Christmas ladies

I took inspiration from my new favourite website (Pinterest) to make these Christmas ladies. I altered the pattern and colour scheme to fit the Christmas mood. This has started a new interest in using felt. I already have another design and felt project on the go. 

Sunflower Fun

Andy and I decided to go for a little trip to Montague. We found a lovely little sunflower garden along the way.  I hope you enjoy this little bit of fun. 

First fruits: My veggie patch

Andy and I just celebrated our first year of marriage last week. I have taken several months off of work to spend time with the Lord and live life a bit. I have given much of my free time to gardening. I found it to be a real delight to plant the seeds, pot them on and watch them grow. It is certainly something I want to continue to work at and enjoy for the rest of my life.
My mom always talks about projects she did when she was first married. I realised that I have grown my first veggie patch as a married woman. I am delighted to follow in the footsteps of my mom and grandma. I thought it was worthy of documenting so that one day I can look back at my humble little beginnings. I long for a day when we will have a whole plot of land to work but for now the containers will do.
Andy has even caught on to this gardening idea, the eating part that is. I haven't seen him getting his hands dirty yet! He has started eating salads since the lettuce tastes so good. He has even said that he will try our green beans simply because we grew them. I have never seen him enjoy eating a green bean so that will be interesting! He is very keen to grow loads more potatoes next year, where ever we are.
There has been one catch to growing my garden. Andy and I are moving away in two weeks so we will not be able to enjoy eating our vegetables at harvest time. I am leaving them for our good friends, the Quinns, when they come home from America. I have often wondered if this might be a chance for me to give my 'first fruits' to others. I am happy to follow the Biblical principle of giving away my first and my best, it is a delight. I am sure there will be many more years of happy produce to come where I can eat to my hearts content!

These are my poppies I have grown to remember Grandma Boyd. She had such a beautiful flower garden. I hope I will one day have a garden like hers.

These are my bean plants with a bit of parsley! I have not left them outside because the weather has been so cold. After losing one bean plant to bad weather I decided to protect these more. They usually live by a window inside but are allowed out on nice days! 

The baby beans! 

So excited to eat them. I think some will be ready before we go. 

A bit of lettuce and three sunflower plants mixed in together.

Carrots and leeks in a tiny space- the bucket is deep though. The carrots have been growing like mad. 

Our potatoes. We already pulled up one plant and it was the tastiest thing ever! We are going to pull the rest up for our big family lunch on Sunday.

My lettuce. This has been the biggest success. We have been eating lots of salads. It grows so quickly that we can have one every day! 

Yum. 

My cucumber plants. They're not so happy so I'll just leave them and see what happens.  A little pest certainly though the leaf on the bottom right was tasty! 

Birthday Bag

 Here is my birthday bag! I finished sewing this bag last night, just in time for me to carry around on my birthday today! I have to admit, I'm pretty proud of this sewing project since I'm not very experienced with a sewing machine.
Sewing projects are often a source of great frustration for me. Thankfully I have found a way to help me keep my temper... music! I am proud to say that Bob Marley, Sigur Ros, and Robin Mark all contributed to making this bag nearly as much as I did...well, kind of. Without their sweet-action tunes I wouldn't have kept going through those times of bunching fabric, bobbins running out, and fabric slipping out of place.
I used the same type of fabric as my pillow - swatches torn out of a fabric display book. I also managed to pick up the linen for free. Its a sturdy little thing complete with a functioning pocket. I hope to use it for many years to come!

Baby feet

One day, I received a knitting book through the post from a friend of mine. She said that she happened to see it in the shop and thought I would enjoy it. The surprise sure brightened my day! 

The book is made up of many different baby sock patterns. I have only had a chance to try one pattern at this point but I have many more I would like to try. 

These three pairs of socks are for my new nephew Ezra. I hope they fit!

All for nothing

A borrowed sewing machine, free fabric, stuffing nicked out of a pillow and a little bit of my time resulted in a brand new cushion. 

I found an old fabric demo book with some cute, county patterned pieces. I ripped out the fabric and scrubbed off the glue (it took many hours of soaking and scrubbing) and matched a piece with a bit of velvet (also free) to make the cushion. So, I guess you could say that it was all for nothing!

Andy thinks it is the comfiest pillow he has ever laid his head on.  

Just in time for summer

My very first cardigan is finished! 

It took a lot of figuring out on my own but I have to say I am very happy with the end product. I do hope it will serve me well for many years to come. The only problem now is that the weather has turned lovely and warm! 

I have recently been thinking about the impact advertising has on my life. Too often I buy something in the shop that I like but don't need. I am not a big shopper by any means, but I do wonder at the excess of clothes in my wardrobe that I don't wear. If I don't wear everything I own than why do I buy more? 

 For the past two seasons of lent a friend of mine has refrained from buying herself unnecessary things including clothing. With my friend's example and my increasing awareness of the influence of consumerism in the world in mind I have decided not to buy myself any new clothes (including things from charity/thrift stores) for three months. I have plenty of clothes for all seasons, including my new jumper, and all of them are in great condition. We'll see what happens!