Gardening

I'm hoping to actually get all my gardens in the ground this year on time.  I never seemed to manage it in the past.  But this year, I have a head start.  With the help  (mostly) of my oldest girl, I managed to not only turn, but to actually plant the house-side garden today.  Here's what went into that garden:

Top to bottom:
- 3 Brussel sprout plants
- 4 rows of Kholrabi
- 3 Buttercrisp lettuce plants and 6 rows of seeds for the same
- 2 rows of mustard
- 2 rows of spinach
- 5 1/2 rows of collards
- 6 broccoli plants and 2 rows of seeds for the same

I also turned the soil around the back and half the sides of my shed and put in the started onions I'd gotten.  I also put a few pieces of garlic there as well, to finish out the row.

Then I turned a row of soil along the yard retaining wall and planted another 35 sections of garlic there as well.

I had gotten 2 horseradish roots and put them in a small depression in the yard where a tree had once been (but whose stump had long since rotted away).  I also brought out my comfrey plant and put it in a similar depression about 10 feet away from the horseradish.

The asparagus bed was looking sad, so I had my eldest rake out the leaves, weed it well, and plant the 11 new roots I had picked up.

Next week-end, if the weather cooperates, I plan on turning the secondary garden and putting in the potatoes.  At some point I also want to add some more blueberry plants, blackberry canes, strawberries (as soon as I figure out a better placement for them), a couple more rhubarb plants, and another pawpaw (they do better in multiples).  I had my eldest transplant the raspberry cane that popped up in the asparagus bed over to the berry patch, then had my youngest girl create a special barrier for the young cane so it's not accidentally damaged by unsuspecting people.

Sometime this week or next I'll setup several seed pots to start peppers, tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers indoors to be transplanted sometime next month.

And that's it for now!!  Busy, busy to prep for spring.

Spinning!

Is so much fun!! 

You start with something like this:

Then you spend hours working it like this:

Until you have it all spun into 2 or 3 (or more) singles:

Then finally you ply the singles together to make your yarn:

Cavies!

Baby cavies born today.  I thought I was photographing 2, but #3 was peeking out from under mama.

See him in the back?  Maybe a closeup is in order...

There he is!!  Peekaboo!

The Circle

Around and around we go!  Ever really paid attention to the turn of time?  Probably not, I doubt anyone, except perhaps dead philosophers, doctorates, and myself, really give it more than just a passing thought every now or again.  But I seem to be frequently, although not constantly, confronted by the passage of time, and not merely across the face that confronts me in the mirror each day.  I was glancing back through past posts on this blog and can barely believe that I have been writing here for so long, though not frequently.  And yes, I'm aware that it's not a popular blog, but that honestly doesn't bother me.  In truth, I would be unlikely to care if never a single person perused the words written herein.  I don't write for others' amusement here, but for myself.

I find the more time passes, the more quickly it tends to pass, as is customary.  However, I suppose I was not fully prepared for the occasional confusion that goes along with the rapid movement of time through our lives.  I find myself thinking about things I have done or received and try to pinpoint how long I had been doing or had that particular event or item.  Therein lies the confusion, for I mark the passage of time by the seasons.  Then I find myself realizing that not one, but two or more of that particular season may have passed since I had performed that task or received that item.  It makes things rather difficult for me.

So, for instance, my rabbits are older than I had believed.  My garden has been submitted to more furrowing than previously thought. 

Then I stop, not so much to marvel, but to wonder: is this all there is for me?  And am I satisfied with the answer.

Honesty

Do you know the difference between an honest person and a dishonest one?

A dishonest person sees dishonesty everywhere.  They are cynical and mistrusting of everything around them.

An honest person sees truth and trust wherever they look.

Don't be the dishonest person.

Amigurumi Fun!

I am an amigurumist.

That is, I crochet small animal replicas.  My favorites are always the realistic ones.  I am actually a rarity in the crochet world.  Most that make 'toys' actually prefer to focus on food items as they tend to be simpler, requiring less stitching on the whole.  And other crocheters seem to prefer apparel and/or home goods to amigurami.  I will admit, there are times when I wish I preferred something else myself... particularly when I'm faced with the stitching neatly of more than a dozen smaller parts!  It's usually worth it in the end, of course.  And my little niche gives me a unique advantage locally since I have never met another person that does what I do.

The real difference for me is that I hide nothing.  In truth, I would encourage others to emulate me!  I know the items I make are of a nice quality and I price accordingly.  If someone else wishes to 'take a shot' at making the items I make they would still have a long ways to go, even with the same pattern, because I have been doing this for many years and I am a perfectionist.  A trait that I've found goes very well with this type of art.  Still, I'm happy to share my basic methods and sources for eyes and thread with others.  I might even tell them from where I got patterns (if applicable), but I never sell patterns.

I am confident in my ability.

This Year's Preserve Count

To date I've put up chili sauce and spaghetti sauce, applesauce, and honey.  I've stored potatoes and sweet potatoes and frozen peppers.  The count so far is thus:

14 qts chili sauce, plus 1/2 pt
17 qts spaghetti sauce, plus 1 pt
6 pts grape jelly
15 qts applesauce (still have a bushel to be preserved)
~5 lbs each Kennebec and Yukon Gold potatoes stored
~3 lbs sweet potatoes stored
2 qt bags diced/sliced peppers frozen