Rearrangements

Following our Thanksgiving dinner (which necessitated a whole downstairs rearrangement in order to fit all 13 guests in), we decided to try a slightly new arrangement of furniture - at least for the winter.

The table is now in the living room, which makes for cozy dinners now when it's dark.

And we've turned the lean-to into a reading room, so we can catch the winter light.

L. can attest that it's now ideal for working from home.
And Lily is using it for less productive pursuits.

Meanwhile, we've also added a bit of festive cheer.

...And 2.0 has been growing at an impressive rate.

Knitting update

I have been awful about updating the blog lately. This is partially due to the fact that we've done only little, boring projects lately that don't lead to inspiring photographs (painting over scuff marks, regrouting the tiles around the sink, filling and painting the trim...), and also because I've been a little busy (or at least unbelievably tired) with our latest DIY project- E.+L. 2.0.

Since I haven't been feeling like any big painting projects, I've been directing my creative energies to knittig hats and other goodies for 2.0.

The first hat is a fairly simple one, based loosely on a free pattern from Purlbee.

Hat #2 is definitely my favourite. It was slightly more challenging, but was worth it for the sheer cuteness factor.

I used the Cisco baby hat pattern from Berroco (with different colours and a simplier stitching pattern), but ended up tucking the back panel to give the hat a more hat-like shape. I also didn't follow the directions for casting off with the back panel (just kept the stiches on a separate needle) so that the ears integrated better into the rest of the hat (and also because I'm a bit lazy about picking up stitches and prefer to avoid it whenever possible).

Now I just need 2.0 to arrive so I'll have a model for them!

Garden update, September edition

The garden is looking extremely tidy at the moment, thanks to the hard work of L. and L.'s parents (I, um, might have napped through the whole afternoon).

All of the diseased leaves have been removed, leaving the pumpkins looking a little lost in the veg patch.

The patio has been nicely cleaned and shaped...

...making it all the easier to admire the flower selection.

And the grass has been neatly trimmed.

Other highlights include the harvesting of the potatoes (the best part is that we didn't plant these--they're left-overs from the previous owners that seem to magically come back each year. Amazing!)

And fortunately, in spite of the great clearing, we still have plenty of colour in the garden thanks to the roses and the fuschia.

While I'm very pleased to have the garden so neat, I think our frog is less than pleased at the disappearance of all of the lush undergrowth.

Alien table gets a new life

Last year, we bought the most adorable little table from the Recycling Centre. However, while it's general structure was undeniably cute, the top, unfortunately, had seen much better days. So, this past weekend, I decided to try my hand at refinishing it.

The first few scrapes with the sandpaper were truly horrible - what if I'd made a terrible mistake?! But fortunately the varnish came off incredibly easily.

Both kittens were very excited to have a new place to sit, so I spent a rather pleasant Sunday afternoon painting coats of varnish and guarding the table.

And, behold, it was all worth it.

I was worried about sanding off the lovely veneer, so the table ended up looking pleasantly antique-y, I think.

Most importantly, it's much better protected....and looks considerably less like it's just been brought home from the dump - alien table success!

Garden update, August edition

I'm sure you're desperate to know what the status of our garden is.

I'm happy to report, it remains productive, with an explosion of both growth....

And (finally) tomatoes:

...peppers (L. is particularly pleased about these):

...strawberries:

....and the ever-growing pears:

We had a major problem with a white mildew that took over the courgettes, so drastic pruning was necessary.

It seems to have stopped the spread and has had the additional benefits of spurring the plants to create even more courgettes....and to encourage the newly-uncovered pumpkins to ripen.

With no less than four pumpkins in the making, I'm already having visions of delicious pumpkin pie in the fall.

A blanket finished

I'm pleased that I managed to finish the blanket before our friends' baby arrived.

The final product:

In the end, I opted to sew the backing to it inside out, which made for a nice, simple edge.

The back was made with the left overs from the front.

This was a great project - simple, easy, relatively cheap (1/2 metre fleece, 3 fat quarters of cute fabric, a little bit of ribbon, some white scraps from another project). The hardest part was cutting and pressing all the little flags (not such a big task, really). Other friends with babies on the way, be warned!

A very pleasant summer

I'm a little ashamed to keep putting up blog posts as most of what I have to blog about is just the state of the garden (which, with a little weeding and a little watering is mostly taking care of itself).

L. and I haven't done too much on the house lately - we've been busy sporting, socialising, and, in my case, sewing.

This is my latest work in progress (for a friend who hopefully doesn't read here).

I still haven't decided how I want to finish the edges off (so, friend of mine who is expecting a little one soon and likes this type of fabric and tea - if you are reading this, do let me know your preference :) ).

And now, back to the usual garden report.

Most of the suspicious 'weeds' have proven their worth by producing some lovely flowers.

The tiny seedling tomatoes that the parents kindly gave us in May have turned into water-sucking monsters.

And the peppers have taken off too -- though still no fruit from either.

Lukas harvested the first of the beetroots today.

A few more lovely-and-fiery radishes have been eaten.

And the courgettes....oh, the courgettes! I love courgettes normally, but I'm a little worried I won't be able to appreciate grocery store courgettes now that I've tasted truly fresh courgettes.

From vine....

to documentation.....

...to dinner in under half an hour. Oh, the deliciousness!

We'll have to wait a bit longer for the pumpkins, though they certainly are coming on nicely.

Production!

After an exceptionally dry spring, the rain has returned. Oddly enough, L. and I applauded the wetness as we were getting rather concerned about the amount of water we were suddenly having to spend keeping the veggies alive.

With the rain came a big boost of productivity and (hurray!) colour.

Our attempt to re-seeding the lawn in the back seems to be something of a success (albeit a bit patchy).

And the courgettes have really started to thrive.

Fortunately, we have Lilith on scarecrow duty.