Colors from the Garden: July 2012

Another great day working outside in the garden. All the plants are loving the warm weather and everywhere I look in the garden there is color. The lilies were a late bloom this year, but the wait was worth it... They look quite spectacular.

Many visitors are coming to the garden to enjoy the nectar the flowers produce. A constant visitor is this hummingbird; it flies so fast I have been trying to snap a picture for a few days and today I got lucky.

The first sunflower opened up. I love sunflowers... they remind me of my mom (sunflowers were her favorite flower).

I'm very excited that this year the cucumber plants are looking healthy and promising a very good crop. Last year we weren't so lucky.

This variety of tea roses is thriving. It produces large clusters of very fragrant roses. When I bring them into the house their perfume fills out the room

I hope you are having a great weekend and are enjoying the beautiful summer whether.

Martha.

Small Sewing Projects

Over the weekend I finished some small sewing projects. I love pincushions! And I don't think one can ever have too many of them.  So, I added a few to my collection. I really like this flower pincushion, it reminds me of a sunny day.

This little pear pincushion has been in my mind for quite some time. I wanted to make it ever since I saw a picture at Mollie Makes a while back.  I didn't have a template so it was a bit of a trial and error. It is not as perfect as the one shown in the magazine, but I think it is charming.

And this little one reminds me of a girl's dress. I made it a bit over-sized compared to standard pin cushions. I just wanted to see how practical a larger pincushion would be.

Finally, I finished these two zipper pouches using a template I drew myself...

I hope you are all having a great week. Come and see what the very talented ladies participating in the Blog Hop (by Plum and June) have prepared this week plus some great advice from Sara from Sew Sweetness.

This week's Blog Hop Calendar:

Tuesday:     Di from Willowbeck and Jennifer from Knotted-Thread

Thursday:  Sara from Sara-Lou and Catherine from Knotted Cotton

Martha

Harvesting Peaches

The summer bounty is here! Our peach tree is ladden with fruit and we had to start picking the fruit about a week or two earlier than we had anticipated because it has become too heaby for the tree. We been supporting the branches, but sadly today we found a broken branch. To avoid more damage to the tree we picked the fruit from the broken branch and cut it so the tree could begin to heal.

Most of the peaches we picked were almost ready and they will ripen indoors. The ones that were too small and underipe I cooked them in simple syrup. 

They tasted great: tart and sweet at the same time. I'm really looking forward to what the summer will bring us and practice my canning skills.

I hope you had a nice weekend!

Martha.

Weekend Sewing

Today I had a very productive day in the sewing room. I finished a tote bag with the quilt block I made yesterday.

The block size is 12X12 inches, so the finished bag ended up being roomy enough to carry groceries, books or a quilting project. And I made the straps a bit longer to carry it as a shoulder bag.

I also finished a small travel sewing kit, so I have needles and thread on hand when I'm away from home or carry embroidery floss to do a little stitching on the go.

As you can see from my fabric choices, I love polka dots. I find them so cheerful. I hope you had a nice weekend as well!

Martha

A New Quilt Block

I just got an amazing book about modern quilt blocks and I simply couldn't wait to try to make some of the blocks; without a project in mind, just for fun. Today I finished this one. It is called Megan's Star and I love the way it turned out. I think I am going to use this block as the focal point on a tote bag. I will share the results of the finished project with you.

Martha

Roses From The Garden

The roses in the garden have been blooming beautifly and today I went around the garden and snap some pictures to share with you.

Such a lovely display of color.

Martha.

Mini is OK!

As I mentioned on my previous post, Mini and Mona visited their vet's office last Saturday; they were due for their shots. Also I discovered a few days back a lump on Mini's neck.  Although, Mini never complained or showed signs that she was in any pain, my husband and I wanted to have it checked out  as soon as possible. Their doctor, Doctor C., gently examined the lump and advised us that a biopsy was recommended... when I heard those words a million thoughts rushed in to my head. What if there is something wrong with my baby?  My husband and I immediately agreed to the procedure; as sacred as we were we needed to know to better care for Mini. The procedure only took a few minutes and Mini was very brave and stayed still the whole time. The hardest part was waiting for the results... Dr. C. was kind enough to give us the results as soon as the tests were completed and were were very excited to learn that Mini is OK! The lump turned out to be a benign tumor made out of fatty tissue. It is such a relief! Mini already has a heart murmur for which she needs to have constant medical care. I just don't want her to be sick.

We thank God our baby is OK!

Martha.

Garden Update

After having such nice weather the past few weeks, yesterday the weather changed dramatically; the temperatures dropped and the sky turned gray. There was even was a thunder storm and rain last evening. It was a little nuts! Today we got a little more sun, but still was quite chilly. My husband and I went out to the garden all bundled up to pick some vegetables. Right now what is ready to be picked are peas, carrots and spring onions.

The snap peas are very sweet and tender and the shelling peas are amazing. Mini and Mona agree, I cooked some for them and they really liked them.

The carrots are very crunchy and full of flavor. I haven't decided if I'm going to put them on a salad or roast them with other vegetables...

I was surprised at how large the onions grew. Last year they didn't grow as big as this. Maybe we are finally getting the hang of things with this gardening stuff.

Speaking of getting the hang of things about gardening we still have to see how the red cabbage and broccoli grows. I'm afraid we are not having as much luck, but we still have to wait and see.

Martha.