colors of spring in my pantry

We had a busy week.  After church in Sunday, DH filled my gas tank on the way home.  We parked and stayed home the rest of the day. S1 was picked up by a friend to spend the day at their house, and as they were coming into the house, K said it smelled like fuel by the van.  We went out, and there was gas puddling under the van.  So I was without my van and DH was with out his car for the week.  Oh yeah.  Great fun.  I was getting up to drive DH to work at 4 am.  So I was kind of dragging all week.  I did get a couple of things done after driving him to work, since there wasn't enough time to go back to bed before getting the kids up.

First, some potato bags.  I really only wanted to make 2.  But the there was so much of the batting, that I decided I did NOT want it around the house.  So I made 6.  I gave 2 to a friend that cooks for as many as we do.  Anything to simplify dinner prep.  And 2 more will go into the Christmas box.  I still have some scraps of the batting left, and I'm not sure if I should make some little ones to hold small potatoes or not.  They might be good to make for the bazaar in November. 

  I really love the cooking words fabric.  And I would have preferred unbleached muslin for the lining, but we didn't have any, and I was trying to NOT spend money!

The next thing was peppermint extract.  It isn't done yet, but in another week or so.  S2 had done a cub scout meeting where they were planting seeds, and peppermint was one of them.  It took a while to get big enough to do anything with, and this pretty much used up all the leaves on the plant.  But it's a good start. 

This is one of those "so easy, why do we buy it" kinds of things.  Cut leaves, whack with a hammer, and cover with bottom-shelf vodka.  Put in cool, dark place and shake once in awhile. When strong enough, we'll strain and bottle it. Never buy peppermint flavoring again!! 

The third thing I finished was a batch of berry-rhubarb jam. Blueberries, blackberries, marionberries, strawberries, and rhubarb.

The recipe was for Strawberry-Rhubarb, but I didn't have enough. And there were a bunch of containers of various berries in the freezer, so we just used them up.  DH said it was so good I had better write that one down.

Friday we picked up my van.  So life is back to normal.  Sort of.  We are hosting some college students for a church function this weekend, as well as helping a friend make her grandsons baptismal gown for the baptism this Sunday.  My goals include finishing another quilt, this one for D2, using the leftover backing to finish a few smaller projects, and maybe finishing my crochet bathmat.  The one knit 4 or 5 years ago is finally falling apart.  Although, with 6 people in the house, it probably gets above average wear and tear.  Oh, and I want to transplant my herbs.  Since we grew the peppermint from seed, we are trying thyme, oregano, and basil this year.  I had wanted to try bay, but I can't find seeds or plants ANYWHERE.

Another quilt done!

Once again, OPAM has saved me a from a guilt inducing pile of fabric!!  My one finish this week was a Christmas quilt I had started a few years ago.

Not what one would consider a difficult or time consuming quilt!  Mostly, it used up pieces from previous holiday projects.  There is even an extra block from pillowcases I made the kids one year. You can see it in the upper center right.  The batting was even patched together from trimming other quilts.  Waste not, want not. I had pieced the top 4 years ago, I think, and basted it a year ago.  And then it got "put away".  Now it is put away on my sofa, and in a few days I'll put it up wit the holiday decorations.  But for now, I like the feeling of getting something done!

The time that wasn't spent on finishing this was spent outside.  The weather was very sunny or very wet.  It changed every 30 minutes or so, in true PNW fashion!  When the sun came out, I went out, when the rain came, I quilted!  But our balckberry and ivy war may be over! The last blackberry has been dug out!!!!

view from the alley

 When we bought the house, it was early spring.  We had no idea what we were getting for a yard.  Turned out, it was blackberries and ivy.  They actually covered the garage wall, and we couldn't walk between the wall and the fence. 

view from driveway

They grew into the alley, and people had to drive around the bushes.  It was embarrassing! And it started a family tradition.  Every spring we were out there- hacking, whacking, and digging.  The neighbors were even commenting on our "family time", LOL!

But now!  Now it is like a blank canvas!!!!  And I have no idea what to do with it!  I don't want just grass, but I don't want it to be too maintenance heavy.  It is the farthest point in our property, and the hose just isn't going that far.  It has good sun and shade, and the dirt is pretty amazing.  A century of leaves dying off and composting did wonders for the dirt!  But I have no idea what to put back there! 

Ha! Life is normal again!!

My darling husband was on vacation last week.  And sick.  The poor man moped around the house the whole week, and while he did hang two planters, by Saturday I was a nutcase!  My whole list of things he doesn't do on his days off had to dropped.  When I finally started doing them myself, I was reminded why I needed him to do them.  So some of them were half-started, or half-finished, which of course leads to a worse situation than just not doing them!  Now that he is back to work, he is much better. 

The kids and I did get the carport cleaned out.  It was amazing how much they got done in 2 hours.  DH cleaned his BBQ while we were out there, since it had gotten to the point where I wasn't eating anything off of it.  And he didn't want to be miserable alone.  The best part was that I can almost park the van in it!  Just a couple of pieces of furniture need to go away!

As for OPAM finishes, this week was better then last, if only because DH spend a day watching Dr. Who with S2.   First, I finished a cover for S1.

Another orphan block has a home!  The original quilt for his room was going to be made in this block, but neither of us could handle the waste of fabric.  The block was really cool, but we all really hate waste around here. (Which explains why my scrap basket is always so full!)

My other finishes were sachets I made because I wanted to have something a little girly around.

My favorite is the square one, and I am making more for the etsy shop.  If only because I have so much lavender, and I really liked making the square one.

There are little green sprouts in the garden, and the garden beds are full of dirt for planting, so I am hoping to get that done this week, as well as some more OPAM finishes!

A treasure for my garden!

A while back, my wonderful DH bought me a present.  That usually isn't in our budget, so when we do get each other presents, they tend to be really good.  Even if they are a little corny.  But this one was REALLY GOOD.  Except, I had no where to put it.  Until this week.  After a lot of moving it around the yard, sometimes because it might look good there, and sometimes just to get it out of the way, it got a home.  My antique weather vane!  It'll give me a good reason to prune back the berry bush in the fall!

 

DH even made sure we had the cardinal points properly marked.  I didn't  actually care, since I know where north is when I'm in my yard, LOL.  I think it will look amazing when the flowers are blooming, and I am going to try and train the vines to wrap around the bottom.  It has made a lovely addition to a rather empty bed.  The berry bush is only 2 years old, so it doesn't take much space yet.

And for a bonus, we got my house numbers painted and up on the beds.  No excuses for the kids to plant things in the wrong bed now!  :)  The bright barn red should be eye catching enough for them!

Sharing this today at Shabby Art Boutique's Shabbilicious Friday!  Which makes me wonder, what are the letters for the cardinals directions if one is in France?

School is in

The kids went back to school today.  Their spring break was pretty laid back.  We spent quite a bit of time in the yard, both just enjoying the good weather and doing some of the more time intensive yard work.  The compost pile is sifted, the garden beds are amended, and seeds are planted!  We did decide to number the beds, since the kids and I had different definitions of "the first bed" or "the second bed".  The man at the hardware store thought I was nuts buying one of each house number.  I haven't decided if I am going to nail them up as is, or paint them.

I finished ONE project this week, and that was all the sewing I got in.

This was an orphan block, of which I have too many.  My best friend found it, and since it is in her colors, wanted me to make a pillow cover out of it.  So I did.  One of my favorite things about her is that we have completely opposite tastes in things, so if something to bright for me, she'll love it. There have been many an email or text with a photo that read do you want?

DH is on vacation this week, so the hope is some house things get done.  But he also wants to draw, so we'll see what actually gets done.  Although the house is on a good start, since two planter hangers are already up.

Spring Break!!!

With the lead up to Easter and a certain man's birthday, not a lot was accomplished.  This was my crowning achievement lest week.

5 felt dynamite sticks.  But since 3 dozen eggs were dyed, and the house prepped for a certain bunny to come by, it's all good.  Although, apparently the youngest has been putting together some observations and has figured out who the Easter bunny and Santa Clause really are.  And he's okay with it, because as long as the real St. Nick really punched that Arius guy, life can go on.  I sent that short one to the history buff for any clarification on that particular piece.

We did get some yard work done this morning.  But we were so tired when we came in no one wanted to go back out to get a photo.  But we can count on one hand how many blackberry bushes need to be dug up.  This is exciting stuff at our house.  We discovered our driveway was twice as wide as we thought once we got all the roots and mulch dug out!!  That war has been going on for 6 years now.  Next up, make the spot pretty.  Or at least useful.  I think I may put some cutting flowers out there, but who knows.  I don't think I can plant anything new until next year.  Now, off to work on a special project.