Growing our own

Last week we picked (or rather cut, as I've been told they'll grow back) the first of the food from our garden. These spring onions went straight into a potato salad, after Ivy had tasted them, pulled a face, and told me that they are "bicey" (spicy). Chives from the garden also went into the salad, which Ivy picked herself.

Growing our own started off as being functional, why buy something you can produce yourself, for free? Last year was a huge learning curve, including learning that it's not actually free! There's potentially a lot of stuff to buy: seeds, compost, pots, saucers, canes, cane toppers, tomato feed. Then you can't just sew seeds and let them get on with it, you have to actually do stuff to them. Which is where I fell short last year and despite planting all of my tomato seeds and ending up with about 80 seedling, I only got three tomatoes from three tomato plants. And then there are all the potential pests. Lots of lessons learnt.

This year it hasn't felt like a chore or work, and I actually seem to "get it". It's hard to explain what it is that is so satisfying, and it's a bit of a cliche to say that it's about feeling close to nature. But to observe the process from seed to plant to food is incredibly grounding, and has deepened my respect for life.

Ivy is enjoying it too. I was surprised recently when someone asked her what was growing and she correctly named the tomato plants and lavender. She got stuck naming the others, but could point them out when I asked where the spring onions and carrots were. I like that she knows what things look like before they are ready to eat. We recently spotted the little orange tops of carrots sticking out from the soil, even I found it exciting (and reassuring!) that there really are carrots growing under there. Ivy will often point our plants out to visitors "Lookat our PLANTS!", which is pretty much what I want to say too.

And as for all that stuff you need to buy, I have found ways around some of those. Plant pots borrowed from my Dad, or improvised out of containers that would otherwise be recycled. My workplace collects large tins for me, and I use a nail and hammer to punch holes in the bottom for drainage. The little tins are a good size for herbs or seedlings, and plastic containers like those that hummus comes in work well as saucers for small pots and tins.

As well as all of the lessons I have learnt about gardening, I've also learnt something pretty usefull about myself; that I can figure stuff out myself.

Garden

Found photos that show all the bits of our garden, all taken this month.

The things I dislike:

- Scaffolding at the end of the garden which has been there since before we moved in. Other people kept commenting on it being still there, and are they even working on that house, etc, and it didn't really bother me until they started taking the scaffolding down and for the first time ever I imagined it not being there and got really excited. Then they stopped taking it down, and it's still there, but at least there is no longer a pole in our garden! Looking forward to that not dominating our view, one day, maybe...

- The mismatch walls and fences. The bare breeze-block walls are just so ugly and so very grey.

- The unpainted pebble-dash finish on the house. It's just so grey!

The things I like:

- The deck! It's so much nicer to walk, sit, play on wood rather than the concrete that was there before. It's so much softer to touch and to look at.

- The grass! It's pretty unusual in our area to have grass, as the gardens are so small that the grass doesn't get enough light to thrive.

And my plans to change:

- We're getting some raised beds put in the sides, and climbers planted to try to cover up some of the breeze-block and fencing.

- I want to have the trees at the end taken out as the grass towards the back of the garden is dying because they block too much light. And instead...

- A living willow or bamboo pole (with climbers, maybe beans?) teepee at the end of the garden to play in.

- To cover up some of the pebble-dash with boards for painting and boards with blackboard paint on.

Home

First "boon" of the year!

While playing in the garden I spotted this in the sky. When I pointed it out to Ivy she gasped. In Bristol I think seeing a hot air balloon is to summer what crocuses are to Spring. So if summer is coming then it MUST be spring !





She watched and pointed and waved. And she no longer says "boon", the L is making it's way in there, but she's a bit funny with L's and kind of overuses her tongue to say them so it sounds a bit like "bleh-oon".

Three Things

I have found a few things that Ivy loves doing, and is often happy to do on her own for quite a while.

1. Gardening, in the loosest sense of the word. She has a little trowel set and will spend ages just moving soil between pots/dumping it on the deck. And watering, she needs me to fill her watering can every now and then. So, the combination of these two things makes it look like a few bags of compost exploded all over our deck. But who cares?! She's happy, and I get to cook dinner in peace (I am finally realising that losing my cooking mojo is because I never get to do it undisturbed). (this picture from two weekends ago when we planted seeds)




2. Rice play. Some rice, a few containers, a spoon or measuring cup all on a tray, and she spends a long, long time transferring it from one to the other in all the different ways possible. She concentrates so hard and must be learning a lot and loves it. Plenty ends up on the floor too, but if it's not intentional it doesn't count as mess ;)



3. Playdoh and a play knife. Forget rolling pin and all those exciting shaped plastic cutters. Ivy just needs a blunt knife and she cannot be torn away from it (not even for cake, seriously). Also, a great moment earlier when she brought us a piece of playdoh and announced "A playdoh chickpea!" and yes, this piece of playdoh really did look like a chickpea! Do I have the most hippy toddler ever?! (This picture from today, after cutting and squashing the chickpea before we could get a decent photo)

January, February and March crafting

January

A fabric box (which currently houses Ivy's kitcheny toys. The pretty fabric softens the uggliness of all that plastic) from this tutorial thanks to Pinterest! When I read through the tutorial I was nievly optimistic on how quick it would be, thinking I could do it during one nap time. Didn't help that my interfacing isn't fusible so after trying to fuse it and nothing happening I had to use bondaweb too, which added a whole extra step. Anyway, I love it!

A skirt for Steph for Christmas (whoops. BUT, how nice to receive gifts in the middle of grey and drizzly January, it's almost like I planned it!). From this tutorial, also thanks to Pinterest. I don't have any photos though as I was just glad to have finished the damn thing having started it in early December (this is often how I feel about sewing projects by the end!). I had to make a lot of adaptations to the original pattern as I didn't have enough of one fabric and didn't want the elastic exposed like in the pattern.

Three birthday cards. A crossword style, things-you-like card for my Mum. A painted dinosaur card that says "Happy birthday Sophisaurs" for Sophie. And a painted lobster card for Jake (the only one I took a photo of).

An appliqué bird t-shirt for my cousin's daughter, Nina, for Christmas. I finished her twin sister, Aya's, before Christmas but there wasn't a rush as they were all in Brazil. The wing of the bird and ear of the elephant are flap-able :)

February

Elephant wall hanging for my Dad's birthday. I did this in one long afternoon and evening the day before his birthday, even though I'd been planning it for months! Another one of those projects I underestimate how long it will take.



Hot air balloon appliqué top for Ivy. I'm really happy with the design, but the stitching is a bit dodgy as the top is stretchy and I must have been stretching it when I was sewing so it's turned out a bit wobbly, especially around the basket of the balloon. The balloon is also a bit too big for the t-shirt so when it's on it's not clear what it actually is.



March

Emmelie's birthday skirt (also a circle skirt), two months late!



Robot appliqué top for Ivy. I gave her a choice of t-shirts, and a choice of fabrics and this is the combination she chose :) (ugh crappy photo)



Crocus fairy from Steiner playgroup.



I have also been working on: Crochet slippers for me, crochet bear hat for Ivy, purple dress for Ivy, family photo album.

I have been hardly taking photos at all recently. February was an all time low, I only took 134! Probably no coincidence that February was the month my Grandma died. The few photos I have taken are mostly not pretty, mostly blurry, often on my phone, but mostly taken so I'll remember something. I'm going to start posting these along with the thing I wanted to remember. Probably in a random order.

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We got new toy shelves (YAY! ORGANISATION!) and Ivy found a bit of polystyrene from the packaging and found a few uses for it.

As food, for cooking. And cargo for the trains. Reminded me of her using pine needles at Christmas time for play food.



She also used it as tea in her tea pot, but then pretended to drink some and unintentionally inhaled some and so that was time for the polystyrene to go in the bin.

Boxing Day (26th)

We went to the theatre to see Hey Diddle Diddle with Steph. Ivy went into meltdown mode as soon as we stepped foot inside the Old Vic and I wondered if this was going to be an awful experience to give us all fear of taking child to the theatre. But as soon as the show started she calmed down and remained calm (and slobbed out on my lap like I am her own personal human armchair) and was totally transfixed for the whole hour!

We also had amazing (and cheap!) lunch. That kind of amazing where you eat in silence apart from the occasional "this is so good".

At home we had new (Christmas present) tea, and cake, and watched a film. Then friends over in the evening for curry, and more cake! It was a perfect Boxing Day (apart from having to walk home in the rain without raincoats or umbrellas, Ivy was fine under her rain cover even if she did protest).

Hello 2013

19th & 20th

Ivy's bag has been coming with us everywhere recently, and when she find a new treasure she stuffs it in. What is inside...

A stone, a button, a hair tie. A duplo hippo, brick and four stars/flowers. seven bottle lids, two wooden balls, one Ivy-crafted Christmas decorations. Two books, a spinning top, a wipe. A triangle, two soft toys.

There were also magnets stolen from Steph's fridge, but we gave them back.

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Our first Christmas of 2012! So I added the finishing touches to Emmelie and Jakes present. I'm pretty pleased with it.

We had a lovely evening, and were very full of good food!