May Days

May passed in a blur for me. Work was extremely hectic and I was getting things prepped for the Campbell Town Show. The highlight of May for me was Mother's Day which we spent at Clarendon. It was a superb day of exhibition, skill share and garden stalls etc. They are making it an annual event and I think I will too. We celebrated the day together and there was no cooking or washing up and all the ladies really appreciated that!

The leaf turning this year has been long and lustrous. The crab apple has done a full leaf drop this year so I am expecting a big blossom flush and lots of fruit. The leaves, though a nuisance for some, have been raked often and placed atop garden beds preparing for sleep through the winter. My folly, the Tahitian Lime, has been swaddled in frost cloth and we shall see how she fares in spring.

The quince thicket that provided shelter and cool relief in summer for the hens in the yard has fully leaf dropped and allows in the warming sunlight shafts of the lowered trajectory path of the winter sun. Our handsome black Australorp cockerel, acquired in late summer, is out of quarantine and in full health and minding his flock. He is very attentive to his ladies, finding tid-bits and sharing them and pointing them out. Keeping a watchful eye on their progress round the paddock and calls me raucously when I fail to come down early enough to spread the feed!

Autumn is also the time of rodents! The mice especially have been in large numbers this year, trying to move inside to the warmth. The crows, kookaburras and other prey eating birds have moved into the garden, watching and swooping. Rabbits have moved into the paddock too and we catch them from time to time. They are skun and popped into the freezer and we keep out eyes peeled for mushrooms down in the pine tree corner.

It is the time to safely light the bon-fire and clean up garden debris, young and old enjoying the cold at their back and the warmth on their faces. Jumpers and boots are our uniform now for the next several months while the snows cling to the mountains and the washing is permanently ranged around the heater. 

Great nights for knitting and here is one I've just finished for Julien.

It's a favourite pattern I use and is available 

here.

A lot of it is knit in the round and is quite quick with lot's of stimulating, yet uncomplicated, pattern changes. I use DK/8ply pure wool and 4mm needles. This was one of my entries in the show but it didn't place but I'll try again as Julien will need another one next year! You can view my project from last year on Ravelry here