Fat quarters and shiny floss

I stopped by Spotlight yesterday and found a few things that I never knew I needed until I got there. I also got some more felt, because you can never have too much (or is it enough?) felt.

Beanz Meanz Photoz

Curiously, the beans have arranged themselves in a row of shortest to tallest in height. The middle one - the stunted second subject of yesterday's blog - was the first to emerge and has slowed his growth to fit into the line. Hopefully he won't become a has-bean.

Amazing nature

The two leaves on this beanstalk weren't there this morning! This is not the one I photographed yesterday but another one which has overtaken the first one in size and vigour.


Yesterday's one is a little stunted, and I'm wondering if an insect might have nibbled on its leaves.

New shoots and a new computer

I got a new laptop today! But I still have to wait awhile for Windows 7.:-(

A couple of seeds have come up, and we had a little bit of thunder and a light shower of rain this afternoon so I'm expecting even more to pop up tomorrow.

Here is Baby Beanstalk:

Sowing and sewing

I finally got the rest of my seeds from Digger's Club and put them in this evening. So now the plot looks like this:

So I have four different types of tomatoes (Black Russian, Yellow Pear, Costoluto Genovese and Sweetie), rainbow chard (a.k.a. silverbeet), climbing beans, cos lettuce and basil. There is room for a bit more, the gap in the middle is for asparagus as soon as I can lay my hands on some crowns. The weather has not really warmed up much, aside from that freakish day last Saturday. I'm sitting here in trackies and a long sleeved fleece top which is usually unheard of for late October.

Here is another little pouch that I whipped up last night:

Reversible patchwork bags

I found a really nice tutorial for a reversible patchwork bag this week on Pink Penguin's blog, and couldn't wait to make one as my Friday night project. Here are some pics of the first one:





It turned out so well that I thought I'd whip up another one using some batiks that I've had for a while. I think it looks lovely in batiks, and would work well with stripes and polka dots too. I feel like making another one!

Poor boy

I should say poor boys, as Eddie is feeling a little left out while Rufus gets all the attention. Rufie has to go back to the vet tomorrow for x-rays on his feet. Two of his claw sheaths are infected again. Apart from that, he is healthy and content to be hand fed for a couple of weeks while he wears the Elizabethan collar. I think he secretly enjoys the extra love and smooching on demand.

Tonight I have a journal to work on for a round robin so I hope the boys won't be too demanding and keep sitting on it while I try to write and draw. I need to illustrate a cookie recipe, and write a bit about myself, which I always find kind of tricky to do in someone else's journal. Then I need to think about some swaps that I have signed up for. They are a little bit different from the ones I have done so far, involving stamp carving and making some micro-zines (which have to fit into a matchbox!). It will be nice to have some new challenges.

Garden update: the poo crisis of the other day was averted by digging the top layer in with a spade. Simple really. Ha. Now I am keeping the bed watered while I wait for the seeds to arrive. My strawberries are still alive. We have a few warm days forecast for the end of this week, but then it looks like temps are heading south again! Very strange. I still can't get asparagus crowns because we are about a month behind spring!

Ready to plant?

I only needed to put eight more bags of compost on top of the second layer of pea straw. I put half a bag of sheep manure on top of that, but it was very lumpy and I ended up ruining a pair of gardening gloves trying to break it down. Then there were puddles on the top when I watered it - I don't think that's supposed to happen. Help!

Instant vegie patch

Well, it's sort of instant. Here's the story so far.



During the week I collected my first lot of materials. One 1200x1200x300mm flat-pack treated pine kit which Mum discovered a few weeks ago at Buggerybunnings. A large bag of pea straw and four 36 litre bags of improved soil. Eddie and Rufus were sad to see their favourite cardboard box disappear but I needed it for the base.

The picture shows that I need a lot more to fill the raised bed, so I'm going back to City Farmers this afternoon to get more bags of compost, I figure I will need at least 12 more bags. I also have some hanging baskets to replenish.

More later. I haven't made anything for a while and I'm itching to get back to my sewing machine and hand embroidery. Once the gardening is finished for the day I hope to relax over my needle and thread.

Back in the saddle

After yesterday's embarrassment with the zipper, I needed to whip up something quick and easy last night to prove that I could still do it! I love these fabrics from Moda. I found the tutorial on the awesome Indie House blog.

It all went horribly wrong

The little bit of sewing I did before I went out into the garden has now been thrown out. Everything was going swimmingly: the reverse applique was in exactly the right place and the stripes were all lining up nicely, until for some reason I decided to cut the zipper off before I sewed the side seams. You can guess the rest.



Looking on the bright side, I got a lot more done in the garden since I was in such a huff. The bokashi contents are buried, and the rocket seeds I planted last Sunday are coming up. After a nice hot bath and a bowl of beef casserole I'm ready to sit down and sew again for the evening.

Feeling Lazy

I've used up a whole morning of good weather when I could have been in the garden. But I didn't feel like being in the garden, I felt like finishing off my little embroidery.



Perhaps this afternoon I will venture outside since there is a lot of work to be done and a load of bokashi to be buried. I'd better take a peg for my nose.