Pretty tents!

Well shade flys actually. I like the semi of snowflakes.

Perennial Garden

A lot of the flowers in the beds that make a 90 degree turn around the North and east side were there when we moved in. The whole bed was actually quite overgrown and the inspector suggested that we thin it out, which I did with Duchess E last Fall.

This is how the beds looked during our initial walk through.



This is how the east bed looks now.



We cleared out a lot of the flox and I transplanted some perennials from our duplex. I cleared out some hostas and divided up some of the other plants and spread them around. I also brought over a couple bushes and one is added to the corner of this bed and the other is added to the new herb bed. Both bushes and most of the flowers seem to have survived the move just fine and they should really flourish next year.



This is the herb bed that I added to the west side of the house.



It's near the back door and I filled it mostly with herbs, although it has the other bush that I brought from Hillsdale, some Dyanthis and whatever this bulb is.



I transplanted lavender and planted lovage, sage, rosemary, tarragon, flat leaf parsley, savory, chives and cilantro. The cilantro really went nuts. My basil and oregano seeds did nothing. Such a shame. Next year I will add more plants.



I decided to re purpose my pots and grow some decorative annuals. I planted the pots in April and all 4 are doing quite well, despite my infrequent watering.

Weekend of accomplishments

Ok, first things first. Tent has more paint.



My new blue gown for WW has buttons, buttonholes, and the sleeves sewn into the armholes. Only thing left is the lacing cord and eyelets. (no pictures)

Shade flys for Nordskogen have been set up, tested and approved.



I'm so glad that Vidi is making the wood cause I would be even more insane than I already am. Last night I finished adding the rope slides, cut the second set of ropes and started loading the van with the stuff I'm going to need. They are NOT going to get the snowflakes until after WW and I don't care at this point. Anyone who wants to help with silk screening is welcome to come over.

This was the most important accomplishment of the weekend.



Sitting.

Produce

I need to eat more Swiss Chard, the garden will soon be drowning in produce. There are flowers on the cucumbers, summer squash, peas, beans, and tomatoes. Considering the cooler temps, I should pick up a hen and roast it on a bed of fennel tonight with some potatoes. That will be a nice easy dinner so that I can work on stuff in the sewing room.

On the way home from the wedding this weekend I purchased a flat (8 qrts) of strawberries. They are not as sweet as our neighbors, but they are pretty good, and a bargain at $3/ qrt. I cleaned and sliced 16 cups of strawberries and placed them in the freezer. I think I will end up making jam, but I don't have time to do that right now. I also have 1 1/2 qrts of cherries picked, with more still on the tree. They are waiting in the fridge for some action by me. Not sure what I'll do, but I think some will go into the freezer for baking, and some will go into alcohol for cordials.

The shade flys are sewn and could be set up anytime I get the wood. I still need to add the snowflakes, but I will start that tonight. See how well I did masking my new screen for the task.

I'm going to knitting on Thursday, but it's going to be a quick dash in, grab my food order form Chris, and dash out. Too much to do this week.

Swiss Chard

We have been eating frsh greens for dinner for the last couple of nights. Last night was a hit!

Olive oil
Handfull of fresh snap peas
several marinated garlic cloves
Large Sprig of fresh fennel
Generous amount of swiss chard and spinach
Vinegar/ Lemon juice to finish with some kosher salt and pepper

Heat olive oil in the pan and add garlic. Stir about.
Add snap peas and stir about
Add the fresh greens and cook everything until the greens are wilted
Add the vinegar just when complete and dash with salt and fresh ground pepper.

Fantastic! The bitter swiss chard really works well with the vinegar and sweet peas.

Drowning in blue fabric

I'm sewing 2 rather large BC shade flys. (photo from Dragonwing)

I cut out all the fabric Tuesday at Fighter's practice and started sewing everything together Wednesday night. I should have started earlier than I did, but I was enjoying my knitting and didn't want to put it down. That said I only got the wings edged and sewn onto the walls and one half of one shade fully assembled.

I did purchase the wood, paint, sliders and ropes. The person working on the uprights is receiveing the wood today. Glad I'm not having to work on that as well, I'll have plenty of work with just the sewing an painting.

Pavilion painting check in

I think it's looking good. I'll finish the valance design by WW.

Absentee gardening

I guess the garden does much better while I'm gone. When I left there were flowers on the peas and now there are peas to eat.



Yummy peas to snack on. I had them on my salad yesterday, made with lettuce from the garden.

I need to find a recipe for Swiss chard. Anyone have any ideas?



The cherries need to be harvested this week. Wow!



They are sour, but just lovely.

There will be raspberries in about a month.

Cherries!!!!

Wow! Time to pick some fruit this week.



I think I will pit and freeze them until I decide what I should do.

Ariel's Stockings

I finished the stockings about a month ago and finally had a chance to deliver them to the recipient.

The plan was that they were going to be part of a outfit made on site, but the scope of the outfit morphed from 15th c. German to Roman. Yeah knit stockings are not really common for Roman. They were done and I was happy to hand them over. I'm pretty pleased with them.



The stockings are a pattern of my own design. I used size 0 needles and Lang Jawool Superwash in yellow. I did some shaping on the cuff, knee and calf and they fit perfectly. The small clocks on the ankle are a crown and a Calon Cross. The crown is pretty obvious, but the Calon cross is harder to see. I used a Dutch heel for shaping and a wedge toe and kitchnered it closed.

Now to start silk stockings and socks for Northshield's next Queen.

Pavilion painting

I'm trying to get the main elements of the design on my new spoked round in time to take it to Lilies. I won't have the valence design started, but the walls are mostly done and the roof with have the initial elements.

Here's a peek:



The paint it exterior house paint (latex/ water based) and it is thinned with a bit of water. Some people thin it 1 to 1 and mine is more 2 to 1 (2 parts paint to 1 part water).

I tape the lines and paint them on. I use the seam lines as my guide so it's relatively easy to lay it out in sections on my cutting table and work on it in pieces. That's how I painted my spoked oval.



The gonfleurs are added using a stencil. It's tricky using stencils with thinned paint. I find if I add the majority of the paint in the center of the large sections and then work my way to the edge of the stencil with a swirly action it cuts down on the bleed through. It's not an exact science, but they pass the 5' rule.



I like them!

Tonight I will be painting the top of the tent. It's going to get 2 rings and then a series of circles. The valence will get 2 border lines and then I will add the diamonds and lattice after Lillies. It will be very pretty by WW. I need to have the tent dry to pack after work on Wednesday.

I also finished sewing up my floor. That needs to get painted too.