Getting things done

I've been having some busy times of late. It's that time of year when you suddenly realise you're on the cusp of winter. Pretty soon there will be no daylight in the evening, the days will be cold and short, and every odd job that's lying around will be put off till the following summer. So I've been trying to finish as many odd jobs as possible.

There's a lot to do in the garden of course, mainly weeding. Also spent annuals to clear out and replace,  winter vege seedlings to nurture, shrubs to move and bulbs to plant. In anticipation of days and nights stuck inside I've increased my houseplant collection. Some potting on and arranging needs to be done with that.

I did a bit of sewing and some Easter craft (more on that tomorrow) and the craft room is once again a bomb site. (Not that it bothers Mr Lui.) I also made hot cross buns and they were just gorgeous fresh out of the oven. I'm actually planning to let a few go stale so I can make a bread and butter pudding from them... yum!

And of course, every time I visit the potager there is end-of-season produce that needs to be dealt with...

- basil (make pesto; freeze leaves)

- tomatoes (dry; make relish; eat as many fresh as possible)

- cauliflowers (chop and freeze)

- sweet corn (remove kernels and freeze)

- some ridiculously gigantic carrots that I'd forgotten about (??? I don't even know what to do with them all! Add grated carrot to every dish I cook I suppose)

- apples (cut out codling infested bits, stew then freeze; make cider with the rubbish ones)

- peppers (chop and freeze)

- chillis (chop, carefully, wearing gloves, then freeze; dry the late ones)

So there is a pile of produce on the end of the bench awaiting my attention, and as soon as I deal with one thing then another takes its place. Can't complain too much though as I'll be heading into winter with a freezer full of my own produce, and that thought is very satisfying.

I've been a bit late with replying to comments and visiting other blogs. Sorry about that... I don't think it will be long before the change of seasons means I'm spending much more time on the computer. Until then I'll be outside enjoying the golden days of autumn or in the kitchen dealing with my harvest.

Corners of my home: craft room

I recently spent a bit of time tidying up my craft room. I use the term 'tidying up' loosely, as it will never be completely tidy in there, just that the random piles of stuff have been swept together to make neater piles and a few things have been hidden under the table instead of on top. Anyway, it's as presentable as it gets, so I thought I'd share a few photos.

The white cabinet is one that I refurbished. It was a dark wood that was scratched and water stained. It has lovely leadlight doors that I still need to paint... this should actually be added to my unfinished projects list as it's certainly been sitting there long enough. It holds all my vases and display stuff and makes a perfect spot for Mr Lui to sun himself.

As you can see this is a lovely sunny room with great light all day long. The stack of vintage suitcases holds yarn, ribbons and gift wrapping supplies. On my desk I have little drawers for beads, stamps, stickers and papercraft supplies.

Artwork and knick knacks to inspire.

This is the fabric storage wardrobe. Yes, that is a power cord coming out the bottom... for some bizarre reason the only power point in this room is in the wardrobe.

I used to keep all my fabric in plastic storage bins, all stacked up on top of each other. When I wanted to use them I had to drag them all out and dig through like a puppy. So, I bought some cheap bookcases from The Warehouse, laid them on top of each other, and then I was able to organise and arrange the fabrics by colour and fabric type. Now it's so much easier to see what I have!

As soon as the photos were taken I began using the room again and it soon regressed to its natural state. Currently the sewing machine is out, the ironing board is out and covered with fabric scraps and sewing detritus, and the floor and every available surface is piled with more junk in need of organising. I envy people who can be tidy while they craft... that certainly isn't me!

March flowers

Late summer in the garden... the time when summer flowers begin to fade but autumn's splendour hasn't yet set in. It's hard to find flowers to photograph that haven't been around for months, so here we have more roses and carnations and echinacea. I did find my little patch of autumn cyclamens in full bloom amongst the violets, and the NZ cranberry (Chilean guava) bush is covered in sweet red berries which smell as good as any flower. Here in New Zealand the hot dry summer continues, with drought conditions being declared over most of the country. In Canterbury we've been lucky and though it's been dry, we aren't yet in a state of drought. Still we are all crossing our fingers for rain.

How are things in your garden this season? I'm linking up to Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day as usual.

12 Unfinished Projects - #2

 At long last the white polka dot skirt is finished. It wasn't a difficult project but it was definitely time consuming, and while I'm reasonably happy with it I'm not sure if the time spent made it a whole lot better than if I'd used a simpler pattern. I do like the length of it though and the high waistband is perfect for accenting with a belt.

 This is the pattern I used. I found it when I was cleaning out my craft room. I don't remember how I came to have it, but it's from 1974. It had a instruction sheet which was fairly self explanatory, although I had to refer to some other books for help with the zipper. It only took me 3 attempts to get that in, and it's just a little wonky! In the end the skirt was a little snug around the hips and a little loose in the waist. I could probably spend a bit more time fixing it but you know... I'm kind of over it now. If I find some great fabric I may make another one and I should be able to do it a lot quicker! 

 According to the pattern this skirt is 'mini length'. I must say I like this length a lot better than today's mini skirts, which are almost indecent a lot of the time. Seems to be the only length available in many shops too. All the more reason to sew your own.

 I made several skirts over the summer, starting with this super easy one that turned out to be my favourite. It's from Issue 16 of Mollie Makes magazine, which they excerpted from Sew What You Love by Tanya Whelan. Basically you just cut out a simple skirt shape, sew up the side seams, then machine stitch shirring elastic round and round the top until you have about 6 rows to make your waistband. (Here's a basic video that shows sewing with shirring elastic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWYHh_hFT98)

For this skirt, since it was a practice one I used a sheet that I'd bought at the op shop. It turned out to be lovely and soft and light to wear, perfect for summer... and it hardly cost anything.

After that I made this polka dot number with a cute ruffle at the bottom. I have plans for more skirts of different lengths with bigger ruffles, pockets, lace trims and ribbon trims. But for now of course, I have to get going on March's unfinished project which is going to be the rag doll. (I'm planning to sew her a mini shirred skirt!)

Do you sew any of your own clothes? What's your favourite pattern?

Sun dried tomatoes recipe

 Here's the easy recipe for my sun dried tomatoes. Disclaimer - they aren't actually dried in the sun! You could do that I'm sure (in fact I've read that you can leave them in your car on a hot sunny day) but since I happen to have a dehydrator I do it that way. You could also use your oven.

Get as many cherry tomatoes as you can find and slice them about 8mm thick. (If you just cut them in half there will be more flesh and they will take longer to dry.) Put them in a bowl or plastic bag with 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp dried (or a bit more fresh) oregano, 2 cloves minced garlic, 2 tbsp oil, 2 tbsp caster sugar, and toss to coat. (Don't throw away the flavoured oil... it is great for a stir fry base or for frying up eggs and bacon and tomatoes!)

Spread the tomato slices on a dehydrator or oven tray and dry at 60C. I put mine on at about 6pm and left them overnight, so probably about 14 hours. Check them after about 10 hours, you may find that some pieces have dried and the rest need a few more hours.

To store I just put them in a ziplock bag and freeze. They defrost quickly, or you can speed things up by running them under hot water. Enjoy a little piece of summer in salads, pasta, sandwiches and pizza in the depths of winter.

Nearly

The end of the month has come and gone, so where is my finished project? I'm still working on it... but I'm nearly there! I've sewn a zipper and I just have to do the waistband. Then will come the moment of truth... trying it on...

In the meantime I've coated some cherry tomatoes in oil, garlic, oregano and a dash of salt and sugar and put them in my dehydrator. Dried tomatoes are my little wintertime treat for those sad days when I can't have them fresh.

Well, let's hope the sewing gods smile on me this weekend. I'll let you know soon!

Remembrance

Today was the second anniversary of the Christchurch earthquake, and we marked it with flowers. Road cones and fences were decorated with blooms, and people created a river of flowers by casting blossoms into the Avon river at various points around the city. I walked to the river in the evening with my posy and looked around at the slowly decaying neighbourhood. A few houses are still inhabited, but far more are empty and sunken as they wait for the diggers and excavators to come. It is sad, but still beautiful, as the Avon river always has been and always will be. The land may be deemed unliveable, but people will still come and enjoy the peace and beauty.

The Medway St footbridge once crossed here, but it was rendered a twisted mass of steel after the quake. It has only recently been removed and I hear it is being stored at Ferrymead park until a suitable site can be found for it to be placed as a memorial. In the meantime a strip of red and black flags spans the river.

I cast my flowers into the river as a mark of respect and a symbol of how this city will bloom again.

A tiny posy and a little bunny brooch

 Two posies actually, one small and one certifiably tiny. I was browsing through home decorating magazines on the weekend and noted how vases of flowers were often echoed with a smaller bouquet containing just a few of the blooms, which is then placed on a side table next to a chair, or a bedside table, or some place that needs accenting. It's a bit too stylish to work in my house, where side tables are receptacles for all kinds of debris and a little vase would just get buried or knocked to the ground, but a tiny vase of flowers? Yes please! So I made up the two posies and just put them next to each other on the windowsill.

 Cecile Brunner has the sweetest little buds, I just love picking them even though they only last a few days.

And here's a little bunny brooch I made. I saw a picture of one somewhere online and even though I didn't save the picture, the idea hatched itself in my mind: I must make and embroider a bunny brooch! I sketched out the cutest bunny pose and gave him a ribbon bow and some flowers to sit in. After I finished I realised it looked kind of springlike, and wouldn't it be fun to make a bunny for every season? The winter bunny can have a scarf and a grey wool background. I haven't planned summer or autumn bunny, but since I gave this brooch away I will need to make another for myself! Something else to add to my project list...

February flowers

The summer garden of abundance continues! It was hard finding flowers to photograph this month that weren't more of the same as January. That's a good complaint to have though as I love my summer beauties. I wouldn't mind if the peonies were still in bloom, but at least the delphiniums are having another go. I also have some carnations that I sowed from seed, they were meant to be a picotee mix but I think they could more correctly be called ripple (second picture down, left and right sides). Anyway they are pretty no matter what you call them, and it will be exciting to see what other colours open up. Elsewhere in the garden it's dahlias, gaura, cosmos and echinacea. The Peace rose is also getting another round of flowering underway... it's a good little performer that one.

How is your garden this February? As usual I'm linking up to Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

On a cloudy summer's day

 It's cloudy, and for once I'm actually glad of the cooler weather. The summer weather has been almost perfect, certainly the best we've had in recent memory, but it's been too hot for working outside and I have some weeds to pull.

 Before I get to work I walk around and look at the details. The lavender hedge along my curved path is finally filling out, and I love the texture of the grey foliage in front of the soft green carrot foliage, with slender cornstalks in the background.

 I'm really loving the runner bean arch and the soft billowing clouds of cosmos. This is a nice shady corner to hide in on a hot summer's afternoon.

 I found this pretty green fly snoozing on the cornstalks. I think he is disappointed I ripped out the flowering carrots...

 Echinacea Pink Poodle provides a splash of colour and a solid area for the eye to rest on amongst all the paler, floaty blooms.

 I do love my floaty blooms though. Gaura is one of my favourites.

 On the few cloudy days we've had, or at dusk, I've noticed how the white flowers next to the fence glow and shine. This tree is Cercis Forest Pansy, and it looked just gorgeous with the frothy white bishop's flower twining through the burgundy leaves. The bishop's flower has now gone to seed, and I'll make sure I always have seedlings beneath this tree I think. Silver leaved plants also look nice here, so now I have a theme for this garden.

Here is the Nursery, with all the baby plants I've nurtured from seed or cutting.

I'm most excited by this rose cutting. I took it from a friend's garden at the start of January and it already has leaf growth and even roots! I wasn't expecting to see these so soon, so I hope it can maintain its growth.

The forecast for this weekend is hot again, so now that I've got things tidied up I can get out my lounge chairs and enjoy it.