Napkin Rings, Knitting and Champagne Grapes

June 25, 2012


In my garden right now, roses are having their second bloom.
Welcome back! 
I picked this little bouquet from a sweet
pale blush David Austin called St. Cecilia.

As for gardening, so much bounty now from our little patch it's unbelievable.  
We are on to cucumbers, chard, beets, summer squash and still lettuce too.  
My husband and I enjoy so much going out in the morning and working, 
he with the trimming and watering, me with the weeding and picking.  
What a pretty place to be.



There is lots of knitting, here, there and everywhere, ufo's scattered all around.  
Here is a sample of the current ones that are getting the most attention.


Color Affection Shawl by Veera Valmaski is on my kitchen table.

Another Veera design, Shift of Focus is in my knitting bag.

Lily Cardigan is by my bed.

Still lots of cross stitch love, a vintage linen stamped tablecloth gets some attention when I'm in my sewing room.
We had a dinner party last night and made a very light dinner which I think made everyone happy as we were all pretty much stuffed from typical weekend over-indulging.


I served this for dessert.  
It started when I saw the itty bitty champagne grapes at my local Safeway.
Anything in miniature form, any old thing at all,
but especially something with the name Champagne in it,
is enough to make me sigh and desire.
And bonus, they taste good too!
Served with a tiny wedge of shortbread 
and thinly sliced white English cheddar, yummy.


I have a nice selection of antique sterling napkin rings.  
I collected them at one time for the names only.  
Old fashioned names like Bernard and Hilde, 
and sweet names like Teddy and Claire always made me pull out my wallet.  
I have about 20 now and certainly don't need anymore, but I cherish them so much!   
Here are the ones I used last night.







And then there is always the summer reading.  I finished the beautifully lyrical book, The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman, about the siege of Masada.  I loved it, but can't quite give it 5 stars as I couldn't keep the characters straight; exactly who one's grandmother was or who this one or that one married to, etc.  But that didn't stop me from loving the book.  I once visited Masada, a hill fort in the Judaean Desert where ancient Jews held out from the Romans until they were defeated and committed mass suicide.  I remember being fascinated when I walked though the alleys and wish I had this book in my hand at the time.  Highly recommended.

I just started Nothing to Envy, Ordinary Lives in North Korea, loving it so far.

I'm all tuckered out and 
ready for a cuddly date with my sofa and knitting needles.  
xoxo

You Might Also Like

4 Comments

  1. The gardens are gorgeous! And I can see why your wallet opened up to purchase those beautiful sterling napkin rings!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pretty color affection shawl, luv the colors!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your garden is absolutely spectacular! No wonder you look so young and healthy :) That shortbread looks homemade? Funny enough I've been thinking about making shortbread lately ~

    ReplyDelete
  4. My bucket list: dinner at your house and a walk through your garden. :-)

    I love the St. Cecilia roses! Such a delicate color.

    ReplyDelete

You make my day when you make a comment!

Labels

afghan Alana Dakos ally pally ambassador Amy Herzog Ankestrick Arte Italica baby Baby Cocktails bakelite baking berry picking Best Friday of the Month best of Ravelry Big Sur blue transferware book review books boutique brook cables California candy child children children's activities Christmas Christmas crafts Christmas knitting cleaning collections cookie cutters cookies cooking craft Crafts crochet cross-stitch day trip decluttering decorating designer spotlight discount diy dog dolls Easter eau de vie Elizabeth Bradley Elizabeth Zimmerman embroidery entertaining Facebook fall fall decorating fall garden family featured first car fit flower arranging flowers free pattern Friday night party group friends funny Fur garden gardening Giants Gifted Hostess give-away giveaway gluten free gourmet group Halloween herbs holiday home how to set up a party group jewelry Kaffe Fassett KAL Kim Hargreaves kitting Knit Picks knitting laundry Le Jacquard Francais Little French Knits Los Altos lunch Mailbu Making Things Marie Wallin Martin Storey menu minimalism money talk mosaic movies my house my patterns my town nails needlepoint needles October challenge Octoberfest ollalie organizing original design outdoor seating owl party prep pear peg dolls pies pomegranates poncho preview quilting recipe recycling redwork review roses Rowan San Francisco Sarah Hatton sewing shawl shopping shower social media softie spring spring garden stash Stitches West summer summer garden summer knitting Sunday Morning Swans Island table setting test test knit Thanksgiving Three Irish Girls TNNA tomatoes top 10 list toys travel tutorial twinning ufo Uncommon Threads vacation Valentine vegetable garden videos wedding winter garden wip Woolfolk yarn yarn for sale Ysolda