Experimenting

with regrowing ...

... celery.

I had read that this was possible. We don't eat a lot of celery but I thought it would be a fun thing to try.

About a week ago I cut the end of the stalk off and put it in a small dish on a folded up paper towel and added about 1/2 an inch of water. It's growing!

I will plant it outside in the garden bed as soon as it stops raining.

When my brother passed away my sister had a lot of plants from the funeral. She sent two home with me. The Peace Lily died within the first year. I was sad I wasn't able to keep it alive. The Umbrella plant is big and spends most of the time on my bay window ledge that faces south. I put it outside on the porch last summer and it did ok. It then spent the winter on the bay window ledge and I put it back outside when it warmed up. The porch faces west. Even though it has an overhang the afternoon sun can be brutal if the weather is already hot. This year hasn't been that hot but we have had WIND. 

The sun and wind have not been kind to this plant. So I brought it back inside and did some research about how to rejuvenate it. What I found said to cut the stems just above a leaf node and new growth would happen. I was concerned about cutting all three stems so I only cut one. I figured if the experiment didn't work it would only affect one stem. 

But, look! There is growth! 

So nothing ventured, nothing gained. I might try this with another stem to see if the result is as good.

And, the geraniums?

I left them inside and they are both doing well and blooming.

Took a look around my yard this morning. The sun is shining which is nice after a rainy day yesterday. 

This Hibiscus is growing.

Lilies, ignore the wild lettuce. It grows everywhere and I just can't keep up with it.

 









Hollyhocks. These grow in different spots around my yard. So pretty.

A rose among the Clustered Bellflowers.

Berries are ripening. Sadly, for me, the birds are eating them.

The raised beds are doing better. I replanted beans and they are the same size as the wind-blown ones that didn't die. We have been eating the lettuce in salads for lunch.

Ok, so I was wrong. Turns out I did not dig up Purple Coneflower, but Black Eyed Susan instead. It's ok. I am happy with them anyway. There are other wildflowers coming up from seeds I threw out this spring. Maybe one of them will be purple coneflower.

Organizing Continues

Son will be spending a few days with us during the fair which is in mid-July. I am still working on sorting and organizing the sewing/guest room. I want it to be easy for he and his dog to get around in.

A while back someone gifted me with a used 10 drawer storage unit. I had been using it to store card making supplies, machine embroider threads and other small odds and ends. 

One of the drawers is broken and the others come off the tracks every time they are opened or closed. It is too tall to fit under the table or ironing board so I have decided to relocate the items in the drawers and move it on out.

I moved the card making supplies into a couple of pretty shoebox-sized boxes. I don't have a lot - a couple of ink pads, a few stamps, cards. I have had these items for a while and have good intentions, but have yet to make a card.

The boxes fit nicely on a shelf on the TV stand. I really enjoy the decorative boxes and use them to store a lot of things. I think I got these at Joann Fabrics, but my dollar store carries some in various sized and designs.

Now to organize the thread. 

I had purchased the Artbin containers with thread trays, but the spacing of the spindles doesn't work well with most of the thread spools. I have to skip every other spindle to get them to fit nicely so not as many spools fit. 

I want covered containers. I want them to be stackable, have a handle and easy to manage. I also want clear containers so I can quickly see what is inside. 
So now I am searching on-line for just the right container. Once found, I will be one step closer to getting this room organized and easily usable for me and Son.

Design Wall Monday

Visit Small Quilts and Doll Quilts to see what other quilters are up to.

Today I am still working on the borders of the Trip Around the World quilt. I have one long side finished. The long sides consist of two borders. 

The design is a little hard to see on the front.

The back is a dark blue, but it shows up purple in the pictures.

I think my idea of putting a floral motif in the center of each side will work. 

I have started a short side. 

The short sides (top and bottom) have 3 borders.

I worried and fretted about this project, but now that I have gotten started it is going well.

Best Laid Plans

I really am struggling with sticking to plans. My 'plan' for the summer had been this - after breakfast when Husband goes to do chores I would walk to the corner and back (1 mile) increasing that as I built up my endurance, then work in the yard for a few hours, shower, lunch, sew/quilt for the afternoon.

Ha
Ha ha ha ha ha!!

So far I have done NO walking, but I have worked in the yard and I figure that is at least some exercise. I have been filling my cart full of weeds and walking to the other side of the farm to the burn pile, fill empty cart from the mulch pile, spread mulch, weed some more and repeat one more time. After I have taken the second cart full of weeds to the burn pile I usually stop at the tool shed and have a cold drink and chat with Husband if he is taking a break.

Then I come to the house intending to take a shower, but decide to check email first. Before I know it Husband is coming in for lunch. Then we sit and chat, watch the news or whatever on TV, and sometimes take a little nap in our chairs. Then I get interested in something on PBS. Then it is time to start thinking about supper. And, I feel like if Husband is in the house I should be spending time with him. I hope I can figure out a good schedule and stick to it or I won't get much of anything done.

I really do have good intentions. I did get the Trip Around the World quilt loaded on the machine.

This quilt has an inner border all the way around, a middle border on the top and bottom to add length, and an outside border all the way around. 

She has chosen the cable for the inner border, the leaf design for the top and bottom border and the floral looking design for the outer border.

The cable design it similar to what she had planned to do before she decided that she just wouldn't get the quilt finished as soon as she would like. It has rounded corners. 

I have not used this board yet. I knew it wasn't going to fit perfectly in the space so there has been some measuring and thinking and figuring out what to do. I have decided to place one floral looking motif in the center of the cable border on each side because the design does not fit perfectly in any of the borders and I haven't figured out how to 'fudge it' like I would be able to if hand quilting.

So that was my plan for today...to start the quilting. Then, Husband had to go pick up a tractor that had been repaired. I had to drive him there and follow him home. You know, just in case the tractor decided to break down on the way home. This has happened! And, he doesn't carry a cell phone. So I listened to an audio book which was nice and made the drive go quicker.

After lunch he went out to do some work and I decided to get busy on the quilt. Then my son started texting me. I don't know how he does it but he tends to text or call when I am in the middle of something - cleaning, eating, quilting. I do enjoy hearing from him though, so I stop what I am doing to give him my full attention.

Also, when I am sitting with Husband I am usually doing something, like knitting or handwork of some kind. 

I am trying to use up the cotton yarn skeins and leftovers I have. I have a small stash accumulated from when my mom wanted 50 every year for Christmas gifts for her staff and friends. She has quite a few now and told me recently that she probably has enough to last her for several years. I like to give them as gifts too, but have some already made up. So I knitted a dish towel...

...and some cloths for the steam mop.

Since I no one but me sees them and they are for cleaning purposes I don't care that the yarns don't match perfectly. I used Scrubby yarns for the steam mop cloths.

So I guess I haven't been totally unproductive, but I need want to figure out a schedule.

Happy

Today started with the sun shining, light breeze and cool. So I spent a couple of hours working in the yard. I have so much weeding and mulching to do that it will probably take me until fall to get it done! 

Anyway, here are some lovely sights from around my yard. 



Yellow Siberian Iris by my mailbox. I hope the mail carrier enjoys them as much as I do.

 
Clustered Bellflower.

Roses and 

Lilies and 

Berries

The corn and beans are growing.











We  have more rain predicted for today and this weekend. We really don't need anymore for a while, but I am thankful that things are growing!

Outside and In

I have been slowly working on things outside and things inside. 

Outside I've been weeding and mulching.

Yesterday I saw this Monarch caterpillar, the first one this summer. Fortunately I saw it before I pulled this clump of grass. 

We had heavy rain - 1  1/2 inches - during the night and I haven't been able to find it this morning. Hopefully it is hiding somewhere safe.

The area I found it in is right next to the apple tree. 

This tree is loaded with tiny apples.

We needed rain, but 1  1/2 inches is too much.

We now have water standing in the fields again. It is quite breezy today so that should help dry things up some. Husband has yet to be able to mow hay because of this wet weather.

Inside I've been trying to get the tension right on the Ultimate. I need to name this machine. Any suggestions? I'm pretty frustrated with it right now. 

I discovered the bobbin in the machine had some rough spots. When I switched to a different bobbin the tension issue seemed to be resolved.

At least as long as I didn't stop during the entire pass. But, then I practiced with a board that I will be using to finish a quilt for someone. I have only purchased 2 boards which is not enough length for the whole quilt (usually need 4) so I will have to stop and move one board to the other end several times. When I stop and start up again, the thread breaks. This machine is one of the first ones manufactured and does not have the needle up, needle down function. I don't know if that is the problem, but I will figure it out, somehow. 

Monday Again

Go to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts to see what other people are working on.

Since last Monday I have been a little busy.

I finished piecing the T-shirt quilt. 

Now to quilt it.

I pieced my block for the Exchange.

My block

Debbie's blocks so far. One of her fabrics is a beautiful print with birds and flowers that is being used by some as fussy cut centers.

There was tree removal happening. Two large trees on our property had or were dying. The largest one was close to the house and we worried every time it stormed that it would come down on the house. No more worries.

I did not expect this many vehicles to show up, but there was the boom truck, two trucks to hold the shredded branches, the shredder, the stump picker-upper thing, and the stump grinder.

Cutting 

Shredding

More cutting and the stump picker-upper thing. I really don't know what it is called, but you can see the bucket and claw used to pick up the large branches and trunk pieces. The bucket/claw part could be rotated sideways to grab onto the branch or trunk before it was completely cut through.

A stump before it was ground down. Notice the huge pile of cut up tree in the back.

It was a four man crew and they worked very well together. They even relocated a Dove's nest. Sadly, the nest fell out of this tree and the eggs broke.

Husband got all his crops in the ground.

That cloud of dust, that's him. 

I got the yard mowed.

Beautiful blue sky with puffy white clouds.

My front garden bed is blooming with purple Spiderwort and Clustered Bellflower. The yellow lilies are just starting to bloom.

The mail carrier was so excited about the Bellflowers that I have dug some up for her. You can see them waiting in bags by the mailbox. 

I know I still need to do a LOT of work in my yard but that will get done. I did spend some time this morning pulling weeds. It was pretty easy since the ground is soft from the rain we got over the last few days. Not huge amounts like earlier this spring, but just enough to help the crops in the fields get going.

Now on the finishing laundry, cleaning floors, and some sewing/quilting.