September flowers

Pansies stole the show in the flower garden this month. I love how they mix and mingle between themselves to create new and beautiful colour strains with each new plant.

And lovely spring bulbs are blooming. I don't normally go for bright loud colours in the garden, but in spring it just happens and I don't really fight it. I need the hit after gloomy winter. These lovelies made such a gorgeous scented centrepiece, I had it on the kitchen windowsill, and it really cheered me when I drew back the curtains each morning. Such strength of colour and scent.

PS I cheated and backdated this post... I really did intend to put it up before September became October! Time is running away with me again.

Spring crochet

 Edit Feb 2014: I've finally finished the blanket! You can get all the details here.

Brighter days and warmer air is calling me to make something in light and summery colours. My latest crochet project was inspired by the gorgeous Beekeeper's Quilt knitting pattern. I just loved the idea of making little woollen hexagons, that from a distance look like a patchwork quilt. There is a great crochet version of the pattern here, which I tried, but I found it time consuming and the hexagons were going to turn out very large. So I decided to make a simple hexagon shape worked in the round, keeping it to 3 rounds so it would be small and sweet. I've tried to work in sock yarn or the equivalent, so it's woolly and warm and there will still be a bit of drape. All the yarn is from my stash, apart from the blue and the coral which I added to give it a bit of pop.

The great thing about simple 3 round hexies is that they work up really fast! I make 3-6 at a time, sew in all the ends, then sew them together into the blanket. This has worked to keep me interested so far as I can see the blanket growing. It only takes 10 minutes to make one hexie, so I can get a lot done in an evening.

I'm imagining this blanket spread out on the lawn holding a summertime picnic. 

Are you working on any spring/summer projects?

Patio

This weekend I finished laying the blocks for the patio.

Here it is, with some hastily arranged pots. I'll plant them up properly in the next few weeks... I'm thinking  scented plants like lavender and heliotrope. We'll see, this is a shady spot so it might be ferns and hostas. I have a hydrangea to find a spot for too.

I'll probably change the furniture too as I raided this chair and table set from my other little sitting area. I'd quite like something rustic and timeworn so maybe I'll find something perfect at a market or second hand shop.

This was quite a full on job... the layout may be basic but those blocks are h.e.a.v.y. It took two weekends to finish. Hard to believe it went from this...

To this.

Just what I wanted.

More ATCs

 Tree of pearls

 Tweeter bird

Woman with heart

Six down, six to go. Halfway there and I've run out of enthusiasm, as I thought I would. Good thing some more crap weather is on the way - it might be incentive to stay in and finish! I've got a wooden display frame to put them in, so that is also incentive. Lucky there's no deadline on this.

Garden dreaming

Finally, spring is here. All the dreams and plans formed in winter can now be put into action. I've spent a lot of time reading magazines, browsing blogs, collecting images, and generally daydreaming. I look out the window and think about what I want to see out there. I imagine strolling through the potager on a warm summer evening, and think about what I want to be harvesting. Lest I forget, I jot down notes in my garden notebook. 

High on my list of wants is a patio. I want somewhere to put a table and chairs where I can sit and eat and relax. I also want somewhere that's shady during the hottest part of the afternoon. We cleared a lot of shrubbery to make the back yard sunny which I love, but after working hard in the sun for a while I need somewhere to sit and cool off. On the south side of the house there is a concrete slab. It doesn't go anywhere so it's not a path, and it's not big enough to put chairs on, but I can fix it so it does the job! I have a pile of concrete blocks that my neighbour was giving away, so this weekend I've finally finished cleaning the old mortar off them, and started digging out the trench to lay them in. Brick laying is a horrible chore and such hard work, but I just keep in mind that image of my pretty patio... and hopefully it won't take me too long to get this job done.

 Here are some sketches from my garden notebook. I like to plan out the potager, it rarely goes exactly according to plan but as long as I've allowed room for the staples like potatoes and tomatoes and the bean fence, then I can figure out what else goes where.

This is the plan from last spring/summer.

 And the plan for winter. I try to rotate things around, or at least plant something from a different family in that space for a different season. It doesn't always work out, because I value form as well as function in vege gardening, but at least I can keep track of it this way!

This is the plan for spring/summer this year. Still in pencil because it changes depending on what I have to fit in. Having a drawing is no guarantee I won't impulsively buy a punnet of something I didn't plan for that I will have to shove in somewhere! That's half the fun though.

What are your plans for the garden this spring?

Goodbye winter!

 

It's the first of spring tomorrow, hooray! Already the mornings are brightening and evenings are a fraction longer. I look forward to light and warmth, and the energy and motivation they bring me.

There are a few winter-only treats I enjoy...

:: coffee with a spoonful of milo stirred in

:: lovely cyclamen flowers

:: my cat snuggling in the bed at night

:: candlelight

:: sitting in full sunlight at lunchtime

:: wearing cozy knitted cardigans and knee high boots

But now it's time to bid those things farewell for another year, and look forward to the beauty of spring and the warmth of summer. Bring it on!

August flowers

 There's not as much going on in the August flower garden as in previous months, which is why I've had to feature some flowering broccoli! Well, it's bright and cheerful and I'll take that anywhere I can find it in winter. I also have some early miniature daffodils - which survived and thrived after being buried in deep snowdrifts, twice - and some pretty pink flowering rosemary.

 On the 28th of August the first almond blossoms were out. I'll need to bust out the frost cloth. More hardy are the blue star flowers (triteleia) and the pansies, who are popping their little faces out all over the place.

Not too many indoor flower displays this month - but as I've mentioned before the hellebores last several weeks, and my indoor cyclamen have been delighting me since May. Not many days left of winter now... I'm counting down!

ATCs

Tranquil Woman

Since it's winter and it's been snowy and cold, I've had to spend a lot of time indoors. In between reading, watching movies, and daydreaming about summer, I decided to make some ATCs. I thought I would make 12 in a similar colour scheme and then put them together in a frame.

Queen St John

ATCs (Artists Trading Cards) are small - only 64 x 80 mm - so they are nice and quick to finish. (Usually... sometimes I seem to be stuck for hours finding the perfect finishing touch.) This one has some of my favourite little vintage buttons.

Little House

There is a mix of collage, painting and drawing. It's been nice spending sunny afternoons working in my studio. I'm feeling the call of the outdoors though... it's only just over a month until daylight savings begins, yay!

On my reading table - Garden Spells

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

How could I not love a book featuring a magic garden? In the small town of Bascom, everyone knows that if you eat an apple from the Waverleys' tree, it will show you a vision of the biggest thing to happen in your life. Claire Waverley is a caterer, creating wonderful dishes from the flowers in her garden, that affect the eater in curious ways. Claire's quiet life becomes a little more lively with the return of her sister Sydney, who has her own Waverley gift.

This is a beautiful book to read, full of quirky characters and imaginative descriptions. The magic is an everyday thing, it's not treated as anything unusual. The house and garden are sensitive, so when tensions rise flowers bloom at night, door handles shift from the left to the right, drinks freeze themselves... oh and did I mention the magic garden? I want a magic garden. The apple tree wants people to eat its visionary fruit, so it throws fruit or rolls them along the ground.

An easy and delightful read, perfect for snuggling in front of the fire with.

******** Edited 22 Jan 2012, to add to Holleygarden's Garden Book Review. **********

Weather watch

 More snow today. The newsreaders are trying to add excitement by calling it a "Perfect Storm" and a "Once in a Lifetime Event", but they've been unable to romanticize it for me. It just means cold fingers and wet feet and black ice on the road when I need to drive to work. I'm hoping it thaws and melts away as quickly as it did last time - three weeks ago - and then we really will have had enough snow to last at least 50 years.

On to more positive thoughts! I took a break from watching sleet blowing horizontally past the window to check on my seedlings, and was impressed at their progress. The orange cauliflower in particular are bursting forth, followed closely by the freckles lettuce. (Even the tiny seedlings have miniscule burgundy specks on the leaves - so cute!) The purple broccoli is also unfolding a bit more slowly, and I have noted movement in the sweet rocket and lavender areas too. The only slowpokes are the tomatoes, and I can't really say I blame them.

 Lui got a bit stir crazy this afternoon and went outside for a play. There was a lot of leaping, scuffing the snow, pouncing in holes, and mad dashes for shelter. I played with him for a bit, then came back inside for a coffee and a muffin and a book beside the fire.