, grey squirrels, quail, stellar jays, acorn woodpeckers, and probably other rodents that keep a lower profile. 

Will is leaving for school this weekend so he and OilMan played golf in the morning yesterday and we all went out to dinner together last night. Peter insisted that this was not 'his' dinner because he doesn't leave for school until next weekend. 

Dana and Jim leave the end of the month for Paris where they will spend their 25th anniversary. We will clear the decks for Blake who will stay with us and can reach anything on any counter in the house. He seems to have outgrown eating power cords, irrigation lines, plastic bowls, Ozzie's dish and other non-comestibles, but he can still put away a loaf of bread, a cake, or a plate full of cookies in a trice....

OilMan is in a really good mood today because he finished putting the stairs back in place and filling them with decomposed granite and the new gate hangs straight and is fully functional. I think he has regained some of his confidence in fixing things thanks to a little boost and a LOT of help from Dan.

I have picked up a pattern for a baby sweater which I am knitting out of sock yarn, but I fear the child will have outgrown the 4-6 month size by the time I get it finished.  I was bemoaning my lack of interest/dexterity/ability to read a pattern to my friend Fran the other day and she showed me her copy of a book called , Knitting Rules! by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. Yesterday a copy of the same  book arrived on our doorstep.  Since Amazon takes off the name of the sender and replaces it with theirs, I texted Fran and asked if she sent it or did I forget that I had ordered it?  She said, "Yup it was me. Enjoy! It will make you laugh."

I did. But it is also full of handy information that might just prevent me from throwing my unfinished sweater out the window. It was a thoughtful and much appreciated surprise....