snow and stitching

March 25, 2013 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)46 Comments

Thanks for all the good wishes for our garden plans. Although there will be lots of changes going on many of the things that I love about the garden will still be there – the raised beds are being reconfigured and I'm looking forward to planning out the veg garden soon – hopefully in time for spring (if it ever arrives!). We're also keeping the chicken run, half of the herb wall, the table and chairs under the grapevine where I like to sit and knit with my radio in summer and of course Toby's beloved trampoline. I will miss my messy little shed with it's bench and shelves strewn with gardening bits and bobs, though my potting bench will have a new home outdoors so I can still potter at it.

It's the loss of the climbing frame that has had the most impact on the garden and on me, to tell the truth I cried when it came down. It has served our family so well for many years and brought so much pleasure
to Amy and Toby. I can still vividly remember the delight and amazement on Amy's face when she saw the first swing that we put up, and Toby's utter joy at the climbing frame, he was up there before it had even been finished! I have fed him lots of petit filous yoghurts up on the platform – it was always his favourite place to eat them on a summer's day.

I suppose that what I am actually sad about is the ending of a chapter in family life. Taking down the climbing frame has felt like closing the door on childhood and I will miss it because it was loved by the little people who used to play and squeal and
laugh on it. But it has been a year or two since Amy has played on it and Toby is getting too big to be completely safe on it. It is the right time to make a change – a garden is best adapted to suit the needs of those who use it and I'm sure we will come to love our new garden room and I will wonder 'how ever did we manage without it? I am certainly grateful for the kindness and generosity of family and friends that has made it possible.

Over the weekend the work outside had to be put on hold due to a late winter storm and yet more snow!

Snowblos

Snowb

Snuggling inside with lots of wool was definitely the best thing to do and I started planning how to join the stack of squares for my tiled blanket.

Stacked

There have been a few false starts…

To begin with I sewed the pieces together through the front-most loops of the edging round. I thought it was going well but when I laid it out I wasn't happy – it looked scruffy and messy and I didn't like the wonky squares

Joining

Then I tried sewing through the back loops on the edging round…

Joining2

…but was still not a happy bunny. I think it was better than the first attempt but still a bit scruffy at the corner joins.

So finally I tried sewing through the little line of bumps at the back of the edging…

Joining3

…and at last I think I'm happy. I plan to keep on joining the squares like this and once it's a bit bigger I'll take some more photos – hopefully at that point I'll not change my mind again as I'm now heartily sick of unpicking stitches!

garden stuff

KABOOM!

March 19, 2013 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)68 Comments

That there is the sound of the metaphorical bomb that has gone off in our garden this last week.

I love our little garden. It's not big but it is a little haven of outdoor peace where I like to sit in the summer with my knitting; watch the children play, swing and bounce; have campouts; eat al fresco; tend my veggies and just enjoy this corner of the earth that smiles on me.

When we first put in our raised beds and started a vegetable garden in 2009 it used to look like this…

Veg garden

Gardenveg

There was lots of lush, green growth

Garden6

Gardenjune

a pretty herb wall

Herbwall

a swing and climbing frame for the children

Amyswing

(from 2007 when Amy was a lot shorter than me and Toby refused to wear trousers!)

and a little shed where I liked to do my planting and pottering

Shed2

Today it looks a bit different. A bit like a bomb went off, hence the KABOOM!

Garden2

The climbing frame and swings have gone because they are really no longer safe for Toby now he is so big and swings so high. The raised beds are being moved and the shed is being dismantled and recycled.

Lots of big changes and lots of hard work for H but hopefully it will be worth it because thanks to the generous donations and fundraising of family and friends who have raised a lot of money for us we will be putting in a garden respite room. This will give Amy a space for doing homework or seeing friends out of earshot of Toby's meltdowns; a quiet, almost outdoor space for Toby to come on rainy days; a place for H or I to take it in turns to have a night off from Toby duty and just a little place to escape from intense situations for a short time.

We've also got Toby a lovely new swing seat that gently sways instead of heartstopping mega swinging! I'm so looking forward to it all being done and hoping that it will make the big difference to family life that we think it might. But for now there is a lot of digging and hard work ahead and I'm so grateful that H is great with things like this.

By the way thanks so much for all of the comments on the previous post. I've really enjoyed reading everyone's thoughts on being a homebody, or not being one as the case may be.

Oh and if anyone sees Spring please could they send it in this direction as H needs some warm dry weather to get the concrete to set!

Have a good week where you are and thanks for dropping in x

garden stuff

garden tidying

September 28, 2012 Julie (little Cotton Rabbits)33 Comments

For the last few days I've been dodging the showers to be out tidying up in the garden because most of my harvest is over for this year. If I'm
lucky I'll get a few more handfuls of raspberries from our canes and
maybe 2 more pullings of carrots. Funnily the carrots have done really
well this year – just when I had decided that I'd not bother growing
them again they decide to prove that they are a worthwhile crop, so
they will be on my list of seeds to buy for next spring afterall.

The beetroot is also still going well and is such a pretty crop. This year I gew a variety called Chioggia which has pink and white rings when you cut it. It doesn't stain your fingers as much as the full-bodied red kind but is just as sweet and earthy to eat.

It's time to tidy up the beds and fix the protective fronts and backs – back in spring I was lazy and didn't seal up the gaps and so the cabbage white butterflies have feasted on my cabbages and broccoli – that will learn me!

I do love growing things in my garden and it's a bonus when you can eat them too. I've roasted the beetroot I picked earlier and will shortly be peeling them, tossing in some balsamic vinaigrette and eating them with some goat's cheese, salad and crusty bread for lunch.