Knits, Garden, Market and Birds

Wow, there are so many things going on, it's hard to know where to start and how to organize it all.  So I'll start with the fun stuff and work my way through the list.

Knitting is moving along at a great pace!  I've finished, washed and blocked another item for Giftstash 2012.  This is a cowl called Greyhaven which was made with an incredibly soft yarn called Road to China.  The yarn is 65% Baby Alpaca, 15% Silk, 10% Camel and 10% Cashmere.  Again, I don't know who the recipient will be but I like it enough I might have trouble giving it away.  

The Indigo Montoya socks are moving along slowly.  I started working the heel flap of the second sock yesterday at Just Knitting in Carleton Place where I sit with a lovely group of ladies on Saturday afternoons to knit and chat.  Since this is the second sock, it'll move along much faster now - the end is in sight and I'll want to wear them. 

The garden is growing and establishing well now.  Beets and a variety of salad greens have been planted.  In fact, the radicchio has sprouted as has the spinach.  It's raining today so I think I'll take advantage of the weather and will plant zucchini and beans.

The 20th annual New Perth Farmer's Market was officially opened yesterday by the Perth Town Crier and filmed by his lovely partner.



I was pleased beyond words to discover that it is truly a local farmer's market.  I've been attending the markets in Ottawa for a while now and while you can't doubt that the vendors are local, you have to question some of the produce (I'm thinking of the guy who sells bananas...).  So this market yesterday had a limited assortment of greens, some rhubarb, eggs, a beef and lamb vendor, jams and jellies,  a few chickens, numerous stalls selling potted plants, and the usual assortment of handmade crafts like pottery, jewelry and wood crafts. 

Exactly what you would expect to find in early May.  Ian and I picked up some spinach, early salad greens, eggs, a pie, some fudge for Chuck (OK - we all shared it), and some wild leeks - some of which I planted so we'll see if they survive.  

And then there is the ongoing bird and chimney situation....We had a guy from a local chimney and fireplace shop come out and look at the chimney, flue and fireplaces to see what we could do, how best to close them off to the birds and what our options were for woodstoves.  I gotta admit, this guy earns his money.  One fireplace is destined to remain purely ornamental.  But in the basement fireplace, he tore down the metal sheet covering the flue, pulled out the insulation that had been stuffed into the flue and some other stuff that I'll politely call "debris" and had a look up the chimney to see if he could see light.  No light.  Not good.  But he commented that there was a lot of hay in the chimney.

Hay?!

Seems starlings are noted among the chimney sweep set for being persistent at trying to build nests in inappropriate places - including chimneys and they start by collecting larger pieces of grass and hay which act as a rough framework and drop them where they want to  nest.  I don't know how long this fireplace has stood idle but with the use of a four foot fish gaff, this is what Chuck took out of the bottom four feet of the flue.

The good news is we can see light.  And it might explain the musty smell in the basement.