A life in lists

Allotmenteering

     

Remember I told you to gear up for lots of pictures of an overgrown patch of land? Well, here's the next installment. Sorry about that.

Oh, an apologies for the radio silence this week - I was struck down by a cold, which wasn't so bad that I could remain bed-ridden and demand childcare help, but was bad enough to sap all energy and ability to achieve anything more than keeping the kids alive till 5pm each day. I'm pretty much better now though, bar an irritating cough.

A couple of hours' work on the weekend got a patche cleared, and Teddy, Jasper and I ventured there yesterday morning all by ourselves for a bit more digging, slowly but surely clearing dry brown earth of tangled weeds, herbs and once-productive plants. We've managed to salvage a couple of mature blackcurrant bushes, a redcurrant bush and a gooseberry bush, which is pleasing (we reckon we'll save this year's allotment rent, a whopping £7.25, on the money saved by picked the crops already there).

No doubt I'll rethink after a bit more physical labour, but for the moment I'm really enjoying having the allotment - it's a good morning's outing for Teddy, Jasper and me during the week, where I can let Teddy trot around as he pleases in a big, but contained, area while I dig/feed Jasper/panic about  one or other kid getting sunburn. It's also lovely (and slightly more productive) to visit as a family on the weekend - I'm already plotting (plotting. Get it? Sorry) which bits to focus on this Saturday when I have Adam there to herd Teddy/hold Jasper/give manly displays of strength.

Of course, now we've actually cleared some space, I'm trying to work out what we can sow there (as well as in the one raised bed still empty at home). We've missed prime sowing time for so many crops, but I guess there are still some things we can sow going into summer. Ideas?

See that? That's an allotment, that is

 

Well, technically speaking it's quarter of an allotment - lots of councils now divide up original (huge) allotments into smaller segments so that more people can have some space to grow their own. Suits us though - there's no way I'd have the time and energy to keep on top of an entire allotment!

I know it doesn't look much - waist high weeds can do that for a patch of land - but within this 15'x15' (approximately) patch of land lies a redcurrant bush, a couple of blackcurrant bushes, two globe artichokes, a raspberry bush or two and several varieties of herbs, as well as plenty of space for more veggies and perhaps some more fruit (probably rhubarb. I love rhubarb).

The weather's not meant to be great this week (plus we are off to spend an entire day suit shopping and wedding-list-organising on Wednesday), but we're hoping to find the time to get this space cleared as soon as possible so we can get planting. Although, to be honest, we'd make a profit on the £7.25 (yup, really) annual rental just by cropping the currant bushes that are already there.

Now, ideas for toddler-entertainment at an allotment? He'll get his own little set of gardening tools (he has one for home as well), but any other ideas for outdoor occupation of a two-year-old are very welcome! There's a (small) clear patch right next to our allotment with space to set up a windbreak/sunshade and some toys or something. I suppose I could get a bug box, but frankly I'm not sure I'm brave enough to start identifying wiggly/slimy/scuttling things... 

What's that?

Why, it's the key to our new allotment. Squeeeeeeeee!

I am a bit excited - lots of pictures of a slightly overgrown patch of grass coming to a blog near you soon.

How vegetables can make your life busier

We got an allotment! Well, we've got the chance to go and look at one and decide if we want it. Incidentally, are allotments a UK-only phenomenon? I have no idea. Anyway. We've been on the waiting list for an allotment for over two years, and although the timing could be better (newborn? Wedding? Whatever), it's a great opportunity to grow a bit more of our own fruit and veg and (hopefully) save some money on the food bill. I'm really looking forward to going and checking it out as soon as possible and hopefully sign on the dotted line. Long time readers of this blog will remember that it originally began as a record of our journey towards a greener lifestyle, and getting an allotment (in the absence of earning enough to afford a house with a big garden) was always a part of that plan.

Since our family has grown a little and priorities have shifted a little here and there, I also have other allotment ambitions: I'm hoping it will give me an easy destination for trips out as we get used to venturing out as a threesome during the week, and will be a great experience for Teddy. Any toddler gardening tips? I'm thinking of giving him his own little patch. My mother also had the inspired idea to make a teepee or den to have up there so it's also a play space for Teddy. I have no idea if that's 'allowed' (some allotmentts have pretty strict rules), but hopefully we can figure something out.

Oh, and that book? It's fab. My sister bought it for me a while back from some National Trust bookshop or other (maybe at Chartwell? I'm sure she'll remind me). I'd been after a gardening book that basically gave me a week-by-week idiot's guide to vegetable growing throughout the year, and when Charlotte saw this reprint of a World War II gardening guide, she knew it was exactly what I was after. I love the vintage adverts mixed in with a year-round planner for the average allotment holding Brit in the 940s.

The potatoes are basically there to make this post look more horticultural. We're a bit late getting them in the ground this year (have I mentioned the newborn?), but I figure we're bound to get some kind of a crop.

One down, 11 to go (lists, that is...)

So here we are, at the end of the first month of 2011, or, as I've affectionately (and less affectionately, at times) named it: A year of hand making. At the beginning of the year I wrote a bit of a list of hand making (knitting, sewing, crafting, cooking, whatever) aims for the year, divided up on a month by month basis. And so, as we reach the end of January, I get to take a look and see how much got ticked off part one of the list:

1. Finish Teddy’s big bed quilt

OK, so there's a couple of yards of binding still to hand finish, but that's just being picky, right? It will probably be finished this evening. I think we'll call item 1 a success.

2. Organise the crafting/art supplies cupboard.

Hmm, it's organised, but organising it has just left me with more of a list of things I need to buy and sort for it (for instance, I think I'd like some more sensible storage for crayons than glass jars, so that Teddy could be allowed to get his own supplies in and out when he wants to draw). So yes, that's done, but you can expect to hear more about it in February.

3. Knit Teddy another pair of socks

Almost! This pair is going much faster than the first pair I knitted (which I've just realised I never blogged), as they took three iterations before I had the number of cast on stitches and length right. The first sock is done and the second is well on the way.

4. Make quilt tops/blankets for the wedding

OK, I think I knew I was on to a loser on this one when I started out with a postage stamp quilt. Unsurprisingly, it's the only finished top, but I'm part way through a second, and I'm determined to get a couple more churned out asap. I'll keep you posted on this one.

5. Design and print the wedding invitations

Ummm, nope. Haven't even made a start. Can I try to blame my sister for this? She hasn't reminded me that I wanted to ask her over to do them for me, so it's totally her fault. Honest. Ummm.

6. Quilt half of the sunshine quilt

Again, nope. I've made a little bit of progress, but sitting with that enormous quilt on my lap is really uncomfortable at the moment (blame the bump), so progress is very much in fits and starts. I'm glad I'm working on it often enough that it doesn't feel like a hibernated project, but it's definitely not at 50% quilted.

7. Start a tea leaves cardigan for myself

Yup, that definitely comes under the heading of started. In fact, if I wasn't having so much fun knitting it (I love seeing the slight variegation in the yarn colour coming out as I knit) I might have achieved one or two more things in January (apologies for the mega bright light - the sun is not being co-operative).

8. Make Teddy an outfit from Ottobre magazine

Not done, no good excuses. The fabric and the patterns are all there ready, I just haven't found the time to start cutting and sewing.

9. Sew zippered bags for crayons, pencils etc.

I actually decided not to do this, as (see item 2 above) I want to store Teddy's pencils etc in containers that he can access, and he's not too hot on zips. Also if they're in boxes he can keep them in the box even as he's working (less chance of losing them off the table), and I don't see him doing that with a pencil case.

10. Knit a baby cardigan

Yup, done and dusted. of course, it's a fraction bigger than I was hoping, so there will probably be another one on the needles soon, but the point is that it's done. It got its own blog post here.

11. Knit a baby hat

Nope. Apparently being sad about Teddy not having a knitted baby hat isn't a good enough motivator to actually make me knit one. Hopefully I'll get round to this in February.

12. Knit Teddy a new winter hat

As I commented about four days into the month, this seems a little pointless as he won't go outside without the sweet bobble hat that he was given at Christmas by another relative. This is still the case. Maybe next winter.

13. Make curtains for the sitting room 

OK, so this isn't done, but there's progress, honest! I've got library books on making curtains. I've also ordered fabric, and as these are going to be some seriously basic curtains (ummm, unlined hemmed organic cotton twill, anyone?), I'm hoping they'll come together pretty quickly.

14. Organise my workroom and plan any sewing, making or shopping that needs to happen to keep it under control

Now, the problem with this is that when I started to organise my workroom (made easier when I discovered that Teddy could be bribed to sit still with Thomas the Tank episodes on the computer. Hey, they're only 6 minutes long, I'm coping with the guilt) I inevitably started to organise every other room in the house too, so it's not entirely finished. However, I have donated about four bags of clothes, fabric and miscellaneous junk to the charity shop, and I'd say the workroom is about 70% of the way to being organised. And also our bedroom is rearranged and tidy ready for baby's arrival (which might technically be termed rather more important). So mostly a success.

15. Knit some practice colourwork swatches

I've admired my shade card and ordered some yarn, but no dice on any actual swatches yet, I'm afraid. Although given my current choice of favourites for the next baby cardigan, I'm going to have to make a start soon.

16. Finish my father’s Christmas (ahem) socks

Done! It was the first thing to be ticked off the list.

17. Plan what’s going in the garden this year

Done in my head, although it hasn't made it onto a blog post, or even a notepad. We're going to have one bed of potatoes, one of peas and beans and one of onions, carrots and greens. I think we'll leave what was the bean bed last year empty this year, as actually having four beds on the go is a surprising amount of work, and I think the baby and the wedding will probably keep us busy enough this summer.

18. Make marmalade

Not done yet, but (as with so many things), the oranges are waiting their turn. They've been ordered (you try getting Seville oranges in a supermarket round here) and are being delivered on Wednesday.

19. Plan what other wedding hand making needs doing before the baby arrives

Yup, that's done - if you compare the list page to the original blog post with the list on (which I'm leaving in its original form for the sake of posterity), you'll notice a few extra items on there.

And so, all in all, I'm not too disappointed with my progress. Sure, there are a couple of bits that I failed utterly on (I'm looking at you, Ottobre patterns), but I've also managed a couple of other things not on the list, including a quilt for a friend's brand new baby, most of the baby blanket for number two baby and plenty of progress on the Tea Leaves cardigan. I'll blog those projects properly in the fullness of time.

I hope you're not too disappointed in me for not completing every last thing on the list, because I'm really pretty pleased with what got accomplished! Projects that justify a proper post of their own with more details (like Teddy's quilt) will be given more space in the coming week, so keep an eye out if there's something you were hoping for more information on.

I've got a little bit of updating to do to February's list to do (most importantly, figuring out what needs to be dropped so I can guarantee that Ottobre outfit and the baby hat), but I'll post a bit more about that tomorrow.

Oh, and by the way, I've added a Google Friend Connect thingy to the sidebar of the blog, so feel free to follow me through that if you're looking for an easier way to keep up with what I'm doing - I know Typepad's follow button isn't much use if you're not actually a Typepad blogger.

The day so far

Just about the only thing alive in the garden at the moment is the little bay tree we bought earlier in the year (before realising that there were two bays in the garden).

Teddy was initially quite keen to help tidy up the garden, but lost interest as soon as he found the watering can again (this summer's number one hot accessory).

I'm ashamed to say that I've scarcely been out in our garden since falling pregnant (first thanks to morning sickness, then lack of enthusiasm for gardening in the cold), so the whole place is looking really rather drab and scruffy. I want to make a start on tidying it up and getting it ready for next year's crops (which all need to be of the extremely low maintenance variety, so as not to intrude too much on the whole baby/wedding thing)., but there's so much to do that I just don't know where to start! I'm determined to get out there at least a couple of times a week though, and attempt to make some kind of headway with the raking up the leaves, digging over the raised beds and weeding the scruffy patches that we never quite got round to planting this year.

Of course, no morning would be complete without at least one outing for the train set (luckily, putting it away is almost as much fun as getting it out, so I don't have to spend all my time tripping over it). The train set was a birthday present this year (from us but originally found by my fabulous sister, who bought the whole lot at a boot fair for an embarrassingly small sum). I wonder whether the Christmas present (which I haven't in any way gone ahead and ordered without consulting Adam) will come anywhere near it?

Watching Teddy play with the train set got me thinking about more knitting (If you haven't been reading this blog for that long, you might not know that I actually started my handmaking endeavours with a voracious knitting appetite, so this whole knitting bug isn't actually totally out of the blue). This jumper was a charity shop find by Adam's mother (can you tell we don't buy much stuff brand new?), but it scarcely covers the big toddler belly now, so I think a replacement might find its way onto the needles in the not-too-distant future.

I wonder what else we'll get up to once Teddy finishes napping... I'm planning on a long session on the sunshine quilt this evening - our house is free from guests for the first time in about a week, so I'm finally able to spread the quilt all over the sofa and do nothing but stitch away at it for a whole evening. However, I suspect Teddy might have something a little less sedentary in mind when he wakes from his nap.

Brrrrr

We haven't had any more snow since last week's fall, but the frost has been incredibly hard for the past couple of days. I don't think it's getting much above freezing during the day. Pretty though.

I actually went outside to take some photos to show you the progress of my honey cowl, but I forgot to take it (blame the pregnant brain), and once I'd come in again there was no way I was going back out! Suffice to say it's now about 8" wide (the pattern calls for 12") and is sporting a completely incorrect row about 3" in which I only noticed this morning and refuse to frog out 5" of honeycomb stitch for. I figure it'll add character.

Seeing the raised beds all bare reminds me that when we get a milder couple of days we've still got some preparation to do for next year's growing, but even the thought of going out there and doing actual work is enough to make me shiver.

These pictures

1. Are all from the past week
2. Didn't justify a post of their own (although some occasionally make their way into other posts...)
3. Make me happy

 

An abandoned bucket made this trip to the beach particularly exciting (now the beach has been discovered, it's become a twice-weekly trip).

Vegetable thinnings that are actual food. Along with leaf beet and salad leaves, we're doing pretty well from the garden already.

  

The watering can has improved life dramatically for this fair and chubby boy in the heat of the past week. Mainly he waters himself.

 

Hexagons in the park while Teddy napped in the pram. I can stop any time I want, honest. But wouldn't it be great if my first hand pieced quilt was king size?

 Listed this in the shop last week, but mainly I love the photo that my mother took to show off this candy coloured blanket.

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These pictures is a regular Sunday feature with a few pictures from the week that never quite made it into their own blog post. Hope you enjoy it, and feel free to share your own These pictures moments too!

Pleasing

 The sight of a washing line full of fabric. Yes, I prewash my fabric. I think it originated from using so much vintage and salvaged fabric - possibly if I used exclusively high quality quilting cottons I wouldn't bother, but there can be a fair amount of variation in shrinkage even in quilting cottons. I also find some fabrics fade a surprising amount, which can mean that, for instance, two blues that seemed to match perfectly no longer do when they are washed.

My system is, broadly:

1. Wait until there is enough of a particular shade to do a wash (or throw them in with our normal light/dark laundry)
2. Wash at 40 degrees with standard laundry detergent (we use either Bio D or Ecover). I don't use a colour catcher sheet - too cheapskate. Although possibly the first time I get a proper bleeding fabric will be when I convert to them. Until then, no catchers.
3. Hang on the line
4. Press (this bit is boring. A couple of episodes of Doctor Who on the computer keep me going if there's a lot)
5. Fold
6. Store
7. Sew!

We don't have a tumble dryer, so I don't tumble them. You can't beat a few hours in the breeze on a sunny day, anyway.

This batch has been waiting for a wash for weeks (can you tell I have more fabric than I need in my life?). There are even some of the limited edition Liberty cottons from our trip to the Quilts exhibition in the V&A.

Incidentally, aren't the vegetables coming along well?

These pictures

1. Are all from the past week
2. Didn't justify a post of their own (although some have already made their way into other posts and will doubtless appear again some time...)
3. Make me happy

My favourite hexagon at the moment. Pretty much every single one I make for the charm quilt becomes my new favourite, but I'm really loving this one.

 Planting onion sets (as opposed to seeds) is a bit of a cheat, but it does mean you get to see proper sized plants really quickly.

 The outdoor toddler (minus toddling). I love that he loves the outdoors so much.

A little project with no pressure, started yesterday morning. I'll stop when I get bored. 1.5" hexagons, so progress is reasonably fast.

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'These pictures' is a semi-regular Sunday feature showing some of the images of the previous week that didn't quite get the attention that they deserved from me.