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…

 

On Saturday, I was FINALLY able to get up to Mom’s to do some quilting! I decided to tackle Calico Garden, not only because it was the biggest of the quilts in my pile, but because the recipients birthday is creeping up at the end of the month!

It took all afternoon to quilt it, but I couldn’t be more thrilled with it.

And it’s a big one! The biggest I’ve made so far, coming in at 88″ square. I just love the secondary patterns the big star makes. And there’s such a mix of fabrics, but they all combine so well!

And then of course, there’s that backing! Just look at all those cute forest critters! Luckily, I over-bought on the yardage, so I have lots of this left!

Now, I’ve got to get this packed up and into the mail for the birthday girl!

One of the things on my vacation to-do list was to get downstairs and dye some yarn.

I’ve been wanting to get down there all winter, but there was a pile of garden stuff blocking the dye table. With garden season FINALLY here, it was out of the way and I had room to work. Sunday was all rain and gloom, perfect to cheer things up with a bit of colour…

Okay… so my first batch wasn’t exactly colourful… but it has a purpose. This lovely greblurple (grey/blue/purple) yarn will eventually become a Christmas hoodie for Paisley. I’ve got the perfect pattern picked out for – I can’t wait to start (must get gross sheepie sweater out of the way first).

After I got that big batch out of the way, I played with REAL colour

This is the last of the Alley Cat base… and that makes me a little sad. In fact, I don’t have much undyed sock yarn left. The rest is mostly stuff for shawls (silks, alpaca, etc), and heavier weights.

Some of this was just for fun but a few skeins have a purpose. The second skein from the left (red/purple mix) is for a pair of socks Sam has commissioned. And the purple and orange skeins (third and second in from the right) will go with some green I already have dyed – they are all for Rowan’s Christmas hoodie.

Of course, all this has to dry, and I have to finish up a few other projects before I get to play with any of these beauties.

I was in the mood to work on something new. Luckily, my little blog circle is always good for inspiration.

Wyoming Breezes has been posting about mystery quilts lately, and one of the blocks in particular, caught my eye.

I knew that block had great potential, so I grabbed a charm pack and some coordinating fabrics and got cutting.

I put together all the four patches I needed, then decided to lay it all out so I could arrange it to best effect.

And it became clear to me that a couple of my fabrics weren’t quite up to scratch.

Those birds and flowers are just to white. They are disrupting the flow of and otherwise fabulous quilt top

Sadly, I have nothing in the stash that will work. Mom didn’t have anything either. Lens re-opened this week, but money is tight right now, so this one will have to wait until the cash is flowing a little more freely. That’s ok, I’ve got many other awesome things to work on.

 

Bullfinch socks that is!

I was about to cast on for Dave’s obligatory Birthday socks when I realized Father’s Day is only  a month away. Socks for Dad have to come first. If these one look a little familiar, it’s because I made him a pair back in 2018. That pair accidentally got tossed in the dryer and shrunk (these aren’t superwash).

I still had a ball left, so replacement pair it is!

Too bad we don’t have any Bullfinches here. They are pretty little birds.

A couple afternoons saw me finish the blocks for Dog Logs II and assemble the top.

It’s a little bit busy, but you can still see the nice diagonal patterns to cabins make. It’s a good size too, approximately 40 x 50 inches.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any doggy flannel for the back, but I do have this nice blue print, which I think works just as well.

The pawprint fabric will bind it all together!

And, I’m happy to say…. COVID restrictions have eased enough that we are allowed to visit immediate family members again (no large gatherings, and of course, use caution and common sense!). Since we’ve been playing it safe in every other respect, it should be safe enough for me to finally spend some time at Mom’s quilting!

Which is great… because I’ve got a pile, ready to go now!

 

 

Not much has changed in the garden. Last weekend, despite my posted pictures (which were taken a few days early) the temps dropped drastically. We even got snow on Saturday. Thankfully, it did  not stick, though it remained cold, grey and rainy for several days.

That said, even though there’s nothing blooming there, the tree garden is a riot of colour.

I struggled with this garden for the first couple years we were here. Because of the tree, it’s a pretty shady spot. In addition, in the summer, the tree soaks up any moisture like a sponge. Even with daily watering, I was struggling to keep plants alive. Then I got a couple trays of these ground-cover sedums and I’ve never looked back.

It makes a great summer home for the gnomes too, and as you can see, they’ve taken up residence for the season again.

The “London Pride” Rockfoil I planted last year in the side walk garden survived the winter nicely. It’s just starting to put up its bloom stems now.

Despite the cold, Nasturtium seeds I planted in my hanging pots is starting to sprout.  And speaking of hanging pots…

Last year, this hanging pot had a Gerbera daisy, the Creeping thyme (on the left), and the other viney plant on the right (I can’t remember the name). I knew the Thyme would come back, but I was surprised about the the other vine! I’m glad it came back, because I really love it. I’ll have to get some more of it for my other pots.

The rest of the blooms are much as they were last week.

And while there’s not too much excitement today, there’s  definitely more to come. I’m off on vacation all week, and  the Garden Centres have been allowed to open. I’ve got soil to buy, and LOTS and LOTS of pots to fill this year!

I’ll leave you with this little reminder from Relic

Even if the wind is chilly, the pavement is always warm!

Sunny days….

… oh, sunny, sunny, sunny days!

The leader/ender pinwheels are coming together beautifully!

They are so much nicer than those pinwheels I made so long ago. The blocks are about 8.5 inches, so a nice size. I’m thinking they will have a very thin, black sashing between them all.

With just four more wheels I’ll have enough for a nice, lap-sized quilt. And I’ve put a nice dent in my 5 inch scrap pile, so I’m calling this project a definite win!

Here’s where my other projects are at:

• Walk Like a Dinosaur: One column left of dino toes
  
• Blockhead: Patiently awaiting Wednesday
• Dog Logs II: Building cabins, log by dog
• Rainbow in the dark: Gotta raid Mom’s stash for some strips!
• Leader and Ender quilt – I’m spinning those wheels!