Sunday, May 2, 2010

Random Weekend

Despite my quick start out of the gate with the new Burda, this hasn't been the best sewing weekend for me. The sewing hasn't been going badly; it's just been fairly non-existent after that good start. The sun came out, the temps went into the 80s, the garden called, and the yearly neighborhood plant sale was going on a few blocks away.

It's held in an old church, and I always go to the sale as much to look at the building as to buy plants. This year all I bought was another basil (that makes 4), and 6-pack of marigolds to pot up in the back yard. I don't do many annuals, but I love the smell of marigolds, and they add a nice little pop of color. And they, unlike most potted plants, don't get all cranky when I forget to water them.

When we got in from the plant sale, Mario had to go run a quick errand. I said I'd start weeding in the back yard but hold off the big project - digging out a 6 foot tall non-blooming lilac - until he got back. My yard isn't big enough to waste that much real estate on something that isn't going to give back. Of course, an hour goes by. I start digging. By the end of the next hour, I've got the bush about 3/4 out of the ground. I break for lunch. I finish excavating and realize that I still need Mario, because while I've got the lilac out of the ground, I can't get it out of the yard.

Eventually he comes back, we hoist the bush over the fence and carry it 2 blocks to a friend's house who promised to give it a good home. I hope she's got the hole dug and the bush in the ground by now. After that, I had to do some work on the soil in that corner - everywhere else in the yard the dirt is black and crumbly and full of worms, but that corner it's brown and orange and full of rocks. I got rid of the rocks, dumped in a 20 lb. bag of sand to loosen it up, added a couple of buckets of compost from the row of recycle tub/composters in my alley, and then added another 40 lbs. of good topsoil. If that doesn't work, I'll dig up a bucket of worms from other parts of the yard and introduce them to their slightly uncomfortable new home.

I do have one sewing-related bit to share: this gorgeous green dress from MaxStudio. I walk past there a few times a week going home from work, and the first time I noticed this across the street, I stepped right out into traffic to get a better look at it. Andrea has since stopped in at lunch to get a look at it in person, and I need to do that myself. Not that I think I can wear it, but from a technical "how did they do that" standpoint, I think it's fascinating, and a dress like this is one of the few things that can make me wish for a different height, weight and lifestyle.

Who wouldn't want their Cinderella moment in this dress? I'd be okay turning back into a pumpkin at midnight if I could just look good in this for a few hours.

Today isn't much better in getting any sewing done - at least so far. I'm on my 2nd load of laundry, and since the promised thunderstorms haven't appeared, it's currently out in the back yard. It may be greener drying my clothes this way, but it doesn't get the cat hair out. I still have to put anything worn on the outside into the dryer for a few minutes to spin out the hair. The socks and undies are going to be fuzzy. Live with it; we have animals.

Since I don't have any fabric pretties to share today (soon, I promise!), I'll leave you with my favorite Japanese tree peony. I have two peonies, one of them (which is the constant target of badly-aimed basketballs from the boys next door), blooms like crazy. This one, safe from everything, gives me one drop-dead gorgeous bloom every year.

And yet I keep it. Maybe this one flower is giving back enough.

4 comments:

Rose said...

Nice pictures, Karen! I love the green dress also -- maybe I can wear it in another life. I've been eyeing that Burda dress (among many garments in the new Burda or whatever they call it). I look forward to seeing your version.

Nancy K said...

I used to have a tree peony until my husband cut it back with the rest of the perennials, not knowing that it shouldn't be. Ah well, not the only thing he's ruined in the garden. He is good for the heavy stuff though.

Elaray said...

I hope your lilac tree is happy in it's new home. I fell in love with lilacs when I was a child and I've loved them ever since.

Little Hunting Creek said...

It muast have been official garden weekend, because we planted and weeded all weekend too. My tree peony blooms sparingly too, but it is so pretty it is worth it