Spring Comes Late to the Dakotas

These little guys popped up this weekend, peeking through the pine needles in my center garden. Not many of the bulbs I planted last fall made it through our difficult winter. I did have some snowdrops come up which I planted a few years ago and never showed themselves until this spring. So, maybe others will show up next spring.

My gardening faux paux of the week, or maybe for the whole growing season involves one of my favorite foods - rhubarb. I've lugged around a Canadian Red rhubarb plant from a number of residences in the past 20 years. I always divide it when I move, leaving some of it behind. When we moved here almost four years ago, I did the same thing. It flourished here more than anywhere else it's been. The raspberries planted near it did too. Last fall, I decided I would move the rhubarb into the center back garden where I'd planted another, less tasty, rhubarb plant. As you might guess, the less tasty one came up and has been growing like gangbusters - but no Canadian Red. I checked around and found a greenhouse here in town that had a few Canadian Red rhubarb plants. I rushed over and bought them. As I was looking for a place to plant them, guess what I found? Yep, the Canadian Red rhubarb I divided up last year was ALL coming up. I did say rhubarb was a favorite, right?

Off the Needles: I finished Corrina Fergeson's Broken Chocolate Bar Socks that I was test knitting. I'm waiting until she puts her pattern up on Ravelry before I post the photos. So, film at 11!

On the Needles: I'm doing a pair of toe-up, two-at-time socks using some inexpensive Paton's self-striping yarn. I needed something for knitting at meetings and this fit the bill. I'm also still stealth knitting the same sweater. I've lost count how many times I've ripped. More recently, I removed the ribbing to change to a different ribbing.

Rescue Chair: Thank you everyone that contacted me about the color of the rescue chair. It will be RED. I have been sanding this week and it appears that at one time in its early life it was red.

52 Books in 52 Weeks/Book 22: The Quiche of Death, by M.C. Beaton. This is the first in the Agatha Raisin series set in a small village outside of London. Agatha purchases a quiche to enter into a contest as her own. Unfortunately, the judge dies after eating it. I'm not as fond of this series as her Hamish Macbeth series.

Book 23: Loving Frank, by Nancy Horan. I thought I knew a lot about Frank Lloyd Wright, but I was wrong. While the book is haled as historical fiction, it is based very clearly on fact. It is excellently written and researched. I think it's considered historical fiction because the author had to speculate as the reactions and conversations. The main character is Wright's mistress Mamah Borthwick, who left her husband and two children, to be with the also married-with-children Wright. The ending was so out-of-this- world, I thought the author made it up - but after some research on the Internet, once again I was wrong. Highly recommended!