There was no sewing this weekend. The weather was perfect so I spent almost all of it outside. The front beds were in a bad need of a good cleaning. I’d done all the dead stems and stuff in the back gardens, but hadn’t gotten to the front yet.

And with the rain we had mid-week, followed by beautiful warm weather, the weeds had just exploded. My two main foes this time of year are Purple Dead Nettle, and Creeping Charlie.

Both have pretty little purple flowers, and the pollinators do love them. But if you let them go, they just take over. The dead nettle is pretty easy to pull. The Creeping Charlie is a little more tenacious, but not too bad.

The thing is, I quite enjoy weeding. I find it very meditative, and it allows me to get right down on level with the gardens. I don’t bend or kneel when I’m weeding – I sit down on my butt and pull everything in reach.

And it gives you a lovely perspective.

You get a good view of all the little garden denizens. The garden is a very busy place, but it’s easy to miss all the activity if you’re not looking closely.

And I love how clean and happy everything looks when the weeding is done!

The bulb show is really impressive this year so far! I am just thrilled!

After weeding, it was time to take care of some seeding. Outside in Potager Parlour, I got some lettuce planted, and checked in on my spinach.

I’ve got spinach sprouts!!!!

Inside, I some of the seeds I started last week have started to sprout too!

On the left are my yellow cherry tomatoes, and on the right, an annual flower called Venidium (or Cape Daisy). It’s a big bold, orange daisy-type flower and it will probably be planted in the cutting bed.

I’ve got quite a few other things started from seeds, but nothing else is sprouting yet. I need to move my little greenhouse out of the catio and into a warm, sunny spot, so I can start some more seeds out there – as I just don’t have enough room in the house for all I want to do!

You saw a little sneak peek of my stitching yesterday, but it wasn’t quite all of it…

…. as I was able to finish the butterfly. It’s not a perfect gradient, but I think it works pretty well. I’m trying to make these only from my floss stash, so I’m working with what I have.

Up next, I have to pick out some complimenting greens for the leaves and flowers that surround it. But that’s a task for next weekend. Right now, the gardens are calling.

I’m making some very good progress on April’s socks

I’m down the leg, and through the heel and gusset. If I keep at it, I might even have the rest of the foot done by the end of the week.

And I noticed something funny about this most recent knit….

It’s very close in colour to my other stitching project! That certainly wasn’t planned! Stay tuned for more on the pretty butterfly tomorrow!

I know it’s not Friday Felines, but I had to share these pics of Burton.

When you saw the last FF post, you we’re probably wondering where Burton was… well chances are, he was up in the bedroom… looking something like this…

Does this cat know how to chill out, or what?

Of the four cats, he’s the only one who goes full belly up when he sleeps. And he sleeps like that a lot. Not a care in the world!

And just look at those teefs!

Here’s hoping you can all find some time to relax like Burton!

This past week has been absolutely glorious weather-wise. The night are still dropping to close to (or just below) freezing, so it’s still early to get too excited, but everyday has been bringing new surprises in the garden.

The Arctic Bells daffodils are all up and they look so pretty in a little clump. I’m so pleased with this new addition to the garden

Another new addition is this guy:

He’s a “Rip Van Winkle” Daffodil. And he’s just a mess of crazy petals with no true trumpet. Like Artic Bells, he’s quite small. I love him!

I don’t know the name of this one (it was part of a mix)

But it’s a pretty multi-headed frilly one and I’ve got a few of them popping up.

I was walking to the post office on Wednesday, admiring daffodils in my neighbours gardens, including some yellow one with bright orange centres. And then what did I spy in my OWN garden when I got back?

I’ve got two types blooming. The one on the left is a little bigger and pointier. Like the multi-headed one, these were part of a mix I planted last fall, so I don’t know their names.

The more “regular” daffs are still going strong

And I can see that many of them have multiplied. In a year or two, I’ll probably be splitting up clumps.

And there’s still many more daffodils to come – I’ve got late-bloomers to last me right to June!

Now… remember that plant I showed a few weeks back that I thought was an early lily? Well… it’s not a lily … though it is of the lily family…

I think it’s a Fritillaria Raddeana. There’s just one problem… I didn’t buy any of those bulbs. I did buy a bag of Peach Crown Imperials. They are supposed to look like this….

And are also of the lily family. (I have orange and yellow elsewhere in the garden). And I’d just chalk the whole thing up to a mix up in packaging… except I am almost positive there were only TWO bulbs in that pack… and I have TWO plants coming up elsewhere that I’m 99% are Crown Imperials. I can’t be 100% they are peach ones until they bloom. Such a mystery.

Hopefully it will be solved somewhat soon – my orange Crown Imperial is close to blooming

So the possibly peach ones can’t be too far off.

It really is amazing what a few days of warm, sunny weather can do in the garden – because every day I went out there was something new this week.

There are grape hyacinths just exploding all over the place. And like the daffodils, they have multiplied!

And it appears I did plant some big hyacinths out front, not just in the catio.

And the Snakehead Fritillary are coming out in force.

My Pasque flowers are just starting to bloom

And I will have Bleeding Hearts very, very soon!

But the most surprising thing for me is this….

A tulip in full bloom! I’ve never had tulips bloom before late April! This is so exciting. Again – this was part of a mix, so I’m not 100% sure of it’s name. I think it’s Apricot Pride. Whatever it’s name, it is so, so pretty!

I can’t wait to see what the next week brings!

Oh to be a cat!

On the weekend, I plans to finish up the last four blocks for my red quilt. But…. part way through. Dave decided he needed paint so off to the hardware store we went. And then he wanted to stop at the Chinese food restaurant to get an early dinner.

So…

I only managed to get two blocks done instead of four.

I’m still two short, but I couldn’t resist laying them all out on the bed. Once sewn together, I think they will cover the top just perfectly. So I can keep the borders simple. I’m thinking a thin cream border, followed by a wider print border.

We had an absolutely beautiful weekend, so I was back in the garden for much of it – as I had another construction project.

Dave doesn’t usually say much about my garden plans and purchases, but he did raise an eyebrow when Amazon delivered yet another large box…

But I explained to him that the transition from the woodland garden to the backyard needed a little more “structure”. And with that, I took my box outside and got to work. In short order, my structure was complete.

As pretty as it is, I’m not going to share the link because it’s definitely not the most well-made arbour and I don’t recommend purchasing it. If it last more than two years, I’ll be surprised. But, I’m only planning on growing sweet peas up it – and they are annuals, so it won’t harm anything if I have to scrap it eventually. And once the plants on either side grow over the next month, the woodland garden will have proper boundaries.

With that done, I turned my attention to the raspberries. They are starting to sprout nicely.

Last year, they were a big, floppy mess, so I needed to construct something to contain them.

It’s nothing fancy – we got the re-bar stakes with eyelets on them from Princess Auto. I pounded them into the ground, then tied some sting. As the raspberries grow, I’ll hook them inside and everything will be much tidier.

Then it was time to get dirty!

I got the containers in Potager Parlour (mostly) filled. I still need to get a few more bags of soil. I planted my spinach too, so I hope to see some sprouts soon!

You will notice that I don’t have a second tire there.. I did find it (in the garage) but it’s an old tire from the Charger, and Dave has decided he’s sentimentally attached. He didn’t want to see tomatoes growing out of it. No biggie, I had a couple of big pots that happily took its place!

After that, I cleaned the dead stems from the rest of the back gardens (still have to do the front) and burned them in my fire pit (ashes will go in the composter). And I gave the lawn it’s first hair cut and called it a fabulous spring Sunday! I look forward to many more!

I do have plenty of progress on my butterfly to show you, but first I want to share a couple pics Mom took of the solar eclipse

Her town was right in the path of totality

The skies were pretty cloudy, but opened up just enough she was able to get those awesome pics.

Our place was outside the path of totality, so it didn’t get completely dark, but it did get quite dim and eerie!

Now – onto the stitching!

I finished up the lightest bits, and started adding the second lightest colour and I’m feeling much better about my choices.

I might be able to finish the rest of the butterfly next weekend, then I’ll be starting on the greenery! This one is going much quicker than I expected.

I’m doing really well with my goal of at least one finished knit each month. So with Wren’s bolero off the needles, I needed to get something new on to have something to finish by the end of April!

So another pair of sock were in order. This is my Undine pattern, a favorite to use with striped yarn.

The yarn is On Your Toes (with Aloe Vera) in Rose Print. I’ve never knit with it before, but I picked this full ball up in a lot of yarn from a thrift store last year.

It’s has your typical “hardwearing” type of sock yarn feel. I’m not quite sure how the Aloe Vera works in it. Is it supposed to help with the wearing? The knitting? Does it wash out?

Have any of you knit with it? What do you think?

Like the socks I made in February, this pair is destined for the gift box. I’m hoping to have several pairs in there by December.