Playin' In The Flowers!

My crochet work has been a lot of fun so far this Spring and now Summer. I've been in a "flower" phase. First it was lilies, then daisies, marigolds, and now roses. But not just any roses! Although that "same old rose" (you thread crocheters know what I'm talking about) is wonderful, I wanted something new. So I started playing around and studying them, eventually turning to my garden photos. Luckily for many years I've photographed virtually every major flower that has bloomed in my yard. It's just a matter of finding what I wanted. I finally did, and with that, inspiration. I found a pic of a beautiful  lavender rose I'd grown years ago and that was the one I wanted to emulate.  (Oh and if you look closely, the rose has a tiny buzzing visitor!)

It took me about a week of testing ideas (and ripping them out) but it finally hit me how I wanted to do it. The design came together quickly after that and it is now published as a free pattern for a limited time. Eventually it will be "promoted" to my for-sale patterns. It's called the "Backward Rose" and you'll see why when you check out the pattern!

I'm finishing my newest rose design, an individual rosebud, right now. You can find that pattern here. After that I plan to do a Hemerocallis (Daylily) modeled after a beautiful daylily called "Pandora's Box." I can't wait to work on it!

In furkid news, I'm babysitting Macie and Winnie, my doggie granddaughters, while their mama is away on a trip to North Carolina for a week. Macie is an incredibly sweet 6 month old pure white German Shepherd Dog puppy, and Winnie is a 4-year-old Miniature Schnauzer. Then add rescue kids Bailey and Monty, and my used-to-be rescues Sue-Sue and Ladybug, and we have a little Schnauzer rodeo! It's been terribly hot here for well over a week and another week to come, so their outside time is limited. We are fortunate to have a big covered patio in back where they can laze on cool concrete or rugs in the shade. But even still, it's too danged hot.  Tomorrow I'm planning "Doggie Spa Day," will give as many baths and haircuts as I can until I get worn out!

Macie and Winnie on lookout. Macie seems to think she's
the same size as Winnie!

It's been a struggle keeping all the flowers and plants going in this heat with a sprinkle of rain just every few days. One of my favorite things is to photograph gardens right after (or as!) I'm watering them. Here is the garden adjacent to my front stairs. I'm really proud of that Gerbera Daisy (near top center). I overwintered that plant and it nearly croaked but is now all happy and this was its first bloom this year. The big leafy thing at left top is my baby Chocolate Mimosa Tree, which will soon be moved elsewhere. The Stargazers are very pretty this year. The red flowers are just little petunias.

In "me" news, some of you know that I struggle with being a very brittle diabetic and hypoglycemic. In all honesty I haven't been eating correctly for quite awhile. After a couple of very scary hypoglycemic episodes last weekend, I'm trying something completely different. Not the veggie stew I did relentlessly for two years  to lose and keep off 70 pounds. I can't stand the idea of soup right now for some reason. What I'm trying to do is learn about the Glycemic Index and try to eat in a different manner to see if it stabilizes my blood sugar.