Birthday Quilting

I'm not a quilter. I've only made two small quilts in the past. They were Christmas gifts for my older two daughters and they were kind of made by the seat of my pants. They turned out pretty well, despite that and they've been well-loved for several years now and haven't unraveled!

My youngest daughter is turning four in just a couple of weeks. She was a baby when I made them for Christmas of 2005, so I didn't make one for her. She needs one. She's currently making the transition out of our bedroom to the bedroom that she will share with Isabel and her very own, cuddly quilt could help, right?

When I made the quilts for the bigger girls, I did simple 4" squares sewn together using eight different fabrics in their favorite colors. Pink for Maddy (not her favorite color anymore) and red for Isabel (still her favorite color). I can't use the same system for Juliana, because she doesn't have a favorite color. She likes all colors. I decided to choose eight different colorful fabrics and border each of them with solid pink (one of her favorites is she is really pressed to choose one). I hope it turns out well.

Here are the colored squares cut out and placed on the pink fabric for visual reference.


I need to have it finished in two weeks and one day. I hope I can get it done!

Waiting for the Fruits of My Labor

I mentioned in an earlier post that we were renovating our neglected compost area into a suitable spot for a plum tree. I've been trying to take advantage of the spotty breaks in weather to finish that task up. Our trip to the coast last week used a whole day of warm sunshine, but it was worth it.

This picture is midway in the removal process. It was too ugly to photograph before we started on it. Those blackberry canes behind and intertwined in the chain link fence were so thick. Some were more than 1" in diameter!

I actually have mostly finished the compost area. I (with the help of my husband and oldest daughter) have removed all the pallets that formed the compost bins, all of the compost that was on top of the pallets, the enormous blackberry canes that were behind the compost bin and also the blackberries that were hanging over the bin and clinging to the chain link fence on both sides of it and removed a whole lot of branches from a flowering quince bush (not the fruiting kind) that is in our neighbor's yard and was overhanging wildly into our space.

This is a huge pile of the quince and blackberry vines that we trimmed.

There is still several square feet of area that is covered with black plastic and compost that was under the bin that I have yet to remove. I just pulled it back enough to plant my Greengage plum tree.

The tree looks so tiny, but it's in the ground and I'm so excited!

In another corner of the yard, in a spot that was once completely shaded by a very large cedar tree (which blew down in Dec. 2006) I have planted a Brooks prune.

The Brooks prune is bigger than the Greengage, but still small. That's our old dog Pepper in the background. Please excuse the messy surrounding yard. It still needs lots of work.

I think I can get one more fruit tree in the space that we have available this year, but haven't fully committed to that idea yet. I better decide soon!

Repair, Not Replace

In this economy where so many are tightening their belts and in an effort to pull back on the reins of our rampant consumerism, whenever we have the opportunity to repair a usable item we should do that rather than replace it. In order to have a usable item to repair, you generally need to purchase a quality item in the first place.

We generally buy good quality shoes. The result is that we adults can wear them for many years and the girls can wear them for a season or more and pass them on to the younger sisters. This week I had the opportunity to take two of Juliana's shoes in for an elastic repair that had been necessary for a while. I also had to have the elastic replaced in one of my Danskos, thanks to a mischievous puppy. Our local shoe repair shop raised their price on this particular repair to $10/shoe, but even at $10 it is still a deal. I give business to a local shop, I get to keep shoes in use that have lots of life left in them and we don't purchase new shoes with the accompanying price tag, packaging and materials.

Buying second hand is also an option, but I never find what I need, when I need it and my Danskos are only 1 1/2 years old, so they are very serviceable. The navy Mary Jane on the left is probably about 9 years old and is being worn by the third wearer. The purple sandal is about three or four years old and is on it's second wearer, having been originally been purchased for the second girl, not the first. The leather and soles on both are still in great shape. With a little cleaning and polish, all three will look nearly as good as new!

Tagged

Jen at Under the Big Blue Sky tagged me for a meme and I thought I'd play along since I haven't done a meme for awhile.

What is your current obsession: my thus far losing battle with trying to organize and clean my house

What are you wearing now: (sadly) a pair of sweats, crocs and a black long sleeve tee

Who was the last person you hugged: Isabel

If you could have one super power, what would it be: The ability to stop time

What’s for dinner: hot dogs, sauerkraut, grated beet salad (our version of a junk food dinner)

What was the last thing you bought: hot dogs, sauerkraut, butter, hot dog buns

What are you listening to right now: my youngest daughter jumping and the wind rustling the trees

What is your favourite weather: temperate weather, so mostly spring and autumn

What is on your bedside table: a water bottle, lamp, digital clock and container full of miscellaneous stuff

What is your most challenging goal right now: finishing anything I've started, within a reasonable length of time

Say something to the person who tagged you: Jen, I really admire you for being so devoted to your daughters and being a strong single mama

If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished, where do you want it to be: on at least five acres in the Willamette Valley with meadow and some woods

Name the things you cannot live without: my husband and daughters, books, cheese, coffee

What would you like to have in your hands right now: a Frappucino

What is your favourite tea flavour: I'm not a big tea drinker, but I do like any type of chai when I have a cup of tea

What would you like to get rid of: the extra weight I've been carrying all these years and the clutter in my house


If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go: New Mexico

If you could have your portrait painted/made by any famous artist from any era, who would you choose: Salvador Dali

What is your favorite book? I don't have a favorite book. I read all the time and almost never read a book a second time.

What's the first song on your playlist or Ipod: Die Die Die (The Avett Brothers)

***

The rules:

1. Respond and rework: answer the questions on your blog, replace one question you dislike with a question of your own invention, add one more question of your own.

2. Tag eight (or fewer, in my case) other un-tagged people.

This is who I’d love to play tag with. If they’d like to!

Tonia, Angeleen, Teri


*All of these photos, with the exception of the crocuses, were taken last week on a day trip to the coast.

I've Got Worms

Our weather has been kind of wacky lately. Instead of fairly consistent rain, we've had days where there were glorious hours of sunshine interspersed with rain. It's really unfair because the sunshine makes you gear up to go outside and do some gardening and then the rain is coming too soon.

I did, however, get out on Saturday and do some much needed work. I've got a compost pile that we built about five years ago, but it's been much neglected. Sure, we dump our kitchen scraps and guinea pig droppings, but that's pretty much all we do. Very infrequent turning and no other care has created an unsightly mess. So, we decided to remedy that this year and clean the compost area up and turn it into a spot where a plum tree will be planted. My husband is going to create a better compost system for me utilizing some 55 gallon drums that we received for free from a customer and making a frame for turning them out of scrap metal he already has in the shop. We have one other open corner which will house a second plum tree.

To rehab the compost area, I'm digging holes in my future garden beds and depositing the contents into the holes and covering with dirt. It's a hard-work kind of job, but under the first layer of compost scraps on the pile, I discovered a rich concoction of compost and a numerous population of worms. What an exciting find, because I'd thought that this neglected pile of waste was just that...waste. Quite a bit of it needs further decomposition, but it's already well on it's way and it's inclusion in the future beds will surely create better soil health and deposit large quantities of worms.

By the time I got the camera out, all those worms started digging back into the compost!