Five Things for Friday: Blossoms and Babies and Food

Heather's blog generally features Five Things for Friday, although I don't see it yet today (watch for it!). My Five Things blogs are rarer, but here's one for today.

- 1 -

The Kalamazoo Farmers Market recently opened for the season, and Jess & I made our first visit last Saturday. It's not too busy this early in the growing year. Nearly every vendor had asparagus to sell; some had tomatoes, which, this being Michigan, seemed a bit sketchy. Our favorite egg vendor was there, and the vendor with those delicious caramels. The guy with heirloom tomato plants was there; I bought one (1) plant - Mayo's Delight - we'll see if I can manage to keep it alive. (Last year I harvested one tomato before the plant died; but that one tomato was delicious!)

- 2 -

We've welcomed lots of new babies at church over the past six or so months. Last Saturday, we had a celebratory shower for all of them. Here are six of the new little ones - a photo taken shortly before Baby Meltdown. Starting with the little guy on the top, and continuing clockwise, we have the newest members of the Wesel, Brown, Burnham, Betzold, Tensmeyer, and Ballard families. (Alas, no Thompson baby that day . . .)

- 3 -

For Christmas, Jim gave me a set of lace blocking wires, and I finally got the chance to use them. Not that I have finished anything (ha! I've been knitting steadily, but there is no end in sight for any of my projects). My friend, on the other hand, recently finished knitting a scarf out of a merino / qiviut / silk blend lace yarn - so yummy! - and I agreed to block it for her.

Here is a not-very-good photo of the scarf, stretched on the wires. I think probably I could have blocked it more aggressively, but I was being cautious - it was the first time using the wires, after all, plus it was not my scarf!

But the wires did work well. It was rather tedious, threading them through each stitch, but the end result was a much smoother edge than when I have to place individual pins. (The pins in this photo are holding the wires, not the yarn.)

- 4 -

Last year, Bonnie and I talked to a fellow at Friendship Village. He was clearing out a new area in the woods, and had planted three dogwood trees. I figured it would be a couple years before they bloomed.

But look what Bonnie and I saw yesterday. I could hardly believe it - the trees were in bloom, and the flowers were huge - the size of my hand! I've never seen a tree quite like these. A placard said they are venus kousa dogwoods. An internet search revealed that the blooms are indeed 6", and that they are drought- and deer-tolerant to boot (a good thing in this woods, which periodically sees deer).

- 5 -

I love these flowers. Wouldn't this be a lovely color for yarn - shades of purple and white, with a bit of green here and there?