Other than quilting, I haven’t actually been doing much sewing. Part of that is because I was focusing on the garden, but also because right now, I am drowning in quilts. I REALLY need to get my online shop set up and sell some of these babies!

But, every week, I am adding another block to my Moda Blockhead quilt. Now that we are a little less than half way through this project, I can definitely say…. I’m not actually that keen on sampler quilts.

I don’t think I’d mind one that had a theme (like say, all different star blocks), but I think this one is just too all over the place for my liking. The limited colour palette does help tie things together a bit, but it’s just not quite my cup of tea.

Still. It is fun making a new block every week. And some of these I will definitely use again in other quilts. And I am learning some new skills (like making quarter square triangles!)

I wonder what this week’s block will be?!

With the bulk of the “big” work done in the garden, I can now mostly sit back and enjoy the blooms.

Of course there will be daily watering (unless it rains), and some moderate weeding and dead-heading to do. But that’s just easy basic maintenance.

And the end of May brings the bulk of the late spring blooms.

There’s still a few Tulips blooming, though to be honest, I didn’t seem to get too many this year. I think the squirrels may have raided the bulbs over winter. My daffodil yield was low too. Could have been that late cold snap too.

Right now the really big performers are the irises. Those purple/black ones at the side of the house have gone absolutely nuts! I think they’ve enjoyed all our wet weather.

The Chives and Aliums are just getting started. The bees really love these ones. The chive blooms are some-what short-lived, but the Purple Globe Aliums seem to last forever.

The Lily-of-the-Valley doesn’t last terribly long, but it is one of my favourites. It’s nice and established now, and I get more every year. I’ve promised some to neighbour Krista when mine stop blooming.

My lovely white Russian lilac has started to bloom too. Almost all the blooms are at the very top. And it’s gotten so tall! If we ever move from here, I’m going to miss this beauty.

My regular (as opposed to dwarf) Columbine have started to bloom. They don’t get as many flowers as the dwarf version, but they are just as pretty.

Looks like it won’t be too long before I have some strawberries to munch on. You may recall that I have a couple different pots with strawberries. But last year, I also cut off a few runners from the hanging pot, and popped them in the garden. They are doing exceptionally well. I’ll have to beat the bunnies to these though.

I’ll admit, I’ve never been a huge fan of begonias. But this year I seem to have caught begonia fever. I got the ones for the big black pot on my first garden centre trip, but then I realized that I’d forgotten to get anything for my hanging pots out front. They don’t get a lot of sun (just in late evening as its going down), so I’m limited on what I can put in them. I hate impatiens, and I’ve had fuschia two years running. I really wanted a change! Begonias it is! These white ones show up quite nice against the red brick of the house. They have some Million Bells and Trailing Petunia to keep them company.

I’ve also added a few new treasures to the garden this year. This Blue Mountain Pottery Hefalump used to belong to Mom. She’d had it for as long as I can remember (one of my regular chores as a child was to dust him). She gave him to me just before all the COVID drama dropped. I had him with the house plants, but I thought he might like to spent the summer in the garden. He’ll come inside before it gets too cold out for him.

I found this sweet little bird house at the dollar store. I doubt the birds will actually use it, but it looks nice hanging in my lilacs

And now it’s time to put May behind us and see what June brings! Hopefully lots and lots of roses!

 

The morning suffocations continue…

…and throughout the day, he’s never far from my side.

Continuing to work through my backlog of unquilted tops, I completed two of the baby quilts this past weekend.

First up was Foxy Baby…

Isn’t it cute? I’m not normally a huge fan of orange, but I love the POP the orange gives this one.

And of course, all those cute forest critters make it pretty special too.  This one isn’t huge, only 30″ x 34″. That’s because I was working within the constraints of the remnant I had for the backing.

And it was worth it. That back is just perfection! (And flannel too, for a little extra snuggle.)

It’s a fun, fast pattern that can be put together in an afternoon.

And oh so cute in her result!

 

It’s hard to believe that four years have passed since this saucy little ginger puss stepped paw into our lives.

He was only 8 months old when he came here, but he doesn’t look much different than he did then. Cats aren’t normally done growing until almost a year old and we thought he’d get a bit bigger, but Rupert must have finished early… because he’s Mr. Tiny.

It’s most apparent when he’s beside Relic (who is a GIANT cat), but you can see it pretty well beside both Peno and Burton too. Little Ru is only 6 lbs, 6oz, but he’s jammed packed with attitude.

He’s not afraid to tell you when he’s offended by something. And this cat is offended by EVERYTHING! Birds in the yard (he especially hates robins),  squirrels in the yard, rabbits in the yard… well anything in the yard – including Relic, who’s been part of this household for three years now. But Rupert still has to protest is presence every time he sees him hanging out or coming home.

He is offended if his favourite furry blanket is missing from the bed, if you pass him on the stairs, or even just make eye contact when he’s pretending he’s invisible. And for the love of god… DO NOT sneeze in his presence. That will earn you a death glare that’s sure to be instantly fatal.

Other than the death glare, most of his protests are vocal. And if a cat could ever sound like an old man complaining… Rupert has managed it. He might be tiny but his whine is BIG.

While he sleeps most of the day (in a sunbeam or on his favourite furry blanket in bed), every night around about 10 p.m., he goes into what we call “Gingernuts Mode”. It’s the typical cat zoomies, except its punctuated by some interesting caterwauling that sounds eerily similar to the sound of Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters. He also makes the same noise when he’s about to poop… and of course, to announce that he HAS pooped. Don’t ask me what that’s about.

And he loves to play. For some reason his favourite game is for me to grab at his butt while he folds himself in half and bites his own tail.

I don’t understand it, but he seems to like it, so we keep doing it.

And despite his super-sized attitude, he can actually be really sweet. He loves to snuggle (especially in winter). It took him a while to discover the joys of a lap, but once he did… well let’s just say, if he wants a lap, you better give him one.

He usually sleeps curled up against me – though that may have something to do with the fact that I usually sleep with his favourite furry blanket. Even if he doesn’t come to bed with me, he’s always there in the morning.

Like the other cats, he enjoys spending his summers outside….

Or enjoying a good long nap in a sunbeam.

He might be the strangest cat I’ve ever had… but I wouldn’t have him any other way!

While the start of my vacation week was gloomy and rainy, the majority of the rest of it was sunny and warm. After taking care of the gardens, there was plenty of time to sit outside and enjoy my surroundings.

And if I’m sitting… I’m knitting!

As a result, I’ve just attached the fourth ball on the chunky (sheepy) cardigan. It’s about 12 inches long now, which means I’ve only got four more inches before I split for the armholes

After that, things will move much faster…

..that is if Burton gives it back to me.

When I was up at Mom’s, quilting Calico Garden, Mom also gave me a quilted Crosstown Traffic to take home.  She’d done all her fancy needlework, and it just needed to be bound.

That did not take me long!

As you may recall, it was a Leader Ender project made entirely of scraps. And I think the end result is pretty cool. It’s a nice size too… 63″ x 76″!

With all the scraps, there’s lot of fun little treasures hiding in the fabrics. And check out Mom’s cool quilting

She did a gorgeous design on the borders, though it gets lots in the pattern, sadly.

The whole thing is backed with another wonderful neutral fabric…

This was definitely a fun pattern. And one that will look completely different with different fabric. I will definitely make this pattern again!

 

Those last four pinwheels didn’t take long to complete.  They are done and the pinwheel quilt (now called “Spin me right round”) has been put into regular rotation to complete the top assembly.

That means I need another Leader/Ender project! But have no fear, I have lots of scraps in varying sizes to choose from!

This time, it’s back to the 2.5 inch square box. Mom shared this fabulous block that’s  made mostly out of four patches.

Isn’t it awesome? It’s a similar idea to a Jacob’s ladder, but instead of HSTs paired with the four patches, you’ve got snowballed squares! It’s just perfect for scraps. I’m just at the starting stages – just pairing up squares which will eventually become four patches… but I’m brimming with excitement with the potential of this one.

I’ve got a lot of scraps, so it will be easy to make this one BIG!

Here’s where my other projects are at:

• Walk Like a Dinosaur: One column left of dino toes
  
• Blockhead: Patiently awaiting Wednesday
• Spin me right round: Pinwheels ready for top assembly
• Rainbow in the dark: Mom’s stash has been raided! More blocks coming soon
• Bramble patch: Have to cut those new blocks and assemble top
• Leader and Ender quilt – Making pairs

As planned, I got up bright and early Tuesday morning, headed to the garden centre. The long-weekend crowds were long gone and there was still a fair bit of selection left to meet my needs.

For once, I didn’t go too crazy. One… I don’t have much room left in the gardens, and two…  I don’t have a whole lot of extra spending money right now. Luckily, I did have a pile of loyalty points saved up.

I had enough to get 10 bags of soil (needed for pots and garden top up).  I got some pretty Begonias and Creeping Jenny to fill out a large pot I acquired last year.

While it looks nice and sunny in the picture, another few weeks and the leaves will fill in on the tree and it will mostly be in the shade – perfect for those Begonia blooms.

I also picked up some tomato and pepper plants

I was hoping to build a garden down the length of this fence. Sadly, it’s not in the budget this year. But the pots that Dave’s Mom gave me last year will do for now. The first two pots have San Marzano tomatoes – I couldn’t get my usual cherry tomatoes, but I think these will do. The second two pots are Sweet Yellow Banana peppers. I never had much luck with peppers, but I thought, why not give it another try! The last, green pot has some yellow bean seeds I had leftover from last year. Dave likes to snack on them right off the plant.

To fill in a few holes in the garden, I did grab a couple of perennials…

Pics will come when they flower!

I lied to you when I said that all my roses made it through the winter. Sadly, that cold snap we had didn’t agree with my beautiful Chicago Peace rose. I’m so sad to see her go – she was such a great bloomer.

But I’ve replaced her with this gorgeous specimen that’s been cultivated for our climate!

This isn’t the final placement of my little fountain…

… I need to get an extension cord so it can be placed in the garden. Dave recommended I get a photocell timer too – then it can turn on and off by itself. The plant spaces aren’t very big, but I thought these little Coleus were the perfect size.

There’s still some seeds to sow and a few odd jobs to do around the yard, but now it’s mostly just  time to sit back and watch my little world grow.

 

I spy with my little eye…