It's about time...

With so much time since my last post, it is hard to know where to begin with a new post.  I have done some quilting, both for myself and for several others, but most of my focus has been on gardening.  My enclosed garden now has 9 raised beds, and most of those raised beds have shade cloth over them.  There is still my first raised bed on the other side of the back yard, but that is another story.  My tomatoes were good producers for a while, especially my Juliets.  Juliet tomatoes are kind of a mini Roma tomato. The Tycoon tomatoes have not been as productive as the Juliets, but both were good choices for my raised beds.
 
Back in December I put several asparagus plants (crowns) directly in the ground.  They were slow to come up, but little by little they appeared until I think I had about 12 plants.  Among other challenges I have had, moles/voles/gophers... one or all have been a problem with tunneling and causing havoc in my root crops.  My potatoes were a bust.  I made my potato box and put some red potatoes in there, then I planted two 20 foot rows of white potatoes.  I planted them at the end of February like I was supposed to.  When it came time to dig them, I did not even have 1/2 bucket.  I think I might have planted more than I reaped.  I did find many tunnels as I was digging.  I thought the potatoes were going to be OK... The plants looked real good, but I think the moles did alot of damage.  The potato box was a complete waste of time.

It is not uncommon to find tunnels all over my backyard... the telltale raised trails.  I very much would like to have my asparagus be one of my victories in the garden.  I don't think I realized back in December the potential problem of the moles/gophers when I put my asparagus crowns directly in the ground... All of my raised beds have hardware cloth on the bottom to keep critters out.  A few weeks ago when I was at a nursery, I asked if it would be possible to move an asparagus bed.  With it being a new bed, their advice was to do it right now, if I was going to do it at all, so I had Ron build me another raised bed to move my asparagus into.  It has been a few weeks already and they appear to be adjusting well.

Enough about gardening for the moment.  I have acquired a few beads over time.  Every now and then I sit down and try to create something special.  I put the finishing touches on this creation today at quilting.  Closures have never been something I liked doing.  One of my quilting buddies just happens to be an artist in beads. I had her show me how the real beaders finish their necklaces.  I didn't have all the right tools, but we made do with what I had... and now I know what I will need to buy for additional tools and findings.  I think this one might get worn more than once or twice.  I really like the colors.

Old Wooden Spools

About a month ago I went shopping at Ikea, and it seems I always come home with way more than I need to.  It is just that they have so many neat things there, I keep thinking as I spot things walking through the store... I know I can find something to use that for... no matter what it might be.  Actually, one good thing is I do talk myself out of alot of things. Well, I saw this square vase that was fairly heavy and I really don't need a new vase, but this one really could end up being used for something neat... I never had a square one before.  So I bought it.  This past Monday I happened upon a bag of small wooden spools of thread in a box that someone dropped off at church for our quilt group.  You can't use the thread when it is that old, but the spools can inspire new creations.  I have a necklace made from some old spools, and I know there could be other things you can make with them, so I decided I would give them a new home in my sewing room.  I got home and looked at the bag of spools and I'm thinking it looked like about the right quantity to fit in my square vase.  So now I have an appropriate decorative accessory for my sewing room, at least until I find something else I might want to use the spools for.

I am always finding something new to dabble in.  I don't know what made me think of the beads that I remember making when I was back in elementary school.  Yes, I probably have made them a few times with my kids, but that was also a long time ago.  Anyhow I cut up some magazines and made these tube beads that end up in a variety of sizes.  I went into my craft stash and found some beads to go with them and started slipping them on some gingham ribbon I had.  I could not believe how nice it turned out.  Now it isn't something I'm going to wear with a fancy dress, but with jeans and a shirt, this necklace can look pretty cool.  It has a simple bead closure.