Jen Made This

My vegetable container garden windup

2009-09-25T22:35:00.002-06:00

I know it's been ages, but garden season is just about over and it's time to start shutting her down. This year was amazing. My vegetable container garden was so much more successful then I could have hoped for. A few notes for next year.

Start earlier. I'm impatient. This is important for me to come to terms with. I don't like waiting. So I'm already starting to look at some diy cold frame designs and thinking about when, how and where I can start my seeds earlier.

Potatoes - not much I would change. They were awesome! The actual harvests weren't quite as prolific as many web readings suggested they may be, but they fed my family well and were delicious. I have just two pots left, the only veg left in my garden, and I need to use them up this week. Not sure what I want the last dish to be... probably some delicious roast potatoes to go along with the cooler weather (seriously, the weather has to cool down right? +30c in the last weeks of Sept is ridiculous!). I won't bother doing the potatoes in the bag again, the containers worked just as well. Oh I used a whole box of seed potatoes. That seemed like a good amount, although I'd like to try a few different varieties next time for fun.

Herbs - I didn't have a ton of luck with herbs. I also learned I don't use them as much as I thought. Maybe because I think of herbs in more savory hearty dishes like soups and stews, not something we have a lot of in the summer. I might play a bit with trying to grow herbs indoors this winter. Chives were great and I have lots growing around the yard. And I might do basil again. But that's probably it.

Peas - oh yummy peas! I did not have enough peas. Next year I want a big wall of peas. I did six pots worth, three of them died a mysterious early death (the 'early' batch). The last three were great and we snacked well off of them. No big dinners, but nothing beats standing in the yard munching. So I'm thinking nine containers. I did mine in two batches, one two weeks later then the first. And with our crazy weather this year I didn't find it made much difference (plus the first batch died). I'll space them 2wks apart again next year and see what happens.

Beets - fail. Okay, not a total fail, but they didn't do great. I got one dinner for six out of two large containers. I think I oversowed and under-thinned. Plus the big potato leaves covered up one of the containers so stunted the growth. I need a more square container for my own orgnization, and I will use seed tape next year so I don't have to worry about oversowing and under-thinning. And they need to be in front of the potatoes so they get enough sun.

Carrots - much of the same problems as the beets. Oversowed and under-thinned. And the giant zucchini leaves shaded them way too much. The few baby ones we got were sweet and yummy. But seed tape will be the way I go next year.

Spinach - fun early crop. We had a few good salads out of it. Will do again I think.

Lettuce - Blah. Did not like it at all. It was limp and tasteless. My sister-in-law grew some and while visiting we had a salad. It was awesome. Crisp, fresh and full of flavour. I'll have to ask what kind it was.

Peppers - the plants grew well and were a nice decorative feature in my front garden. They did actually fruit, although when we tried to eat them they were horribly bitter. I don't think I'll bother with them again.

Zucchini's - the gem of my garden. I had four plants in a large water trough, and they all did great. We ate them when they were tender little ones, and were able to keep up with the production. Not even enough for baking. Can't think of anything I'd do differently with them next year.

Tomatoes - Oh how I had high hopes for my tomatoes. My favorite vegetable of all. My boys consider them candy! And it was a dismal failure. I had eight plants in all. Six were in the Maxi Kaps, and two in their own pots. The self watering was great, although I was out there watering everything else anyways. The two cherry tomatoes we did get some good snacks from, although again we had crazy weather and they took FOREVER to ripen. The third cherry plant never produced a single one. Then I had four 'Early Girl' plants, your basic medium sized tomato. I'll give Mother Nature the blame for this one, but there was nothing early about these girls. It was late summer before they even started to look ready, and summer was almost over before I could harvest any. Which is when I discovered that the slugs had been feasting. And the little buggers couldn't just eat a whole one at a time. No. They had to go and stick their nasty little slug heads into as many tomatoes as possible. I had all of eight tomatoes. The rest went to compost. So, so, so sad. Next year, I will give a couple regular tomato plants a try, but will focus on cherries. Eight plants seemed like a good number. The little wire cages were not sufficient, especially as they wanted to climb higher and got quite heavy. I will need to do some more serious staking. And I have no idea how I will battle the slugs. So so so sad. And I need to start earlier. Again, this is where the cold frame/green house will come in handy.

My flowers were pretty successful. I need to remember to take a picture before they're all gone. My pansies looked great for a bit, but died early (I overplanted). My sweetpeas grew well, but didn't flower a ton. My cosmos also grew well, but took ages to flower. But now that they're in full flower they are stunning. My snapdragons did not work from seed at all, but when I bought seedlings, they thrived and look fantastic now. My dahlia was smothered by the pansies I planted around it. And my Scarlett Runner Beans stole the show. Easily hit 8ft, and was green and covered with flowers. The beans made an interesting view. I didn't think you could eat them, but it appears I'm wrong and especially in the UK they eat them a lot. Next year I will try some! The only problem with the plant was that it was so big, I needed extra staking (in the form of a large 10ft stake), and it blew over several times. Next year I will stake better from the beginning (a tripod style would look great), and brick the bottom of the container. The marigolds and sunflowers were a bit of a disappointment. Took forever to flower, put on a great show for a week or two then died back again.

Some other notes for next year. I need a better watering system. In the early stages it was so exciting to get out every morning, take my time watering and checking each plant. But by summer it was taking up a lot of precious time first thing in the morning. So some kind of sprinkler or other irrigation system is needed. Starting all the flowers from seed was fun, but it was hard to watch all my neighbors with their flower beds in full bloom when mine were still just sprouting. I may spend the extra money and buy seedlings so I can enjoy them much earlier.

All in all the containers worked better then I could have hoped for. For so many reasons I think they may be better then an in-ground traditional bed. Next year we should still be in this house, and I plan on doing it all over again. Right now I'm bagging up all the soil to overwinter. And next spring I will ammend it and hopefully get another year out of it.

Here are some pictures of the tomato tradgedy. All of these went into the compost. And there is another huge bunch ready for me to take down straight to the compost again. DAMN SLUGS!!!!! You can see in the background everything else is ready for me to prepare to overwinter. It looks so empty and dead back there now. I miss the lush jungle I had!

Thank you so much to those who have followed my garden journey. I hope maybe you learned something with me (even if it's just what not to do!). The days are shorter, and I'm getting back into the swing of sewing, crocheting, baking, crafting etc. With Halloween and Christmas right around the corner, I will have plenty to post about hopefully! And like I mentioned, I might try a little indoor gardening too this winter!

DIY fake wasp nest update

2009-08-26T21:57:00.005-06:00

So it's been awhile since I first made and hung the fake wasp's nest (see this old post).

I've had many people ask me how they've worked. All in all I'm really happy with them. After a couple months (and a few rains), two of the bags burst and the stuffing fell out. But the bags were still hanging and looked kindof the same so I left them. I have not seen any wasp nests in our yard. I know there's not because I've been looking. I've been looking because there have been quite a few wasps in our yard, especially the last few weeks.

I heard a quick story on the news that Calgary is having quite a battle with wasps this year. Pest companies are extremely busy, and wasps are #1 on their complaint list.

So yes there are many wasps (they love my container garden it seems), but I do feel like I've been successful as there are no nests. We live right next to a large greenspace, so I'm sure there's a ton of nests close to us, but not in my yard!

I will be doing this again next year!

Jen Made Bread!!

2009-08-26T10:18:00.004-06:00

Yes I did! We have been trying to make more of our own food and eat less prepackaged and processed food. And something that we eat a lot of is bread. Gareth has been wanting me to try making bread for ages, but I was pretty intimidated. Something about all the kneading, and resting, and punching, and I don't know, it seemed so complicated. My mom lent me a bread maker, but I never did get around to trying that. Then I came across a review of the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes. That got my attention! I reserved it at the library, but it was so popular I would be waiting a few months. So Gareth surprised me with the book!

And what do you know? I made bread!

I started with the basic recipe, and made a boule loaf. It was small, and a little dense, but it was good!

Then I tried again and made a partial whole wheat loaf, and it turned out much better.

And then I tried a cinnamon raisin loaf. That is one of my favorite breakfast meals. It turned out awesome!!

So I highly recommend that everyone runs out and gets this book. There are a ton of recipes, all with the same basic procedure. But the title is a tad misleading. The main premise is that you make up enough dough for four loaves, then it sits in your fridge for up to two weeks. Mixing the dough doesn't take long at all. But then it needs to rise for two hours, then refrigerated overnight. Then before you bake it, it needs to rest again at room temp for 40min. Bake for 30min. So while you may only be hands on for 5min, there is some preplanning to take in all the rest periods.

But you just can't beat freshly baked bread! (Especially the cinnamon raisin loaf!)

My potatoes in a bag

2009-08-01T20:55:00.002-06:00

For dinner tonight, we harvested the first two hills of potatoes. It was early, so I wasn't sure what to expect. But what did I have to lose?

I decided to dig up the bag of potatoes. Out of all the hills, this was the one I was most curious about how/if it was working.

So here is the bag before, you can just see it under the foliage...

Here is what it looked like on it's own...

I dumped the bag into a bin, dug out the potatoes, then put the dirt back in the bag.

And here are the potatoes! The yield was small, but it was early. These were planted about 10wks ago. Another few weeks and I think the yield would've been much better. But the quality was amazing! We grilled them on the bbq in olive oil, garlic, salt and some onion. My mom and stepdad were here to share in them, which was great considering their contributions to my garden. And hopefully they'll be able to share in many more meals to come. I have 20 more hills!

Vegetable container garden Wk 11 harvest

2009-08-01T15:12:00.002-06:00

It has been about 11wks since planting most of my vegetables. And finally we are starting to eat quite a bit from it. First it was spinach and lettuce, both of which are done now, and now we're into the peas and zucchini's. I have four zucchini plants, and it is fruiting like mad. We're also finally getting good sweet yummy peas. I have six pots of peas, three that were planted in one batch, and the other three were planted two weeks later in a second batch. I don't know what happened, but my first batch have all died. I managed to get a few peas off of them, but not much. My second batch seems to be doing much better and I'm getting more peas. We're snacking on about 6 pods/day. Hopefully this is just the beginning, but that may be it with such a small amount of plants. Next year I was to do waaaay more peas. I love love love them!

Here's what we had the other night. Another day or so and we should have that much zucchini again!

And while not a vegetable, I'm excited to say my cosmos have finally bloomed! Those too took about 11wks since I planted the seeds. A little too long to wait, next year I might do a bunch of indoor sowing so I can enjoy them much earlier. There are only a few flowers at this point, but hopefully they'll explode soon!

Homemade worm bin update

2009-08-01T14:41:00.002-06:00

So I haven't mentioned my vermiculture bin (aka DIY worm bin) since I made it. There really hasn't been much to mention. It lives under my sink, I put in a few handfuls of chopped fruit/veg scraps once or twice a week, and you'd never know it was there. There is ZERO smell, no bugs, no escaping worms. But there are a ton of worms. Many more then I started with. Healthy, big, red worms. Probably double at least. And there is compost. Lots and lots of compost! As someone who had know idea what I was doing, I can tell you that it is easy to tell when it's finally turned to compost. The bin is much heavier then when I started, and it's rich, black, moist compost.

So I've decided it's time to get the compost out and start again. But how do I do this without losing all my worms? I have no idea if this will work, but here's what I'm doing.

I have pushed all the compost over to one side of the bin. I am not feeding them on that side anymore. My only concern is that it's so heavy, I don't want them squished under the weight. But I have to have faith that instinct will lead them out. On the other, now empty, side of the bin, I have started fresh. I have fed them some moldy strawberries, covered it with several inches of damp newspaper, and voila. The plan is that all the worms will migrate to the new side for food, and I will be left with one side of compost that I can then take out for storage (I won't be using it on my gardens this year, I'll save it for next).

There isn't much to take pictures of, it's hard to see all the worms in a picture. But here is what it looks like with the two sides set up. I figure I'll leave it like this for 2-3 wks to make sure as many worms as possible make it to the other side.

My new purse!

2009-07-29T12:16:00.002-06:00

I made something for me! Actually it's not as exciting that it's just for me, but more that I actually got to sit down and start and finish something, in only two days. Gareth very kindly took the boys out this morning to give me the last hour to finish it in peace :)

When I go out with the boys, I now no longer need to carry the big diaper backpack. But my small every day purse is still too small. I needed something inbetween. I have my stuff (which really isn't much), plus snacks, drinks and Roans diaper change kit. And occasionally a few extra items too. I wanted something that I could wear over my body to keep my hands free for child wrangling. And something that was easy for me to just reach in and out of (ie no zipper).

So here is what I made. I found an awesome tutorial on Craftster, and it was actually so easy to complete. I added four inner pockets and a key hook so my keys don't just fall to the bottom of the bag. It closes with a magnetic snap (which is decievingly strong) which is nice that I can sneak my hand in if needed. I interfaced it with a lightweight fusible interface, just enough to give it some structure, yet still be soft and light. This used about 3/4m outer fabric, although I'm glad I got a full metre. I might make a matching zipper pouch to keep my stuff seperate.

Anyways, here she is. I haven't taken her out yet, but wearing around the house has been great!

Container garden - wk 10

2009-07-25T14:46:00.003-06:00

I've missed posting for a few weeks. It has been a busy summer for us so far. Lots of activities and just playing outside. And we took our first family camping trip! I swore my version of 'camping' included a motel at the very least, but we met up with my best friend and her family and went camping in a tent! And you know what? It was awesome!! We've already booked our second trip of the summer, and hope to even do a third.

And in the meantime, my garden has been growing, and growing, and grooooowing!

So here is the update. I took these pictures last week, about the Week 10 mark.

Here are the herbs and Batch 3 potatoes. I've been harvesting the basil which is doing great. The cilantro seeds I planted a few weeks ago have sprouted and are growing quickly. The potatoes are big, but who can tell what's happening underneath.

The tomatoes!!! My awesome awesome tomatoes! They're all still green, but there are so many of them. It's crazy! We're going to turn red once they ripen as we'll be eating so many tomatoes.

The spinach and lettuce have bolted. The spinach was yummy, I will definitely do spinach again. But I didn't like the lettuce. I did a leaf lettuce (Early Curled Simpson), and I found it limp, wilty and tasteless. While on vacation, we stayed with my sister in law who is growing her first garden, and she had an awesome leaf lettuce and made us a great salad. I'm going to try her variety next year (I forget the name, I have to remember to ask her again!).

And in the same picture is the zucchini. Holy Moly, the zucchini! It's huuuuuuge. It's completely taken over the container, is running over the lettuce, and I have to keep cutting it back from totally covering my carrots. We've been harvesting the sweet tender young zucchini's, and jebus was it yummy. I thought I had some time before the next harvest, yet tonight my stepdad pointed out a huge zucchini that I swear wasn't there yesterday. Grilled zucchini, roasted zucchini, baked zucchini, stir fried zucchini, zucchini bread, chocolate zucchini muffins...

The beets are beets. You can just start to see the tops of them, but they're still pretty tiny. It will be a while yet before we get to eat those.

The potatoes are great. There were flowers, and now the foliage is starting to fall over. It has been super hot here for a couple weeks, I don't think they liked that much. Next week I'm going to try harvesting one. Hopefully they'll be the yummy little 'new' potatoes, yum!! I missed taking pics, but they don't look that much different, just a little bigger then last time.

And my peas. Sigh, my peas. I love peas. I love eating fresh peas right in the garden, shucking them, eating them and thowing the pods back in the garden. I was so excited for my peas. And they were doing well! So well! These picturs taken last week, they still look like they're doing well. Although on closer look, you could maybe tell something was starting to go wrong. And now, one container from Batch 1 is all pretty much dead. And the other two containers from Batch 1 are looking sad. It doesn't seem to be pests, my stepdad mentioned perhaps a fertilizing issue (nitrogen poisoning?). I don't know. There were a ton of peas growing, but they've all stalled and though some of the pods are getting bigger, when you open them, there are no peas inside. Batch 2 is still looking pretty good, so fingers crossed I haven't lost them all!

My peppers are surprisingly great! I have two hot peppers about ready to harvest, and several small sweet peppers. While the plants are much bigger then when I bought them, I don't know if they'll be big enough to make grocery store sized peppers. Right now they're about golf ball sized peppers.

My front flower garden is doing really great. The scarlett runner beans threaten to attack anyone who stands too close. I've added extra, taller supports, and they covered those in literally days. Not sure what else I can do. I might get a super long piece of wood (1"x1" or so) and pound that in the middle. Otherwise I think they may just reach across the lawn and crawl up our tree! The sweet peas have bloomed and are wonderful. I cut a bunch for my first 'bouquet'. They looked much better on the plant I have to admit! The cosmos are so tall. I didn't realize how tall they'd be. And they're so close to blooming. But nothing yet. One thing I don't like about them is they are covered in ants. I'm guessing they're like peonies where the ants crawl all over them and eat the sap which allows them to bloom. But it's kindof icky when you look really close! The pansies look good. Can't go wrong with pansies. But one thing I did do wrong was try and put a dahlia in the middle of a container and surrounded it by pansies. The pansies grew way bigger, completely covered the dahlia, which is now dead. Oh well, live and learn! The snapdragons are in full bloom with lots of great colours. And the osteospermum are okay. They don't bloom nearly as amazingly as when I first got them, but there are always a few flowers every day, and the greens are so pretty on their own.

And the sunflowers and marigolds are looking great. The marigolds are blooming nicely, and the sunflowers are growing steadily. Can't wait to see what they'll look like!

And that's it for now! I probably won't update this week (it's hard playing catch up), but plan on definitely posting Week 12's update. Hopefully the peas will still be in the picture!

A different kind of deodorant

2009-07-05T22:31:00.004-06:00

I enjoy making my own cleaners, and have even dabbled in making some of my own lotions and potions. And one that has been on my mind for a long time is making my own deodorant.

Somehow, it just seems like a really delicate spot on the body to be slathering chemicals onto every day. A quick search of the internet will pop up links to Alzheimer's and cancer. However taking a few extra moments, and you will also find leading organizations who dispel these claims. You can easily find arguments for either side of this claim. I'm not a scientist, doctor, or any other kind of expert. But I like to decrease the amount of gunk I use, so this makes sense for me.

So, putting all those issues aside, lets focus on a few of the other issues. Someone has to make all that deodorant, make all the plastic holders, put it all on a truck, drive it here, there and everywhere. It leaves a footprint. And then you pay $5 per stick. (yes, the only brand I like is Mitchum and was $5 the last time I bought it). That's enough to make me never want to buy it again.

Except I'm also not willing to be all sweaty and smelly. So again and again I shell out for this everyday staple. I did try a deodorant crystal, and it did leave me dry, but smelly, and so that was a very short lived experiment. But wait! Another blog I visit, The Poor College Students Guide to Raising A Baby, recently had a post about making your own deodorant. I followed a few of her links, and came across some different 'recipes' and approaches. Some more complicated then others, some containing ingredients I know I don't have, and I'm not sure where to buy. But then I found one so simple, there was zero downside to trying it out. Absolute worse case scenario? It doesn't work, I'm out approximately 90sec and a wee bit of ingredients I already had in the house, and I'm sweaty and smelly for a little bit until I can go back to my regular deodorant.

So, I gave it a shot, and one week later I'm amazed to tell you I cannot find any difference between this and my $5/stick deodorant. So here is the link, the recipe and my review...

1 part baking soda
6 parts cornstarch

Put in a small container and shake well. Use a brush, pad or sponge (I use an old blush brush) and apply to underarms.

Really. That's it. So simple how can you not try it?

My review... I honestly cannot tell the difference from my regular deodorant. It has been hot outside, I have chased children around and around, I have cleaned my house (and not a daily tidy, a clean for guests heavy clean). I have been in hot stuffy cars, and then in chilly air conditioned stores (always a recipe for that clammy feeling). And I cannot tell the difference. And hubby swears I'm not smelly. I used 1/2tsp baking soda and 3tsp cornstarch for a trial batch (which is easily 2-3wks worth). Put it in a little snack container, shook it up and then I just dab my brush in it, give it a little tap and apply it like any powder makeup, just to my underarms.

My only tip is when applying, the dust does travel a bit. But it easily wipes away. And it will leave a white mark on dark clothing if getting dressed right after applying. But again, this is white dust, not the sticky white residue from regular deodorant. Simply brush it off, use a damp cloth if necessary. And like regular deodorant, if you use it right after shaving, it will sting for a bit. But the next day (and every day since) I have had zero reaction.

Anyways, I am converted. Sometimes it truly is the simple things that are worth doing!

Container Garden Week 7

2009-07-03T09:12:00.002-06:00

So it has been seven weeks since I started planting. That's about 49days (give or take, not everything was planted on the same day). Which means, harvest time is coming for a few things soon, and already here for a few things as well.

Everything is growing amazingly well. I didn't know what to expect when I started out doing this, but so far it's more then I thought!

So here's the updates...

Here are my herbs and Batch 3 potatoes. The basil is doing great, which is good because I'm learning it can actually be a tricky herb to grow. My cilantro seeds have sprouted, maybe I'll get some more this season. Chives are a-thriving. And Batch 3 potatoes are nice little bushes. I'm done topping up all three batches, so now I just get to watch them grow. I used a bunch of different things to top up with, starting with a peat/container mix mixture, but that was $$$. Then I tried a 3in1 mix, but again, $$. Then I went to straight compost. Cost effective, but I was a tad worried it was too heavy. So then I just used a topsoil. I fertilize them once a week anyways, so hopefully topsoil will be enough. I had no idea the containers would take so much to fill up!! Next year I will have to preplan everything, and buy in bulk.

Next up are my tomatoes. My wonderful tomatoes! They are all flowering and huge. And both my Champion's (a cherry variety) have little green ones. I hope we get lots, cherry tomatoes are a favorite food in our house.

And here is my spinach. All my spinach. The prolific spinach. So much spinach! It's awesome. It's been starting to bolt a bit, I've been pinching. So time to harvest harvest harvest before it's too hot and it's done. Please share your favorite spinach recipes, spinach salad gets a little boring.

Leaf lettuce. I haven't actually had any yet, but it's ready! And I have to start harvesting it soon, Calgary will start to get it's hot weather soon.

Here is the zucchini. Interesting to note, these four plants came from one 4pack. They were all the same size when planted. The two on the left get a little less sun then the two on the right due to the shadow of the shed. And you can tell! The two on the right are bigger, and both are starting to flower/fruit. The other two are healthy and growing, but they are definitely behind. All because of a difference of maybe an hour or two of sun a day. But the two on the right are each growing a little zucchini!

My carrots are growing fast. In fact I can't even thin anymore, there is just too much foliage to dig through. So I don't know if they'll harvest well. But I love the carrot tops now! And next year, on a tip from my mom, it's seed tape all the way for the carrots and the beets!

My potatoes are HUGE! Batch 1 you can no longer even see the containers underneath. The bag is pretty much rolled all the way up. Batch 2 is not far behind. Emily happily took a picture to give you some scale as to how large these plants are now. Unbelievable! I hope there are a ton of yummy potatoes soon. Being in containers, and possibly planted too close together, I think I will harvest a little early and enjoy 'baby potatoes' instead of waiting for the full sized ones. They're norland variety, so that may be in the next few weeks I can do that. I can't remember, so I have to go a-googling'.

The peas are looking good. One or two flowers are starting to appear. Can't wait to start snacking!

And we have strawberries! They started as little green ones, and now they're starting to ripen a bit. We have quite a few wildlife pests in our neighborhood including squirrels, rabbits and birds, so I just hope we get to enjoy a few!

My beets are looking good. There's never too much to report on them. I just hope they're growing under that dirt!

And last are my peppers. These I bought just a few weeks ago, but they are also starting to flower. If everything goes well, I will have some hot ones for salsa, and some sweet ones for snacking. I've never had success with sweet ones, so fingers crossed!

That's it for the veggies! Now for the flowers. Again, it was fun at first to watch the seeds sprout and grow, but I really want more colour by now. Next year I will either start the seeds indoors early, or just buy annuals.

The sunflowers and marigolds are slowly but surely growing.

The scarlett runner beans are getting huge! Can't wait for the flowers, I think it will be quite the show.

The cosmos are doing great and are quite tall. The foliage looks nice, but again, I want the flowers!

And my sweetpeas are climbing, can't wait until they flower and we smell them everytime we go in/out of our house.

And I bought and planted a few snapdragon plants a couple weeks ago to replace the seeds that never sprouted (seriously, not one!). And I'm about to get some blooms!

So I am still loving this whole 'gardening thing'. I love seeing the changes every day, the anticipation of the next stage. And hopefully soon eating the bounty. And using containers has been awesome. When we finally move to our own house, I will be building raised beds, but using a lot of the stuff I'm learning now! And the potatoes may always be in containers!

Oh, and Happy Stampede to all my fellow Calgarians. We will be staying as far away from the brewhaha as possible, but I hope those who do enjoy the festivities have a great time! Yahoo everybody!

The first harvest

2009-06-25T14:54:00.002-06:00

We ate our very first meal that included goodies from the garden!! I made a spinach salad, and it was DEEEEE-LICIOUS! And hopefully soon my salad will contain our very own spinach AND tomatoes AND carrots!

I haven't posted updated pics of the garden yet, but they are coming!

Little pleated pouch

2009-06-18T22:42:00.003-06:00

The title really says it all. I made a great little pleated clutch/pouch for my best friends daughter. It was a new one for me, I got it from a great tutorial from the all mighty Craftster. It went together really well, although it was slightly larger then I expected. But it's definitely on my list of things for *me*! Now I just have to get around to starting that list...

Start of the new stash

2009-06-18T22:16:00.002-06:00

So my youngest, Roan, has been going through an incredible growth spurt. Which also means he's growing out of his diapers. It's been awhile since I've been sewing diapers, but I broke out my old favorite pattern from Darling Diapers, and decided to use my new snap pliers and try a new style.

I haven't had a chance to try them on Roan yet, as I just finished sewing them up and he's sleeping (yay!), but I think they may have turned out a wee bit wonky. I think they're definitely too narrow through the crotch, I think I overdid the seam allowance. I tried a new casing method on one diaper, and I'm not sure I'm thrilled with it (I had to cut a hole in the fabric to fish out a rogue elastic!). One I did a sewn in quick dry soaker, and the other I got lazy and just did a lay in soaker. But all in all, they will definitely be functional, they're super soft (I love velour! I'm almost out, I have to decide if I'm going to order more...) and I love that I made them. I will try to remember to take an action shot of him wearing one if I can get him to stand still for a moment (not the easiest feat these days!).

Container garden Week 5 update

2009-06-18T12:21:00.002-06:00

So it's been about five weeks since everything was planted (give or take a few days here and there). And today I realized there is are a couple lessons I have learned along the way. First off, when planting a vegetable with small seeds, such as carrots, do not take the 'easy' root and sprinkle them all in a small space. This is not the easy route, as later you must go back and thin. And let me tell you, this is a pain! I have been thinning and thinning and there's always more. I bet you I have thinned 2/3 of what was there, and they're still probably too close. Next time I will take the extra five minutes when planting and make more of an effort to plant fewer seeds better.

The other lesson I have learned is that soil is expensive. While it was a good investment for the containers in general (and hopefully with proper care I can get another year out of it), I have been topping up my potatoes a lot, and it just seems like a constant expense. More and more dirt. So with my potatoes I went from using a container mix/peat mix, to a 3in1 landscapers soil (compost, vermiculite and peat), and now I'm just using compost as it's cheap. So we'll see how it goes. I figure if they grow happily in containers of straw (which I might just try next year instead), I shouldn't be putting good money into expensive soils. They do get fertilized every week (along with everything else with a basic 20-20-20 feed), so hopefully it will be fine.

Again, I am very lucky that my families pantry is not dependent on this crop. If it doesn't work, Safeway always has potatoes. However, I would like to be able to depend on my own veggies down the road, and I would much rather be eating veggies I grew myself (no pesticides, no transportation pollution, tastes better and costs less). So this experiment will hopefully help to prepare me better in the future. One of the reasons I'm blogging so much about it, notes for next year!

Anyways, here is what the vegetables look like after five weeks. The weather this last week has been hot and lots of sun during the day, with several afternoon/evening showers. I think you can tell!

Starting with the tomatoes, looking good! There are flowers, new growth on all of them, they're sturdy and strong. Some aren't as tall as others, but again, maybe that's the variety, maybe they're slow, and maybe they just won't produce. We'll see!

The spinach is doing great. Some of the leaves are actually the right size to start eating. But they're aren't enough of them yet, so maybe in the next week or two harvesting will begin. The kids have been eating spinach salad lately, so fingers crossed they continue to like it!

The lettuce is still looking like lettuce. I think I'll thin them down a bit more, that might help them start to grow a little faster.

Zucchini is looking big and healthy. No more of those weird coloured leaves.

Here are those pesky carrots. I thinned them down quite a bit after taking this picture. Don't over seed carrots! But the leaves/stalks/stems whatever they're called are strong and fringey. And I know from pulling a few that the roots are also strong and growing!

Beets seem to be doing well. It's hard with the root veggies, I want to see what's happening under the dirt!

Peas - Batch 1

Doing great. I can easily see them from my kitchen window, it's starting to look like a garden out there!

/

Peas - Batch 2

These are also doing great. I almost can't tell them apart any more. I sowed an extra row in Batch 2, something I will do next time, Batch 1 could've used another row.

And again, here are my amazing potatoes! I cannot believe how well they are doing in their containers! Of course again I can only judge what's going on above the dirt, but I've had to keep topping up almost every couple days, they are seriously growing inches every day! And my potato bag is doing great. With the ability to keep unrolling the bag, who knows how high that one will get or what kind of harvest it will yield.

My peppers are looking strong and healthy. Growing well, even in their current spot where I'm not sure they're getting enough light.

My scarlett runner beans have completed exploded, you pretty much can't see the container underneath the leaves anymore. I can't wait until this gets bigger, I think it's going to be stunning!

Cosmos are doing great. I'm not sure I'll do flowers from seed again. I'm enjoying watching them grow, but I want some colour already!

And same with the sweetpeas. I'm very impatient with them.

And that's about it. Sunflowers and strawberries and everything else I haven't mentioned are all doing well, just nothing too different from last time.

And I will be back with something to talk about other then gardening soon. I'm trying to finish a few sewing projects in the moments of peace and quiet that aren't spent outside!

Container garden update

2009-06-11T08:35:00.003-06:00

Things are coming along! Most stuff that was started from seed is on to it's second set of leaves. I thinned out the beets, carrots, spinach and lettuce. It was a sad process, I felt like I was being so wasteful! Here are mini seedlings that could grow into food, and I was picking them out. But I have to remember that doing so actually makes the remaining plants grow bigger and better. I will need to go back again I'm sure, but for now things look much neater, and the plants are already spreading into their new space. So, here's what's happening this week.

Tomatoes are doing pretty good. I have three really strong cherry type tomatoes, and one pretty good looking slicer. But I have one cherry that's looking a little stunted (it's a different variety, so maybe it's supposed to look like this?), and three slicers that are looking very stunted, but they're still green and look normal, just short, so I'm not throwing in the towel on those ones yet. It's been cold, frosty in the mornings and even snow. Maybe they just need some good heat to perk up. The herbs are doing okay. I've been using the cilantro, and it's yummy. It's growing quite fringy though, not as leafy as I'm used to, not sure if that's normal. I think it might be trying to bolt and I've been picking off the buds. And some of the stems are quite thick and woody. So we'll see. I bought a new basil, it looks much better then the last (lots of smaller stems, not just the three big ones like the last plant. Hopefully it grows quickly! And chives chives chives! They're looking great and we're enjoying them. We also have a few little patches that have come up around the yard. Every time we're out Ciaran has to pick a few to eat!

Spinach is looking good. I'll need to thin them more, but good for now. And the lettuce is great. Thinning really seemed to help, maybe I just like that they look more organized now, lol!

The zucchini's are growing quickly! I ended up cutting off those burnt looking leaves. I still couldn't figure out what it was, I'm sure it's just a little frost bite. I will probably have to thin these down too, but we'll see.

Carrots are looking like little carrots. These are hard to thin, they're so thin and there are so many! I've been using scissors as pulling them out often pulls out way too many. I don't want to wreck the roots of the ones I leave behind.

Peas all have tendrils and are growing fast. The second batch doesn't look that far behind the first!

First batch

Second batch

Beets are doing well. Second leaves are still coming in. Thinning makes them look so much nicer too.

And strawberries are great, tons of flowers, maybe we will see fruit this year!

And my pride and joy, my potatoes are kicking some ass! The containers and even the bag are doing great. They grew more then 6" and I have added dirt to mound them now. I really hope these work out!

And that mysterious plant that's growing in the side yard? I think it's a campanula. Fingers crossed, I love them!

I moved my peppers to finish off an unfinished edge of the garden. I hope they still get enough sun! That's lambs ear in with them, I went a little crazy at the Calgary Hort plant share and have a ton!

In the front, the flowers are doing great. The annuals I bought are bright and happy, and all the seeds are growing fast. It's great to see them every morning and see how they changed. I will have to thin out the sunflowers a little more, but for now I took out some and they look better.

Sweetpeas

Osteospermum

Cosmos

Snapdragons (I had to buy seedlings, not a single seed sprouted!)

Scarlett Runner Beans

Sunflowers and marigolds (the marigolds have sprouted, but they're still pretty tiny!)

Soon things will be so big that I can take group shots instead of peering into individual containers. Can't wait!

Nothing like a good scour

2009-06-09T19:57:00.002-06:00

I have pretty much overhauled my cleaning practices in the last few years. Not only do I feel better about what I use, often it's easier, and almost always it's cheaper. I thought I'd share a few tips/tricks/recipes.

Vinegar. No cleaning caddy should be without vinegar. It is a marvelous agent. It makes things sparkle, it makes things fresh, it can even take the gunk off of disgusting shower heads. I keep a spray bottle of 50/50 water and vinegar. I use this on my counters, my stove, my sink/taps, my toilet tanks and rims, even my floor. And of course you can't mention vinegar without bringing up sparkling windows and mirrors! If it needs to be cleaned, chances are this will do the trick. Got something germy? Spray this on and let it sit awhile (10min? I spray down the highchair and just leave it to dry itself overnight). Then take a rag and wipe it away. I have been asked about the lingering vinegar smell. When it dries, the smell evaporates. Some with really sensitive noses might be able to detect it a while later, but really, would you rather be inhaling toxic chemicals instead? Overly fragenced with synthetic scents? I actually love the smell of vinegar, to me it smells clean. But a warning, this is powerful. Don't leave it too long on finished surfaces, it could eat the finish away!

Baking soda. Never be home without it. Seriously, this is magic. I keep a parmesean cheese sprinkler full of it beside my sink. You know when you're cooking and your kids distract you and before you know it your pot is full of burnt on gunk? Baking soda will make it like new again. I used to use the SOS pads, and hated that slime that got everywhere. It seemed to just make more blue mess. But now, I take my pot o'gunk, give it a rinse and swish in the sink to get as much out as I can. Here's the trick... make sure you pour out all the water. You want the pot wet, but no water still sitting in it. Sprinkle the baking soda over the bottom of the pot (it's cheap, don't be a scrooge with it). Take a rag (you will wreck a good dishcloth, so use one you don't care if it gets stained) and rinse it out under the tap and wring it out. You want a damp cloth, not wet. Now scrub. If there's too much water, it doesn't work as well. You want it fairly dry. And without too much effort, the burnt on gunk will be gone. This works for any kind of dishes issue. Sticky eggs stuck to your plate? Baking soda! Dried up cereal bits stuck to your bowl? Baking soda! And apparently you can get large sacks of it from feed stores that is non food grade (meaning don't cook with it) for much cheaper. And don't spend all your pennies on the pretty boxed kind. Go to the bulk section of the store and load up a baggie and store it in a tub at home. They charge you an arm and a leg for that little box.

Dishsoap. Yep, plain ole dishsoap. Whatever it is you use to wash your dishes by hand. Fill your sink 1/3 with hot soapy water. Wash your counters, your table, your floors. In the bathroom, fill your sink 1/3 with hot soapy water. Wash your counters, your floors. If it's good enough to clean the dishes that you will put your food on before eating, it's good enough to wipe down your counters at the end of the day. And don't go crazy on the squirting, a little really does go a long way. (remember the 'Reduce' part of the three 'Rs')

Scouring Powder. My favorite mix has a bit of a story. I've always used Comet to scour my toilet bowl and my tub. Years of buying that little round tube of chemicals. It works, no doubt about it. But anyone who has spent a few minutes scrubbing the ring out of their tub knows you feel a little funny afterwards. A little light headed, nose perhaps a little irritated, eyes a little watery. After my first son was born and was big enough to have baths in the big tub, I started to freak out. I always cleaned the tub before his bath, but then it was a huge production trying to rinse all that stuff away! I would rinse and rinse and rinse and still get that film left behind, and that smell! I knew I had to come up with a better solution, while still leaving me confident that everything was clean. Especially as I also used it in the toilet bowl, the toilet bowl that my son always seemed to manage to splash in the moment my attention was diverted (sometimes while scrubbing and rinsing the tub!). So here is what I came up with, and I love it. The cleaning/scrubbing/scouring power is as powerful as Comet, and it rinses away easily. I use this in my toilet bowl (sprinkle about 1/4c and let sit 5min, then scrub) and in my tub (again sprinkle 1/4c or so in the tub and scrub). I feel much better about using it, I feel much better WHILE using it, and I feel much better when my now two sons are in the bath (and now with my youngest, again splashing in the toilet bowl, ugh!).

1c baking soda (Another use!!)
1c salt
1c washing soda (found in the laundry aisle).

Really, just mix up equal parts and you're good to go. Cost wise I haven't done the exact math, but I think it's even cheaper then Comet.

Here is the link to what washing soda is on wikipedia, but any google search will give you a ton of info from a much more reliable source then some stay at home mom in Calgary writing a blog. Basically washing soda (sodium carbonate) is a sodium salt of carbonic acid (yeah, that makes it clearer). While there are some uses for it in different food processes, please treat this as a chemical, keep it away from the little ones!

And please please please don't waste your money on cleaning cloths. I honestly saw a bag of 'rags' for sale at Canadian Tire for $5 or something. Ridiculous!! Have a hubby who wears undershirts? Two L mens tshirts will stock you up on rags for years. Seriously, all you want is 100% cotton, cut up into squares in the size of your choice. Old ratty towels, the onesies your baby stained and grew out of. Flannel is awesome too, old pajamas, old sheets, old receiving blankets. All excellent potential cleaning rags. I keep some in each bathroom and use them for tons of things. Cleaning, makeup removal (instead of those cotton pads I was going through a bag a month), a quick nose wipe, whatever. I wash my bathroom floors by hand with soapy water and a rag, easy peasy. And don't be stingy! I go through several a day on non cleaning days. Keep lots and have them in easy reach. Wash them with your towels. Chuck them in a basket when clean, grab when needed.

Anyways, I hope this might make your chores a little easier, cleaner (for your health and environment!) and saves you some pennies!

Another mini greenhouse idea

2009-06-09T12:51:00.003-06:00

My mom often says she's not creative, however I strongly disagree. She had the great idea for these mini greenhouses, and she had another great idea that I've just had the chance to try out.

Although it's June, Calgary has had a number of nights with frost lately. We even had snow the other day. All my plants are happily thriving in their containers, oblivious to the fact their end could be anytime. I've been running out with blankets at night to tuck them in, but in the mornings I've had to run out to uncover them even though it's still chilly as I think they need the light. And with a son who has just recently given up the last of the pull-ups at night, I need all the extra blankets in the house!

So following the lead of my mom (who made the setup several weeks ago for her plants), I headed out to my closest Walmart, and for under $2 each, got several shower curtain liners. I placed these over the containers, and either tucked them under the container, or used rocks to hold them down, etc, and voila! Instant little greenhouses! And on the chilly days (seriously, what is with our weather?), the plants stay cozy while they still get the light.

Next year I think I will try using a set of open shelves I have, attaching the curtains and building an actual standing greenhouse for my little seedlings. I doubt the liners will last for more then one season, but I've heard many of those little greenhouses you buy don't last much longer either. So it will be worth trying!

These have worked exceptionally well over my tomato and pea cages. It's easy to tuck them in tight, or to leave the sides open for ventilation.

What's growing today!

2009-06-04T13:46:00.003-06:00

Today is June 4th, and things have been growing and changing a lot since last week, even with our nights of frost. Here's a little (okay, a big) peek into what's growing in my garden today.

The tomato corner! My tomatoes are mostly doing awesome. So far the cherry type tomatoes are doing much better than the slicing tomatoes. For cherries I have Patio, Sweet 100 and Champion. My slicers are Early Girl. I think the Early Girl's got a little frost bite a few weeks ago, they're still growing, but much slower then the others. Also my herbs are here. I think it's safe to say my basil is officially done. The chives are doing great though, and my cilantro is looking good. I will be getting more basil plants, I'm bound and determined not to have to buy the ridiculously overpriced little packages of fresh basil from the grocery store.

Cherry tomatoes, from L to R - patio, champion and sweet 100

Early Girl

I've had to move some of the containers around on the other side to make it easier to cover them up (they've forecasted the possibility of SNOW this weekend, yargh!!!).

The zucchini's are in the back in the trough, then lettuce in the small blue container and spinach in the small black containers.

My zucchini's have some funny coloured leaves. Not all of the leaves, just some. Not sure if it got a little too cold for them? Any zucchini experts out there want to hazard a guess?

My carrots are doing great! I really must figure out how to thin them down.

My first batch of peas are growing big and strong. I had to take the cages out to cover them, but will be putting it back as soon as it warms up at night a little.

My second batch of peas are also doing awesome. Hopefully we'll have some awesome pea grazing sessions this summer!

My beets are happy and growing. Again I'm sure I need to thin them, there are so many!

My strawberries have lots of flowers. Hopefully that means there will be lots of fruit!

My potatoes are looking great! Even the ones in the bag. Of course I can't see what's under the dirt, and I've never actually been able to eat a potato I've grown myself, so fingers crossed! When they hit about 6" high I'll top up the mounds again and repeat until the buckets are full and/or it's harvest time.

And I've added some pepper plants. Four sweet peppers and one salsa pepper. I only planted them a few days ago, but they're still looking healthy!

That's it for the veggies. My flowers containers are mostly all looking great. Sweetpeas are a few inches high, the cosmos containers are alive and thriving, sunflowers and marigolds are coming up quickly and my scarlett runner beans sprung up with a vengeance. However, I don't think I have a single snapdragon coming up yet. I seeded May 14th, so I'm thinking maybe they're a dud. If there's nothing by Monday I'll just plant some seedlings. I won't bore you with individual pictures, but you can see the growth in one week from a group photo.

And here is the mystery perrenial in the side yard. Have no idea if it's a weed, but I'm watering it occastionally, so I hope it's nothing too terrible (my kids don't go in that area so I'm not too worried). Emily is there for size perception.

So hopefully we'll get through this chilly weekend without any losses, I'll replace a few things next week, and then it's low maitenance and just waiting for the bounty!

Tucking in the plants

2009-06-02T08:41:00.003-06:00

Where were you last night at 10:30pm? I was in the garden, taking all our extra blankets, sheets and pillowcases tucking in the plants because there was a risk of frost. The icy stuff on my car this morning proved the forecast was right, and I'm really happy I did it, but I hate this early part of gardening! And it's all my fault, I took the cloches off the zucchini on Sunday. I tempted Mother Nature. But I fought back with fleece and flannel and hopefully all my little babies will survive!

So psa, stock up on old blankets and towels, you never know when you'll need them!

Here is the garden this morning before the big unwrapping...

I'm a gardener!

2009-05-27T13:43:00.005-06:00

I am growing stuff! I can call myself a gardener. I cannot yet call myself a successful gardener, but that day will come when we can actually eat what I'm growing now :)

So here is how my garden is looking today.

My tomatoes are doing pretty good. A few edges are crinkled from the night chill, but all in all they're strong. I have a couple still in kozy coats, those are looking great. They're growing in Maxikaps which you can find at Garden Retreat in Calgary. My herbs are mostly good, although I think I will be replacing the basil soon, it wasn't hardened off enough I don't think.

My peas are doing great! This is the first batch, I planted the seeds April 30th (so about a month ago. As this is my first year, I have no idea if that is slow, fast or right on track for where they should be, but I love seeing them come up and develop! My second batch (planted two weeks later on May 14th) have started to show. Not sure if I should do a third batch, I've almost run out of room for pots.

My beets are everywhere! One of my favorite garden veggies, I hope these are successful. I planted the seeds May 12th, so this is about two weeks later. Now I have to start learning about thinning out.

And here is my newest addition, my strawberry pot. I wasn't going to do strawberries, as I understand they don't really fruit until the second year, and I probably won't be able to overwinter them. But my mom kindly shared her plant credits at this years Calgary Horticulture Plant Share, and so I picked up a bunch for free. If they don't work, oh well, hopefully they'll flower and look pretty anyways.

I have moved my lettuce to the side of the shed, there is less light in the afternoon so will hopefully keep them cooler. I can't tell if they're all coming up wonderfully, or if that's just all weeds from the compost. My other containers don't look like that, so I'm hoping it's all lettuce shoots! I planted these seeds on May 15th, so again just under two weeks.

The spinach is looking great. I'm hoping this will turn out to be an easy and yummy veggie to grow, we love spinach! The seeds were also planted May 15th.

I didn't bother taking pictures of the zucchini. They're still under the cloches, so you can't really see them anyways. But they're doing great!

And here are my vegetable gardens from afar. It still looks pretty junky filled with old containers, but soon, it will be big growing plants!

This is a perinnial that obviously some previous tenant had planted. I have no idea what it is, but I have two big mounds of it growing. I had to prune back some tall stems, so I'm hoping its something pretty! Anyone know what it might be?

And here is a nice surprise. In the ugliest area of our yard, beside the composter and recycle bin, a sweet little Johnny Jump Up has made an appearance. In such a destiture area of the yard, I love to see it's happy little face smiling up at me every day.

Moving out to the front yard, the flowers are starting to come up. Here is a barrel with some sunflowers growing quickly. Those sprouts weren't there yesterday! The seeds were planted May 15th. There are also marigold seeds planted in the same container, but I don't see them yet.

My scarlett runner beans haven't made an appearance yet. Maybe tomorrow...

But my cosmos are up! Both containers are chock full of 'em. I planted the seeds May 14th (same day as the scarlett runner beans).

My snapdragons aren't up yet either (another May 14th seeding). Again, maybe tomorrow, it's amazing how one day they're just all there!

And my sweetpeas are doing fantastic! Some even have tendrils and are starting to grab onto the branches.

And here is my front garden. Much better than how it started don'tcha think?

The Garden - Early Beginnings

2009-05-19T22:19:00.004-06:00

This past weekend was the 'long weekend', where many Calgarians (and probably many Canadians in general) take to their yards, put their gardening gloves on, and start the season.

I was out there too!

But luckily I've already been working on my garden, so there wasn't a ton for me to do. But I finished planting all my seeds and got the first of my potatoes planted too! So there isn't really anything to see yet, but here is how my garden looks now!

In the large trough is four zucchini's. More then I'm sure we'll need, but we'll be sharing :) The pink container is carrots, and the tall blue container is a different type of carrot planted a couple weeks later.

In the small blue container is my leaf lettuce. And the two black containers beside it are spinach. Both of these are totally new to me, I'm really excited to see how they grow!

Here are my peas! The two black and one white were planted a couple weeks ago, with a second batch in the other three black pots. Hopefully this extends our pea enjoying season! And the two large black pot's are beets, maybe my most favourite garden veggie of all!

And then my biggest experiment, my potatoes! I have two large pot's and a bag. As the potato grows, I will continue to mound the dirt up, rolling up the sides of the bag as it grows. I do want to plant a few more next week to again extend the growing season (and as plan B in case these don't grow well).

And I didn't know much about spacing, and have been reading contradicting information about 'chitting', so I just stuck them in there and we'll see how they work!

And here is the garden in all it's stunning beauty (cough cough, hahahaha, cough, cough)...

Of course, when everything starts growing, I think it will look wonderful. And here is the first of the bunch, a few pea shoots. And as of today (a few days later), each pot has eight! Here we go!

Make shift mini greenhouse

2009-05-16T12:21:00.003-06:00

I just haven't been able to stop myself from buying a few plants, even though I'm still a few weeks away from being able to plant them out. So what to do, what to do? Well, I could buy one of those plastic mini greenhouses, you know the green ones with the zipper? They're not terribly expensive, but still not something I want to put my money into, and why buy something else when I can make it myself for free? And this project comes courtesy of my mom, who had an excellent idea that is working fantastically.

She had recently purchased two new comforters. They come in those big plastic bags, she was about to throw them out. But instead, I now have a greenhouse! It's perfect, when it starts to cool off a bit in the evening I zip it close, and open it when it warms up in the morning. Last night was extra chilly, so I put a blanket over top just in case. I also put a couple pieces of duct tape over the holes that the carry straps go through. This has enabled me to start my plants a few weeks early. Next year I will trying growing a lot more of my stuff from seed indoors, and using this method to get them outside and hardening off.

Great idea Mom!!

Wasp Nests

2009-05-16T11:58:00.004-06:00

While browsing another of my favorite blogs, Calgary Garden Coach (which is fantastic considering I live in Calgary!), I found a great, simple, and FREE idea to make fake wasp nests. Basically you make a nest and hang it in potential nest spots to deter the real wasps from nesting there. So simple, yet I see the fake nests on 'sale' for around 2/$5 or more. However, this is a project that requires zero crafty skill, I'm betting you already have the supplies on hand, and takes literally two minutes.

Take some old newspaper and crumple in balls. Stuff into plastic shopping bag and tie closed. Stuff this into a paper lunch bag. Hang up in the corners and other places wasps may like to nest in your yard. Done! Even with my 'helper', this took literally minutes to do. I really hope it works!

Self watering pots

2009-05-10T22:21:00.003-06:00

I have a bit of an addiction to African Violets. I'm sure everyone knows what they are, you see a gazillion of them in places like Walmart and Home Depot, and I think everyone's grandmother had at least one (mine sure did!). It's easy to write them off. But I adore them. And I come by it naturally. My Nana had Afican Violets, and my mom has quite an enviable collection herself. And sure enough, I'm following in their footsteps. I get swept away by their sparkle. Its Mother Nature's very own glitter. And there are so many different types, different foliage, different colours. I'd love to have one of each!

But one tricky thing about these (and maybe why people claim not to have any luck with them) is they are a tad picky about water. You don't want to get water on the leaves. And you don't want to over or under water, they like constantly moist soil. So you can get actual African Violet pots that are self watering. My mom has lovingly potted my African Violets, and the system is perfect.

The water seeps from the outer pot through the inner pot keeping the plant perfectly moist.

But these pots are a little pricey. And sometimes you just need a temporary setup. I have two baby mini African Violets I bought at the Home and Garden Show last month, and I have a cilantro that I bought a few days ago that I can't plant outside yet (still too chilly here!). So after a round of googling (my favorite activity it seems) I decided to try out a few temporary solutions. They could be more permanent, but they aren't the prettiest. And I prefer to showcase my special treasures.

So the first one is the pop bottle trick. Easy and free (as long as you drink the pop first!). Take a pop bottle. Cut it in half. Take a scrap piece of fabric (100% cotton). I knotted it several times to make a ball, then tied another piece around the ball to make a tail. Invert the top half of the bottle, the tail of the cotton hangs out the hole, plant your plant. Fill the bottom half of the bottle with water, place the top half of the bottle into the bottom half with the tail of fabric hanging in the water. The water will wick up into the soil keeping your plant happily watered. I've done a horrible job explaining this, hopefully a picture (or two) is worth a thousand words. This seems to be working great, and actually doesn't look as bad as the others, but I still would only use this in a pinch.

My next solution is super simple. Take a little disposable plastic container with lid. Poke a hole in the lid. Take a scrap piece of fabric and poke it into one of the drainage holes of the plant pot (I used a chopstick) and poke the bottom of the fabric through the hole in the lid. Fill the container with water, put the lid on and the plant sits on top. Definitely not pretty, but again, seems to be working great.

And my last solution is not for an African Violet, but for my house bound cilantro. I have had to keep on top of watering it every day, so hopefully this will keep it happier until I can plant it out in a few weeks. I used an extra measuring cup, but any container would work. I took a plastic lid (peanut butter in this case), poke a hole in the top. Took my scrap fabric, poked it up into the plant pot and poked it through the hold in the lid. Set the lid in the container, and filled the container to just under the top of the lid. Remember, you want the water to wick up slowly, you don't want your roots sitting in water.

So all these are perfectly functional, and totally free. But as I'm sure you'll all agree, not pretty. However, I just can't bring myself to buy the special pots, and I'm pretty sure I've come up with a much better permanent solution, so will be posting that soon! And in the meantime, my plants can drink as much as they need :)

DIY free compost bin!

2009-05-09T16:31:00.004-06:00

I love my indoor worm bin, but really it's just for fun. At this point they don't eat nearly enough to make a dent in our food scraps. So hubby and I have been talking about a proper outdoor compost bin (actually I've been talking and he's be patiently listening). But with the chance that we might move in the next year, having a proper compost bin that sits open on the ground wasn't very appealing. Hubby was thinking ahead to having to shovel all the compost up to move it. So after a bunch of googling, I found a very easy and FREE solution! One of my favorite blogs, Simple Mom, has a great tutorial. And today, I made my own compost bin :)

When we moved into this house, the previous tenants had left behind a very nice, very large rubbermaid garbage can on wheels with a locking lid. We really haven't used it. So voila! It now has a purpose! We have a perfect spot in our side yard (which is basically just our dog run anyways). It gets quite a bit of sun surprisingly. So I took hubby's handy drill with 1/2" bit, and drilled a bunch of holes around the bin. I also drilled a couple in the bottom for drainage. I didn't know if I should put a few in the lid, so I didn't. I figured it's easier to do it later if I need to rather than trying to fix it if I did it wrong. I just don't want to much water to get in there (rain/snow). Also, to help with drainage, it's suggested that you should put the bin up on bricks. I didn't have any bricks, and I certainly didn't want to have to get more 'stuff'' for a project that's sole intention is to reduce. So I just picked up a ton of rocks that were lying in our side yard and made a rock pile. Seems to work great! (and *ahem* they were free!).

So now my bin is ready and it's time to start filling it. Most recommendations seem to be you're working for 2/3 'brown/dry' material, and 1/3 'green/wet' material. The green part is easy. Kitchen scraps (fruits and veggies. NO meat, dairy, fat or breads). Fresh grass clippings, plant prunings, coffee grounds (and filter) and tea bags also count as green material. This is the nitrogen portion of the bin (I think!! I'm a newbie, please correct me if I'm wrong!!!). The brown part is things like old dried leaves, cardboard and newspaper (although those should be minimal). This is the carbon potion of the bin. Any plant like material that you put in your bin should be free of any chemicals/pesicides. You don't want that stuff ending up in your future vegetable gardens!

I was a little worried about the brown material. I wasn't sure how much I would need, and I was super low on old leaves. Just a few weeks ago I went around and totally cleaned/raked my yard and sent off all that awesome perfect brown matter to the landfill (insert regret and crying face here). But along my neglected side yard there was still old leaves! So I gathered up a bunch of those, and filled my bin probably just a foot deep (which really isn't much considering how my air is in the pile). I also added a little cardboard that's been sitting in the side yard for awhile now that we haven't dragged down to the recycle centre.

Now I will continue to add green material, then a layer of brown. So basically every time I add my kitchen scraps, I'll add some leaves, paper, whatever.

Now, with this bin system, you should roll the bin every few days, or at least once a week to make sure its got plenty of air circulation (or just stir). This should result in awesome compost in 4-6mths (from what I've read!). I have no desire for compost come October, I'm really just a lazy composter looking for a place to dump my scraps. So I probably won't be doing much rolling or stirring, We'll see what it looks like next spring wherever we are (hopefully some place with awesome raised beds!).

Oh, and I just have to mention again, this whole project cost exactly $0!!! My favorite price!

Container Vegetable Garden

2009-05-09T16:16:00.003-06:00

So as I mentioned in the last post, we're renting our current house. Our backyard is huge, but there is no vegetable garden in it, and again I didn't want to put the money and sweat equity into making a permanent veggie patch. So what's a gal to do?

Get containers! And because these are in our backyard where no one really sees them, and they'll be covered in yummy plants soon, the containers don't have to be pretty. So far the only criteria is that they have to be free!

So thanks to my mom for providing me with so many awesome containers (especially the old trough, best thing ever!) and with a ton of compost, and with actual Maxi-Caps for my tomatoes (that's a huge donation!), I have a great set up for my veggies!

Here is one corner of the yard. Here I have used up some extra knee high sweet pea seeds to add a little colour to the yard. Beside the shed is where I have the Maxi-Caps set up. They will hold six tomatoes, but I still have a ways to go before planting those seedlings! And a container for my herbs. I just have chives in there now, but I have cilantro in the house waiting to go out, and will have basil as well.

Then on the other side of the shed is the rest of the garden. The big trough will house zucchinis. I have three containers of peas, with three more to plant next week. The two big round containers will be beets, and there will also be two rubbermaid bins with carrots. And I'm still debating if I want to do some lettuce. I'm thinking I will, but will decide later for sure.

And because no garden is complete without potatoes, I will of course be doing potatoes too! But these will be a little more unconventional. With all the wonderful information out there on the world wide web, I've decided to plant my potatoes in plastic bags. Basically you fold the bag down, fill it 4-6", plant your potato. When it grows a few inches, you top it up and roll up the bag. Continue until the bag is full! Apparently this works great and results in huge yields. I figure it doesn't hurt to experiment! You can just see one of the bags I'll be using, but I don't actually have them set up yet.

So at this stage, it's all far from pretty. But the cost has been minimal (thanks mom!!!), and will hopefully result in yummy food on our table, and at this point, that's all that counts. Plus once all the beautiful plants are growing, who cares (or can really tell) what they're growing in?

My sad garden

2009-05-09T12:03:00.002-06:00

We are currently renting our current house. We love it. It's literally three minutes from hubbies work, the house is awesome, we have good neighbors, lovely yards... But the garden leaves much to be desired. It has a huge front bed, but it is totally dead soil. So I had some choices to make. I could spend the money and invest the sweat equity into ammending the soil. That would have been a great long term solution. One that I would have done if it weren't for the fact we are renting and may not even be here next summer. Or I could cover it all up and do a container garden. Which is what I have done! So here is what I started with, dead clay.

And here is after I have laid the fabric weed barrier, and a whole bunch of mulch. Much better!! I have more containers now, that you will see in the next update photos, but even this looks so much better. And I just love the smell of the mulch every time we walk into/out of the house. I will post more pics as the season passes, I just love this area now and can't wait until it's in full bloom. I'm only planting annuals here, and this was a costly project with all the mulch, buying containers and all the planting mix. But it was very little work, should hopefully need very little maintenance, and all the containers I can take with me when we go.

Worms!

2009-05-09T09:28:00.004-06:00

My mind is currently obsessed with gardening, outdoors, earth, nature, etc. So in April, when there still wasn't much for me to do, or chances for me to go outside (still lots of snow!), I decided to make an indoor vermiculture bin. AKA a worm bin!

Basically it's a bin full of bedding and red wriggler worms (NOT everyday earth worms). I put in scraps, and they magically turn it into compost. Ok, so it's not entirely magic, but magic is a much nicer way of describing the process ;)

And of course I took this opportunity to include Ciaran, and explain to him the cycle of composting. I don't think he really cared that much, and got bored of the project pretty quickly, but I think he liked the worms!

So I started with a typical rubbermaid bin. Drilled a bunch of holes in it. I chose not to put drainage holes in the bottom and instead just keep an eye on the moisture level. While I keep my cupboard baby proofed, I don't always remember to keep the latch on and wouldn't want to find Roan playing in compost tea.

Once all the holes were drilled, we shredded a ton of newspaper, then wet it down. You want it to be as wet as a wrung out rag. When you squeeze it, it should be damp, but no moisture dripping. I found that when setting this up, it was much easier to tear the newspaper, and just dunk it in a bowl of water, then wring it out (I started by cutting the newspaper and using a spray bottle to wet it).

I also added in a bunch of peat moss (later, not shown in the pictures). This has really helped.

Then you add your worms! They must be Red Wiggler worms, not the earthworms from your backyard. They can easily be purchased online, or locally from someone who does worm composting. Or if you're lucky like me, your stepdad is an instructor at an agriculture college in the horticulture department. Their master composter has a ton of worms that she was looking for homes for, and I happily obliged!

And here is where my worms live :) It's been working fantastic. Every few days I put a handful or two of our veggie/fruit scraps. I bury them in a corner of the bin. The next time, I bury them in the next corner. And so on... Burying them helps to keep fruit flies from laying their eggs on the food. And the worms like the dark, so they happily munch away under the cover of the bedding.

And some things I've learned by trial and error. Do not feed rice or bread. They are eating it, but it has gone all moldy. I'm not feeding them for a bit until their finished that stuff. I don't want to just pull it out becaues all the worms are intermingled in the scraps and I don't want to throw them away.

Also I have added more bedding occasionally, and remember to keep it moist! All in all this is working great. The only downside is it doesn't really make a dent in our food scraps (we eat a lot of fruit and veggies). So I've also just finished making an outdoor composter, will be posting about that soon. Oh, and I have to mention, this project did not cost me a dime. We had the bin in the basement, the newspapers we recycled, my mom shared some peat moss with me, and of course, my stepdad gallantly sourced me some free worms. Which makes this project even better!!!

Bringing the outside in

2009-03-26T10:26:00.003-06:00

We are so tired of this winter. It was warming up nicely and Ciaran was having fun playing outside in the yard a lot. But then the winter storm came again, and he hasn't been outside in almost a week. He was wailing "Spring is NEVER going to come!". So I decided to bring the outside in to him, with an indoor sandbox! G thinks I'm nuts, but I think a little mess is worth not having Ciaran burn his eyeballs out in front of the television. He's been playing with it for over 30min now, and every few minutes saying "Thank you so much for my playset, I LOVE it!!". Awwwww! Thats worth the mess!

So I got a bin from Walmart ($5.67), 3 bags of cornmeal ($4.50), added a half bag of lentils I had in the cupboard, some scoops and spoons and assorted stuff, and for about $10 he has a great activity. He's even added his dinosaurs and is having so much fun! When he's done (when Roan wakes from his nap, he's still a bit young and I don't have that much time to clean it all up), we'll snap the lid back on and its ready for next time!

Srpouts - the final result!

2009-03-26T10:20:00.002-06:00

So I should totally know better than to try and commit to posting everyday. Its not going to happen. But I did continue to take pictures, and growing our own sprouts was a huge success. Within a day or two, we could see all the little sprouts sprouting. We rinsed every morning and every night, and otherwise totally forgot about them. And in a week, we had a ton of sprouts! They were so green, and fresh and crunchy! We celebrated with a tuna sandwich, and were in heaven :)

I will be making more, and even bought a 'starter kit' that includes two screens (the nylon worked, but was a little dense and made rinsing a little harder then it needed to be, I'm all about 'easy') and lots of seeds. And I got a package of mixed seeds that I will also be trying. YUM!!!

Sprouts - Day 2

2009-03-20T08:40:00.002-06:00

So we woke with great excitement about our sprouts. At first, the yucky water wasn't that pleasing

We covered the top with a nylon and drained and rinsed the sprouts

Even at this stage, we could see the tiniest of beginnings of what soon will be our alfalfa sprouts.
Then we tipped the jar over a tea towel, and let it continue to drain for the day. We repeated these steps again before bed, and again the tiny bits of sprouts were popping out all over!

This morning, again we were excited to see what was happening. And wow! Sprouts are sprouting! Enough I even tried to get a picture

So we'll keep rinsing and draining, and I'll post pics of the progress, and in the not too distant future I'll post pics of the delicious sandwich we'll be enjoying for lunch, with our yummy sprouts!!

Sprouts

2009-03-18T19:05:00.004-06:00

Ciaran and I are making our own sprouts! I'm really exciting about spring this year and can't wait to get into the garden. But we're still a ways off, so in the meantime I thought making our own sprouts would be fun for Ciaran and get him interested for the impending growing season. Apparently its super easy. I've done my research (hah, google and youtube). And now I'm going to do a little day by day, step by step, recap.

Starting with tonight, Day 1.

We needed some seeds (from our local greenhouse), a tablespoon and a jar.

Then we poured about 1.5 - 2 Tb of seeds into the jar (Ciaran did it, so its a little off measure, but thats the fun part!)

Then we put about 1.5c of cold water in the jar

We scooped out the few that stayed floating on the top (read a tip that these could be 'yucky' or even have bug eggs in them).

And thats it! Tomorrow morning when we get up, we'll rinse and drain them.

More pics to come tomorrow!

Wearable car seat blanket/poncho

2008-11-22T20:09:00.002-07:00

Yes, I've used the word 'poncho'. Mental images of unflattering moo-moos abound. Bad plastic rain gear. But wait! There is a method behind my madness...

Winter is here. Yes its late, and the weather is still mild, but its here. And I know that means that any day now we could be hit with -30 weather. Which has some less than obvious inconveniences. Did you know that it is unsafe and unrecommended for a child to wear a coat in their carseat? The bulk of a coat can interfere with the performance of the safety straps. So when you are hit with the chill of a Canadian winter, that leaves you in a bit of a dilemma. What to do? We don't have the luxury of an attached garage. We must leave the warmth of our home, brave the wind and cold to the car, open the door, buckle the boys in and then finally close the door. This may only take a few minutes, but that's a very cold few minutes. And add to this that apparently we should take off their coat before buckeling them in? And then when we get where we're going, we're supposed to open the door, unbuckle them, then put their coats back on? Plus while driving, even with the heat on, often its chilly in the car. Ciaran is now big enough to cuddle under a blanket, but Roan kicks them off.

So I started thinking. And planning. And googling. And here is my solution! A wearable carseat blanket/poncho!

Basically its a poncho that fits over the lighter coat that Roan is wearing now in our autumn tempatures. Its two layers of soft soft soft fleece, sooo cozy and super warm. When I sit Roan in his carseat, the back of the poncho lays over the top of his car seat, and his straps are easily buckled under the front of the poncho. Then he's toasty and safe. And if he starts to overheat in the car, its easy to slip off. Its long enough that on the short trip from the door to the car and the car to the door, he's perfectly covered and warm even on what will soon be the coldest days of the year.

I'm really happy with this one. I might have to add some snaps or something for armholes as Roan doesn't like his hands getting lost under the folds of the fabric, but thats an easy fix. And of course now its too warm outside for me to actually test it, but here are some inside action shots. Forgive Roans grumpy look, he thought we were playing peek-a-boo and wasn't pleased when I wanted him to sit still for a few pictures lol!

A little bit of this and that...

2008-11-22T19:36:00.004-07:00

So I have finished a few different items lately. I haven't however found time to post about them. Until now, ha!

I'll start with my jewellery mirror. I have just a few things, and I almost never wear jewellery, but half the reason is probably because its all tucked away in a box and I never remember I have anything. Well no longer! I took this cheapo Ikea mirror, added some hooks for necklaces and bracelets, plus some ribbons for my earrings (I have all studs, so needed something for them to go through) and voila. I like it, except for the ribbon. I don't have much in the way of ribbon, but as soon as I find something prettier, I'll switch it out. Now we just have to finish organizing our bedroom so I can figure out where this will be hung so I can get it off my craft desk!

Then I also made another shopping bag and a matching zipper pouch. This has a home it will be going to shortly. I found adding the zipper much easier this time. Practice makes, well, better!

Then as I'm sure everyone is well aware of, Christmas is coming! So I made a fun little toy for Ciaran's stocking. Its an I Spy Bag. As you can see, its a bag with a window, filled with beads and miscellaneous little trinkets. You squish the beads around trying to find all the trinkets inside. I managed to find this Thomas fabric that I'm sure he'll love, and hopefully he'll have as much fun with the bag as I do!

Here is a pic of all the items inside the bag. This picture will be printed and laminated and attatched to the loop so Ciaran will know what to look for.

I will be making another one for Ciarans little friend too :)

Shopping bags and Roans shoes

2008-10-08T20:46:00.004-06:00

So seeing as how my only reader is the one I made this set for (love you Vendetta!), I didn't want to post about it until she received it. And she did! So now here is my latest...

I made a great reusable shopping tote using this tutorial from good ole Craftster http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=177482.0 . It really messed with my mind when it came to joining the straps, I just could not for the life of me understand what I was supposed to do. So I read the whole thread (yes all 70+ pages), and many people mentioned stumbling at this step, but that they just followed the instructions and it worked. So going against everything that I felt logical, I just followed the instructions, and guess what. It worked! And to go with the tote, I made her some produce/bulk bags. They have elastic at the top so its easy to put fruits/veggies in, but they won't roll around your cart. And if you're putting in smaller items, its easy to use a twist tie. Also, they should hold very small things like beans, lentils, rice, etc. I'm not sure about powdery substances (spices, baking powder, etc), but hopefully she'll let me know :)

The Set

The tote with two boxes of cereal. Its gusseted, so there is actually still more room in there. And its slouched down, it does actually go over the boxes when being held.

The tote folds up into itself nicely so you can throw it in your bag

The produce bags, showing the elastic top

And then because my little bub has such fat little feet and I have such a hard time finding him shoes, I decided to make Roan some shoes/slippers. I followed the free pattern from Darling Diapers (my favorite diaper pattern btw) http://darlingdiapers.com/SDminimocfinal2.PDF . While not a dismal failure, boy are they wonky. But it was a good learning experience, from start of cutting the pattern to having shoes in my hands was about 2hrs (and believe me, that was with me going slow), and I know what I did wrong and what I will change for next time. So Roan has been wearing them at home (he doesn't care that they're wonky) although they're too big so fall off a lot. But I will be making more!

Oh and while I was chatting with hubby tonight, I made a dozen-ish magnets. I love how easy these are, and they work awesome! I use Diamond Glaze that I bought off of a great lady on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5645982 , magnets that I bought from the Dollar Store and stones that I got from Michaels. I also bought some rare earth magnets from the same lady at Etsy, but I'm saving those as the Dollar Store ones work so well. Crappy picture, but easy fun project.

And to keep it in the family, Ciaran and I have been working on some Halloween crafts. The first is a basic foam 'Spooky House' that came in a kit from Walmart. He liked it, although wasn't familiar with the creatures. Frankenstein turned into Frank, so he calls it Franks House.

Then a woman on a forum I frequent posted about a craft she did with her son. It looked like fun, so I did it with Ciaran today and I'm thrilled with how they turned out. Take clean glass jar. Paint the inside (I used acyrlic craft paint from the Dollar Store). Use a sharpie to draw on face. We used black yarn and black felt to embellish the witch. Use electric tealight for the Halloween glow.

Whew I think thats it! Hopefully this space will be busy in the near/constant future as winter and Christmas are coming and I have a ton of projects in mind!

Mama's Better Than Mum Mum's

2008-09-24T13:13:00.005-06:00

Roan is all over the whole solid foods deal. This kid would eat and eat and eat if I let him. And none of that pureed baby nonsense. He likes some texture and real food! Unfortunately his body hasn't been dealing as well with the change in diet, so after talking with a nutrionist, we came up with a diet plan for him. That includes no processed foods, jarred foods, etc. Not really a big deal, I like making baby food. I think it tastes better, its super easy, its cheaper, and for our needs its better (don't get me wrong, jarred is good too, just not as good for Roans tummy).

So now that Roan is aware what real food is, he's very aware of when we're eating it and he's not. Which makes things like giving Ciaran snacks in the shopping cart difficult if Roan doesn't get something too. So we've done the Mum Mums, Roan loved them (of course). But as I'm trying to avoid as much processing as possible, I decided to make my own! And they turned out great.

So thanks to http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ I found a great easy recipe. Not as crispy and melty as a Mum Mum, but Roan still seemed to love it!

1c flour (I used whole wheat)

1c baby cereal (I used Milupa Oatmeal Stage 1)

1c juice (I used Banana Berry)

Mix together well. Dough will be sticky, not like regular dough. On a tip from the recipe page, I put the dough in a ziploc baggy (I don't have a fancy pastry bag), cut the corner off and squeezed out the cookies. Bake at 350 for 20-30min. Let cool. Apparently they freeze well. Store in an airtight container.

And I know that I haven't posted in ages, but it doesn't mean I haven't been busy. I have something to share, but I need to wait maybe one more week before I post about it.

DIY cleaners

2008-06-18T09:06:00.002-06:00

So on one of the forums I'm a member of, there was a posting about homemade laundry soap. I've heard of doing this a number of times, but usually it involves grating bars of soap, and it just never appealed to me. But then there was this recipe that was apparently suggested by a bio-chemical engineer or something. Anyhoo I gave it a shot... review to follow!

6.5cups washing soda (apparently you can buy a 55oz box which is the exact amount, but I could only find a "30% more" box so had to measure it)
1/2cup Borax
2cups Oxyclean
1/2cup Calgon water softener
1/2cup Simple Green (I used Bio-Vert as thats what I could find)

Mix dry ingredients together, then add Simple Green. Mix well to avoid the clumps. Use 1/4cup per load (half that for diapers). Dissolve in hot water before using (I keep a cup beside my washing machine, fill with hot water from the machine, then switch to cold to actually wash my clothes). It is an extra step, but it hasn't been as much of a hassle as I expected.

So I have now used up the whole batch. It worked. My clothes and diapers were clean. I didn't experience some of the miracle stain removal others claimed, but it was fine. The pre-dissolving was a bit of a pain in the ass, but not too bad. My only complaint was I didn't like the smell. I think it was the all purpose I used. So I am back to my beloved Country Save for the diapers and Roan and Ciarans laundry, and Purex for the rest of the house.

BUT!!! I did discover that it is awesome as a scouring powder!! With our stinky sulphuric well water, the tiles/tub in our bathroom are stained orange. Even Comet could not remove the stains, and I am very reluctant to try anything stronger. But on a whim I gave this detergent a shot, and with a little elbow grease I was amazed to see some white tile again!!! I didn't have the time to do whole tub/surround, but as soon as I do I'm looking forward to a white bathroom again. I will be making another batch of detergent just for this purpose.

I'm a planner

2008-06-17T23:07:00.002-06:00

I'm coming to the realization I'm a planner. I love to plan out my projects, I think about them, pick out my materials, rethink about them, maybe have a dream or two, read lots of tutorials about what I want to do, scour my forums for tips, etc. But when it actually comes time to make the project, I stall.

Poor Roan is wearing bikini bottom diapers now he's getting so big. I have all my materials, I have finally decided (after changing my mind many times) how I want to make them. Yet I'm so pooped by the time the boys are in bed that I just haven't gotten around to doing anything about them.

Tonight I finally cut out two. So its a start. But at this pace I'd better learn about ec'ing! Or just skip to making larges!

Anyways, I don't like to call myself a procrastinator (although I'm sure others don't have that issue), so I'm just going to go with I'm a 'planner'!

My New Diaper Bag!

2008-06-13T21:51:00.006-06:00

I adore some of the diaper bags out on the market. I seriously considered getting a Jujube, but come on, $130 for a fricken diaper bag? I'm way too cheap, I mean frugal, for that. And like so many other times I think, I can make that! So I scoured the web for that perfect tutorial and found this.

(Please excuse the different font, I am c&p'ing this from a post I made on a sewing forum and I'm too damn lazy to change it)

About halfway through I realized the dimensions just weren't right for what I wanted, and some of the instructions I didn't like. But I finished it, I'm glad I did as it was a learning experience, and I will use it for now because its bigger than what I currently have, but I am already planning out my next one.

The outer is a brown corduroy and the inner is a lavender cotton (fully machine washable). There is a pocket on the front of the bag, and six pockets inside. There is also a divider inside, but following the instructions made it super narrow on one side and huge on the other. Also I don't like how all the seams are visible on the inside. Looking closer at the original bag I think maybe she did the seams on the outside and then used binding? I'm so novice I don't even know if thats what its called.

Anyways I think I technically did a pretty good job, so I'm happy for that. And I have a pretty good idea of what I want, so I'm planning out my next one. I just have to whip up a med stash for my son first (ha! that takes me forever!).

The Bag

The lined outside pocket

The inside showing the divider.

So I'm glad to have finished a project. It feels like ages since I've done anything worth posting about. But I actually have a few new things I'm about to start, I just have to do the diapers first. I got all ten yards of velour prewashed today, so will hopefully have my pattern ready to go tomorrow and should be cutting by Sunday. Poor little Roans tush is starting to creep out of the back of his smalls, so I really have no time to procrastinate any longer!

There's always a first

2008-06-03T20:20:00.002-06:00

Now that my newborn is no longer a newborn (almost 4mths!) and is sleeping better, and my toddler is at least in bed better (sleep, well thats another story), and my husband works crazy long hours, I find myself with a little time again to get back into the groove. Sewing is my current crafting choice, I can never find things made exactly how *I* want them and I'm too cheap to pay good money for something that isn't just right. Crochet has taken a bit of a back bench, but my hooks and yarn are just waiting for my return. And what better way to track my progress, hits and misses than with a blog. No promises for regular updates, but I do like to have a record of all my stuff. And hopefully there will be much more for me to post about!

So today Roan decided to take a blissful TWO hour nap!!! When I put him down, I had the fullest intentions of finishing the aplix on one of the final four diapers that I had left to finish. I figured that as he's now growing out of the smalls, and I will be starting to make his mediums this week (my 10yds of squishy beautiful velour are waiting for me at the post office!!) that I should at least finish the last diapers he's currently using. At this point its more for resale value than my convenience. So I set Ciaran up with puzzles in my room (my sewing area) and I got started. Can you believe it, but I managed to get ALL FOUR of them done!! I was a sewing machine! Only one hiccup when my top thread kept throwing up on a certain spot (still don't know what that was about), but otherwise they all turned out awesome. This may not seem like a big deal to many seamstresses, but between the rethreading, filling the of course empty bobbin, stopping to do a few puzzles, laundry, letting the cats and dog outside, letting the cats and dogs back inside because its raining, drying off all the mud from said cats and dogs, getting snacks, potty breaks, etc etc etc, I couldn't believe I finished it all!!

So with that behind me, I can now concentrate on finishing my diaper bag. I'm about 2/3rds done. Its okay. I'm not as thrilled with the size as I hoped, but I was just following a tutorial and have a horrible time envisioning things if they're not in front of me. But I'm learning lots, the bag technically looks really great I think, but I have a few personal likes/dislikes about the bag. I'm already planning out the next one...

And like I mentioned, my velour has arrived in Canada! I got it from a co-op, and I can't wait to get my hands on it. So soft and squishy. Its for Roan's med stash, as well I stocked up on the white for the miscellanous things you love to have white velour for.

And then some other 'On My List To-Do' items, I want to make some glass magnets. I'm tired of Ciarans crappy plastic magnets holding up all the loose crap on our fridge (not sure 'holding up' is the correct term when it takes four of them to hold up one piece of paper). And as I'm too cheap to actually buy some, I did some googling and I don't think they're all that difficult. So sometime this week I'm going to take the boys to Michaels and see what I can find. Oh, and I need some nighttime nursing pads. I'm thinking some of that white velour will be perfect!

So now I'm off to figure out how this whole 'Blogger' site works and try and get my old blog posted over here. Looking forward to my new 'home'!

2007-09-28T22:56:00.000-06:00

I finally finished the first of my newborn stash. It took forever. But it was definatly a learning experience. For example, stretch should go wing to wing, not top to bottom. And when doing a fitted with back elastic, you should leave a spot to turn the dipe in the front of the dipe, not the back (i have a great relationship with my seam ripper, so not a huge deal). And when using a pattern that is made for serging and snaps, you may want to lengthen the wings if you don't want to have aplix tabs. But in case you don't think of this before you T&T, all is not lost. You can just fake something up!

So here it is! Two body layers of stretch terry and a hidden soaker of a trifolded facecloth. I came up with my own aplix tabs by using my smallest zigzag to 'serge' hook to loop. It looks okay, but up close you can tell its not perfect. And I'm not loving the topstitching around the leg elastic. With my next one I think I'll leave that and see if I like it better. But all in all its soft and squishy and size wise is very close to a sample newborn diaper I have (that is serged and snapped). I don't think it will be super absorbent, but enough for a newborn that you change so often.

So hopefully these start going quicker, its been a long day!

2007-08-23T22:55:00.000-06:00

Ok, I'm not making this, but with the new baby on the way, my stepdad is building an addition to our house for the nursery! So here is the before picture and the first step of digging out the area. The nursery will be right behind our living room and in between Ciaran's room and the laundry room. It will be great to close off the space behind there, help alot in the chilly winters. This will warm up Ciarans room and the nursery room will be super cozy. I have no idea what the time line is on this project, but I'll update as things progress.

2007-08-21T22:55:00.000-06:00

Ok, its been ages since I've posted, but I haven't had anything to show. But that's changed tonight! I made another diaper :) This is from the free RRP pattern http://www.jordanpaperarts.com/tana/diapers/RRP/Ritas-Rump-Pocket-Pattern.htm . Its a one-size pocket kind-of fitted (no closures, need one pin). I used some M&M fleece that my mom gave me and recycled an old flannel sheet. I'm hoping that it will be good for using at home without a cover. I haven't tried it on Ciaran yet (I don't have a diaper pin), but I think its the first diaper I've made where the flaps are long enough to go around his belly. I may make more of these! I hope to be posting some more completed projects soon!

Update - today he asked to wear it (which never happens), and it fits great! Its very soft, fairly trim and best of all he likes it :)

2007-05-10T22:54:00.000-06:00

'm not sure why when I'm up to my eyeballs in housework and in this case packing for our trip that I'm very excited about, that I get so distracted by little projects.

I decided that Ciaran needed some play pants for playing outside on the farm. I try to keep his farm clothes seperate from his going out clothes because they get so dirty. But I cringe at the thought of buying a pair of pants for $10 thats sole purpose is to get trashed. So after scouring the consignment and thrift stores and not seeing anything I liked, I decided to make Ciaran some pants myself. How hard could it be right? RIGHT!!! Holy crap these were so easy! I used a pair of Gareth's old pajama pants, and this tutorial ( http://www.rookiemoms.com/make-some-easy-kids-pants/ ) and whipped them up in no time at all. They're lightweight and should be great for summer, a little big so he has room to grow into them, they fit perfectly over his big cloth butt, and they were FREE!! I can't wait to make him some more, oh wait, yes I can, I have a vacation tomorrow!!

And here they are in action...

2007-05-07T22:53:00.000-06:00

I finished it! And I'm really happy with it. At first I tried doing a three layer terry hourglass shaped soaker, but that was so thick I couldn't even get it under my needle. And it was very bulky, especially in the back. Ciaran pees in the front, he does't need five total layers in the back.

So instead I made the soaker from one layer terry, and then added a second layer on half of it forming a pocket. That way there is four total layers of terry in the pee zone and a pocket to easily add an extra hemp oval/folded washcloth/whatever if I need extra absorbency. It was a bit fiddly zigzagging around the edge of the single ply terry to prevent the fraying, I'll have to try and come up with something better. But its soooo soft, I love it! And I tried it on Ciaran this morning (without the soaker) and it fit very well. I can't wait to make more!

2007-05-06T22:52:00.000-06:00

So this is still a work in progress, but tonight I made a contour diaper! I was frustrated with how finicky the sizing is making a fitted diaper, especially when it comes to adding the elastic. And I do like the simplicity of a prefold diaper, but hate fiddling around trying to fold it when Ciaran is doing a crocodile roll. So this is a contour diaper which is simple like a prefold (no fasteners, just lay in the cover), but I don't have to fold at all. Its still a work in progress because I want to add a foldout style soaker, but want to make sure it fits okay and works before I use up more fabric for the soaker. Right now its only two layers of terry (oh so soft!). So when I test it tomorrow morning I'll just lay in one of my other soakers. And if this works as well as I hope, I'll make more for Ciaran, but also when we have another baby I'll use these instead of baby prefolds (although the majority of our stash will still be fitteds, my current favorite style). Did I mention this took almost no time to make? From cut to finish maybe 20min? Which for this newbie is pretty damn great!

I used this pattern http://www.sweetcheeksdiapers.com/instructions.html

2007-05-05T22:51:00.000-06:00

Well, this isn't crochet or even sewing related, but as I started from scratch, I think this is appropriate. Here is my jungle that is currently living in my utility room.

I have tomatoes that are thriving, mints, basils, eggplant, marigolds, chives, marjoram, thyme, parsley, cilantro, and I'm sure I'm forgeting some, but I love them all! I can't wait until I can plant them outside.

Also, just cause I think this is cute, here is Ciaran reading a book in his new big boy bed. We're taking our time with the transition, he's not sleeping in it yet, but he loves reading in it!

2007-04-10T22:51:00.000-06:00

Ok its been a long time since I posted, but I have been busy. I've been working on a couple designs for mama pads. I'm liking how they're turning out, but the more I look into things, the more I don't think its worth the start up costs. Items such as a rotary cutter and board would be nice, but things like a snap press would be needed, and wooh those are pricey! So I'm still going to keep working on them, and I have a few testers ready, but if I ever actually do try to sell them I don't know.

But today as I was enjoying the peace and quiet of naptime, I came across a post on one of my forums where a lady was complaining about the little plastic produce bags you get at the grocery store. I use cloth and recycable grocery bags all the time, but I still put my apples and yams and whatever in those little plastic bags. They often get a little wet and sticky depending on what kind of produce you're buying, and then they're useless for reusing. And while I like being more earth friendly, there's no way I'm fussing around with rinsing out a little baggy! So I made my own!

Its not super pretty, but its holding four apples quite successfully, and really usually its lays in the cart or shopping bag, not hanging from somewhere. I crocheted a drawstring so the entire bag is 100% cotton that can be thrown in the washer and dryer again and again. Also they're super light (its a guaze type fabric) so shouldn't affect the cost at the till. I'm thinking of trying my hand at dying them cool colours and matching drawstrings. Now I will be shopping with all cloth, no more plastic bags!!

2007-02-25T22:50:00.001-07:00

So I have made many pantyliners now, I ~LOVE~ them!! And I was having some trouble with my Diva cup last time (really put the liners to the test!), so I have made a couple of actual pads. I used a tutorial I found online http://www.tinybirdsorganics.com/organiccotton/clothpads.html and made two pocket pads. These would be for a 'regular' day, not heavy or overnight. But because of the pocket, I could add an extra insert to make it more absorbent for those heavier times. I haven't yet made any extra inserts, but I found some really cool waterproof burp pads I was given when C was born, and I think they would be perfect. So I will be making some soon...

Also, I'm not a fan of the curves. Way to much trouble for what its worth. So I will be squaring them off for next time. I also made a pad for heavy or overnight days by making a square of two layers of terry cloth (aka old towel)covered with flannel. You then fold it into thirds for maximum absorbency. This makes it fairly bulky, I don't think I would want to wear this out and about. But it should be pretty good for nighttime and around the house.

So as I'm getting more into this whole sewing thing, I'm finding it difficult to actually find time to do it. I've been putting my machine on the kitchen table, which is less than ideal because then I have to put it away at every meal, and I can only really sew during C's naptime. In the evening when G is home, its really disruptive. So G rearranged the furniture in the bedroom, taking a shelf/table that we were using as a headboard and turning that into a space for each of us. I have my sewing stuff and he has his laptop. I love love love it. The table is slightly higher than average, so I don't have to slouch as much if I'm watching my needle closely. And its plenty big enough for my sewing needs. And its right next to my yarn cabinet, so I feel like it is truly *my* space. Most of my pattern tracing, cutting, etc will still be done either on the kitchen table or the coffee table, but I couldn't be happier with this set up! And surprisingly when he moved our furniture around, we ended up with way more room even with this new workspace added!

2007-02-25T22:50:00.000-07:00

Here is my latest creation. My MIL requested that I make a dog coat for her neice (G's cousin). This was an easy project, one that I totally designed myself! I made it for a Dachsund, and while I did not have a dog of that breed to work with, its too small for my Emily, so I think it will be fine. I'm hoping the recipient will send me a pic of her doggy wearing it so I can see how it fits. If and when I receive such photo, I will post it here. I will definatly be making another one for Emily, even though coat season is almost over.

I used two strands of scrap WW and my 10mm. Also, the dogs head will go out the space on the right (hard to tell from this pic!).

2007-02-16T22:49:00.000-07:00

I did it!!! I made my first cloth diaper. I am so excited, Ciaran is napping, but I can't wait until he wakes up so I can try it on him. I used the free Mamabird pattern, and altered the Pocket AIO pattern to a fitted pocket. It was my first time having to think about proper seam allowances, ELASTIC!!!, attaching velcro, sizing, etc. In fact the only other thing I have sewn are panty liners. So I'm pretty proud of myself.

I used two of Gareth's old tshirts for the body of the diaper (so will need to use a cover with it). Then I took a Gerber flatfold, folded it in half, then straight stitched it into thirds for easy folding for the stuffer. I don't think its super absorbent, but it will do for now. I also have an old fleece blanket that I will be cutting up to use as a stay dry liner inside the diaper.

Overall I'm very happy with how it turned out. I used white thread and its a blue diaper, so I don't love how that looks, but oh well. And I don't know if I'll do another pocket style. I really like how the Kushies I got have a soaker sewn on externally as a flap for easy drying and then you don't have to worry about pulling out a yucky soaker. The Kushies soaker also has a pocket so you can stuff even more in it if you need a little extra absorbency for a nap or something. I really like that style and the next one I will try that way. I can't wait to get my Motherease diapers next week and see what they're like. I have some nice flannel and even some fleece, but want to perfect the pattern I use before using either. Until then I still have a few old tshirts and my sister even gave me two great flannel pillowcases that are the perfect size for a diaper.

All in all this probably took me 2-3 hours of cutting/sewing time. But it was slow as I had to keep refering to the instructions with every step. I'm sure I'll be much quicker soon. I hear of women who can crank these out in about 30-45min.

If I decide that making these is a good way to go (in lieu of buying them), I'm going to have to start ordering some proper fabric from online. The local Fabricland SUCKS!!! The women who work there always seem put out if you have a question or need some fabric cut. Its like its a store for women who already sew, not people learning to sew. And the inventory is dismal. They didn't have a clue what PUL was (although I have discovered online is about the only place to buy it) and couldn't even tell me the difference between the fleece stock. So time to start scouting Canadian online fabric stores!

2007-02-12T22:48:00.000-07:00

Well I have almost no crochet-related stuff to talk about. I've been working on something for sooo long now, but was missing a very important part. Finally bought what I thought I needed, but nope, I was wrong. But I think I've finally got it! So now I can hopefully finish this project (which is my first own design and I'm very happy with so far!).

But the last two weeks have been pretty crappy. Ciaran got croup, so he was out of commission for about a week. Poor little guy, I've never seen him this sick (even when he got croup at this exact time last year). He spent three days sitting in my lap watching Teletubbies and LazyTown. I don't think he's been still for more than a few minutes since he was born! And certainly never cuddled for more than a few seconds. But the meds kicked in and he started to get better. I, on the other hand, got worse. From what I understand adults don't get croup, instead they just get a bad cold. So I've been useless for a week too.

But by not being able to do much of anything, I've been surfing alot. I'm switching Ciaran to cloth diapers. There's several reasons I'm doing this even though he's 21mths. The biggest one is environmental. As we no longer have the luxury of a garbage service here on the farm, we have to incinerate everything ourselves. We had no idea just how many dirty diapers we go through. It is overwhelming! Then I started to crunch some numbers. Sposies are expensive, even though we prefer the cheapie Walmart brand. While we probably don't even have a year of diapering left until Ciaran is potty trained, there are some major savings involved by switching to cloth. Plus he has very sensitive skin (my little red-head!) so having natural fabrics that breathe sounds so much nicer than plastic disposables that have weird absorbent gels and chemicals. Plus as I've switched to cloth fem products, I can attest to how soft they are and how nice they feel! Why wouldn't I want that for him?

So I've orded a few dipes from Sears, cheap Kushies that I've heard good and bad things about. They're cheap enough that even if they're not great, its ok, but if they turn out to be great, then we're ahead of the game. I've also ordered a few Mother-Ease Sandy's. Again I've heard mostly good things, so we'll see how we like them. And because I'm just a crafty crafter who has a new sewing machine, I'm making some too! I've scrounged up some old t-shirts, have some el-cheapo flatfolds, even bought some flannel and some fleece. I have a free online pattern, and will hopefully have a finished product to show off in the next week or so. Buying some is great because I'll be able to see the different designs and what we like best, and hopefully translate it into something I can make. And then when the next baby comes, I'll know whether I can make them myself, or if its just worth it to order some (and of course we can reuse any we already have!). Win win win!

I've already switched to cloth wipes for Ciaran using baby washcloths (16/$5 at Walmart) and a solution I found online (1c water/1/2T canola oil/1/2T babywash). I'm just so mad I didn't do this sooner, they're fabulous!!! So soft on his skin, non-irritating, and I really feel like he's clean. I use a plastic container from some storebought wipes, and the solution makes enough for a couple days worth of wipes. Any mom out there who reads this, I highly recommend giving it a shot, they work so much better, so much cheaper and alot more earth friendly!

Oh, and with all this info about cloth, and trying my cloth pads and Ciarans new cloth wipes, I'm going to try my own cloth 'bathroom wipes'. Yes, cloth t.p. When I first read about it, I thought I could never go that far, but oh my goodness cloth just feels so much nicer! Forget about the environment, cost, etc. It just feels so nice. My hoo-hoo deserves to be pampered! And its no extra work with the cloth pads, dipes and babywipes. So I have some extra flannel I'm going to try. And if it doesn't work out, I'm no further behind. Alright, enough about all that.

The next thing that's on my mind is the garden. As I look out my window to what seems like several feet of snow, with more falling as I type, and a balmy -20c, I can't wait until spring comes and I can start digging. My mom and I went through her seed catalouges, and I've ordered all my veggies and herbs! Tomatoes, carrots, eggplant, zucchinni, beets, garlic and more! I also ordered a set of three ferns, a purple one, an orange one and a green one. And a whack of sweetpeas. We haven't done too much about flowers yet, its still early, but I'm thinking about it lots. I'm digging out a bunch of delfeniums that cover a side wall of my house and replacing them with honeysuckle. And there's a big row of lily's along the front of my house that will go to be replaced maybe by coneflowers. I transplanted some of the lily's last year and I'm much happier with them moved. The rest look great for a short time while in bloom, and look like scraggly crap the rest of the season. So perinnials that bloom from June-Sept I'm searching for. I also have a beautiful fence line of white yarrow (that is considered a weed in the city!), and I'm thinking of mixing it up with some different coloured yarrow I've seen in books. Helps to disguise the ugly page wire.

I just set up an indoor grow shelf. My mom gave me one of her old grow lights, and I have now been successful at starting some cilantro, basil, chives and peppermint from seed myself! Its so exciting to go into the room everyday and see how they've grown. Within four days I had a little field of basil, and in a week and a half my cilantro outgrew the little plastic cover. Ciaran loves it too and we check the plants all the time.

Well Ciaran has just finished napping (convenient!). Alessandra I hope you're feeling better!!!

2007-01-29T22:47:00.001-07:00

They're here!! Finally my crochet hooks arrived today. They're beautiful. Really light and smooth. I can't wait to use them! I've decided on doing a round rainbow ripple for my friend who is preggers right now. I also want to do something for her daughter who is the same age as Ciaran (never leave out the eldest!), maybe a little cardigan or something? I can't wait to start! I guess this means I should finish up the several projects I have on the go right now.

2007-01-27T22:46:00.000-07:00

finally finished my stepmoms Fat Bottom purse. It was for her birthday back in December, but I had issues with getting handles, so I didn't get it done until today. Its an offwhite acrylic with a gold strand running through, and I lined it with a cream satin. I think she'll like it as she's a gold/shimmery kind of woman!

2007-01-16T22:45:00.000-07:00

Oh and last week I ordered these bamboo crochet hooks (the small and large set!). Apparently they were to be mailed on the 10th, so I am anxiously awaiting them. My friend is having a baby that is due beginning of June, and I am going to make a rainbow round ripple for them. I want that to be my first project for my new hooks. I'm so excited, they better get here soon!!

http://www.springbeautyfarm.com/hooks.html

ChiaoGoo Bamboo Hooks

ChaioGoo Bamboo Hooks are a pleasure to use. The bamboo is lightweight and warm to the touch compared to aluminum hooks.
These hooks are very strong and smooth. They are made from Chinese Moso bamboo, one of the largest and strongest bamboo species.
The hook size is permanently laser-marked, and on the other side is a Chinese symbol and word. The small hook set is incribed with the words Wisdom, Freedom, Peace, Love and Faith. The large hook set has Bless, Fortune, Longlive, and Joy.

2007-01-16T22:44:00.000-07:00

Well we have put the disappointment of China behind us. Another baby is in our future, when and how are details to be worked out.

So in moving on we have adopted a new kitty! His name is Grissom and he is a 6mth old fluffy orange cat.

We adopted him from the Animal Health Technology program at the college my stepdad works at. They take in strays, or overflow from the Humane Society, and the students do all their bloodwork, deworm/deflea, vaccinate, tattoo and assist in the spay/neutering. Once the kitties are in tip top shape, they are then adopted out. I think its a wonderful program, the students are very loving to these poor kitties and nurse very sick ones back to health. When we went to look, there were two kitties available for adoption, three who weren't and six in quarentine. Our kitty had a stuffy toy in his pen, and I asked if we could have it to bring home with him so that he had something familiar. They hesitated and only agreed when I quickly followed up that I would replace it with more. That's when I noticed not all the kitties had a toy. While they are in very nice new pens, and there is a great play area for them, there is obviously no room in the budget for the little things like toys. So I decided to make some!

I used a pattern for the mouse and fish from the Crochet Pattern-A-Day 2007 Calendar, this pattern for the curly toys (http://web.archive.org/web/20011230155705/pages.ivillage.com/debbilynnc/animalitems/id1.html sorry I don't know how to link properly), and I just made up the other toys. They're all made with scrap ww and stuffed with catnip marinated cotton balls. My mom joined in and made a couple, and as she is adopting a cat from there as well, will be donating a bag of toys too. These toys work up super fast, and my current cat Willow thinks the couple we made for her are fantastic! Our plan is to continually make these toys for the AHT program so that every kitty they get has a new toy that can go home with them when they're adopted. Of course that's only if they accept these toys, but I can't see why they wouldn't. We pick up Grissom tomorrow, so I'll find out then!

2007-01-09T22:43:00.000-07:00

Well, our grand plan to adopt from China has been shut down even before it began. China announced new stricter criteria for couples wanting to adopt, and there is a minimum financial limit that we don't qualify for. The new changes don't go into effect until May 1st, so if we get all our paperwork submitted today, and everything goes perfectly smoothly and quickly, there is a chance that we could squeak in under the wire. But there are alot of non-refundable fees, and all it would take is an employee to be sick for a few days and have our file sit unworked for a week and we wouldn't make it. We were crushed to hear of the changes, I can't imagine what we would go through if we got so close only to miss the deadline. So we have decided China is no longer an option.

Which leaves us in a conumdrum. There were many reasons we wanted to adopt from China specifically. Reputation, stability of the process, alot of the babies come from healthy women (due to the one child policy, although I recently heard they're now allowing two children). We don't qualify for most of the rest of Asia for different reasons (some don't allow adoptions to Albertans, some the costs are just too high, some require very lengthy in-country stays, etc). So now we're going to start looking at other places. Africa, Eastern Europe and South America.

But I have to say the wind was knocked out of our sails by this. We're really back at square one, re-evaluating what we want and why. We're going to compare as many countries as we can to see what are real options for us. We know we want another baby, we need to figure out what's the best way for us to do it.

2007-01-04T22:42:00.000-07:00

This isn't really exciting, but I'm proud of it because I needed something, and was able to make something up to fill that need, and I'm really happy with it!

I don't carry a regular diaper bag, just a big purse that doesn't have sections. It was a pain in the neck digging through it to find a diaper, wipes, mat, etc when it was all just loose. So I made this pouch that is just the right size to carry all diaper related items so that when I'm out and about with Ciaran and I need to change him, I just have to pull out this pouch and everything is at my fingertips!

And as a small update, it doesn't look like G's new car is in yet. We were supposed to pick it up today, then we were told tomorrow, but as of 6pm tonight the car still hadn't arrived. Grrrrr!!! And now that G's old car isn't running anymore, we're down to one which is hard when we live on the farm. I hope we can pick it up on Saturday!!!

2007-01-02T22:42:00.000-07:00

Well I really fell behind on my projects this Christmas. I'm quite disappointed. I think the pressure made it not fun anymore. Now that Christmas is over, I'm hooking away again. And I think that the issues I ran into with my SIL's wrap and clutch really put me behind. But I did get a couple more things done. Here is an afghan I made for my BIL and his girlfriend. They just bought their first house in a ski resort town, so I thought this would keep them cozy when their lounging at home. Its wonderfully thick being two strands, and I used 8skeins of Bernat Super Value and a 10mm. I used a HDC seed stitch and it worked up much faster than I expected.

And here's what I made for my kitty Willow. A cute little catnip toy fish, and a bed that fits the back arm of our couch. She has happily been playing with the fish, however has chosen to sleep beside, not in, her bed. Oh well, if she doesn't take to it soon I'll donate it.

I have also mostly finished another Fat Bottom for my stepmom's birthday, but had some problems getting handles. So I just have to put those on and then I can finally get it to her (only a month late!).

And I'm working on another secret project that was also held up by supply issues but should be done that this week or next as well. Its something that was inspired by something else I saw, but I did it myself with no pattern or instruction, so I'm very proud of it. Pics will be posted soon of both of these projects.

Now that the Christmas rush is over, I have a nice list of projects to do. I have promised myself that I will finish three Christmas stockings and a tree skirt by the summer. I figure this way I know for sure that they'll be done by next Xmas. Gareth was so disappointed that I didn't make any this year.

And I got a few good crochet related gifts this year. "Not Your Mama's Crochet" book. There aren't a ton of patterns that appeal to me, but its great to have another reference book. And I also got the 2007 Crochet Pattern-A-Day calendar. Again most patterns aren't my taste, but there are a few I want to try. So I'm very happy with both of those.

And I'm about to buy a set of bamboo hooks off the internet! I'm nervous as I haven't really bought much online, but this site was recommended on C'ville, so I hope it'll be fine. I just have to look into their policy on shipping to Canada.

And for non-crochet related news, we're adopting a baby from China!! We're at the very early stages, but spilled the beans to our families this Christmas. Everyone is really happy and supportive. I have started a blog related specifically to this, but its on blogger, which I'm not sure I like yet. http://thejourneytoourdaughter.blogspot.com/

Bye for now!