Many thanks to blogging friends who are helping me keep this little archive of happenings going. I nearly had a meltdown over this past weekend & chucked it in, but a phone call from Joy made me take stock & we will get through this hard time at some point. Hopefully sooner than later. Not being able to go ANYWHERE, other than to pick up groceries (1 person per household only) or for medical reasons within 5kms is hard & 1 hour of exercise outside our home within our local area is all we are allowed till restrictions are lifted. I have been "doing", but slowly & procrastinating over everything I do and wonder whether it is all worthwhile. DH has been pottering too. Some photos follow of a few bits and pieces we've been up to.
A sign for his shed has appeared & really looks good. He has been busy this past week redesigning his saw bench.
A very little bit of produce from the garden. 3 different varieties of tomatoes that are finally ripening, 2 more strawberries & there was a patty pan squash, but I must have removed it for some reason. Most things are taking their time to ripen due to all the cloudy & wet weather we've experienced lately. This coming week is supposed to be all sunshine & in the low to mid 30s, so a lot more should ripen.
The corner of the verandah with my potty pursuits, looking quite good at the moment.
Actually quite pink and these two, a dianthus & geranium are nearly the same colour.
This was quilted and bound last week. A top that has been sitting in the tub of shame for a couple of years & will be given to friends in our car club, whose little two year old is so cute. She has had a very small baby quilt I'd finished a few years back, but needs something a little bigger now to take to grandma's house when she is being baby-sat.
I was working on this over the weekend, a project in colours that felt right for the mood I was in. I designed an oblong log cabin some years back & put some black/grey fabrics aside for it and as I was tidying after purchasing a new cube shelf, which I'd actually put together myself with a little help from DH for the screws at the end. All sorts came to light from the old tubs and the new system is getting me started on a few finishes hopefully & some bits to the Op Shop.
Time to put it aside and work on a QAL with my friend Joy who has been talking me into doing this for some time now. Watch this space..............AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH I'm being brave.
The new shelves & the basket sets I've purchased to put the UFO's in. I went to get 2 more a couple of weeks ago & there weren't any left, but a new shipment should be in soon. Makes it much easier to just pick out a basket & get a few finishes under my belt. I even know why one was put away as the instructions are rubbish with a few errors for cutting measurements. I will try and resurrect the little quilt so I can gift it to someone.
A little crochet is happening too with wool leftover from the rugs I've done over the last few years. Hopefully this will go as planned. It is a Mile-a-Minute Crohetalong & another thing my friend Joy is co-hosting, which you can read about
here.
OK, enough from this old lady & I will keep blogging as it helpful for me in knowing what I've been up to over the years and for the wonderful friends I've made who keep me sane as much as our crafts, garden & home. I know I'm not alone in this crisis we are experiencing, even though I do feel lonely at times and we will see the it through.
Take care all, stay safe & warm.
I think it definitely helps to keep track of what we've achieved and the bright spots in our days at the moment and blogging certainly keeps us keep on track to do this. Your garden's looking lovely and it won't be long until it's supplying you with lots of goodies.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jo & seeing Eleanor the other day on your blog just got me thinking about the first time we met & you had Eleanor with you out at Temple Newsam. Will it ever happen again?
DeleteIt's a tough time for everyone so you're definitely not alone in feeling down. Keep on doing what you're doing to keep yourself occupied. I don't even go grocery shopping and since going for my jab a week ago I haven't left the house. Your garden looks lovely and you can enjoy the fruits of all your hard work, those tomatoes and strawberries look yummy. Take care and here's a ((hug)) from me xx
ReplyDeleteThanks for the hug. Definitely few & far between these days & we can't see DD & family again at the moment & as for our boys, not sure when that will happen. The strawberries were yummy with a slice of baked cheesecake, which I pop the leftover pieces in the freezer for the occasional dessert. My recipe is an old one I've been making for years. My veg garden isn't nearly as good this year, but at least the tomatoes will keep us going into Autumn.
DeleteIt is when you start blogging about what you have done and it is then that you notice that you've done more than you think. Just a suggestion, it is one I used to do with the boys, before your next walk, not a list of things to look for. Make it fairly simple, no point listing something like "circus" 😃 no, something like... tree in flower, cat, triangle, pretty corner etc, then when you go out for your walk, instead out just walking, pootle along with your list and snap away. When home, down load your photos and check off your list 😊 don't make it too long, you can always add to it for next time. You could also choose something that you know will change with the season, so flowers opening and closing, tree changing colour, house being painted, etc and photo it every time you see it.
ReplyDeleteI've joined a monthly tree photo post, you could join that too, x just keep yourself quietly occupied and you'll get through😊
Thanks Kate. I noticed your tree following & wondered about it, as you know I'm a big tree fan & have heaps of photos of many, both here in Oz & UK. I quite often take my camera when we go for a walk, but it is so suburban these days for when we can only walk in our local vicinity & not drive anywhere for a better walk. I do keep busy, so that's definitely a bonus for me & I generally make a list of to-dos, but I have been lax of late so I'll get back into it again, starting today.
DeleteIt’s so strange seeing your harvested produce ... everything here still looks very ‘brown’ and bleak. It’s the time of year when we struggle to imagine the garden ever looking colourful and full of flowers again but experience tells us we just need to be patient. We are just starting to plant our tomatoes for this year and my strawberry bed is very much in need of it’s February tidy up. Hopefully the temperatures will start to rise a bit soon so we can get outside and get cracking ... I am more than ready 😃
ReplyDeleteThanks Carol. Remember it is summer here although it's been a strange one & I've had better luck & harvests in the past. We were going to move the veg beds, but it didn't happen, so maybe this year & I'll at least be ready by late winter/spring.
DeleteLovely to see your garden and garden produce. I like Pop's Shed and your new shelves and baskets. It is all very hard at the moment isn't it? You have lots of great and purposeful things to occupy you whilst we all wait for things to get better and I'm sure they will. Take care and stay safe:)
ReplyDeleteThanks Rosie. We keep as busy as possible & I've quite a few tomatoes to pick this morning.
DeleteLooks like a great harvest. It is winter where I am so fresh veggies from the garden make my mouth water!
ReplyDeleteThanks Cheryl & for popping over to my blog.
DeleteHi Susan, it does sound like you are keeping busy anyway, and lucky that you are both creative souls, so always something to design or do. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Sharon. Restrictions eased a bit as of today, so at least we'll be able to venture further for a simple day out & a different walk.
DeleteI like the Pops Shed sign, and your garden is looking good.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
Thanks Jan.
DeleteI'm not actually co-hosting the crochet.. just posting about it and trying to muddle along!! Love your garden beds and pots! So handy to have them at a higher level! And lovely projects as usual... xx
ReplyDeleteThanks Joy & we need to do some thinking about the crochet muddle. Hope you see the garden soon.
DeleteWell I'm glad you haven't chucked it in. I love the glimpse into your sunny garden, could almost transport myself there, ahhh, potty pursuits, sniff; it'll be a little while here, though I'm seeing new growth on mandevilla cuttings I did in the fall, and crotons we brought in, yay! I know what you mean about it all sometimes feeling futile, and having to have setbacks... I just wish our leader (not Trudeau he's been very good) but the provincial leaders would listen to medical and science peeps, and follow their directives. I'm curious as to what brave new thing you're going to tackle!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sandra. It's a stinker here today & we are trying to stay cool. I'm about to co-host a QAL with my friend Joy, who will be doing a stitchery & pieced quilt & I'll be doing just a pieced quilt, but for me it's hard to write up the directions, so hopefully, I can get it sorted before Monday when we plan to start the actual QAL.
Delete