My daughters' dresses have been sitting next to the sewing machine for 2 weeks, I haven't finished them yet! I will definitely need to get that done this next week! So far I've cut out most of the pieces (everything but the ruffle and sleeve bands) and I've sewn the bodice fronts & backs together, and the skirt pieces together. I need to attach the skirt to the bodice, add the sleeves, add the ruffle to the skirt, do the front facing, and add buttons/buttonholes.
I also need to make myself a new hat... I got some bandanas (medium-blue) to make it from, we'll see how well it works. I have this pattern from Birch Street Clothing and they have a bandana hat pattern/kit that I am trying to take my "inspiration" from.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Update on the garden
Whew, we have gotten SO MUCH RAIN in the past few weeks! We got around 9" in April, and so far we're up to 7" for the month of May! I haven't had to water the garden in an entire month.
Everything is doing well, except for the lettuce and tomatoes. Something is eating the peppers, the beans, the zucchini (which seems to be their favorite), the cantaloupes, and possibly the lettuce. (The lettuce does not stand up well to our Texas thunderstorms, and sometimes it will be there one day and gone the next, so I assume something is eating it). It's frustrating as heck. I would spray with some insecticidal soap, but... don't you actually have to see the bugs for it to work?? I can find out WHAT is eating the plants, but do I have to spray the bugs themselves? Or will spraying the plants keep the bugs away? (I feel so stupid for not knowing!)
And still, only 3 of my 12 miniature dwarf apple tree benchgrafts have sprouted. It's been TWO MONTHS! I planted them in groups of 3 (total of 4 groups of 3 each, that is) and if only 3 are going to sprout, I don't know what I'll do. It'll look stupid to have a couple scraggly trees there, I'd rather tear them out and move some thing else to there (dwarf fruit trees in containers, maybe), but it'll be a waste of the $130 I spent on those trees.
(Oh yes, I forgot to say... Burpee replaced my lisianthus that had been damaged, and the replacements came in yesterday. I planted them yesterday evening).
Anyway, here are a few pictures. Click for a little bit bigger image. The caption for each photo is just beneath the photo (instead of above).
An almost-ripe dewberry! This thing is huge, it's the size of a quarter!
More dewberries. Awesome! I'll have to keep a really close eye on them as they ripen, and make sure the birds don't get them. (I suppose I ought to have bird netting on hand, just in case).
One of my 4'x4' planters. They're all pretty much the same, except the one that has zucchini & Roma tomatoes (the zucchinis look awful, like I said- something's been eating their leaves).
The pretty purple flowers on my Royal Burgundy bush beans.
Beans!! These are the pods on my Tendergreen Improved bush beans. I think they're supposed to be harvested at 5"-6" long, they're currently about 2" long. Wild estimation, anyway.
Lemons! Looks like it'll be a loooong time before these guys are ripe.
Everything is doing well, except for the lettuce and tomatoes. Something is eating the peppers, the beans, the zucchini (which seems to be their favorite), the cantaloupes, and possibly the lettuce. (The lettuce does not stand up well to our Texas thunderstorms, and sometimes it will be there one day and gone the next, so I assume something is eating it). It's frustrating as heck. I would spray with some insecticidal soap, but... don't you actually have to see the bugs for it to work?? I can find out WHAT is eating the plants, but do I have to spray the bugs themselves? Or will spraying the plants keep the bugs away? (I feel so stupid for not knowing!)
And still, only 3 of my 12 miniature dwarf apple tree benchgrafts have sprouted. It's been TWO MONTHS! I planted them in groups of 3 (total of 4 groups of 3 each, that is) and if only 3 are going to sprout, I don't know what I'll do. It'll look stupid to have a couple scraggly trees there, I'd rather tear them out and move some thing else to there (dwarf fruit trees in containers, maybe), but it'll be a waste of the $130 I spent on those trees.
(Oh yes, I forgot to say... Burpee replaced my lisianthus that had been damaged, and the replacements came in yesterday. I planted them yesterday evening).
Anyway, here are a few pictures. Click for a little bit bigger image. The caption for each photo is just beneath the photo (instead of above).
An almost-ripe dewberry! This thing is huge, it's the size of a quarter!
More dewberries. Awesome! I'll have to keep a really close eye on them as they ripen, and make sure the birds don't get them. (I suppose I ought to have bird netting on hand, just in case).
One of my 4'x4' planters. They're all pretty much the same, except the one that has zucchini & Roma tomatoes (the zucchinis look awful, like I said- something's been eating their leaves).
The pretty purple flowers on my Royal Burgundy bush beans.
Beans!! These are the pods on my Tendergreen Improved bush beans. I think they're supposed to be harvested at 5"-6" long, they're currently about 2" long. Wild estimation, anyway.
Lemons! Looks like it'll be a loooong time before these guys are ripe.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Damaged in transit. Ugh.
Last night there was a knock at the door... it was the Pink Champage lisianthus plants I ordered from Burpee... yay! I opened the door (the man had already hopped back in his truck and was rolling down the road by the time I got to the door), and discovered the box that said "THIS SIDE UP" all over it was laying on its side (and no, not the proper side)! Just great. So I went to open it up, and this is what I found, all the plants had been dumped out of their cells and their roots knocked loose:
I am... rather unhappy about this. I went and stuck them all in my garden anyway (though most of them barely had any roots at all). I sent an email to Burpee customer service about how to make a claim or get a refund... hopefully I will hear back soon. It was $26.95 for those 12 little plants! (By the way, the plants you get from Burpee so far seem to be about the same size as the 6-pk plants you get from Lowe's or Wal-Mart! What a rip-off! But I've only ordered the lisianthus, I don't know about the tomatoes or other plants). I received my other lisianthus plants last week and they were fine.
I am... rather unhappy about this. I went and stuck them all in my garden anyway (though most of them barely had any roots at all). I sent an email to Burpee customer service about how to make a claim or get a refund... hopefully I will hear back soon. It was $26.95 for those 12 little plants! (By the way, the plants you get from Burpee so far seem to be about the same size as the 6-pk plants you get from Lowe's or Wal-Mart! What a rip-off! But I've only ordered the lisianthus, I don't know about the tomatoes or other plants). I received my other lisianthus plants last week and they were fine.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
New project for my daughters
I've decided to make them some matching dresses. I got the fabric off the $2/yd rack at Wal-Mart, and the pattern is New Look 6884. I will use the bumblebee fabric for the main dress, the checkered fabric for the undershorts (and maybe for the ruffle on the dress, I haven't decided yet).
Rain, rain, come this way...
We have a lot of rain in the forecast. It rained a little on Sunday, and it rained for about an hour yesterday, but our 10-day forecast is calling for a 30-60% chance of rain every day this week (80% chance today and tomorrow).
Rain does such fantastic things for the garden. It seems like tap water from the hose keeps the plants alive, but rainwater makes them flourish!
Here are some updated pics of my garden. The first one is the same garden box I posted here, but taken from the opposite side. Look how much everything has grown in the last week and a half! My tomato plants have nearly doubled in size in just the last couple weeks, but I wasn't able to get good pics of them. Click on each of these for a little bit bigger pic.
My herb garden
My Austin dewberries. This plant has more than doubled in size since we planted it last month.
My Apache blackberries... look at all those blackberries!!
Closeup of a clump of Brightwell blueberries.
My Tifblue blueberries. Click for a little bit bigger pic, you can see how many teensy berries there are on it. I think they ripen in June or July.
Rain does such fantastic things for the garden. It seems like tap water from the hose keeps the plants alive, but rainwater makes them flourish!
Here are some updated pics of my garden. The first one is the same garden box I posted here, but taken from the opposite side. Look how much everything has grown in the last week and a half! My tomato plants have nearly doubled in size in just the last couple weeks, but I wasn't able to get good pics of them. Click on each of these for a little bit bigger pic.
My herb garden
My Austin dewberries. This plant has more than doubled in size since we planted it last month.
My Apache blackberries... look at all those blackberries!!
Closeup of a clump of Brightwell blueberries.
My Tifblue blueberries. Click for a little bit bigger pic, you can see how many teensy berries there are on it. I think they ripen in June or July.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Planning my next project
I think the next thing I need to add to my sewing project list is something I can wear in the sun! My daughter is in softball this year and she has 9 games left this season, so I'll be spending quite a bit of time in the sun.
I need a hat and a blouse, I can't find one of either kind ready-made that is a price I can agree with. So for blouses, so far I'm considering:
McCall's 5359
Butterick 5034
Butterick B4819
And for hats, I have a Travel Pop-Up Hat pattern and set of wires. I just need to pick some fabric out. (There is also a bandana hat kit, LOL, but I think I'll pass).
I need a hat and a blouse, I can't find one of either kind ready-made that is a price I can agree with. So for blouses, so far I'm considering:
McCall's 5359
Butterick 5034
Butterick B4819
And for hats, I have a Travel Pop-Up Hat pattern and set of wires. I just need to pick some fabric out. (There is also a bandana hat kit, LOL, but I think I'll pass).
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Oooh, strawberry!
This is the 2nd strawberry we've gotten so far... I let my husband have the first one. This one is MINE, ha ha! It's not quite ripe... I think by this afternoon or tomorrow morning, it should be ready.
There are some rather misshapen berries on our other strawberry plants... we have a total of 12, but only about 1-2 berries on each plant. You can see 2 other small berries on this particular plant, but I got this plant at Wal-Mart (the others were purchased at Lowe's). Not many people are successful growing strawberries in Texas, but I am determined to keep trying.
There are some rather misshapen berries on our other strawberry plants... we have a total of 12, but only about 1-2 berries on each plant. You can see 2 other small berries on this particular plant, but I got this plant at Wal-Mart (the others were purchased at Lowe's). Not many people are successful growing strawberries in Texas, but I am determined to keep trying.
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