turkey feathers

August Blessings

HoneyBee Day

BUZZing sounds are music in my garden. 

But the plight and decline of the honeybee population is a troubling one.  It makes me happy to know that our garden is, in some small measure, providing a safe haven of organic (pesticide free) plant life, that supports the health of bees in our area.  Flowering trees (like the 'glory bower' above) is buzzing with bees this month.  It's a late bloomer and nice for keeping bees around long after the flowers have faded.  And not only bees, but butterflies and hummingbirds also feed from it. 

Then there's the herb garden.  Herbs are wonderful for attracting bees.  They need nothing in the way of pest control or fertilizers and many are perennial (in most climates), and just keep on giving year after year without fuss.  Another benefit of course, is that the wild rabbits and deer have little interest in herbs; I use a lot of them to fill in the landscape around here (in addition to cooking with them).  A couple of years ago, we removed two thirds of the front lawn and replanted a portion of it with herbs along the road.  Once established, herbs require little maintenance and are drought tolerant.

Here's how it looks right now. These varieties of thyme and lavender make lovely ground covers and help keep weeds in check.  But mostly, planting herbs is a nice way to spread a little "bee love" around. 

Some common herbs bees like:

Lavender & Russian Sage--these flowers have staying power, the bees visit them all through the seasons.

Borage & Comfrey--nectar rich; replenishes itself quickly, like every few minutes!

Thyme--I plant a lot of this everywhere, it's aromatic and useful in the kitchen, as well as beautiful and long-flowering. There are many varieties and color variations. 

Mint, Catnip, Oregano, Lemon Balm--bees love the flowers of all varieties; these can spread though so plant in pots, or in a raised beds if you are concerned about a particular plant invading your flower beds.  Or you may be doing this. 

Rosemary & Hyssop--spring flowering; both grow into woody shrubs and stay green all year.

Beekeepers and bee associations across the country are joining together to bring awareness of the bee industry with "National Honeybee Day", August 17, 2013. This event was started in 2009 by a small group of grassroots beekeepers who petitioned for and obtained a formal proclamation by the USDA honoring honey bees and beekeeping.

If you're wondering what all the fuss over bees is about, read the alarming details here, and take a look at the Vanishing of the Bees documentary.  If beekeeping isn't for you, check out all these other ways you can help.  (For the record I am not receiving any monetization to endorse anyone.  Just passing on the info which I think is worth a look.)

I thought this was the bees knees.  It made me SMILE.  Check out the fancy footwork.  Enjoy!

HoneyLove is a non-profit conservation organization on a mission to protect and educate and inspire new urban bee keepers. 

And what would this blog BEE without a sweet  old pattern to share? 

I've uploaded this to Flickr.  Flickr has made lots of changes recently and the image links are imbedded now, so this may be tricky for some.  I'll try and explain.  If someone knows a simple way, please tell us! 

OK.  There are a couple of ways to do it.  Click on the image to open it in flickr and click on that image; choose VIEW ALL SIZES > size MEDIUM 800.  Choose 'Download the Medium 800 size of this photo' and select OPEN in the pop-up box.  This will open a print window that allows you to print out the pattern.  If you are unable to adjust the size you want--choose 'SAVE AS' (instead of OPEN), and save it to a file that you can work with, like photoshop for example. 

If this is all too confusing, just do what I do; click on everything until you find something that works!

BEE back later . . . 

A Peck of Pickles

It's that time again, when the garden kicks into high gear and sends forth her bounty.  I'm making small batches of pickles in very large jars, which really makes the most sense, all things considered.  And, I am thinking we must have a big refridgerator "pickle barrel" again this year.  It's one of the easiest ways I know of to make pickles. 

Better get on with it then!  Tying on my apron now and stepping back into the kitchen. 

For my pickle recipes, relish, pickle barrel, and more pickle talk, use the search box (in the side bar) to find them.  Just type in pickle, and they should come up.

Glory Bee

It's warm, but the sky is rapidly clouding up and turning dark.  Getting ready for a summer shower with "severe thunderstorms", as warnings come in via the emergency alert system.  Time to duck inside and take cover.  Looking out the kitchen window, trying to keep an eye on the sky, I notice our glorious 'Glory Bower' has burst into bloom and thought some of you might like to see it.  The fragrance of the flowers is sweet and drifts in through the windows and open backdoor.  The perfume, I think, is a cross between petunias and gardenias although maybe a bit more subtle.  The leaves however, when crushed, have a strong scent of peanut butter.  Hence the nick-name "peanut butter tree."  Perhaps you've known it by that name.  It's the first thing I introduce people to when they enter the garden for a tour.  Kids seem to especially enjoy this funny quirk of nature.

The flowers are late bloomers, small and dainty and seem to hang on until the very end of the season.  The bees and butterflies are busy fussing over the tiny pink and white petals, fluttering and buzzing everywhere on the breeze around it.  Fortunately, the deer don't bother it at all, except maybe to nap in the shady shelter it provides or to drink from the birdbath it towers over.  Always a funny sight to see. 

This tree has really grown since this post written in 2006 when I still had the cages around everything. (Click on those pictures to enlarge them.) And here it is in 2009.  It seems to have finally reached it's full potential.  I love the shape, it's like a gigantic bridal bouquet.  

Elsewhere in the garden we have more lovliness.

And here's the greenhouse the Mister built.  I love it!  It's the perfect size.  He actually began working on it in the garage over the winter and had most of the frame-work finished by spring.  Then it was all carried out in sections and the girls helped him put it together.  (I just stood around and cheered and clapped and hugged him.)  The greenhouse, and the rest of the garden, lawns and trees are all on auto-drip irrigation (another project he has worked on and added to over the years), so everything pretty much takes care of itself where watering is concerned.  He thinks of everything!    

Here's the Mister's lunch salad he picked fresh from the garden just minutes ago.  Roasted beets are one of his simple pleasures.  Beets are easy to grow, and Grace plants a steady crop especially for her Dad. Once a week, he bakes a few drizzled with olive oil and and then stores them in the fridge to add to his salads.  I never used to think I liked beets until I tried them this way.  They are sweet and delicious and full of healthful benefits.  But you knew that.   

And that is what is happening in my garden right now.  Pickles are next!  Hope everyone is having a good weekend.  I'm going to sit in my cozy chair and storm-watch while I stitch up more hexies and watch Ziegfeld Girl playing on TCM.  

Back in the HUB

Back IN, but not entirely finished with my sewing room make-over. 

It seems to be taking longer than I had imagined it would.  I am positive summer has something to do with this.  I keep getting side-tracked by all the season's enchantments and fascinating charms. 

Well, it cannot be helped. 

But hey, I've managed to get my table-skirt all stitched up and I'm quite happy to have gotten this far! 

Table Skirt:  I used an old top sheet, full-size, cut in half lengthwise.  It took all of it (about six yards) to traverse the 58" wide opening.  I like a nice full skirt you see.  A simple casing sewn at the top was sufficient for gathering it onto a heavy-duty spring rod.  Anything less sturdy will eventually sag and the skirt will droop pitifully and look quite sad.  Can't have that.

To hide the rod, I used a left-over piece of molding painted to match.  It makes a nice decorative edge too, creating a cornice effect.  Very tidy.

Hidden Storage:  And look, speaking of tidy, I'm already stashing things under it!  I love these rolling laundry sorters, it's amazing how much stuff they can hold.  This is where I hide all my rolls of batting, bags of stuffing and fabric scraps.  One compartment has a whole lamb's fleece in it; a carding project for winter.  Underneath here are two of these laundry sorters, plus another rolling cart to store away ongoing projects.  Most handy.  It's easy to pull things out when I'm ready to pick up work on them again.  

Quilt & Craft Fabric Storage:  On the right, I'm still using the same storage system for my craft and quilt fabrics.  These units stack and have lots of different sized drawers for every kind of thing.  The smaller ones at the top are ideal for rick-rack, binding, ribbons, trim, fat quarters, jelly-rolls and pre-cut strips; the larger drawers hold flat-folds sorted by color or type.  I like being able to see what I need at a glance.  I admit, they are not very attractive, but they work so well that I really can't fault them.  They do the job.

More Storage:  This wonderful little cubby is the only new piece of furniture in the room.  It stores all our dress-making fabrics, felt, fibers and yarn. The removable bins hold a LOT.  In fact, I am really quite amazed at just how many cloth bundles will fit inside this 36" x 36" x 12" space.  And so neatly and discreetly at that.  I only wish the bins came in softer colors.  Like white, pale pink, and gray.  To match my table skirt, of course.    

Cutting Table:  The "cutting table" sits on top of the cubby and has an additional support frame underneath attached to the walls.  It's made from a standard size 36" core door.  I down-sized from a 48" closet door, which was too deep, wasted space, and stuck out too far in the room.  This size fits the dimensions of the cubby, and a 36" wide cutting mat fits perfectly on top. 

Core doors are generally in-square and smooth, not too heavy, and not too expensive.  This one had a boo-boo on one side, so I only paid $10 for it--the dent is hidden on the underside.  The top and sides were painted with a couple coats of acrylic based semi-gloss with a roller, so it wasn't difficult.  If the door has a circle cut-out (for a door knob), all the better!  It can be fitted with a plastic thingy to cover the rough edges, and used to feed electrical cords through at the back of the wall.   

The cubby was set back ten inches, so we can work on either side of the work table and still get to the bins easily, which can be removed and placed on the table top to rummage through. 

Table Top Ironing Board:  There was a bit of room at the far end of the cutting table, so I made a mini ironing surface by covering a board (25" x 20" x 1/2") with layers of thick cotton batting and striped pillow ticking.  INSUL-BRITE could also be used as the padding and is heat-proof.  For bigger jobs there's room for the stand-up ironing-board against the far wall. 

Sewing Center:  Still have the two IKEA desks set up as sewing tables backed up to each other creating a central work area.  New lighting eliminated the need for that big lamp that used to tower over us.  There's a gap between the two tables that will eventually have a customized magazine/book rack over it, compliments of The Mister, who is handy that way.  (He's currently putting the finishing touches on the greenhouse he built this spring.  I'll have to show you that in another segment.  It's quite charming and already full of ripe tomatoes, peppers, and basil.  I'm hugging his neck daily for this.) 

Pattern Storage:  This old dresser got a fresh coat of paint.  The Mister put little dividers in the drawers so I could use it for my sewing pattern storage.  It works great.

The shelves are filling up.  I'm trying to keep to the things I need and actually use and not get too crazy with the cute clutter and the knick-knacks.  A few make me happy though.  Like this Little Miss (above).

And maybe a few of her friends.  My red and white biscuit-tin collection started when I was 13, a few look cute displayed here too.  Sheesh.  I'm breaking my own rules already!

On the other side of the window another matching book case with empty shelves to fill and more biscuit tins.  Just a few.

And quilts!  I need to find a better way to store my quilts.  The piles are growing.  I keep digging and finding more.  I'm on the lookout for a free-standing closet to store them in, preferably with glass doors or chicken wire, so I can see them. 

The sewing room walls are still bare.  Maybe I will hang a few quilts up too. I must first get over my fear of putting holes in freshly painted walls.  Oh, how I hate to do it.  That first hole is always the hardest. 

I really do love how it all turned out.  The neutral background is a perfect backdrop for all the colorful accessories and fabrics and gives the room an airy, yet cozy feeling.  Comfortable.  I've still got a little more to do in here.  Will update again down the road when there's something new to share.  (Click on this pix to see it BIG).    

Well, that concludes the sewing room tour for today.  Hope you enjoyed it and picked up some good ideas.  If you have any questions, tips or additional storage ideas, please share them in the comment section of this post with a link to your pictures if you have some, so we may drop by for a virtual visit.

Over and out, until next time friends!

August Already

Our summer garden is blossoming in steady waves of color.  The weather's been warm and mild, although a rain storm is moving across the sky now.  It's hard to stay focused on any kind of work when all this loveliness is gently bobbing and waving just outside the backdoor.  

Even harder to ignore all the u-pick signs going up.  Blueberries, in particular just now.  And the resulting muffins that someone just pulled out of the oven. Not to mention the jam and pickles that still needs to be made.

But then I see this, and am reminded that it all needs to go somewhere. Today I am sewing new curtains so I can hide some of it under the cutting table!  I dare say, I am making progress one way or another.