Little Blue Quilt

I finally finished the Blue Lap Quilt. This is the one I started for the baby, but my friend didn't like the colors so I put it aside and did the Pink and Green one. Above is a close up of the hand quilting.

Three quarters of the quilt is hand quilted and one quarter machine quilted. I had to go to the machine because I ran out of time. I was sewing the binding on, on Christmas Eve. I finished about 10pm.

We gave it to Miss Viola on Christmas. She pronounced it much warmer than the lap robe she had been using, and just the right size.

A couple of blocks got chopped, so not exactly symmetrical, but thats the Homemade Goodness showing.

2011 Journal part 1

I bought this Journal with my Birthday money. I guess they've been doing them for several years, but this is the first time I've seen them. Their are cards that go with, but the store (Borders) didn't have them. And I already have so many fortune cards. I don't even know how many. Maybe 15 decks? So I think I'll be able to get along without them.

I always like to put my own spin on things anyway.

Here's what I've done with the inside cover and first page. This will continue to evolve as the year progresses.

I like the layout of the book. It gives you direction for journaling each week and month. It asks you to track your goals, blessing and symbols for each month, equinox and the year as a whole.

Each month there is a space for Affirmations and Gratitudes.

There is space to write your dreams and your Credo. Here is what I wrote.

I live with Integrity, honesty and compassion.

I respect life, my own, other peoples, animals, plants and Earth.

I am aware of my words and emotions and how they affect others.

I make amends when needed.

When making choices, I will choose Love. Not romantic candy and flowers love, but of myself, love of the you in me, the me in you, and the all that is that is reflected in all of us. I ask that my choice be for the Highest Good; sometimes the Highest Good will require me to make a sacrifice. I willingly do so.

I am forgiving. I do not hold onto anger.

I will find My Hearts Wings in Forgiveness.

I am Grateful. I am thankful every day for all the miracle and gifts I receive.

thank you, thank you, thank you.

2011 Journal part 2

So this is a continuation of a theme that appeared earlier this year, Release. Let go of desires, attachments, grudges...part of living in the now.

The journal asks you to select symbols for the year, here are my symbols for 2011.

The lotus represents connection to Spirit. Reaching upwards, Beauty.

The massive roots are for grounding, being rooted in the Earth.

I'm fascinated by trees. Their strength, so sturdy and so supple. Their underground system is just as complex and echoes the network of branches above. So the two pictures together are about Balance.

The Swallow Flash is Movement and Freedom and Beauty. As are the Wild Horses. They have become increasingly prevalent over the past two years and more so the last couple of months. I'm still learning what they have to teach me. A lot of Strength there, and Caution. The direction is up.

The Owl is an old friend. She represents Wisdom, Protection, and embracing the Shadow Side. The line drawing is something I've used for many years, and is another aspect of the Lotus and Roots. It's the middle part of the tree, the trunk. Reaching up to the Stars and down to the Earth. Feminine.

The triskle is the Three. Maiden, Mother and Crone. Waxing, Full and Waning, with the Owl as Dark.

The leaf is another fascination, the path of the veins, so like the path of our veins and capillaries, like the hairlike roots beneath the Earth. If only I knew how to read this language; what tales I could tell.

The Running Horse makes another appearance. splashing through my subconscious, everything a blurr, blurrrrrr except for the feel of the wind and the rush.

Pink and Green are the colors for 2011. Healing colors, and the colors of the forth chakra; the Heart.

I've made a tag that hangs from the middle of the two pages. On one side the words:

Spirit

Movement

Grounded

Healing

Protection

Wisdom

Freedom

Soaring

Release

Choose Your Path.........

Choose wisely, you must

And on the other side: this. Doesn't it seem like she's trying to tell us something? Maybe she just didn't want her picture taken.

I'm making a book.

It started out it's life as a calendar.

So this is what I have so far.

I'm doing the painting and collage now, I'll add the doodling and words next.

This is the cover.

Not sure what this is about yet. It's telling me something, something about yearning and gazing within...

Inside my head- there are rainbows

Works in Progress

The Way of My People...

I like this one a lot, not sure yet what I want to write here, I'm looking for a good quote.

Backyard Farm

this one is just calling out for rick-rack.

The Winter of My Discontent

I love this child!

OM

Offering

I'm going to change the head on this. It was the first one I did, I like everything except the head. I'm thinking of changing it to a building.

8 weeks

So here we are 8 weeks in, the Collards are definitely the stars of this show. I've been building my dream garden in my head. I want a picket fence around the front yard and raised beds in the front yard with mulched paths AND NO LAWN! Front yard is the only spot on my property that gets sunlight all day. I need to check into the zoning law and see if it's ok to take out the lawn. Or at least part of the lawn. I think raised beds all around a small patch of grass or ground cover would be pretty. I want to mix flowers and edibles, with wooden trellis for the vines to grow vertically.

Of course I don't have the money to build that all at once, that's why it's a dream garden.

this week in the garden

I finished the baby quilt, I'm sorry that the picture is so bad. Its a Double Irish Chain, the first I've ever made. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. It's machine pieced and machine quilted. It took me about 3 months to make it. It's the most complex and largest quilt I've made to date. It's about 50 x 65 inches. The borders are cut off in the picture, they are actually about 6 inches wide.

I've already given it to the expectant Mom and she really liked it.

The tomatoes aren't doing as well as I hoped. They are really leggy, and they have some die off on the bottom branches. I don't think they're getting enough sunshine, hence the legginess. I'm not sure whats up with the withering. Some kind of disease I suspect. But we have some fruit, this picture is of Lemon Boy.

Here's a picture of the entire garden. The Collards are growing beautifully. And they taste amazing! I've been picking a few leaves here and there to add to soup and they certainly don't taste like the Collards you buy at the store, they are so much better.

The Spinach has not done well. I planted 3 small rows and only half of 1 came up. It hasn't grown any either. So yesterday we went and bought some new plants to fill up that space. We got some beautiful Red Cabbage, Arugula, (yuk! I don't care for Arugula, but P loves it.) and some more Rosemary. P loves the Rosemary so much I'm thinking of doing an entire hedge down the side of the house. We planted some zuchinni also but you can't see it here.

We put some mulch around the outside of the bed, and I plan to put some more. I'd like to do a mulched path about 3 feet wide to try to cut down on some of the mud.

The rose has been producing steadily since the heat let up. I wish you could smell this, it's heaven.

Here is some lettuce I harvested for salad. It was delicious!!

Finally after the driest October I can remember, we've had a nice rain. Here's a shot of the garden. The lettuce is looking great. The spinach is a no show. It's not grown any more after the initial sprout. Too hot I think.

We've gotten the fence clear and the new gate installed.

You can see the tomatoes are very leggy, not enough light, they are being shaded by the fence. but look below, the first teeny-tiny tomatoes!





And of course the plants that were bought by accident, are doing great. I thought I was picking up Cabbage, but when I got home -- Collards. I'm not to crazy about eating Collards, but aren't they beautiful? Patrick loves Collards, so I'll be cooking them up. He can take some up to Viola, I know she'll appreciate them too.

Today I won the Employee of the Month. I got a $25 gift card to Panara. Too bad I can't eat any of those great pastries! I'm down 26 lbs from doing the low carb diabetes diet. No medication, and I feel so much better.

For the Spring we are going to make another raised bed a few feet north of this one, it's still in the side yard but sunnier.

Luscious

Here's a pic of the lettuce this morning after watering. It's only about an inch and half high, but doesn't it look luscious?

We've been going out early every morning and hand watering with a misting wand for between 5 and 10 minutes. Today I'm going to attach and lay out the soaker hose. Give everything a good long soaking.

The tomatoes have blooms! I'm extremely excited. Take a peek:

That scraggly mess on the left is the turnips. They still need more thinning, but I think there might not be enough light for them. They are growing tall and laying down. Nothing I can do about that. The only spot in the yard that gets sun all day is the front yard. I'm not ready to plant vegetables out there. The neighbors already think I'm strange enough. I'm not ruling it out though. With raised beds, all is possible.

I've never been crazy about the lawn, ( and it shows!) it's completely full of weeds and sandy bare patches. I think that raised beds can only improve it.

I don't have a shed, and I desperately want one. For now I store everything on the front porch. Not a very pretty sight for visitors. But it makes me feel industrious whenever I walk in or out of the house and it's a visual reminder that I need to go work in the garden.

Here's the full view, look at those Collards!

happy halloween

I decorated my cubie at work, it turned out pretty well. Above is the side, and below is the front.

The picture below is across the aisle from me.

I got the bird's at Michaels, Martha Stewart I think. The banner is from Marshal's and I've had the cards for years. I put them up every year.

I'm doing a Day of the Dead Altar at home, it's still in progress, I'll put up pics when it's finished.

Sugar Skulls

So this is what I've been working on this afternoon. I got 2 white glitter skulls from the $1`store and made my own faux Sugar Skulls.

They're still in progress, I want to doodle all over them, just fill up all the spaces with pattern. I got the last 2 white skulls in the store. I may have to go looking for another location and see if they have any more.

Before and after:

I want to do more on the eyes, but not sure what yet. I'm going to live with it a couple of days and see what comes up.

Those three stripes of green in the lower right of the garden are the Turnips! Tomorrow I'm planning to thin them out with a very sharp and pointy scissors.

Now we're looking from the other end, the specks in the lower right are the lettuce, and they are beautiful. That large blank spot in the upper right is the Spinach. It's just starting to poke up, it should be about the size the Lettuce is now by next weekend.

Everything else is looking good, no droopies, and so far no bugs.

We made a trip to the Depot today to get some Fish Emulsion and a water can, so I can start fertilizing every two weeks. I also picked up a couple of bags of cypress mulch, my plan is to buy two bags every weekend. I want to pull up all the grass and weeds in the whole side yard, build two more raised beds and mulch everywhere else.

For now though, I'm mulching a path all around the garden and to the front of the house, to hopefully cut down on some of the mud that keeps getting tracked into the house. Maybe I need a boot scraper.

it worked, we have sprouts

We have sprouts!! these are the Turnips, lots of thinning to be done.
The lettuce has also sprouted, but they are too small to take a picture of. The Spinach is uncertain. It may be a casualty of kitty toileting.

DIY

This is a dresser that was a hand me down to my parents when I was born almost 50 years ago. I used it, my brother used it till he left home, my passed it on to me when I bought my house in 1984, and it sat on my front porch holding garden supplies for many many years.
In the first two pictures I've started sanding the finish and dirt off prepping it for paint.



and Ta Da!
I handpainted the birds by looking at pictures of wall decals online and did them freehand. I'm still not happy with the door, but not sure where I want to go with it.
It sits in the living room now, holding all the old VCR tapes that no one is watching. I'm saving them for the grandbaby, I think I have most of the Disney movies. Probably by the time she's old enough the VCR will be broken!!

So we've made a very small garden. I've planted way to much, but I figure half of will not make it so I overplanted.
We've got 3 tomato plants, Lemon Boy, Brandywine, and a Grape. Collards, Turnips, Spinach and a Lettuce mix. Globe Basil, Oregano, and Rosemary. Marigolds.
I always had a garden when I was younger. It made me feel good. I've been making compost for about 2 years in garbage can. Not the best method but it keeps it out of site of the neighbors. I'm ready to make a pile in the side yard and start composting leaves and grass clippings and not just kitchen waste. In other words I'm ready to get serious about it.
So this little garden is an experiment to \see how well we are able to keep up with it. I'd like to acutally have 4 raised beds in this area. They will just fit if I put them up against the house and the fences with a central mulched path, no grass. The compost heap is going in the back under the tree. Right now that is full of weeds growing about 4 feet high and kudzu vines growing up the weeds into the tree. So I have my work cut out for me. At the other end is some kind of scubby bush/palm that thre neighbor planted and it died on his side of the fence and grew like crazy on my side. So the has to be dug up also. We've got the entire Winter (until February) to do it as the ground never freezes here in Flor-i-duh.
I'm going to look around for a Meyers Lemon, there's a spot in the front yard I have in mind. I had one before and I loved it. About 12 years ago we had a severe drought followed by a severe frost and I lost it. Lost my azeala's that year too. So I will replace it.
I'm also thinking about making a hedge of Blueberries down the side of the front yard. Fresh Blueberries every year, wouldn't that be nice?