A Little Bit of Spring....

Spring has come and it is indeed beautiful.  I am currently staying with my parents during this whole stay at home thing.  Here's a picture from their home:

The lilaces were beautiful.  They didn't last long as we had a hard frost just a couple of days after they bloomed. 

I have missed most of spring bulbs at my own house but here are a few shots:

 
Dianthus.  How can you not love the bright colors?

A few pansies.  I do not how long they will be around but they are a lovely addition.

The azaleas were in full bloom the last time I was there.  They are so pretty.  There are approximately 6 in a row.

Here is a little bit of cuteness:

This is Rocket.  He loves getting into baskets.  This one is just about right.  He is about 11 months in this picture.  He is a smallish kitty.  I have actually never had a male cat this small but he is adorable.

This is JB.  He is a such a pretty boy.  He has a very pleasant personality and is usually very happy to see you.

One more picture:

The lastest little hail storm that blew through.  It almost looked like winter outside.  This is the sidewalk in front of my parents home.

Hope you enjoyed the little diversion.

Happy Stitching!

July's Garden...

June may have been cool and extremely wet but July has been equally hot and dry.  That hasn't slowed down the garden much.  Here are the totals:

1.  Peas - 15 3/8 oz  - that's it.  The vines have been removed.
2.  Radishes - 9 1/4 oz - that's it till it cools down in September.
3.  Red Tomatoes - 7 lbs 3 3/4 oz = this is a mix between bronze, grape, cherry, and early varieties.  Due to disease, the heirloom variety were removed.  So there will not be any giant tomatoes this year.
4.  Yellow squash - 25lbs 6oz = this is a mix between yellow straight and crookneck
5.  Zucchini squash - 27 lbs 7 1/4oz
6.  Apples, Lodi variety - 38lb 14 1/4 oz - There were more apples given away than weighted.  This apple makes a wonderful apple pie, apple preserves, and some great applesauce.  Unfortunately, it only lasted for a few days after it has been picked.
7. Broccoli - 2 lbs 7 3/4oz - I always wonder whether growing your own is worth it. If my son didn't gobble it down I probably wouldn't bother because it does take up garden space.
8.  Green beans - 5 lbs 6 3/4 oz = this is mixed varieties
9.  Wax beans - 1 lb 5 5/8 oz - mixed varieties
10.  Yellow tomatoes (pear) - 3/8oz - I suspect many of these were snacked on in the garden.
11.  Basil - 1/2 oz
12.  Garlic - 3/4oz - The garlic has been harvested but as with many items we forgot to weight it.  This year's harvest was smaller than normal.
13.  Carrots - 1 7/8oz - this is really just thinning them out but the little carrots are edible.
14.  Cucumber - 8oz - this is amazing.  The first cucumber we have gotten in years.
15.  Bell Pepper - 2 3/8 oz - this was picked because I needed a pepper for dinner.  It was little but serviced the purpose.
16.  Cayenne Pepper - 1 3/8oz - think I missed weighing some of these but they are drying
17. Jalapeno Pepper - 7/8oz - again needed for dinner but isn't that what the garden is for?

I have no doubt that everything wasn't counted that came out of the garden.  It was sad that our lettuce beds didn't survive but we do have more planted and it is growing probably another week and it will be ready to pick.

I did make Apple Preserves around 15 or 16 1/2 pints and Nectarine-Mango jam around 15 1/2 pints. My husband makes and cans the apples sauce.  I do not know how much was canned but not the entire 38 pounds because some of it became apple pies.

My neighbors tired of seeing me coming with squash so I finally gave up and figured out a couple of ways to freeze it for later use.  No one disappeared when I showed up with apple sauce.  LOL

I did get the Butterick patterns that I was interested in when the last sale happened so I've been searching for appropriate fabric.  You know that the appropriate fabric is rarely located in the fabric stash and I do try really hard for new fabric not to actually become part of the stash.

Happy Stitching or Gardening!

June's Garden....

We had a very wet month of June.  Now, I'm not saying that the garden doesn't need a good supply of water but it rained almost daily the last two weeks of June.  Everything is soggy and lots of squash rotted. I should also mention that it has gotten cool also.  Here are the totals:

Chives - 1 oz

Cilantro - 3 7/8 oz - I strongly suspect that some of this may have been missed as I pick as needed.

Lettuce - 3 lbs 14 3/8 oz

Parsley - 2 1/2 oz - I strongly suspect that some of this may have been missed as I picked as needed.

Peas - 2 lbs 14 3/8 oz

Radishes - 1 lbs 4 3/4 oz

Spinach - 1 5/8 oz - This was a second planting and it bolted before we could pick much.  The weather was too hot early in June.

Grape tomatoes - 4 oz - This was our surprise for the month.  Generally, tomatoes are not seen till the end of July.  Much have been the hot weather.

Yellow squash - 1 lb 6 5/8 oz

Zucchini - 7 lbs 8 1/2 oz

I also made 16 jars of Nectarine/Mango jam.  The chive vinegar was finished and drained.  It is always so pretty. I ended up with 2 quarts of vinegar.

Here's few pictures around the gardens:

Mass of daisies and day lilies.  These are more or less a weed around my house. We've ended up with a bare spot in the front of this bed the last couple of years.  We get the early blooms but nothing after that.  I suspect that the trash cans end up in that spot a lot.

Oak leaf hydrangea.  Love this plant.

Cone flowers...another weedy plant but how can you resist something that comes back on it's own. There are other plants mixed in there.

More day lilies and other plants.

I couldn't resist taking the picture of the butterfly visiting the cone flower.

Happy Stitching or Gardening!

May's Garden....

May was a busy month in the garden.  We planted lots of flowers and vegetables.  The perennials were/are beautiful.  Unfortunately, the weather did get hot before I took a lot of pictures but I did get a few. Here are the totals for May:

Asparagus - unknown.  I forgot to weigh it but we had fresh asparagus a couple of times a week for 4 or 5 weeks .

Lettuce - 2 lbs 3/8oz - there is nothing better than fresh lettuce.

Parsley -  3/8 oz - I strongly suspect that I missed weighing and/or writing this down.

Sage - 3/8 oz - this is only picked as needed.  Harvest is actually in the fall.

Chive Flowers - 1 1/2 lbs -  yum, yum

Chives - unknown, I missed weighing and/or writing it down.

Spinach was available also but I decided not to harvest as the leaf miners attacked before I was able to pick it and I didn't really want to eat the larvae.

I have also been working on restocking the jelly.  So far, I have made 15 half pints of strawberry jam and 6 pints of blueberry.   I think the next round of jelly making will be at the end of June when the apples are ready.

Here's a few pics:

The 1 1/2 lbs of chive blossoms are marinating in white vinegar.  In a couple of weeks, I should have some beautiful chive vinegar.  Flowers from around the garden:

Two of the three iris varieties bloomed.  We're not sure why the 3rd type didn't bloom.  We made the assumption that it was something to do with the severe winter we had.  If you happen to know why irises quite blooming I would like to hear about it. These flowers are in various places around the house.

Love the poppies.  These are also in various places around the house.  We had attempted to move the poppies only to find out that we would get poppies in the spot we wanted them and where they were originally located.  They are beautiful though when they bloom even it is only lasts for a couple of days.

I do love the peonies.  This is another plant that we attempted to move and ended up with them everywhere.   I do enjoy using these for cut flowers.  The buds have opened since this picture was taken and it rained before I could make any bouquets.

Hope you making more time for sewing than me.

Happy Stitching!

Gardening 2015...

I have enjoyed the early garden this year.  The flowers have been beautiful.  The asparagus was prolific and we enjoyed every bit.  I did forget all about weighing produce picked to this point but I will try to remember going forward.  Here are a few pictures of flowers:

So many plants didn't survive the extreme weather that we had including the vegetable garden.   There was not any early spinach and lettuce. I suppose it is a chance to start again with new perennials. Many of these plants, I don't know what they are because they came with the house.  Hope everyone is getting the chance to enjoy their spring flowers. All of the pictures were taken in April.  I haven't taken any in the last couple of weeks.

The herb garden didn't mind the severe winter and is really popping out.  There is a huge parsley plant, lots of cilantro, lots of chives, etc.

Off to attempt to create something.

Happy Stitching!

Last Garden Update For The Year....

Wow!  It's the end of October and I never expected to still be posting about the garden.  However, the weather is changing and snow is predicted for the weekend.  So, it's time to clean-up.  I came home yesterday to my husband doing just that and he had found all kinds of goodies.  Here's the list:

1.  tomatillos - 7+ lbs
2.  tomatoes - 4 lbs
3   peppers, mixed hot varieties - just under a pound
4.  beets - didn't weigh but there was a bucket full
5.  beet greens
6.  squash - 2 varieties, didn't weigh
7.  green beans - about 1 1/2 lbs
8.  spinach - 2 or 3 lbs
9.  romaine - about 1 lb
10.  broccoli - 2 or 3 lbs

What a list!  That isn't all that is still out there either.  The broccoli was left to see what would happen with the coming weather because it might still be productive and the chard was left.  I will some chard this afternoon just to make sure I have some for the coming week.

So, the garden is mostly cleaned up now.  The spinach bed was picked and then covered for spring spinach.  The garlic is growing.  It is always sad to say good bye to the garden.  However, it does mean that there will be more time for sewing and I do have lots of sewing plans.

Happy Gardening (or is that sewing)!

Gardening...Fall Update

I really meant to have a September gardening update but I misplaced my little notebook where I was writing everything down.  September was a good gardening month with lots of tomatillos, tomatoes, peppers, various types of greens (lettuce, spinach, chard), and broccoli.

October has been a good month also.  The garden is slowly getting cleaned up but we're still getting tomatillos, tomatoes, various types of greens, yellow squash, broccoli, butternut squash, and green beans.  It's all been good.   I am very thankful that my garden is so productive.  I know I haven't talked much about the herbs but they are still going strong too. The herb garden consists of Greek oregano, chives, thyme, rosemary (which has been re-potted and brought inside), cilantro, and sage.  The basil has been removed and is hanging to dry.

I love experimenting with the garden.  We did replant spinach this fall for spring.  This was an excellent experiment from last year which was a pleasant surprise last March to find the spinach growing like crazy.  

I suppose the first weekend in November we should hop to it and really get the garden cleaned up.  I will be sad to see my greens gone.  I really haven't taken advantage of the chard this year.  I need more recipes.  If you have some good ones, I would love to hear about it.

How does your garden?

Happy Stitching! (or gardening)

Gardening...The August Totals

Whew!  The garden was busy in August.  I realized today that I missed recording stuff from 8/29 to 8/31.  I know I was busy picking stuff, I just don't know what.  Here are the totals:

1.  lettuce - 4 lbs 8 oz
2.  peas - 3 5/8oz
3.  cilantro - 1 1/8oz
4.  basil, fresh - 1 3/4 oz
5.  oregano, fresh - 1/4oz
6.  swiss chard - 1 lb 4 3/8oz
7.  broccoli - 1 lb 15 3/8oz
8.  parsley, fresh - 5/8oz
9.  beans - 12 lbs 3 1/4oz
10.  squash - 3 lbs 6 7/8oz
11.  hot banana peppers - 4 lbs 6 1/4oz
12.  jalapeno peppers- 2 lbs 4 5/8oz
13.  wax beans - 1 lb 1oz
14.  tomatoes - 82 lbs 14 3/4oz
15.  carrots - 2 lbs 3oz
16.  beets & greens - 2 lbs 6 3/4oz
17.  spaghetti squash - 16 lbs 6 1/2oz
18.  tomatillos - 4 lbs 8 3/4oz

That feels like a lot.  Many of the peppers, tomatoes, beans and tomatillos were canned.  Some were given away.  The rest we ate.  My husband also requested that I can additional quantities of the Amish Hot Mustard.  He has taken a liking to it and so has one of my neighbors.

Sorry, no garden pictures this month but we have been having fun with the outdoor camera.  Even though I live in the suburbs, there is a lot of wildlife.  There was even a few surprises. Cats and raccoons were the main items that triggered the camera.  The raccoon was big enough that I wouldn't want to meet/surprise him in the dark.  I know he is the animal that takes swipes at the tomatoes.  The surprise was the hen turkeys that were roaming in the backyard and the little boys getting into my garden.  I wish they weren't in there pulling on the plants but it does explain the branches of items laying on the ground.  Of course, there are pictures of the deer helping themselves over the fence but they don't eat too much of the tomato plants.

In addition to the garden, I have been working in a quilt.  The top is all finished.  I just need to work out how I'm going to piece the back and then attempt to quilt it. Yes, I'm going to quilt it myself.  Wish me luck.

Happy Stitching (or gardening)!

Gardening...The July Totals

The garden has started producing and keeping me busy.  There has been lots of fresh produce:

    1.  Peas - 2 lbs 12 5/8oz
    2.  Lettuce - 5 lbs 15 3/8oz
    3.  Chives - 2 1/4oz
    4.  Cilantro - 2 3/8 oz
    5.  Basil - 2 oz
    6.  Broccoli - 6 5/8 oz
    7.  Verdolagas (purslane) - 15 1/4oz
    8.  Apples -
        a.  1 apple pie
        b.  (13) 1/2 pints of apple preserves
        c.  (16) pints of unsweetened apple sauce
    9.  Beans - 6 lbs 10 7/8 oz
  10.  Squash - 11 lbs 7 5/8 oz
  11.  Hot Banana Peppers - 3 lbs 2 1/2oz
       a.  Amish Hot Pepper - 10 pints
  12.  Jalapenos - 8 5/8oz
  13.  Wax Beans - 1 lbs 14 1/4oz
  14.  Tomatoes - 3 lbs 2 1/2oz
  15.  Carrots - 3 oz

I have been keeping up with the garden the way that I should be.  It's so easy to forget how long it takes to keep everything going.  The weather has been strange the past week as in the temps have been in the high 40s/low 50s F at night and this is affecting the plants in the garden.  The peppers are looking like they normally do in October.  This makes me wonder if we are going to have a short season this year.  The tomatoes started coming in early.  I've even had to pick a few of the green tomatoes.  I will need to figure out what to do with them.  Let me know if you have a good recipe.

I can see looking at the totally that maybe the broccoli needs to be removed from the garden rotation.  We never seem to get much broccoli and it takes up a lot of space.  We mostly get a lot of greenery.  I haven't included all of the items that were tried this month in the totals.  Here's a couple of pictures:

Isn't it amazing how quickly the garden grow?  These pictures are from the 2nd week of July.  The squash is already dying back. I don't know if it is from the bugs or if it is from the cold weather. One last picture of one of the fawns:

Yes, there are two fawns.  I scared them away after taking this picture and haven't seen them since.  Of course, it doesn't hurt that the apples are gone.  I know they are still around because the evidence it all around the house.  There is a third little plot that doesn't have a fence and the hot peppers/tomatoes there are feed.

Happy Gardening! (or should it be Stitching!)

Gardening...The June Totals

On June 8th, I decided to start documenting what our garden produces.  It is a small garden.  Sometimes, you wonder if all the time and effort put into the garden it worth.  Sure, it is a way to relax in the evening but it is still a fair amount of work.  Here's is the totals from June:

1. Lettuce, mixed types - 7 1/2 lbs
2. Sweet Peas 1 1/2 lbs
3. Radishes - ~40
4. Chives - 1 oz
5. Cilantro - 1 1/2 oz
6. Garlic Scapes - 5 1/2 oz
7. French Sorrel - 2 oz
8. Beet Greens - 12 oz
9. Swiss Chard - 4 oz
10. Broccoli - 1/2 oz
11. Dried Greek Oregano - 3/8 oz
12. Dried Lemon Balm - 5/8 oz (filled a quart size jar)
13. Banana Peppers - 2

In addition, I canned:

1. 13 - half pints of strawberry jam
2. 8 - half pints of blueberry jam
3. 10 - half pints of nectarine & mango jam (trying something new here)

Doesn't seem like a lot with but it's been cool and then got hot.  So, one the lettuce beds has been removed and replanted with beets; the radish bed has been removed and replanted with lettuce. 

I experimented with the garlic scapes as I found out that these can be treated like a vegetable.  They were interesting with just a hint of the garlic flavor.  I wasn't sure on the timing of picking the garlic scapes but they made an interesting addition to a stir fry.  Do you know the best time to pick?  The other experiment is the French Sorrel.  This is a perennial and I wanted to see how it grows.  The flavor is a bit lemony and bitter.  The bitter most likely increases as the leaves get bigger.  We had tried this on it's own, in salads, and in green morning shakes.  Do you have any additional suggestions for French Sorrel?

I know I didn't get all the items from the garden in the totals because there is a fair amount of tasting going on when we are in the garden.  Really, who can resist fresh out of the garden goodness. I know a lot of the asparagus earlier in the year was eaten this way. 

July should find many of the items listed about along with more pepper varieties, beets, beans, and if we are lucky some squash, and tomatoes.

Here's a picture of the garden in June:

This was about 2 weeks ago.  The squash and the tomatoes in the first pictures have grown to the top of their respective supports.  The deer will be biting the tops out of the tomatoes soon.  In the second picture, the squash has filled out in it's spot in the garden, the tomatoes have grown out of their cages, and lettuce & swiss chard have double in size.  Yes, I've been trying to keep it picked.  You can't really see the beans but they are in the 3rd bed on the right and have completely filled it now and are in bloom.  I always look forward to the fresh beans.  

That's it for now.  I'll have new pics with the next gardening post along with a few flowers.

Happy Gardening! (or should it be Stitching)

Flowers From The Garden….

I have enjoyed the flowers from my garden this year tremendously. I have made several bouquets mostly from the peonies and irises:

Then I had the idea to fill a large ball jar with dried peonies.  Here’s the jar:

This was found at Target last fall.  I thought it would be fun to fill with different items throughout the year.

Here’s the jar filled with the dried peony petals:

I’m not sure where this will go in the long term but for now it will be on my mantel in the living room to add a bit of color.

I have a wonderful spring time flower show.  Unfortunately, the rest of the year isn’t so good.  Thankfully, annuals are available that can fill in color but I do prefer the perentials.

For a little bit of sewing, I have picked my next project.  It will be the Aida top pattern by Sew Liberated.  I hope to trace the pattern and watch the associated video within the next couple of days.

Happy Stitching or Gardening!

A Little Sewing, A Little Knitting, and A Little Gardening....

What can I say?  It has been a busy week. The weather finally calmed down a little and we're seeing temps in the 70sF.  Perfect!

A little sewing?  The Diane Kimono dress is finished.  Here's it is:

The dress is mostly finished.  According to the instructions it is finished but I may be doing some extra work on the neckline.  It is pulling open more than I would like.  I'm either going to add a snap at the "V" or going to stitch it completely closed.  What do you think?

My thoughts on this dress is that I like it.  It is really a nice casual look.  I used a quilting weight broadcloth on this dress and I will think that it would do better in a much lighter weight fabric but when you add the lining which you will need, it might not make a difference.  I chose the fuller skirt option and the smallest hem option which ended up being about 2" wide when finished.   I also chose to make it one color instead of multiples.  That is simply because I didn't have a coordinating fabric for this floral which I love.  DH said that he liked the dress but it made me look rounder than I am.  I wanted to say that I am round.  I think that the drawstring being under the bust is what he is talking about.

Changes:

1. I made a sloped shoulder alteration.

Things I will do differently, if I made this dress again:

1. Go down a size and figure out how to do a full bust adjustment.

A little knitting?  I started the swatch for my next sweater.  I'm taking a Craftsy class on top-down knitting.  I finished my first swatch and it was so cute.  Then, I watch the segment of the class where she discusses making your swatch.  Oops!  She was asking for it to be done in the round and I had done a flat swatch.  So, I ripped it out and started again with my double-pointed needles in the round.  I'm still working on that.

A little gardening?  The flowers continue to look beautiful.  Not all of them bloomed but the ones that did are really nice.  Here's a couple of bouquets:

The vegetable garden has been producing a lot of lettuce and spinach.  The asparagus is all finished. We just pulled out the spinach bed to start something else.  I have been making Chive Vinegar.  I love to see the beautiful color of this:

The one on the right has aged about a week.  The other two were just put in the jars.  Isn't the color pretty?

We found this little fellow in the flower garden:

Cute as it may be, it is not a welcome addition to the garden.  Obviously, not very old.  It didn't move or twitch when we walked up to it.  Here's a picture a couple of hours later:

It walked within a couple of feet of my husband.  Really checking him out.  I'm hoping that it doesn't get to use to us.  I run them off when they get a little older but I have a little pity for the babies when they can barely walk.

Happy Stitching!

Time Flies....

Whew! Time has been flying by lately. School has finally started (ok, it was a week ago but who's counting). The garden is slowing down. I did get a little bit of canning done but I ended up with late blight on the tomatoes. After looking at some of the hot banana peppers yesterday, I think those plants may have it or something similar also.

I picked up my sewing machine and serger about a week ago also. I did miss both of these items tremendously. The serger had nothing serious wrong with it that a good cleaning and oil didn't fix. However, I did knock the timing off on the sewing machine. Not sure how I did it but I do know when it happened and recognized that something was wrong immediately. At least it could be fixed.

On the costume front, I have finally gathered all of the materials (I think) necessary to make the Riddler costume:

The black faux suede (in the middle) will become the moccasins. The purple fabric on the left will become the mask, the belt, and if I'm lucky, gloves. The green fabric on the right is for the pants and top. The paint is for all the questions marks that on the top and pants. I know, I need to get busy. I haven't figured out how I'm going to enlarge the question mark for the shirt yet. Any suggestions for a quick inexpensive way to accomplish this would be greatly appreciated.

Now for a peek at my "new" toy:

The cute little carrying case which contains some of the items below:

Yep, I found a Featherweight 221K. I really wanted one when I was quilting a lot and going to classes but was never able to locate one. This one kind of landed in my lap and came with lots of goodies. Along with the machine and the original carrying case, I received a zigzagger with all of the extra disks, a sock darner (that didn't look like it had ever been used), a buttonholer with extra attachments, three books, many extra bobbins, an extra bobbin case, the original attachments, and a couple of additional attachments. Being the fiend that I am about machine attachments, I have already added a couple of additional attachments: a blind hemmer, a picot / hemmer attachments, and a blind stitch braider. As the attachments for these machines can be rather expensive, I will not be adding anything else to the mix. I have been playing with this machine and it runs very well. I have played with all of the attachments and most of them work very well. The only item I was a little bit disappointed in was the buttonholer and that is only because the some of the extra disks are duplicates. The buttonholes look beautiful. The future will see me taking a few more quilting/sewing classes, if I can find them.

Now, the most exciting thing that has happen was I won a $35.00 give certificate to Marie-Madeline Studio (http://www.mariemadelinestudio.com). Go check them out. They have a cute shop with fabric and their own brand of patterns. I decided to try out their patterns. It was just too hard to pick a fabric.

Well, that's it for now. I need to finish up my existing sewing projects (wallet, and placemats) and then, get going on the Halloween costume. This may very well be the last costume that I make for my son. At 11, this may be the last year that is interested in dressing up and getting candy. He has always enjoyed going around the block, showing off his costume(s) to the neighbors, and coming home to hand out candy.

Happy Sewing!

Garden and Embroidery...

Do gardening and embroidery go together? Of course, they do! I love to ramble around in the garden. The garden is starting to get productive. Here's proof:

Yesterday, I picked wax beans, broccoli, zucchini, and yellow squash. Above is the wax beans. Aren't they pretty? The colors of nature can not get any better. They were pale yellow and purple. It's too bad that roaming around in the garden causes me to break out in hives. I always forget my long sleeved shirt. Guess I should put one by the back door with my gardening basket.

Here's the shirt that I embroidered for my son. It turned out pretty good. This is the first time I have embroider RTW with my new machine. Ok, that machine is almost a year old and I've finally gotten the nerve to use the embroidery part of the machine. I have a long way to go but I think it turned out well. The best part is I have another request from my son for another shirt with a flaming dragon. I think the designs that I purchased from the Embroidery Library are going to get used. At least I didn't waste my money on them.

Oh, for anyone who wants to know. The design is about 9" long and about 3" wide. I used an iron on tear away stabilizer with a soft lightweight cut away stabilizer. Hopefully, there is enough stabilizer. Only time will tell. The design can be found at the Embroidery Library by searching for a flaming guitar. There are different sizes.

Happy Stitching!