leafette's Blog
leafette's February 2008 Entries
Last Post 51 days, 23 hours Ago
Feb 29, 2008 | 5:12 PM PST
I'm trying to get the winter's quota of sewing done and my dearie has begun to think spring! Being the thrifty individual he is, the budget for this year's vegetable seeds is $40. He is counting all his packages, reviewing the highlighted items in his heritage seed catalogue and agonizing over his choices. I don't care for that 'b' myself. My spending is limited to the charge card limit and the dire threat of a low alimony payment! He thinks we should only grow what we can eat. If I could cook I'd try sugared flower petals. An ornamental thistle makes him want to drag his field sprayer out of the scrap heap. But he actually takes time to smell the roses; I'm hurrying off to the nursery for the latest variety. He is know to run after me but that is because he heard my whoop at finding the latest hiding place for the cheque book! He is thrifty and buys little brown envelopes for his seeds which he stores in a large tin. I buy Rubbermade containers for my fabric finds and throw tablecloths over the new end tables because my closet avalanches if I open it. I also have a very large assortment of black plastic garden pots! He gets the tape measure out to plan the veggie spacing. I shove the shovel into the ground and head to that bush over there. I dream, he plans. He services the lawn mower and I scalp the dandelions, lower rocks and generally level the yard. He yells, I look contrite and together we collapse on the step in the evening after a full and fun day of working in the yard. I can't imagine people being bored!
Feb 25, 2008 | 4:11 PM PST
Lovely weekend away. It was a tad snowy, well actually visibility was down a bit at times, but things went well. We did have a stop as the road was cleared. A moose crossed and there was a three car pile up! Some had been waiting in the line up for 45 minutes and we were only held up for an additional 20. Those moose are BIG but it was rather odd that it was out in the afternoon.
Dh and I had a very nice room overlooking a lake. The weather turned down right balmy. Wow! There was even signs of water on the shoulder of the highway on the way home.
But it is still too early to be thinking spring. We passed some green houses and there was no sign of any smoke coming from their chimneys. So the garden can wait a bit as Dh got a 'chick' catalogue in the mail today. The 'chick' on the front has some hairdo! lol I know what he'll be reading tonight. And after he has checked out all the shapely legs and big breasts he'll decide on what kind of gals will be invited to spend the summer with us. DD says we really should find the movie Chicken Run!
I'm usually quite content to let winter run its course. Not this year. I guess our Dsil's depression has made me anxious for the spring. I had no idea of the struggles that plague some people. It seems that fixes just aren't guick. I was pleased to see him and Dd looking thru the garden catalogue, planning what they'd like to grow.
Now isn't that interesting. We are to have high hopes, look up, raise our sights, etc. but it is down on our knees, hands in the earth, intent on tiny seeds and seedlings that we find peace!
Feb 20, 2008 | 1:54 PM PST
Strike four coming up!
And by grace, she bunts and slides into first!
What doesfirst base umpire Bill say! Don't forget to consult with KIKi, I want 2 witnesses!
A happy leafette! hmm a small, happy leafette! we'll work on size next week. I really gotta go pack! ;)
Feb 20, 2008 | 1:22 PM PST
I got it! Now to press the post button!
Honest. I found the mountain, I saw the photo in my stretched window and I pressed post! awk! I'm sniff, OUT leaf, sob, ette
Feb 20, 2008 | 1:16 PM PST
Feb 20, 2008 | 12:05 PM PST
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Hmm, I'm trying to put my frozen February horizon on the blog!
What next Bill? leafette who is feeling pleased she even has got this far!
Feb 20, 2008 | 6:17 AM PST
Well, time for me to turn over a new leaf. The veggie members of my family have seed catalogues spread all over the kitchen table. DD&Dsil are getting half the garden plot for their own use and my Dh is starting to think spring. They are all thinking about ground breaking events. My farmer never got the tracter and cultivater thru the ground to prepare our Red River Gumbo for spring planting. He is thinking he needs to buy a small rotto tiller. Dsil says in Columbia they have no such machine. They dig by hand. Dh says have at it! He'll babysit the new grandson! LOL
Now Dh has been adding lots of composted sheep manure to the garden and he has high hopes for the coming year. I hope they include raised beds. I say forget the gumbo and get into those nice boxes I've observed on this site. We really should fence it as well! The kids still talk about the day we came home from church and thought, "gee, something looks different!" Yup, the garden was gone! The sheep had got out. A neighbour saw them and put them back in before we got home but after they had demolished the veggies! :(
We are off for a long weekend before we start our agricultural year. Now I've been very smug about keeping up with most of the goings on on GG so I hope I don't lose too much ground while I'm away! I also hope I don't lose too much window sill and counter space as these veggie guys claim space for their peat pots and seed trays!
It's a coming, oh , hallelujah! Spring is coming down the road!
Feb 18, 2008 | 6:44 AM PST
Hmm, the down side of belonging to a garden site seems to be the patience factor. Before I just bobbed along with the seasons and took life (snow) as it came. Now I read about garden prep, I see cute greenhouses, and watch little sprouts in dixie cups as my computer screens changes views with a click of the mouse. Then I look up and out the window! White and if that wasn't enough there is a cold draft across the keyboard! VBSigh. I think I need an attitude adjustment! So I'm off to play with flower patches in a quilted garden. I'll be mulching the floor with all the weedy pieces that don't make the cut or need pruning.
I'll try to remind myself of these days when I'm knee deep in sheep manure and my back is sore from wheeling the wheel barrow thru a curvey path in the heat of summer and I need a quilted project for a quick gift! Such is life! leafette
Feb 14, 2008 | 8:34 AM PST
Life has moved into fast forward for a few days, but I did want to express warm, happy heartshaped thoughts. I took in a lecture one time where a quilter showed a quilt that was made from different examples of flowers that all used a heart shaped petal. It was a full sized sampler quilt and she just rearranged that heart shape in different configurations and colours to represent real flowers. It was quite inspiring! So today's thought could be to think about what flowers in our gardens can be made from that old tried and true heart shape! Leafette who has heart shaped leaves! 8^)
Feb 13, 2008 | 6:29 AM PST
But definitely not outside. Woo, cold and very white. In fact the drive into the city had limited visibility. But DD had an appointment to see how the wee babe is doing and the Women's Hospital has flower deliveries coming thru the door at regular intervals. 31 weeks and 3 lbs. 7 oz. Not sure how they figure that but they also gave us a few photos and I was sharing with any who wanted to study the rather vague and darkish blur.
The flowers were all lovely. Makes me wonder why I don't have some fresh ones sitting around on tables here at home. It would get the mind thinking about things other than outside temperature and weather conditions.
So keep telling me about sewing seeds and cutting back the winter debris. I'm sure you are right. Spring is coming. There is good stuff down under all that snow and it is just waiting. But while I wait I need to do some other kind of sewing. Think I'll look for some flower or leaf fabric. Leafette
Feb 9, 2008 | 11:56 AM PST
At least I think so! I have spent any spare time I've had trying to get thru most of the forums and recent blogs. What a wonderful site. I need to get a notebook so I can remember where some of the great ideas are. I also need to stay caught up!
Still snow, cold and storms up above the 49th parallel. . So my garden view is very much white. I did get some garden books from the library but I've been kinda slow getting into them. I have been inspired by the GG site.
DH and I moved the kitchen stove and shoved some cupboards around. New cupboards are right up near the top of the to-do list and by shoving stuff around I can now 'see' what things will eventually look. Same applys when I change things outside. I need to shove things around, pile pots and stick up poles. Then I can 'see' it. It IS a little tough on the plants but I'm doing better and they aren'y quite as dizzy!
The house plant sectionof the forums has me thinking once again about trying something more than my overwintered geraniums. My fake palm is actually looking kinda life-like now that it is kinda old and faded. 8^) I had to give up on the real plants as my one dabbling in the silk plant home party era made all my real things look bad. But my limited success outside may have turned my houseplant thumb a little greener. I may have to check out some of these tropical plants. If a tender rose can be an 'annual' then elephant ears can be,too. I could get them to a decent size during the winter and then put them out for the garden season.
Nothing tropical about the climate. Our furnace went out for the second night in a row but I think Dh might have the problem licked this time. The good news was that the old plaster walls hold the heat so things didn't get too chilly. We are definitelty getting back-up heat for next winter. One of those grain burning stoves. Rye, wheat, corn! Who'd have thought? You can grow winter fuel in the garden, well, maybe you need a whole field's worth!
I took an art quilting class. I have a 2 story stairway and now I can garden in the winter. I'll make a green forest or something for that long, narrow stairwell and the zone will definitely NOT matter. Heck, I can even think waterfall! LOL
Visibility is down to half a mile as the wind picks up the recent snowfall. Time to grab a cup of coffee and curl up with one of those garden books.
Leafette
