A Picture-Free Update
October 26, 2009 at 2:24 pm | In Gardening, Sewing, South Florida living, The Joys of Decorating | 2 CommentsIt’s too bad I don’t have any pics to share, but I’ll sum it all up and hopefully take some decent pics to share soon. (I really need to amp up my photography skills. It’s sad, people.)
Gardening
My Aurora pepper is doing fabulously. There are a couple peppers growing already, but the one that’s been around the longest doubled in size over the past day. I’m excited to be getting to this point of gardening; I feel like there’s a little treat waiting for me each time I check my plants for new developments.
My two tomato plants are doing quite well, too. No flower buds yet, but I keep scrutinizing daily and will let out a little “woot!” as soon as I see them. Maybe I’m being naive, but I’m thinking I’ll have better luck on my open-air patio.
I had a minor run in with powdery mildew on all my plants a few weeks ago, but I spritzed the undersides of the affected leaves with my mixture of baking soda and water and brushed off the mildew. I haven’t seen any of that sneaky stuff since, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed. Again, I’m hoping less humidity + open-air patio = bountiful results.
Home decor
Our dining room is almost done has taken one step backwards, as of last night. First, the good news: We have our beautiful dining room table, complete the table runner, placements, and pumpkin centerpiece. We have our light fixture (which a couple strangers said they loved last weekend, so score!), and a whole leaning bookcase/wine bar unit. We’d like to add a few more accessories to that piece of furniture (a white initial for our last name, a white vase/bowl/sculpture thingy), but that will come in time. We had custom-made curtains, sewn by yours truly, that I was really digging. Until last night.
It was rainy the other night and we followed our usual routine of carrying Peanut inside so we can wipe off her paws. One curtain panel had a minor run in with a muddy paw. No biggie. The panels are all 100% cotton, so I just threw the one panel in the wash (cold water, gentle cycle) and let it air dry. Paw print out. All good. We hung the panel back up last night. It’s a good 6 inches shorter.
&$%*@!
I am still mad. I can’t even talk about it anymore.
Moving on.
We finally found an entryway table. We had such a hard time with this because our space isn’t large enough to allow a typical entryway table generally sold in furniture stores. We were starting to give up, but then stumbled upon a tall, square table for $50. Score! It was originally oak, which does not fly with our style, so we got out our trusty power sander and went to town. Then we painted it black. It’s perfect. We’re still looking for the perfect accessory to place on top of it, but it works in the meantime. We hung a piece of artwork above it that we already had but weren’t using, but decided we prefer a mirror. So, we’re on the quest for the perfect, budget-friendly mirror. I have spray paint and I’m not afraid to use it, so I’m keeping my eyes open.
We’re saving for a couple bucket chairs to add to the living room. They’ll fill our open space sorta behind our main TV viewing area. The open space will serve us nicely by providing a reading nook, guitar display area (gotta keep the husband happy), and board game nook. Plus, we’ll gain more seating. I can’t wait to get those chairs. They swivel, and I swoon.
Crafty projects
I’ve been doing a little bit of sewing and trying to get back into it on a regular basis. Besides the curtain panel customization I did for the living and dining rooms, I did manage to finish one skirt that’s wearable. I’m planning on wearing it to church next Sunday, and I’ll try to get a good picture posted. I started on a second skirt with some minor adjustments, but I lost steam. I did sew a baby blanket for my good friend who is having a baby boy in December. That was a fun, meaningful project, but what I’ve been hankering for is something to keep my hands busy when I’m otherwise being a couch potato. I did some digging and found a site that gives easy crochet patterns for some really, really cute animals. They’re supposed to be baby toys, but I worry they’re too small (any mom readers who want to weigh in?). At the very least, they’re cute, out-of-baby’s-reach decoration for a nursery, so I’m going to try my hand at it. I could stare at the penguin all day:
Check out the Web site to see the patterns and other pictures. If you never hear from me again, you’ll know I wasn’t successful with crocheting these cute little guys. And if you’re my friend in real life and pregnant, forget you saw this post. 
Edited to add: Shoot. I guess my title doesn’t work anymore, but what I really meant was pictures I took myself.
misc updates
November 26, 2008 at 9:37 am | In Gardening, Peanut, Sewing, South Florida living | 1 CommentGarden
- We ate the five beans I picked recently. They were goo-ood! I picked a few more yesterday. There are 10 on the vines right now, so I keep hoping we’ll eventually have enough for a whole serving. Two whole servings would be even better.
- My tomato plants are growing so big, but no fruit to report. I remind myself the plants are still less than 3 months old, so it will be a little while.
- The two Aurora pepper plants are thriving. One plant has several nice-sized peppers, and the recent transplant looks healthy.
- I ate my first salad from my mesclun mix I planted. It was so yummy. I can’t wait for more!
Sewing
- Last week’s sewing class was irritating. My instructor is 85 years old, and while she really knows her stuff and can be quite entertaining, she’s not the most efficient instructor. I also realized last week that she’s probably not really going to teach anything. Rather, she’s going to do it all herself. I was frustrated because I was tired, not much was accomplished in the 2 1/2 hour class, and I had no clue what the lines she drew on my pattern were for (much less how to do them myself). I decided I need to take a leap of faith and just do whatever she tells me to. Maybe I’ll make it to the end of the class and be able to apply the fit adjustments to other patterns, or maybe I’ll make it to the end and only be able to make one pattern for the rest of my life because I won’t know how to do anything.
- This week’s class was cancelled because the instructor is in the hospital. I certainly hope she’s OK, but the status of the class is uncertain. I’m supposed to call back next week and see if it will resume.
Thanksgiving
- We’re headed to Jacksonville tomorrow morning to celebrate Thanksgiving with some family. It won’t be the Thanksgiving we’re used to, but we’re both pretty excited.
- We have to board Peanut. It’s silly, I know, but I’m having separation anxiety already. I have to drop her off before Junior gets home from work, so I’m very concerned Peanut will remember that and not want anything to do with me when we get home.
- Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! (Or the two people who read this blog.)
Pardon my drooling
October 18, 2008 at 6:44 am | In Sewing | Leave a CommentI want!
Amy Butler designs. I want patterns. I want fabric. And I want all the cool things on the rest of the 17 pages of search results even though I haven’t seen them yet.
my happy sewing machine
September 22, 2008 at 4:46 pm | In Sewing | 1 CommentI found a pattern on Spool for this sewing machine cover. It was a breeze and took about 2 hours. I might make a more spiffed-up and imaginative one in the future, but for now, my machine is cozy and protected.
Lotsa stuff going on…
September 3, 2008 at 7:46 am | In Garden problems, Gardening, Sewing | Leave a CommentI finally got my old garden disposed of, and let me tell you, that’s quite a job on a screened-in balcony. There is still a little bit of dirt dusting the balcony floor, but there is just nowhere for it to go.
My Aurora pepper and purple tomatillo seedlings were doing great, but obviously I passed the window of time when I should have transplanted them. They are going downhill fast, shriveling leaves and all. I put off transplanting them because I was preoccupied with cleaning out the old garden and didn’t want to plant them until that was finished. Now that it is finished, though, I’m putting the transplanting off until after some storms pass this next week. It’s a terrible excuse, but I dread having to drag those heavy pots inside. Besides the space issue, my seedlings have a little bit of mildew on the undersides of the leaves. Some air does circulate through the screens of the balcony, but it must not be enough. I started spraying the leaves with a solution of 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and 16 ounces of water. I think I’ll nurse the seedlings a few more days and then decide if I’ll go through with the transplants once the storms have passed or just replant seeds.
I found an organic seed store in a nearby town and bought some seeds: Everglades tomato (that’s the cherry one, I think), Marglobe tomato (full-size, I think), Wando pea, peppermint, and tea. I’m still trying to get my own little herb tea garden going, although I learned the tea plant could take a few years to produce usable leaves. We’ll see…I’ve already planted the two tomato seeds, so hopefully I’ll have better luck than my earlier seedlings. I’ll wait another month or two to plant the pea and peppermint seeds. I will go ahead and plant the tea seed; it’s currently soaking for 24 hours.
In nongardening news, I’ve picked up sewing. I have grand dreams of sewing skirts, tops, and dresses and seeing where that takes me. I love some of the new patterns available now, especially the Simplicity New Look ones. The style of clothes is right up my alley. I’ve already finished one top, but I’m disappointed in it. The seams aren’t as neat as I’d like, but that will come with experience. I didn’t get the size in the bust right, though, because it’s too tight. I’ve started making a similar top in the appropriate size and in a soft, t-shirty material. It’s far easier to work with than the linen I started with. I hope to be able to model the next one.
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