Month: January 2009

garden stuff

Chilly & damp outside…

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)41 Comments

…but that’s OK because in my daydream it’s summer and I’m in Canada – Winlaw, British Columbia to be precise. The sun is shining, there’s a warm, fragrant breeze and I’m wandering through some of the most stunning gardens imaginable – all courtesy of this gorgeous book that Diane so kindly sent me a while back.

Images reprinted from The Garden That You Are by Katherine Gordon, by kind permission of the publisher
Sono Nis Press.

It’s a wonderful book full of beautiful photography, gardening tips, ideas, recipes and most of all fascinating insights into a group of very creative, culturally diverse gardeners and their special gardens in the Slocan valley. I’ve been really enjoying the inspiration this book has brought!

I’ve wanted to grow more of our own food for a while now. We live in a modest suburban house with an average back garden but quite a lot of it is covered in patio area. As it’s essential that we keep the main bit of the garden for the children to play in I’m having to think about making the most of a small amount of space and so I’m turning to raised beds and planters for our fledgling veggie garden. I’ve got my seeds and potatoes on order but it’s too cold to plant anything yet, so it’s a great time to snuggle up with the books and start planning everything out.

I’m really looking forward to spring – starting off small but with hopeful plans to expand!

crafts & knitting

out of the groove

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)52 Comments

I can’t seem to find my knitting groove! It always disappears over a school holiday when keeping the children entertained takes precedence over the quiet pleasures of a ball of wool but this week I’ve still not managed to get back into bunny knitting. It might have something to do with the state of my work basket…

… a tangle of limbs, ears, heads and other disembodied parts – in short a big mess (I am not one of the world’s naturally tidy people). The trouble with working on a whim is that I forget where I got to on a particular animal and where I put the wool to finish off each one. I have some sorting out to do and then hopefully I’ll be on track to finish off some new animals for the end of the month.

Enjoy your weekend and thanks for the chicken love on the previous post – I look forward to introducing the ladies to you soon!

chicken stuff · general stuff

New year planning

Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)56 Comments

I really like all of the planning and speculation that comes along with the start of a new year – 365 clean, bright squares on the calendar expectantly waiting to be filled with exciting things! The start of a new year feels like a good time to try and put your own little world to rights and I suppose that’s why so many of us make new years resolutions. I did OK with mine last year although I never did get around to sewing very much and my email inbox is even more stuffed now than it was back then. On the positive side though, I did manage to spend some extra much needed time with Amy while my husband had Toby. That’s something that needs to happen a bit more this year, but we’ll take it step by step and hopefully balance out what both children need a little more evenly! I also did really well on the food front – I did end up making virtually all of our own bread, cakes and biscuits and relying far, far less on supermarket food for meals. The plan is to take that a step further this year and produce more of our own food. Which is why I am so happy with our joint Christmas pressie this year…

…a chicken house! It’s ready for residents but H is currently busy clearing the area where it’s going and building a run. Once it’s all in place we’ll be going to collect our 3 chickens and hopefully not too long after we’ll be enjoying some fresh eggs! Amy and I are so excited and she’s already got a shortlist of names for them!

H and I have also been busy in the garden setting up raised beds ready for veggie growing. I can already tell that 2009 is going to be a more outdoorsy kind of year though hopefully I’ll still have a little energy at the end of the day for a spot of bunny knitting!