I Found Some Photos of Older Quilts

 A friend was asking about a couple of quilts I had made a while ago.

This first one was a picnic quilt I made in 2010.  It is all scraps, done in a quilt as you go technique.  What  makes this quilt special are the ants I embroidered all over it.  Hence it is called 'What's a Picnic Without Ants?'

It is being held up by a couple of Japanese Kamajo students that my DD was hosting for 10 days   We were at Sibbald's Point beach on Lake Simcoe.  The weather was not great.  I think we went home shortly after this photo was taken.

The embroidered ants seemed to scare the real ants away because we didn't see even one.

The next quilt was made while I was a patient at West Park, a rehab hospital.  I was getting kind of depressed while I was there and the doctor wanted to prescribe medication.  I didn't want any.  Just give me some fabric and let me do some sewing I told them.  The occupational therapist thought it was a great idea.  I could iron the fabric pieces and it would help me strengthen my legs while doing so..  They allowed me to go home for a day and I picked up a box full of scraps.  My hospital room soon started to look like my quilting room.  What a mess!

Although I used plastic templates, all the piecing and applique was done entirely by hand.  It was terrific therapy.  It kept me busy every evening and took my mind off my disability.  The nurses on the ward started to drop by to see my progress.  I was so glad I was a quilter.  Sewing is the best therapy there is.  It kept me sane. 

I called this quilt 'Garden of Hope'.  Janet Chisholm quilted it for me on her long arm machine.  

Mittens

My eyesight is still not back.  So no sewing or quilting.  But I am able to do a bit of knitting as long as the yarn is a light colour.  I have been working on these. Mittens for William.

I am not quite sure of the right size to make.  So I am experimenting.  

It is really nice out.  It feels more like early fall instead of November.  But this won't last much longer.  Much cooler temperatures are expected in the coming days.  I took the opportunity to go out into the back yard.  I dug up some onions and picked a small bunch of nasturtiums.  These are the last flowers in my garden.

A Bit of Sewing

 I am still not feeling great.  But it has been brought to my attention that I haven't posted or done any sewing for several weeks.  So here is a post to remedy that,  I found a big container full of Scrap Vortex blocks.  Most were not sewn together.  Since a perfect 1/4 inch seam allowance is not all that important, I decided to work on my scraps.  

And here it is.  Wrinkled.  Not ironed.  Not in perfect focus or in good lighting.   And only a  beginning.  I hope to work on this for a while longer.  I still have tons of scraps.

Thanks to everyone who wished me well.

Lots going On. Nothing Terribly Good. Except the Garden.

 

I'm experimenting with the new blogger.  Hope this works. 

I started this blog a few months ago in an attempt to be positive.  No one wants to read a negative blog.  Right?   But it is difficult to be positive at the moment.  

I broke my ankle in March of 2019.  Unfortunately it was not set correctly.  When the cast finally came off my foot was only connected to my leg with some skin.  The bones had become separated.  I don't know if I am describing it correctly or not.  I saw a foot and ankle specialist.  He operated on my ankle immediately.  I was in the hospital for a couple of months.  From there I was transported to another hospital to recuperate.  

I had physiotherapy daily.  After two and a half months I was allowed to go home.   My leg had not healed as well as was hoped.  The surgeon had taken a large bone from the inside of my ankle.   The incision was not healing properly.  A VON nurse had to come to the house and put clean dressings on it every other day.  

During the surgery a rod was inserted into my leg from my heal to my knee.  Other screws and bolts were also implanted.  I was still unable to walk.  I had to wear a large black boot.  At the beginning of December the VON nurse told me the incision had healed and that she would not be returning to dress the wound.   Needless to say I was ecstatic.  But a week later my leg became painful and swollen.  No one could tell me why this was happening.  Since then I have seen more doctors that I care to admit to.  Everyone has a different diagnosis.  I even had a nuclear test done.  No one can agree on anything.  No one can tell me why my leg is still swollen and more painful than I can bear.  I need to take CBD oil to help me sleep.

I was also having trouble with my vision.  Last Saturday I saw a retinal specialist.  He lasered the bleeding at the back of my eyes.  I thought my vision would improve after hat but it hasn't.  

So now I am at an impasse.  My blog, facebook and gmail accounts were compromised when I was in the hospitals.   I lost everything and had to start over with a new computer and the creation of new accounts.  There is not much positive stuff going on around here at the moment.

But in keeping with my desire to stay positive, I have been doing some gardening.  All summer long I have been eating zucchinis, green beans and delicious tomatoes. Today I went out and discovered that my fall crocuses are blooming.  They are beautiful.  In the spring they come up as lush. green, shiny leaves. 

These die down after a couple of months.  Then all summer it is impossible to tell where they are growing.  In the fall they erupt from the bare soil in a riot of colour.   

I also have a huge sunflower that was planted by the squirrels that make my yard their home.  I also planted a couple of packages of sunflowers= seeds but nothing came up.  They were probably tasty treats for my furry residents.

More when I am feeling better.

Calm and Confusion

I am happy to report that William was less stressed when he came home from school yesterday  He was no longer worried about the other students laughing at him.  They had phys ed.  His favourite!  They went outside and ran around the school yard.  He wanted to play 'hot potato' but they were only allowed to touch their own stuff.  He is still struggling to understand it all.  They did some soccer skills instead and he loved that.  He fell asleep without too much trouble at bedtime.

He will not have to go back to school until next Monday.  There were only 6 students in his class yesterday, but the students are being brought back in small groups.   There are still 3 more groups until they are all there.  I have no idea how many kids will eventually be in his class.

And that brings me to my concerns.  I was under the impression that there would be no more than 15 students to a class.  But now I am hearing 22 to 27 per class will be the norm..  What I don't understand is this:  How come we are not allowed to be with others in groups of more than 10?  Yet children in school are being put into groups that are twice as large.  Our premiere is keeping the province in stage 3 for at least another month because our Covid cases are going up daily.

I have more concerns,but they will have to wait until another time.  I have a doctor's appointment downtown today. I have to take Wheeltrans.  They will be picking me up shortly.

I just want to show you a couple of my red waffle blocks for this month.  Red is the colour of the month on soscrappy.  I have lots of red fabrics so this is easy.

Face Masks and Back to School Jitters

It's William's first day back at school after 6 months of staying home.  If I said I was not concerned I would be lying.

William phoned me last night.  He was not able to sleep.  I asked him what he was worried about.  He said his stomach was hurting.  He will be in grade 1 this year.  He does not know who his teacher will be.  He has no idea who will be in his class.  He has to stay in his seat all day.  How will that work for a kid with an intense desire to be active?

I asked him what he was worried about most.  He said he was afraid the other kids will laugh at him.  He injured his bottom lip on the left side and it is still sore.  He has to eat on the other side of his mouth.  He was crying when he told me he was afraid the other kids wouldn't understand.

His concern over his lip overshadowed his fears.  There wasn't much I could tell him except that I loved him   I can only hope that everything will go okay.  Stay safe, wear your mask, wash your hands properly, give your friends the elbow greeting,  Keep a Covid distance and all will be well I told him.  Call me tonight and tell me all about your day.

I made a few more face masks for him and for another boy whose Grandmother lives on my street.

More Elastic and Face Masks

I ran out of 1/4 inch elastic for the face masks I was planning to make.  Dolores from True Blue Canadian told me that she was able to buy some at a variety of shops.  She even offered to bring me some.

So yesterday I went to Walmart, but they didn't have any.  Their loss.  I went across the street to Fabricland and bought way more than I will ever need.  So today I am working on face masks for William.  He'll only be in grade 1, but it is recommended that he wear a mask.

I found lots of interesting fabric.  I have 4 more cut out and ready to sew.  I think I want to make him 12 - 15 of them.  They can be washed each week.

I saw a funny picture last week.  I hope William doesn't do this.

Kids will be kids. I guess.

Busy Busy With not Much to Show for it

I have been busy cutting 1.5 inch scraps for my waffle quilt.  But not getting any sewn.

Also selecting, cutting and sewing children's face masks.  Some are almost done.  But I found out that I can probably buy 1/4 inch elastic at Walmart or Fabricland.  Since I don't have any at the moment  I decided to wait until I can go out and buy some. 

My DD and William came over this afternoon.  That quickly ended my sewing aspirations.  When they went home it was time to make dinner.  After that I was exhausted.  I will try again tomorrow.

We did have a chance to go out in the garden where my DD picked a basket full of beans, several zucchinis and lots of tomatoes.  Thankfully she took home some beans, a zucchini and a few little potatoes,   I have been eating so many zucchinis lately I feel as if I an turning into one.

Here is an interesting picture of one of my zucchinis.  It was a large one I had missed the last time I picked them.  Someone, I think a squirrel or my resident chipmunk had eaten a hole in the seed end.  It was 2 inches wide and at least that deep.  That's okay.  I don't mind sharing.

I have a question that I hope someone can help me with.  Does anyone have any ideas for a bag or wallet-like device to carry the face masks in.  A plastic bag doesn't breathe well.  I cannot find anything on the internet.  I guess I could design something, but why invent a thing if it has already been done. 

My Camera Seems to be Working Again

I played around with my camera and all of a sudden I noticed that the light was on.  So I quickly took a picture of my waffle top.  I have sewn 5 rows together.  Not using a design wall because I don't have one.  Just placing the blocks where I think they look good. 

This is the only project I have been able to work on.  But at least it is keeping me sane.

Nothing is Working.

I'm having trouble getting around.  Walking is becoming difficult.

My mojo has gone missing.  Anyone seen it anywhere?  I need it back. 

I tried to make some masks, but I ran out of bobbin thread.  So I filled up a couple of bobbins and ran out of thread.  I thought I had an extra spool, but it seems I don't.  I'll have to see if I can use one of the bobbins in the bottom and one on the top.  Hope I can do a little sewing, at least, to keep my sanity.

I tried working on my waffle blocks, but they are hard to see. 

Tomorrow I have an appointment for an eye test.  It seems that I might have cataracts.  I have trouble seeing.  Heck, I'm practically blind.

I just got a call from a foot and ankle surgeon for an appointment  to see if anything can be done for my leg.  I may need more surgery to have the metal rods and screws removed.

My camera was taking bad photos, but now it has quit on me altogether.

It is hot out and my garden is drying up. 

Since I am a firm believer that every blog post should have a photo, I am going to include a shot of my Clivia.  A friend gave it to me a long time ago.  I am glad that I can't show you a picture of what it looks like now.  It's kind of broken too.

Going to take a nap now.  At least that part of me still works.

Trying to Keep Busy

Two friends reclining on my couch.

I wanted to play around with the new blogger, but it won't let me.  I'm trying to keep my mind off my physical problems.  I ordered some new rotary blades, but they haven't arrived yet.  So I have just been sewing scraps together for my waffle blocks.   I'll post them at another time.

Something to Finish and a Blue Block

I heard from the Infectious Disease Doctor.  I have an Appointment tomorrow.  Wish me luck.

While going through my UFOs I discovered this project.  I started it a long time ago and I think it needs to be finished.

It's a no-brainer and will keep me busy so I don't worry too much about my appointment tomorrow.  The squares are all 2.5 inches.




It is still blue month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I noticed that many quilters had used blue for the Bonnie Hunter leader and ender challenge.   I have been making my blocks with lots of colours.  I just love colour.  But yesterday I made a blue block.  And I like it.

Feeling Green

I have had a very stressful week.  The nuclear test I had last Tuesday showed an infection in my left leg.  I have been complaining of that for the past 7 weeks.  Yet no one took me seriously.  A new doctor finally listened and ordered the test.  I am grateful to her.

But now I have to keep busy or my thoughts will over take me.  I found some green blocks.  I have no idea when or why I started them.  Some are done and some need to be finished.  I was working on that but my rotary cutter is no longer sharp.  It is becoming dangerous to use it.  Does anyone have any solutions for this problem?

I decided to do some knitting.  That is also a green project.  It is easy to see and easy to do.  I will work on that until it gets too hot.  Then I will go outside and enjoy some green things in the garden.

 

I will try to link up with Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday.

Blue Waffles

I have been working on my waffle blocks.   I really love these.  It's a leader/ender project.  They use up lots of small pieces of fabric.  Here are the blue blocks I worked on this month.

I am going to try to link up with SoScrappy.  I linked up and thought it hadn't worked.   So I tried again.  As a result I have linked up twice.  Sorry about that.

Alien Abduction

I feel as if I was abducted by aliens yesterday.  From my trip to the hospital, to my ride home, nothing felt like anything I had ever experienced before.  I rode my scooter over to the hospital because Wheeltrans was giving me a hard time.

There was a lot of construction on the road I took there.  There were huge piles of gravel that were almost impossible to ride over.  Part of the road was flooded.  Some of the sidewalk was missing.  I rode in the bike lane. 

At the hospital there was a long line of people, all safely spaced 2 metres apart, waiting to go in.  Once inside I was bombarded with questions, given a green sticker, some hand sanitizer and instructions to get to were I needed to go.  Unfortunately the directions were not correct.  I became lost in a mess of uninhabited corridors.

When I finally reached the right place, by accident, there were more questions and a denial of who I was and a lack of the proper papers that would allow me to have the tests done.  Everything had been arranged by my doctor.  I had been notified by phone.  I had no papers.  Happy but frustrated I was ready to go home.  The only thing that stopped me was my fear of losing my way again and maybe ending up in a Covid unit.  So  I waited for a fax from my doctor's office.

When it finally came I was directed, once again wrongly, to a black door on the left.  The door turned out to be green.  That is when I knew I had been abducted.   Everything after that was a blur.   I was made to get off my scooter and transfer to a huge camera thing that looked like it belonged in another world.  I was given an IV injection of what I figured were radio active isotopes.  Some photos were taken and I was told to get back onto my scooter.  I thought I was done, but no!

They told me to leave and return at 2:15.  That was 3 hours away!  I wanted to go home but it felt as if they had control of me.  I went outside because I was cold.  But I couldn't warm up.  I waited and waited.  Finally it was time.  I was in pain.  I had a headache.  I had trouble getting onto the slab that was the imaging machine.  My legs were lifted and re-positioned many times.  I was so cold I was shivering.  Finally I was told to get off the machine.  I was told that I needed some X-rays.    They gave me a requisition.

I returned to the intake desk.  More questions.  Had I been to Africa?  What planet am I on? I asked.  I think they thought I was crazy.  I felt crazy.  When the X-rays were done.  I hightailed it out of the hospital.  I took a different way home.

I started to feel as if I was free again.  The fields and road sides were covered in Queen Anne's Lace flowers.  I wanted to pick them, as a symbol of my freedom.  They made me smile.   I felt that I had survived my abduction.

Monday Masks and Other Stuff

Thank you to everyone who sent me positive thoughts for the test I have to subject myself to  tomorrow.  I hope I don't become radio active.  But maybe it will give me super powers.  Kind of like Spider Man or Superman or whatever.  Maybe Super Quilter!  I could fight crime in the quilt studio, like fabrics that seem to multiply after dark.

I managed to sew a couple more masks this morning.  I have more fabric, but I had no more energy to make more.  Maybe after tomorrow.

I also sewed another row onto my scrappy project.  I still need to iron it.  These blocks are so fun to make and bonus... it's a leader and ender project.  On the Fons and Porter show last Saturday I heard them referred to as leaders and followers.  That works too.  These blocks are addictive.   I thought I needed something to take my mind off things.

Slowly and Blindly Stitching

I don't know if this will qualify for Slow Stitching on Sunday or not.  I have to go to the hospital on Tuesday for a scary radiation test.  I don't really know what to expect, but I do know that I will need a mask.  Since I have given most of them away I decided to make a new one.  But my measurements were out.  I had to stitch the elastic on by hand.  That requires eye sight.  Which unfortunately I don't have much of.   I stitched it on mostly by touch.  Threading the needle was a real challenge.  But the mask fits okay and I will wear it.

Lioking up with Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching.

Easy Breezy Leader and Ender Challenge

It was hot and humid yesterday.  Occasionally we had a heavy down pour.  It was not possible to go out into the garden.  I decided to look up Bonnie Hunter.s new leader and ender project,  They looked pretty easy.  So I made a few - the 6 inch ones.   I kept sewing until my bobbins ran out of thread.   I needed a new spool.  And a new needle.   By the time I had gathered everything I needed and filled a few bobbins, an hour had gone by. 

It was dinner time.  I decided to stop sewing.  I see some more of these in my future.

Insanity is Keeping Me Sane!

Who would of thunk it?    

The daily temperatures are unbearable.  The humidity is stifling.  My air conditioner is not doing its job.  My scooter gave we problems all week.  I have bunnies and chipmunks in my backyard eating my veggies.  We are still in Covid isolation.    And I am out of coffee.

Yet these crazy little blocks are keeping me from losing my mind!

The blue waffle blocks I have made so far this month.    There may be more in my future.  Who knows?  I have lots of blue fabrics.  Blue is my favourite colour.  

I am linking up with So Scrappy.  (As usual I am not able to link up, but I'm working on it)

Insanity?

I feel like I may have a problem.   A 'starting new projects' problem.  Yesterday I posted a Shoo Fly block.  That was the only one I was supposed to make.  But last night I made a few more and today I have 9 of them.

Mine are 6 inch blocks.  I really enjoy making them.  I think I will make some more and turn them into a baby quilt.


I also worked on the waffle blocks.  I made a few more.  There is a purple one in there.  Don't ask me why I made that one.  They were supposed to be blue.  But I liked the colour and the fabric was just laying there.  So I used it.  This is supposed to be fun, right?  So when I get around to the colour purple, I'll just make one less.

While looking for my elastic and some more scraps, I found a bin full of colourful blocks that I had started a long time ago.  So this is not a new project.  I have no idea what these will become.  Only time will tell.

One of these projects will be called Insanity.  I haven't yet decided which one.

Oh, and by the way, I still haven't found my elastic.

A Few Blocks

Let me first apologize for the bad photography.  My camera is on its last leg.  As a result my pics are not very clear.

I managed to sew a few blocks this morning.  I was inspired by Wanda's 16 patch quilts.  So first up are a few more 16 patch blocks.

Then I worked on a few of my waffle blocks using the RSC colour for this month which is blue.

A few days ago a neighbour asked me to make a mask for her grandson.  He specifically asked for Spider Man.   I had some of that in my stash so I made a couple.  Sorry there were no photos that day.  My camera wasn't working at all.  But I had a piece of fabric left over that was exactly 3.5 inches square.  I decided to make a shoo fly block.  If I had been anywhere near a working computer and a sewing machine last summer I would have joined Bonnie Hunter's leader and ender project.  As a result my shoo fly block is my own sizing.  It measures 6.5 inches.  I am not sure if I will make any more of these.  But maybe.

I am waiting for the repair guy to come and fix my brand new scooter.  Yes, I said 'brand new'  I have been waiting since Sunday.  If someone doesn't come soon I am going to return it and get my money back.

Too Hot!

I have been trying to keep my garden alive during this heat wave.  But it is not an easy task.  I have to water at least once a day and sometimes twice.

On top of that my scooter is not working properly.  I called the people I bought it from and they promised to come and look at it either yesterday afternoon or this morning.  They never came.  I cannot keep it in the brake setting.  That means it rolls away from me on a hill or even a very slight incline.  On my ramp it just takes off.  It's very dangerous.  Also, I can't get off it because it moves.  I could fall flat on my face.  I wish I had never bought it.  Sorry to go on about this but it is really staring to bother me.

Okay.  So I will post about a few flowers instead.  I spotted my first day lily today.  It's a peachy colour.,  I love it.  I missed these last year.  So glad I get to enjoy them this year.

My Shasta daisy is also starting to bloom.   I thought I had lost it.  The creeping bell flowers were choking it out.  But now most of the bell flowers have been pulled out.  Still need to do a bit more weeding to get rid of as many of the roots as I can or I will have the same problem again next year.

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My phlox are beginning to bloom.  I love these too.  Last week William picked me a bouquet of them.  Oh, well.  I have lots more in other parts of the garden.

I don't have many roses.  But I do have one called 'Woman'.  It's so fitting.  It is strong.  Comes up every year without winter protection.  And blooms a lovely pale colour.  I have had it in my garden for over 25 years.  This year it is surrounded by spearmint from the neighbour's garden.  I have a lot of weeding to do!  The first blossom was almost done when I took the photo, but another bud is getting ready to bloom.

Now going back to do some sewing.   The AC is on but it is still super hot! 

A Canada Day Street party

We live on a very nice quiet street with lots of trees that form a canopy over the road..  It is only one block long. so there is not much traffic.  A neighbour at number 12 left a card in my mailbox inviting everyone on the street to come over to his place between 11:00 and noon on July 1st.  It was to be a Covid-19 Canada Day party.  We were to bring our own chair and something to drink.  We were asked to respect social distancing and wear a face mask. 

I wasn't sure if I wanted to attend.  But I did go and learned a lot about my neighbours.  It was an enjoyable hour.  No one wanted to leave when it was time to go.  . 

Since not much was happening on Canada Day this was a perfect diversion.  I was proud to be a resident of our street.

July 1st 2020

Happy Canada Day to all my Canadian friends!

Some Old Unfinished Crafts.

I have nothing complete to show for this month.  I have been too busy in the garden.  So I am going to post some crafts I enjoy that are things of the past.

My first craft is corking,  Do they still call it that these days?  It might be known as spool knitting now.  Just as I like to use all my little fabric scraps, I also don't like to waste short lengths of left over yarn.  I started this project a long time ago.  I still add to it when I have some shorter lengths of yarn left over after I finish knitting or crocheting something.  I don't think this project will ever be done.

Another craft I have done in the past is rug hooking.  I love rug hooking!  In fact, I was known as  'The Happy Hooker'.  When a local yarn shop in my area went out of business, I bought all the rug hooking stuff she had.  I even have a gadget that cuts the yarn into short pieces.

While tidying up I found an almost-completed rug hooking project in my supply closet.  I can't remember when I started it, but it was a long, long time ago.  I finally finished it.

And even though the next project is a knitting one, I feel it needs an explanation.  It was a scarf based on daily temperatures during the year.  I am sure some of you will know that I am sort of obsessed with the weather.  I have made several temperature quilts using hexagons over the past few years.

The directions for this scarf were to knit 3 rows daily in the colour that represented that day's temperature.  By the end of each month there were to be 5 rows of another colour.  The scarf became way too long and I never finished it.

The knitting part was done but the ends had not been sewn in.  That is the part I hate most.  I found it in a bin while searching for yarn to donate to a friend.  I have been sewing the ends in - slowly while watching TV in the evenings.  Still have 9 months to go.  Maybe by next winter I will have it done.

Stay safe.  Stay well.

A Productive Day

A super hot day today!  It was way too hot for me out in the garden, so I decided to stay inside where it was cool because of the air conditioning   It turned out to be a very productive day as I worked on some more blocks.   First I made two more pink blocks for my leader and ender project.

I also made a couple more blocks for the Framed Nine Patch.  I made the yellow and gray ones.

But most of my time was spent on the Sprouts quilt.  I pieced the first strip together and made a sort of primitive flower at the top.  I saw it on someone's blog.  I can't remember exactly what it looked like.  This is my version.   Sorry I can't give credit where credit is due because I don't know where I saw it.  When I figure it out I will put it in an edit.

This strip measures about 78 inches.  I think I will put a narrow border on it. I wish I had a design wall.  It is difficult to see how it will look just by putting the blocks together.


When I went out to check on the garden this morning I noticed a 4 -inch long cucumber.   That will be tasty soon.  Hope the squirrels won't beat me to it.  Everything else seemed fine except for the back corner.    The rain and wind over night had broken a huge piece of my Lovage .  Also, several pieces of Sweet Cicely were flat on the ground.  I decided to rescue them and take them inside so I could enjoy their beauty in a vase.

And bonus!  A photo of William when he was here last week.  He brought his bike because he loves to ride down my ramp.   I hold my breath every time he does it.  I told him it was dangerous, but he did not agree with me.

Mathematics

A few days ago I introduced my new leader and ender project.   I have made a few more blocks.    Now I have to figure out how many of these I am going to need.

blocks and prepared leader and enders

Mathematics is not my strong suit.  But since my DS is not here I will try to figure it out by myself.  Each block is 5.5 inches and  will finish at 5 inches square.  If I want the quilt to be about 50 inches wide each row would need 10 blocks.  Then if I want it to finish at 75 inches long, I would need 15 rows.  But maybe 75 inches is not long enough.  80 or 85 inches would be better.  And maybe I would like it to finish at 55 inches wide.  Of course I could always make it bigger by adding a border.  I think I will need about 180 to 200 blocks.  The math just went out the window!  This project will take a long time.  But I knew that, didn't I?  Yeah, I did.

I'll just work on it a few blocks a week.  And I will use the current colour of the month.  Yes, this project will take a long time.  Maybe years.  Probably several years.  But that's okay.  It will keep me busy.

Mint Tea

Before I talk about my cuppa, let me tell you about the homemade spray to kill the weeds.  It didn't work as well as I had hoped.  It did kill some of the very small weeds, but it did not work on the larger ones.  It may have been the humidity in the air.  It was very hot and humid.  I will have to try again.  I didn't spray any yesterday because rain was in the forecast.  It never did rain.  Today we are supposed to get thunder storms so I guess I will have to leave the spraying for another time.

I pulled some more invaders that had escaped from my neighbour's property.  The spearmint smelled heavenly.  Too bad that stuff is so invasive.  I decided to have a cup of peppermint tea when I went inside.  It was very delicious and thirst quenching.  

I have some real peppermint. but I cleverly planted it in a pot, so it wouldn't be able to take over the backyard.  Mint is like that.  It multiplies.  I'll have to keep an eye on it in case it flowers and produces seeds.


While I was out there I noticed that my evening primrose was beginning to flower.  I know I said blue flowers are my favourite.  but yellow is a very close second.

I also noticed some beautiful tiny white flowers coming up all over the place.  I had always thought these were chamomile, but now I am not sure.  They may be Sweet Cicely.  I am going to have to do a bit of googling

This is an interesting section of the garden, right under my sour cherry tree.  Here are some of the little cherries just starting to turn red and below that, a little peach coloured miniature rose that was gifted to me about 13 years ago.  I am going to let the birds have the cherries this year.  I am way too busy to harvest them and make jam.

Edit:  It is definitely Sweet Cicely.  I bought it from the Scarborough Horticultural Society a long time ago.    I had forgotten about it until I checked out my old blog, the one that was compromised.  This plant is an herb.  It  has never looked as nice as it does this year!