Early Harvest

I haven't posted much about my garden, mainly because once it gets hot I tend to stay inside and let the weeds grow.  Which they have.

A couple weeks ago I did pick several cherry tomatoes from a volunteer tomato vine that grew on its own.  The two tomatoes I bought at the garden store and planted did nothing, by the way.  The volunteers were deliciously sweet & juicy.  There are a few more out there waiting to be picked and enjoyed right there in the garden.

I also picked an apple off our tree.  It's about 2 inches in diameter with a golden skin and a rosy blush.  And a myriad of brown worm holes around the stem.  The apple trees were planted many years ago and if there ever were apples they were always destroyed by squirrels or fell to the ground before they were ripe.  I stopped wasting the effort to spray them for bugs long ago but for some reason there are apples this year.  I couldn't resist picking two, eating one and photographing the other.  Not sure of the variety but it's pretty, no?

The potato came out of the plastic tub which I planted with many potatoes from the kitchen that had sprouted eyes.  Rather than throw them away I planted them and kept adding soil as the leaves grew higher.  This technique is supposed to increase yield.  A few weeks ago when I dug in the earth I found nothing but then I dug again and found this little specimen, about an inch in diameter.  I've heard freshly dug potatoes are delicious and cannot wait to find a few more and add them to my supper menu.

So here we have the first fruits of the garden.  Hopefully there will be more.

Quotable quotes; in the category I Could Have Told Him!  It Was The Squirrel!

"Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why."  William Hazlitt  English Writer & Painter

It's My Bag!

A while ago I posted about making my own paper gift bags.  See how I did it here.

While I made the previous bags from brown kraft paper, today I made a bag using wrapping paper.  When I unrolled the pink check paper to cut it to size, I discovered the reverse side was blue check.  I decided to use that as a design element.

I wrapped the paper around an appropriate sized box, glued it together, folded in the bottom to make it square and glued that (a little invisible tape helped).  I folded the top over twice to the outside to make the blue border (would have been easier had I folded it before gluing into a bag shape) and glued it down, leaving a space open for the handle.  Don't forget to remove the box!  It's only there to help shape the bag.

I cut a strip of paper the length of the handle and three times the width.  I folded it over on one side, with the pink check visible, then folded the other side in reverse to expose the blue check.  I tucked the ends into the opening in the top fold, glued it down and my bag was done!

To make the gift card I cut a piece of the paper about 2 inches square and folded an origami crane.  Cranes are said to bring luck and are often given as gifts to newly married couples and newborn babies.  Since this bag would hold a gift for a new baby I thought the crane was appropriate.  Learn how to fold an origami crane here.

I wrapped a bit of the blue check paper around a gift card and glued the crane to it.  There was just enough room to write on, and I tied it to the bag handle with a bit of pink ribbon.

I'm very happy with the way the bag turned out.  Here is what is inside the bag, tucked into the  pink tissue paper.  I blogged about making this bib & booties here.

Quotable quotes; in the category It Really Didn't Take That Long!

"The life so short, the crafts so long to learn."  Geoffrey Chaucer

Baby Baby!

Boss has been having grandchildren this year.  His daughter gave birth to her first son, the first grandson in the family, in April.  Later this summer his son's wife will give birth to a daughter - their first and the 3d granddaughter in the family.

I, of course, wanted to give a gift for the new babies.  Something simple and nice and preferably handmade.  A few years ago at a previous job, several of my coworkers had babies just a few weeks apart.  I decided on washcloths, hand knit in baby colors, and presented with a bottle of baby soap.  They seemed to be very popular.  One mom declared it too pretty to be a washcloth and used it as a doily on baby's crib-side table.  Here is a link to the blog post I wrote about the washcloth pattern I made up and used.

This time, I had been blessed with a huge quantity of beautiful quilt fabrics.  I decided to make bibs for the babies and made matching booties as well.  For the grandson I decided on a rather subdued, if not masculine, fabric and chose plaids and solids in gray (I had already been knitting the gray booties and wanted the bib to complement the color).  They came out very well.  This is my favorite bootie pattern because, although the original called for angora yarn, I use regular worsted weight and the booties resemble duck feet . . . at least to me.

For the granddaughter I chose fabrics in yellow flower prints (mostly because the yarn I had on hand for the booties was also yellow.  Clever, non?)  I suffered over these booties.  Try as I might, and I tried three different but similar patterns, I could NOT get the stitches to line up properly to make that darling lacy & rounded toe.  I finally decided to be the boss of the pattern, forcing each round of stitches to line up where I knew they should and adjusting to make sure the lacy part was evenly spaced across the toe.  I succeeded and if I do say it myself, the booties are darling.


I hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I enjoyed making & giving them.

Quotable quotes; in the category I Guess That's Why We're Here!

"A baby is God's opinion that life should go on."  Carl Sandburg

Furoshiki!

I finished making this over the holiday weekend.  It's a patchwork furoshiki, or as the blogger where I found it called it, a quilted furoshiki.  Technically it's not quilted but I think it is lovely (hers more than mine).  Here is a link to her instructions.

A furoshiki is a piece of cloth used to tie up and carry packages, bentos, gifts or just about anything.  They can be made from silks or cottons and can be very plain and utilitarian or very lovely and luxurious.  Even a cotton bandana or silk scarf can be used.

I bought my first bento box many, many years ago after The Man and I dined at a Japanese restaurant.  Bento Box was on the menu - a lovely box divided into small sections, each holding a few bites of a variety of dishes - shrimp tempura, chicken teriyaki, pickles, rice, salad.  I bought The Man the bento box as a gift (he is impossible to buy for).  It was not the same as the bento box he was served, which looked like this.

His was the type more often used to carry a lunch to work or school and looked more like this.  The box has two tiers, which nest when empty.  When packed with goodies they stack one atop the other.  I also bought a length of silk fabric in colors to complement the box and made him a furoshiki (actually just by hemming the silk square).  The box and the furoshiki are put away somewhere but if and when I ever find it I'll use it to carry my own bento lunch, unless Mr. wants me to make one for him.

I enjoyed making this patchwork furoshiki and am working on another.  I found another link that used a similar technique with some variations so that's the version I am working on now.  Find the instructions at this link.

Once you have finished your furoshiki (or if you prefer, found a bandana or scarf you like) find an appropriate bento box.  This can be anything from a beautiful store bought box, a fun Hello Kitty box, a Tupperware box, a 50 cent Glad or Ziploc box intended for leftovers or even a Cool Whip container.  Pack your lunch in the box and tie it up in your fuorshiki.  Add a pair of chopsticks and you're all set!

Quotable quotes; in the category That's Why The Furoshiki Is Totally Reversible!

"The reverse side also has a reverse side."  Japanese Proverb.

Garden Slow Down

I haven't posted about gardening recently because I have not been doing much gardening mostly because there's not a lot to do.  My bed/boxes are pretty well planted out and the seeds are beginning to sprout.  Now I'll be "succession" planting - adding a few beans to the bean plot each week to ensure a continuous crop.

Mr. has been clearing off the patio which has been buried under layers of twigs, vines, trash and leaves due to having the house stripped of climbing vines and tuck-pointed last fall.  It will be nice to have the patio visible and hopefully usable again.



This is NOT the view from our yard.

We bought a swing/glider like this one a couple years ago.  Maybe this year we can put it together and have it out in the yard for shady sitting.  It may be replacing a cedar bench we bought several years ago which is now showing its age, and another "park" bench we scrounged that is unwilling to be rehabilitated.  Unless I can find appropriate cedar slats and hardware, and time to repair them, they may be reduced to firewood, something I don't like to think about.

I have been weeding, trying to develop the habit of pulling a few weeds every day or every time I go into the yard.  Sort of like piling things that go upstairs near the stairway in hopes I'll remember to bring them upstairs next time I go.  I have been checking the beds each evening when I get home from work, and each morning on the way to work, both to check on the sprouting progress and to give them a drink of water.  So far so good.

I still have a few things to plant out - roses, clematis, tomatoes and herbs.  Hopefully those will go into the ground this weekend.  When the beds/planters start to look like something besides pots of earth I'll take more pictures and post them.  Until then, happy gardening.

Quotable quotes; in the category  Yay!  Less Work For Me!  I Mean . . . Hey, Wait!

"God made rain so gardeners could get the housework done."  Author Unknown

Nice Hat!

I love this hat.  I made it last year.  I like to wear a hat in summer to keep the sun off my head and neck, partly to prevent sunburn but also cuz dang it, hats are cute!  And this hat is really nice.  I'm proud of the job I did.  It turned out very well.

Hats like this become popular every now and then.  In the 1970s we wore hats like this, usually hand made and often with a flower pin or some other decoration attached to the upturned brim.  My friend wore one when we went to Europe on a choir tour.  I had one a few years before that I made in high school.  Lots of my friends had hats like this they either bought or made themselves.

I had some problems making this hat.  I found the pattern at this popular web site.  There were some missing links in the instructions, mostly with how to put the pattern pieces together.  They print out on separate sheets of paper, part of the pattern on each one, and it's a bit challenging to get the pieces all lined up and taped together so you can cut out a cohesive pattern template.  If you decide to make this hat be sure to read all the comments (there are many) as they contain valuable information about how to put the pattern together and how to make the hat.  Also, be sure to test-fit the pattern to your head before cutting your fabric as the pattern seems to run pretty large.

You can also buy a commercial hat pattern (look in the craft or accessories section of the pattern catalog) or find other patterns on line.  Search for floppy hat, sun hat, free pattern, and just keep looking until you find the one you like best.  Some sites show you how to draft your own pattern, others provide a pattern for you, sometimes for free.  Here's a google search to get you started.

I recommend using a fairly heavy interfacing in the brim.  I used a very light interfacing and eventually took the hat apart, inserted a stiffer interfacing and sewed the hat back together - not a pleasant adventure - but in fact the hat came out better than before.  You may also wish to use a light interfacing in the crown.  I did not but I'm pretty sure the hat would benefit from it.

I also sewed rows of top stitching around the perimeter of the hat brim.  This gives a quilted look and also ensured the interfacing stays put - something to consider even if you are using iron on interfacing (which I did not).  The iron on adhesive can wear away after repeated washings and the interfacing might shift.  Or not.  It's really up to you and how long you plan to wear the hat and how often you may wash it.  I plan to wear mine forever.  That's how much I like it!

Quotable quotes; in the category Home Is Where I Hang My Brain

"He can't think without his hat."  Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot

Angry!

I'm getting really angry at the squirrels.  They have made a regular habit of invading my finch feeders (I wouldn't begrudge them a little bird seed but they don't eat the black thistle seed - just spill it all over the ground so the finches can't have it) and sometimes pulling the feeders off the tree, smashing them and breaking the hangers.  They're like the slobs who go to a buffet, slop around in all the food but don't take any, leaving it a disgusting mess so nobody coming after them wants to eat it either.

They have routinely beheaded my tulips, year after year, even digging up and eating the bulbs.  Indeed, this is the first year I ever had tulips in the front yard, where I planted them some years ago.  They bloomed today.  Let's see how long these three can go before being squirrel-ated (they have already destroyed the potted tulips the Man brought me at Easter, and eaten the buds off every other tulip that managed to get close to blooming).

They have been digging in my potted pansies, most often just after I tucked a few nasturtium seeds into the soil.  And those seeds are expensive!  They molested the planter box I seeded with lettuces and mesclun.  And just yesterday, the climbed into a planter I thought was fairly impenetrable and dug around, uprooting the beans just on the verge of sprouting and apparently taking nips out of the shallots (also expensive) which are now dying instead of growing.

Like I said, I would not begrudge them a little something - but why do they have to leave waste and wreak havoc?  They truly are the bullies of the garden.  Somebody outta squeal on them.

Quotable quotes; in the category I Guess This Is About The Nicest Thing I Can Think Of Regarding Squirrels!

"I squirrel away sealed greeting cards that people give me so I can open them later when I'm having a bad day."  Emily Procter, Actress (CSI Miami)