Preparing for our new release

2.0 hasn't yet made his entrance into the world, so I've been stuck twiddling my thumbs and reading far too many parenting books. Several of them were adamant that no newborn should be born into a room without a blackout curtain. While I don't necessarily agree with much of their advice (I'm looking at you, Gina Ford), it did seem like it would be nice for naps to have the option of darkness (especially for us adults). So, this weekend's project was a blackout curtain.

It's a little hard to photograph it as it does its job extremely well.

It's also my first lined curtain and I'm very pleased.

Along with the curtain, we've set up 2.0's cot (which has made our little bedroom seem all the smaller!).

I've also crocheted him a wee dragon.

Curtain, his own bed, and his own little dragon - how could 2.0 possibly resist coming soon?!

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.