mouse_rants

but I sure don't seem to be doing too well on this journal-updating stuff.

Probably because it seems like all I do lately is knit.  Which I love, but it's a pretty quiet hobby.

Spring seems to be here, though, so I'm working more on gardening.  Today I was out pruning things - the wisteria, having finished blooming, is throwing out tendrils right and left - realized the other day that I had to lean sideways to get past it through the gate, so it was time to do some work.  However, I got a bit distracted by the camellia - did some major surgery on that, which I hope I won't live to regret.  It infringes on the gate from the other direction, but it was mostly that I realized how sprawly it was getting, and how much it was shading the plumeria.  I have 2 little plumeria stems that I planted a couple of years ago - they've been doing pretty well in little pots hanging off the fence, where I think they got a fair amount of light.  But when I checked them earlier this year, they were pretty root-bound, so I have replanted them in some nice big grown-up pots...where they have done nothing whatsoever.  The stems are still green and feel firm, so I think they are still alive - hopefully a bit more sun, and the fact that it is finally getting warmer, will encourage them to show me a few leaves.  Probably should have taken before-and-after pictures, but I'm afraid the sight may cause heart attacks in any genuine gardeners who happen across them.

I decided to focus more on flowers this year - bought a selection of seeds that I hope will give me a black and white (well, really, really dark purple and white) collection of flowers - we will see.  Just put the seeds in a few weeks ago, have sprouts, but it will be a while before I get flowers.  All the roses are blooming, though, so that's something.

I broke down and bought a hammock chair at Costco a couple of weeks ago - takes a bit more room than I thought on the patio, but it is comfy, so I hope to spend more time sitting outside enjoying the world this year (and probably knitting).

However, much as I love shawls (and no matter how many I have in my queue), I am getting the itch to do something else - and not just knitting other things.  The same Costco visit that produced the chair also netted me a new sewing machine.  Sewing is another thing I learned as a child and used to do a lot off, but which has sort of drifted by the wayside in recent years.  All the time I was growing up, my mother or (later) I made pretty much all my clothes (until I got into the nothing-but-jeans-and-tee-shirts phase).  As long as I had access to my mom's machine,  I still did some stuff, but as I went home less and less, I made less and less.   I did inherit my grandmother's sewing machine - a lovely old portable Singer, in a wooden case with a shaped top, yet - functional, but old enough that it predated zigzag stitches, which meant no knit material, and doing buttonholes by hand, so it definitely limited my options.  I've been toying with getting a new machine - I've been working on a sweater which will need to be steeked, so I figured that was an excuse for a new one.  Then I was talking to a friend, and she told me about a new machine she had just bought, despite owning I think 4 others (including a beautiful antique yet functional treadle machine) - and I figured if she could have 5, I could have 2.  Costco's coupon's that week included $25 off on a Brother machine, so I decided I would look at them - they didn't seem to have any in the store, but they did have a pretty tricked-out Singer portable, for less than the Brother was (even with the coupon).  Haven't really played with it yet, but last night I went to take a look at my stash of fabric (rough estimate:  enough for a complete new wardrobe) - found a dress and a skirt and blouse already cut out, so guess I will tackle those.  Hate to think how old they are - they may actually be somewhat too big - but the dress is a somewhat tailored shirtwaist style (sleeveless, for summer), the skirt and blouse are also pretty straightforward and classic in style.  And what else can I do with already cut-out material?

SO:  need to cleaning off the dining table, buy some interfacing, and see where I get.

these are the seedlings before they went into pots.  the really long ones (on top) are the sweet peas;  the squash are in the square pots below:


and here they are, in the pot, after whatever it was discovered them (note the stems that now end in nothing)


so stopped by home depot on the way home and got some bird netting, and a plant support to hold it up:

it was getting dark, and cold, so this is pretty hastily done - just draped the netting over the pot, and tied it with some wire wrap thing (after checking under the pot lip for snails) (and also planting a few more seeds).

some of the other things:  the runner beans

and the cherry tomatoes (looking surprisingly robust) (the white things are petals that have fallen off the climbing rose overhead):

and the zinnia, looking considerably less than robust (there were originally 3 potlets, each with 3 seedlings, in here):


as you can see, there are still pots waiting for me to put things in.

oh - and that little stunt i pulled? the one where i came home like i always come home, like i was in for the evening, and the cats followed me in, on account of i have been fussing at them for not coming right in when i come home and so they came right in because they are Such Good Cats, and then I WENT OUTSIDE AND LEFT THEM SHUT UP IN 
THE HOUSE AND FOOLED AROUND RIGHT IN 
FRONT OF THEM AND ALSO OUTSIDE??? 


that one has been officially ruled Not. Funny.

(actually, it wasn't at all intentional, i figured they would stay outside as usual, but i wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to get them in.  not that that helps me _now_, he's still scratching at the window and whining.)

 

my gardening is progressing.  transplanted most of the seedlings outdoors today.  they are rather leggy - not a lot of light indoors, so i'm hoping they will leaf out with some sun....rather than just disappearing.  the courgette squash looks the sturdiest (although they only have 2 leaves).  cherry tomatoes are a bit thread-like - those are the ones i am most worried about.  no sign yet of the seeds i planted outdoors - dwarf runner beans, radishes and carrots (although they generally take a while to sprout).  oh - also put out some sweet peas - those actually look pretty good - and some zinnias - also leggy, but stouter than the tomatoes.  still have nicotinia, primrose and okra inside - they are still quite small.  i have one mr. stripey seedling up, and it looks like maybe a couple of pepper seedlings about to sprout - those will have to share pot space with the nursery transplants i got last weekend - a 'better bush' tomato and a fajita bell pepper.  still need to plant kale, and today i got some pea seeds, so need to find a place for those as well.  i also have seeds for lettuce, cutting greens, arugula, sorrel and carnations i'd like to plant - so still some work to do.  i've also got in this years assortment of herb plants - spearmint, chocolate mint and pineapple mint (i do rather like mint), mexican oregano, thyme, a big pot of assorted basils and chives, as well as the rosemary that has hung in for a couple years now.

i invested in some plant labels - the copper kind, on spikes, so they won't get lost.  they are now in the pots with the unsprouted seeds.  this way, i'll remember what to keep checking anxiously for.  i'm pretty excited, i hope things survive - this is the most diverse collection of vegetables i think i have ever tried.  i don't have anything close to the space to feed myself with my garden, but it would be pretty neat to have at least a few things on my plate that i grew myself.

spring is getting here - the wisteria is blooming, and the cherokee rose has more flowers than i thought.  the snapdragons are blooming again - those are one of those impulse buys from somewhere or other that are now in about their 3rd year of flowering again.  it's plants like that that keep me going, despite all the seeds that i never see again - the ones that keep hanging on, against all expectation.

but i am getting _so_ impatient to have it finished and show it off...so i'm sorta going to show it off now :D.  this is my pi shawl, that i've been working on for about 2 months now:

i'm a little more than 2/3rds done on the edging (the bunched-up looking part at the upper left is where it's still on the needle).  i'm trying to get myself to finish this before i start anything else...but i've cast on 2 new projects, and i'm still not finished with the tank-top...guess i won't be wearing that this year. well, hopefully when i'm ready for it next year, i'll be a bit thinner.

got some unexpected free time today and thought i would just power through the knitting - did about 3 hrs, then i stopped for lunch, and to check my email...and my livejournal...and now it's 6pm.

so it's back to knitting while watching tv.

in other news, i started some of the garden work i meant to do over labor day weekend (but didn't, because of the heat) - cleaned out some pots, replanted some others, and planted a selection of flower seeds.  i don't seem to have a lot of luck with seeds, so i hope these will do better...maybe since they are flowers, they will come up (usually, i try to grow vegetables).

after (i think) two whole weeks when the nighttime temperature dove into the 40s (and even the 30s!), i am feeling totally relieved at signs that the long hard winter is finally past.  not that it's balmy yet - today's high was just over 60 - but it was sunny, and so with visions of springtime dancing in my head, i made a visit to the new local nursery - just to check it out.  i only ended up buying 3 small plants, so it hardly counts at all.  well, and some peat pots, so i have planted various seeds, in hopes that they will come to something.

i haven't had much luck with seeds.  the ones i plant outside generally disappear without a trace.  i've gotten a few to sprout in pots, but i think the only things i've gotten to any sort of maturity are radishes.  well, and catgrass - fortunately, that seems to be pretty foolproof to grow.  anyway, i will keep this batch inside, in hopes that they will get big enough to withstand the snails or bugs or whatever it is that takes them out so quickly - or at least leave me with some sign of where they were.  they are (for the most part) an assortment of small or dwarf vegetables - 2 kinds of tomatoes, dwarf runner beans, dwarf corn, dwarf calabrese (which i believe is actual a type of broccoli), and bush eggplants.  i don't know quite why i am so determined to grow vegetables, i have so little space that even if everything i had room for grew to fruition, it would make maybe two good meals.  (although the description of the melons sounds so tasty, even one of those would be wonderful to have - as long as they don't take over the entire patio to produce it)

but i really like the idea of dwarf vegetables.  i have some cabbage seed as well - the idea of golf-ball sized cabbage is just really appealing, somehow.  guess i'd better find a place for another tray of peat pots.