Tag Archives: garden

four things | sixteen

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Well, it’s been that kind of a week. The spring on my garage door broke. The garage door repair man didn’t have the right size spring and had to order it. We’re still waiting to hear back from him.

I have gout and it really acted up this week. It was so bad, I went to the doctor and got a shot in my knee. It’s much better now.

The clasp that holds the strap on my Fitbit broke. I tried to fix it but nothing seemed to work. I ordered a different brand which has more bells and whistles and I’m trying to figure it out..

What a week. At least it’s not snowing.

what I’m reading

Our Book Club chose The Secret Life of Sunflowers by Marta Molnar. It is based on the true story of Johanna Bonger, Vincent van Gogh’s sister-in-law. “Johanna inherited Vincent’s paintings. She was a 28 year old widow with a baby in the 1800s, without any means of supporting herself, living in Paris where she barely spoke the language. Yet she managed to introduce Vincent’s legacy to the world.”

I’m only half way through and I have a hard time putting it down.

what I’m watching

It was the end of a dynasty. Sparky, his harem, and all of his offspring are swimming in the warm tropical waters wherever guppies go when they pass on. Mr. Aitch bought Sparky, a male fancy-tail guppy, and two female consorts back in 2004. They did what guppies do and soon we had more guppies.

The life span of a guppy is about 2-3 years. Our three original guppies and offspring produced hundreds more in the following 21 years. The last of Sparky’s progeny passed on earlier this year.

Our aquarium was looking rather bleak until Mr. Aitch picked up six Rainbow Boesemani fish on Thursday! They’re only about 2-2 1/2 inches now and will get about 3-3/12 inches long. The males are brightly colored and the females have a faint yellow stripe. We have three males and three females and with any luck, we might get more!

what I discovered

The old seeds were too old. It was a long shot that they would sprout. They just smelled bad.

what I saw on my walk

This beautiful deep purple iris said, “Look at me!” So I did.

Enjoy your week.

four things | twelve

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It’s Saturday already?! Where does the time go?

what I’m watching

The weather this week has been up and down, warm and cool, windy and calm, sunny, cloudy and rainy. I’m usually a heavy sleeper but I woke up around 3:00 Friday morning by a thunderstorm. I could hear the rumbling but fell back to sleep quickly.

Looks like this coming week will be more of the same. Spring is like that.

what I did and didn’t do

I only walked three days this week. I’m a fair-weather walker. And so is Pepper. If it’s not raining today, I will get in another walk. I take Sundays off though getting outside and breathing in the fresh air would be relaxing.

what I’m working on

I managed to clean off my cutting table and cut at least half of the flannel for the 2-3 dozen burp cloths I’m making for a baby shower. I got seven pinned together and as soon as my sewing table is clear, I can start sewing them together in an assembly line.

another thing I’m working on

I found some flower seed packets we received in the mail from a realtor years ago. I had them tacked to a bulletin board next to my computer for awhile. A l-o-n-g while! One is an “Old Fashioned Mixture” of annuals for cutting packed in 2006. The other is a “Butterfly Garden Mix” packaged in 2010.

I will try to see if any of the seeds are still viable and plant them in a sunny part of the yard or some pots for the deck.

I’ve looked on-line about germinating old seeds by soaking them in a sugar solution of 1 cup sterilized water and 1 teaspoon sugar for a day. The next step is to scatter them on a damp paper towel, fold the towel over the seeds and slip it into a plastic bag placed in a warm spot. If nothing happens, I’m out of a plastic bag and a teaspoon of sugar.

Have a wonderful weekend.

A couple of things

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I can’t believe it’s already September!  Each season has it’s own special smells and I could smell Fall in the air yesterday.  The days are definitely getting shorter.  Are you ready for the change in seasons?

Last week was eventful in so far as we received some outdoor items we ordered way back in June.  Our new patio table finally came in and we have been eating out on the deck the past couple of days – breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  This past weekend was Labor Day in the US.  Mr. Aitch and I hung out at home and enjoyed the beautiful weather. The sunny skies were welcome as it rained every day last week and finally cleared up on Friday. We really missed our evenings eating al fresco and though summer is winding down, we can still enjoy another couple of weeks on the deck.  You can read about the old table.

The fabric I ordered to recover the old cushions at the beginning of June was canceled by the manufacturer in mid-August.  Or that’s when I found out about it.  Back to square one with that.  I finally decided on a solid red for the front porch cushions, ordered it, and received the bolt of fabric last week.

One thing I didn’t like about the original cushions is that they are 3-4 inches narrower than the seat cushions.  That was something I didn’t realize before I made those covers.  I have to get new inserts anyway so I will make them the same width as the seat cushions. I can take my time over the winter months to make the new cushion covers for next spring/summer.

The Rainy Window socks are coming along nicely.  Sock number 1 is finished (except for weaving in the ends) and sock number 2 is more than halfway done.  The heel is turned and I have about one-third of the foot knitted.

My knitting set up over the weekend.  The audiobook I was listening to was hilarious.  FYI it’s not for delicate ears.

You can find me out on the deck knitting.

Patti