While last Saturday was raining, and spent in the studio. Sunday dawned relatively mild and sunny. I knew I had to get out and get some yard work done. Since Dave had finished the new fence, I really had to get moving on the landscaping to make it a usable space.
You will recall it looked like this:
I don’t have the time and resources to do the whole space at once, so I decided to focus on the area along the fence line, connecting it up to the existing border garden. First, I had to clean out at least 3 years of dead leaves and sticks. Happily, all those leaves meant there was nothing but bare ground underneath them, so I didn’t have to do much to prepare for planting.
I fillled the area with the hostas and heuchera I’d bought earlier – keeping them in the shadiest positions. The bugbane and astilbe got planted closer to the drip line, as did a new dark pink tickseed, and a purple pincushion plant I managed to get on clearance last week.
I also got Dave to install hook so I could hang the basket of impatiens I got.
After that, it was just a matter of moving in my bench, and table and chairs, providing a couple places to relax and enjoy the shade,
Much more will come next year, but for now, it provides a nice shady spot to enjoy a view of the yard, all the way down to Willow Grove at the very back.
Despite how it might seem in the picture above, Rupert seems to be healing very well. The incision, as terrible as it looks, is healing quite nicely, staying dry and clean. It helps that he can’t lick it, but he seems to be staying away from scratching it too, though that may change as it heals more. We got a soft cone thing just incase it becomes a problem.
It’s been a week since the surgery, and he’s finished with the painkillers and gabapentin (used to keep him calm and stress-free). All that’s left is the anti-biotic which he’s getting daily. He still hates that part, but there’s only a week to go. (Halfway there!!!). As long as it’s not raining, he spends the day sleeping in the catio… which is what he did before the surgery.
The sutures are supposed to dissolve/fall out on their own, but if they don’t, we take him in next week and they will remove them. I hope they come out on their own though… both he and I have had enough of getting him in the carrier to last for quite a while!
The other day, Dee had a post all about sunflowers. And if I had to pick a flower that represented August, it would be the sunflower.
I started several sunflower seeds earlier this year. And thanks to the squirrels…. not one of them made it past a sprout!
But also thanks to the squirrels (I’m assuming), this giant volunteer showed up in my garden on the corner of Willow Grove. Well… it didn’t just show up, I’ve been watching and tending to it for a couple months now. But it’s only the last couple of weeks that it’s really gone crazy. For reference, I’m about 5’7″… and it’s about a foot taller than me. It’s got one big head at the top… but also dozens that are sprouting off the sides.
The top head has finally just opened
And the others won’t be too far behind. It’s going to be just spectacular. And while it’s blooming outside…
Saturday was mostly raining, so I couldn’t get out to do my garden work I had planned (more on that this weekend). So instead, I stayed in the studio and made sunflowers. Why, you ask… well as I said…. sunflowers are the ultimate symbol of August to me.
And someone just happens to be in need of an August quilt for his chaise…
Hopefully I get another rainy day this weekend to quilt it. He is obviously a little impatient!
The next quilt in the quilt parade is the largest. So big, it took two nights to bind, and two shifts by three separate snoopervisors.
But all that hardwork paid off.
You will recall that each one of those little chevrons was made as a Leader/Ender. I didn’t track when I started making them, but I’m pretty sure this was one of my longest L/E projects to date. There are 448 little chevrons in there – that’s 448 separate scraps of fabric, which all had to be snowballed on each end (that means 896 squares of background fabric for snowballing!)
All to create something absolutely wild and crazy
For the back, I used one of the clearance finds that I’ve had sticking around forever.
And that’s one of the best parts about a scrap quilt – you can get away with almost anything on the back!
Like most of the others, this one has gone to the shop. Don’t miss the chance to make it yours!
The weekend is over, so it’s back to the Quilt Parade. Next up, Lemmy’s version of the Haunted Hallowe’en mystery
Since I knew this one would be going in the shop, I expanded it out with the star borders to make it lap size. It’s still a small quilt – just 48″ x 52″ – but it’s a great size for throwing over your legs on those cool autumn nights.
Like my wall hanging, this one has some fussy-cut details…
The fabrics are a mix of the Kitty Corn and Owl-o-ween lines, which are these soft colours with great vintage details.
This one was a lot of fun to sew, and quilt! Because I had so much open black space, I decided to have a little fun with the quilting… and quilted little stars randomly among the loops.
And to finish it all off…
How fun is the fabric I got for the back and the binding? I actually wasn’t planning on quilting this one right away, because I didn’t have a back for it. I figured I’d stop in at Lens one day, and get some flannel for it. But then I popped on Missouri Star Quilts a few days after I finished the top, and they had two yard cuts of this on sale. It was a total no brainer!
If you’d like to make it yours…. it’s in the shop.
The results of Edible Alley have far and away exceeded my expectations!
This is what it looks like if you’re sitting on the southwest corner, just outside of it! Now it’s surrounded on all sides with flowers, but inside, it’s just as lush and green.
The Snap Peas and Tenderbeans are coming non-stop. I harvest at least this much every couple days.
And I’m bringing in at least two decent-sized cucumbers every other day. Before I headed to Mom’s, I took four of them, sliced them up and put them in some cider vinegar in a large pickling jar for Dad.
The new strawberry plants are doing well. The critters beat me to them about 70 percent of the time, but I did manage a nice little haul for myself the other day. I don’t bother with any sort of protection for them. I just munch them when I see them ripe enough.
My squash tripled in size while I was gone, and there are several flower. I have to get out there and tie this one up the ladder so it can start growing vertically. So far, I seem to have kept that Borer Beetle at bay.
The garlic seems to be a bust – though the leaves started to yellow, the bulbs I dug up were no bigger than the cloves I planted. That’s okay – we’ll plant some this fall, and see if we make out better with that.
The carrots beside them seem to be doing well. We are still well off from a carrot harvest of any type though.
The chives are growing slowly, but they are growing. I suspect next year that the pot will be nice and full. Same with the catnip. There are some robust little sprouts in there now.
But the real success story…
Is my INSANE tomato plant. There are actually two plants there. On the left, you can just see the cage surrounding one plant… but on the right…. well that monster is just taking over!!! It’s almost as tall as me (I’m 5’7″). That box it’s in is 3′ x 3′. And it’s almost taken over the whole thing. It’s planted in the left corner, but the plant almost completely fills the box!!!! The poor asparagus are almost completely shadowed.
I’ve grown some robust tomato plants in my time… but never one this quite robust. But I have one small complaint…
Those AREN’T Grape tomatoes. I don’t eat tomatoes. Dave does, but he can’t eat too many, because the acid bothers him. I like to stick to cherry tomatoes because he can happily snack on them without too much trouble.
The garden centre was out of cherry tomatoes when I went this year, but I though grape tomatoes would be the next best thing. But it appears my specimen was mislabeled!
No idea what they are or how big they will get. But one thing is for sure – I’m going to need to find lots of people to share them with – because this plant is COVERED in them!
First, thank you for all the well wished for Rupert. Everything went well and we picked him up late in the afternoon.
As you can see, it looks quite grizzly, but it should heal nicely. We have lots of good pain killers and some antibiotics to keep him nice and comfy while he recuperates. As you can imagine, he’s not speaking to me. And I imagine he’ll find some way to pay me back… but in the end he will be more comfortable.
Now… onto business…
Summer is quickly passing, and I have to admit, having the long lens on my camera has been a game changer for my daily “bug hunts”
I’m still using my phone for the majority of my photos, just for the convenience factor. But the long lens makes chasing butterflies soooooo much easier!
Normally, I’d have to sneak up on the butterflies, get as close as I can with the phone, and just hope they stay there. Then, when looking at the photos on the computer, I’d zoom in as much as possible, hoping there were enough pixels for a decent photo.
For butterflies like the Monarchs and Red Admirals, that was fairly easy. They seem to be much more brave than other butterflies. Especially those Red Admirals – they seem to really like to land ON me almost as much as the flowers.
But for the Red Spotted Purples…
Getting close enough was always a bit of a challenge. Side views were always a little easier, but full open back shots – much harder.
And then there’s the Meadow Fritillary.. Nearly impossible to get with the phone, because they just don’t let you close.
But with the long lens, I can stand back 10 feet and just snap away
Even the Cabbage Whites, which are so common, are hard to capture because they rarely sit still long enough.
But with the long, lens I can capture a little butterfly fore-play!
And of course, the long lens means I can get shots that would be impossible with my phone
Like this Monarch well above my head in the maple tree.
Of course, it’s not just butterflies it helps me capture.
These big ass Carpenter Bees are pretty easier to photo, but the long lens get me much more detail!
Same with this Bumbler, and honeybee incoming.
Or the face of a moth only a mother could love!
Or the magical clear wings and fuzzy body of a Snowberry Clearwing Moth. It’s related to the Hummingbird Clearwing (who visits our butterfly bushes as well), just a little smaller with slightly different colours. I’m hoping I’ll be able to capture an actual Hummingbird with the camera soon… they visit regularly – just never when I have the camera handy!
And I saved the best for last…
This wee baby bun was far too wary to get close to with the phone, but the long lens let him stay safe under the holly bush while I snapped away!
This camera and lens was definitely worth the price of admission!
Please send your good thoughts for dear Rupert today. This morning I’m dropping him off at the vet for a little surgery.
He’s had a benign cyst on his neck since I adopted him. At first it was nothing to worry about, but it’s been slowly growing. Before I went to Mom’s on the weekend, I was contemplating booking him an appointment to see if we should do anything about it.
When I got home on Sunday, the cyst was VERY noticeable from a distance (which it wasn’t before – as it hid in his fur). When I felt it, it was about four times bigger than it had been when I left, and I could tell it was just basically a fluid-filled sac.
Monday was a holiday here, but I was definitely going to call the vet on Tuesday. But, Monday afternoon, I checked on him in the bedroom and noticed the quilt was wet… it didn’t take long to discover the cyst had ruptured.
Thankfully, it was mostly just clear fluid, and I got him cleaned up and put some anti-biotic ointment on it. And first thing Tuesday, I called the vet and they asked me to bring him that afternoon.
The gave him another cleaning, and some antibiotics, and asked me to bring him back in on Friday. So today they are going to clean everything out, and do a little surgery to make sure the cyst doesn’t come back and he doesn’t get an infection. They are also cleaning his teeth, since they have to put him under for the cyst – kind of a two for one deal!
But he should be home in the afternoon, a little mad at me, but much better off!
Today’s quilt FO is the smallest of the projects I took to Mom’s.
You will recall, this was a mystery quilt along with the Fat Quarter Shop. It was such a fun little project, and I have lot of fabric left from the line. In fact, I have quite a collection of Hallowe’en fabrics now, so there’s definitely going to be more spooky projects in the future!
In the meantime, this one is being tucked away until October 1st – then it’s going right up on the wall! I’m not wishing summer away, but I do love Hallowe’en!
Wandering Cat Studio 