In the garden

Thanks to the arrival of two eager baby holders, L has been very busy in the garden.

The veg bed has been prepared and is ready for planting.

L. has made further fortification of the fruit patch.

Dad managed to put 2.0 down long enough to paint the fence.

It's looking extremely nice and it's brilliant to have that checked off the list of things to do this summer.

And the most exciting thing of all, L. managed to build the rock garden we've been talking about for months now.

It was so cute that we couldn't resist planting an alpine...

....or two....

...or, ehm, more...

(The cats, as you see, are feeling a little camera-neglected at the moment).
Baby holder in action:

2.0 is here!

...and ready to model my creations!

The hat has been great - easy to put on and so darn cute in action.

The sweater has been less useful. However, this is due to the very lovely spring weather we've been having, so I'm certainly not complaining!

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?!

Good fences, part II

We were hoping to wait until summer to get the last bit of fence fixed up, but a wind storm had other plans.

Much as we like Barbara and her dog Toby, this was a little too cozy for comfort.

So, we set about getting a new fence put in. L. has been getting all sorts of various illnesses this past month, and, as you can see, I'm not in the most helpful of shapes....

 It was clear we'd need at least a little help. Fortunately, the chap who helped L. and Neighbour-on-the-otherside with that fence was available. And, even better, L. started to feel better and was able to give a hand.

End result: a beautiful, sturdy fence in just a weekend and a bit.

Ahhhh, lovely privacy again.

In other garden-related news, the unseasonably warm January has meant that we have colour in the garden....

(still blooming from the fall!)

It certainly doesn't seem like winter....

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.