Talk about eco-friendly!

I spoke the other day about needing to find someone with a tiller to work up our garden. Well, I could not find one, so my dear husband decided to turn the soil by hand with a shovel. It took him about 3 hours, taking numerous breaks (it was very hot and humid out). I must say, he felt very proud of himself, the sence of accomplishment he felt when he was done.

I suggested to him that since he does not want to use straw this year to help keep the weeds down, he will have to do this on a regular basis, probably as often as every other day. Especially if it rains!

We are hoping that there will be garden centers open today, even though it is the long weekend here in Ontario and most places will be closed. It would be wonderful to plant the garden this year!

Flowers Galore!

Just a few pics of my flowers that I took yesterday afternoon, after the rain stopped.

May Long Weekend!

Woo hoo! It is the long weekend! All winter long I have been dreaming of this weekend, making plans for our garden and what new things I will be doing with my vast flowerbeds.

Now, it has been a bit of a slow start. I found out about 2 weeks ago thata the gentleman I normally get to till my garden sold his equipment so no longer is available. I have been searching for someone else, but no luck so far. I did find a wonderful little tracter tiller, from the 70's I believe, but the asking price is $3,500. That is a bit steep for my budget. I do believe my husband will be talking to the owner and see if he would rent it to us for a couple hours though.

For the last couple months we have been weeding the flower gardens and they are looking stunning! The tulips are almost over as well as the daffodils, but there are a few hardy ones still hanging in. The irises are huge and putting out hundreds of flowers, and they smell so sweet. The blue (and some pink!) forget-me-nots are all over the place. Filling in some big empty spaces as I had hoped. Little pansies, wood lilies, coral bells etc are popping up here and there, and the lupins have migrated to a few other locations. The lilies-of-the-valley have acclimatized very well to their new spots as well as the bleeding hearts.

My lilies are growing up straight and stong and it looks like there will be an abundance of flowers for me this year.

Off to talk to the person who owns that little tractor tiller now, wish me luck! (Dear hubby decided it is up to me *le sigh*) As I have a lot of compost all ready to put in, I need to get things rolling.

Have a great weekend!

Quilted Table runner with 6 placemat set

I decided I really wanted to challenge my sewing skills, so I made this 7 piece set. The runner is about 3 feel long, by 15 inches wide, and the placemats are about 15 inches by 12 inches. I do love the way the colours compliment each other.

I used a nice layer of fluffy batting inside, and used a lovely feather machine stitch about 1 inch in from the edges.

What do you think? I am quite proud of myself

Taking a little break

I have been working pretty much full time at the clinic lately and have decided that I am going to take a little break from working on my shop on Etsy. My mother is going in for surgery on the 25th of this month, plus it is that time of year again that I am out in my flower beds and prepping my veggie garden for planting. I will still be spending some time sewing and making lots of new things and when I am ready I will start listing them.

I am out of dried catnip from last year's harvest and it will be another couple weeks before my new plants are big enough to start harvesting. So until then, for those of you who are interested in the ones that are already listed, I will give you all a discount if you choose to purchase one of them. Just write me a note in "notes to seller" BLOG DISCOUNT and I will give you a 20% refund.

Expanding my horizens

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I had my mother send me her sewing machine as she was no longer using it. At first, I used it mainly to make my little organic catnip toys; then I added pet blankets, carrier mats and various other pet accessories.

Then a friend of mine asked me to make her a fabric grocery bag holder and I started to think of other things I can make. I have now expanded my listings on Etsy to include the grocery bag dispensers, hot pot pad holders, and now I am making coasters. I wonder what I will make next?

I have learned one very important thing though. Fabric is adictive!
















Casual look quilted fabric coasters, set of 2