More finishing off

Spurred on by our ‘commitment’ to finishing house stuff, I have also finished a couple of projects of my own.

The first is a cardigan I began after the 'fail' of the pink one (its languishing in a cupboard somewhere waiting further inspiration). I actually finished knitting and stitching this one together some months ago, but it has taken until now, to find buttons that suited it’s plain, no-nonsense style. 

The pattern is vintage, a freebie from here, and was first published in 1954. The button holes aren’t the best (first time knitting them), or the sewing on of the buttons (same deal), but on the whole I’m happy with how it turned out. As SP and I say regarding our assorted projects, "It's almost good enough to seen outside”, meaning it’s good enough to be worn or seen somewhere other than around the house, which is often the the only place many of my ‘projects’ in particular, are seen. Thing is though, this cardigan is knitted in 10 ply wool so given our mild winters, I’ll only be able to wear it once or twice a year anyway.

The second project is a quilted cushion. The pattern is from a book I bought many years ago called, Gardening for Quilters by Linda Brannock. I love all the quilts and assorted projects in this book, but the instructions assume you have clue, which I haven't, so this Angel pattern is the first and only thing I’ve ever made from it. 

Actually, the pattern in the book is for a wall hanging, but as wall hangings are not really my thing, I only made the centre piece, and decided it would make a nice cushion. Because of the unusual size and shape, I also had to make an insert using calico and hobby fill which turned out rather well. Not sure what will become of her, maybe she'll be gifted to a friend, but for now she’s gracing our bed and I'm enjoying seeing her there.

Some new plants...

Weather forecasts predicting rain during our summer are met with no small amount of disbelief; it just doesn’t happen. Today however, as predicted, we awoke to a storm, and as I type this, it is indeed raining again. Thunder rumbling in the distance and big, heavy drops of rain, making everything steamy and humid. Good for the garden but uncomfortable for us.  

Last week on a whim, I planted two packs of seeds; Giant Russian sunflowers and Brown Berry tomatoes. Due to our trees, we don’t have room for a vegie garden, too much shade and too many intrusive roots, so I planted the seeds in two large pots. Already a few seedlings have popped their heads up into the sunlight.

 

This is one of the Brown Betty seedlings. Once they're are a bit more robust, I’ll divide and re-pot them into their own containers. Being a variety of ‘cherry’ tomato, they won’t mind being in pots and we have quite a few spare. 

The sunflowers though are a different story. This variety grows up to three metres in height and have long tap roots, so will need to go into the ground. A few can join the bergamot and bog sage I’ve planted next to the bird bath for the bees, and the rest will slot into some of the bare spots between the roses in the front garden. Fingers crossed the snails won't find them before they're too tough to be tasty!

Another new addition to our mad assortment of potted plants, is ginger. I had a piece in the fruit bowl that was sporting a knobby, green shoot, so popped into a pot. I’ve been told that ginger is easy to grow this way, and looking at the vigorous growth poking through the mulch, that would seem to be the case. I wonder though if it was just good timing? Given ginger’s tropical origins, I bet it loves this humid weather.