A Little Gardening, A little Crafting

Once more, I’ve been to the garden quite a few times and missed taking the camera.  The photos here are two weeks old, so there is now even a larger profusion of blooms, plants are bigger, and I’m settling in for the garden season weeding.

The small AFAC garden is planted and now has sizable cucumber and squash seedlings as well as radishes, lettuce, and cilantro. I’ll put in peppers when the lettuce is done.

It has been raining a lot here, often on the weekend.  I stopped by the garden yesterday in light rain just to check on some plants and see whether some seeds I planted have come up.  Things looked good.

I weeded the large outside garden and have planted flower seeds. One of the small blueberries from last year had survived. And the asparagus is doing pretty well.

It is possible the rabbits are eating my okra seedlings.  I have chased them out of nearby gardens a number of times and the okra plants have been slow to emerge, or they have been eaten as sprouts by evil lagomorphs.  It’s early enough that I can replant and cover them if necessary.

This little blueberry bush is in the outside garden now. It is self-pollinating and a variety called Perpetua, which means it may fruit in both spring and fall.

I love this time of year when everything is popping out of the ground and I get my first vegetables and greens and my first vase of cut flowers.  At this point, I always think there’s enough room in the garden for everything.  Then the plants get to full size, and it’s always bigger than I allowed for somehow. But all that lushness just makes me think the world has been set aright.  And everyone needs to think this at some point every day.

The Columbine (Aquilegea to the Contented Crafter) have been fabulous.

I’ve also been making little felt mice.  They are very nice mice from a free pattern by Ann Wood. There is a little sailboat as well, which I may also make for hanging up.  We’ll see.

Here they are, having a gabfest.

Earlier this year, I also made this little bee for a friend’s birthday.  I think I got the pattern from the Snail of Happiness, but am not sure which post!  In any event, I really enjoyed giving the bee translucent wings.  And my friend, who got the bee because she is that busy, really liked it.

 

 

I also finally purchased a sewing machine.  I had been wanting one for alterations and to make things, but did some extensive research to find a small one that will last.  So far I am happy with the Janome Model 19.  I hope to do more work using it–small quilts, bags, t-shirts and maybe some crafts.  We’ll see.

I did so much research. So far so good with this one, but I’m still learning it. It has a nice instruction book.

But I’m back to reading and gardening and a little bit of writing here and there.  I am trying to have a sensible, slow-paced life, at least intermittently!  I’ve also been helping a friend decide how to deal with her tiny back garden.  It looks as though we may be able to turn it from a weed patch into a nice little oasis. I was surprised at how many plants I could suggest for different purposes.  We’ll see how it goes.

These plants have settled in and are doing well, in spite of being pounded by cold rain for days on end!

Meanwhile, Happy Mother’s Day to those of you celebrating it today!  Have a good week!

So many things are up–the squash for one–or bigger, and the irises were spectacular. Next blog, I’ll try to have more current photos!