I really need to post some pictures

There is so much going on and hopefully I'll soon have time to share some of it with the world! Over the past week, while I have been slaving away at work and school, my husband has been revamping the front yard. Our house is now 4 years old and we still had the original "dry" or "natural" landscaping. Because Reno is considered high desert, most of the landscaping consists of sagebrush and other native types of plants. The problem is that the landscapers hired by the builder were not paid to make it pretty, just to plant the plants. Half of them died the first year and half of the remainder have died over the past 3 years. There are three houses in our cul-de-sac and the other two have fabulous yards. We decided this year we would join their ranks. Here are some pictures of what he accomplished in just a few short days.

Here is the front porch - that's honeysuckle on the lattice and tulips in the planter boxes


A couple views of the strange triangle-shaped planter in the front of the yard. Our front yard is long and skinny since we are on the edge of a small cul-de-sac. He put a little brick wall up along the edge and we'll probably plant some shrubs in the little area behind it



In fiber-related news...I am now the proud owner of a Speed-O-Knit knitting machine by PASSAP. I don't have a picture of it yet, as it is still sitting in pieces on my dining room table, but as soon as I get it set up in the sewing room I'll post a picture of the actual machine. For now, if you click on this link, it will take you to an eBay auction of the exact same machine (although because mine was purchased by my pack-rat grandmother in the 1950s, I still have the book and the original receipt!).

I have also been practicing my knitting and doing some planning. My mom is getting re-married in mid-June and she wants her sisters and me to wear purple. I found this really pretty purple floral chiffon burnout at Joann's over the weekend and I'm going to underline it with a lavender matte satin. I still haven't figured out what dress I'm going to make, but it's going to be sleeveless or strapless and I plan on knitting a lightweight shrug to cover my shoulders. I have a few ideas, but I need the dress plan finalized before I decide. In the meantime, I have decided to practice my knitting skills. I'm halfway done with a cable scarf and then I want to do some swatches of some different lace motifs that I found on the internet to practice more intricate work. It's been more than 10 years since I last attempted to knit, and this time I think I finally got it down...we'll see if I'm being overly-confident. I'll post pictures of the fabric as soon as I figure out what dress I'm going to make.

I also realized that I never did post a picture of me in my Galaxy dress. I will try to post those pictures soon too.