NEW YEARS EVE

The year has flown by and the house anniversary has already been celebrated.  My new year resolution is not to make any,  so it seems I have made one after all.  I've spent today updating my links list, paying any unpaid bills, putting away Christmas decorations and poking around in the potato patch (the little potato above is almost to cute to eat).  Furgus is trying his best to stay cool,  I had to cut off some knotted fur as he just will not let me brush him. He bites,  hisses and then when you think he's forgotten about it he will ambush you and bite the back of your leg.  Five brush strokes is all he'll put up with,  it used to be three so maybe by next new years eve I'll be up to ten. 

Have A Happy New Year.

SILVER BIRDS

My red birds now have little silver friends and they look like they're chasing each other all over the Christmas tree. I managed to make two Christmas stockings,  Rudolph for my flatmate and Cats for Furgus.  Kirstie's Homemade Christmas  did make sewing a Christmas stocking look easy but I had to do some fiddling because I couldn't remember how to layer all the pieces so you only had to sew each stocking once. I made the lining a tiny bit smaller so it would fit inside. I used to work in wardrobe years ago and an older wardrobe Mistress told me it was bad luck to sew something perfectly you should always include a tiny mistake. So I never feel bad when my stitching is wobbly I'm just keeping an old tradition alive.

BUNNY LOVE

This is what happens when you have a cat with a strong personality and who thinks the sewing table is his personal space. I had to give in and let Furgus have his afternoon siesta in peace otherwise there would have been a fang and claw situation. The cat material is a flannelet  and has been in my stash for years, perfect for a cat stocking. How do you draw a good Christmas stocking shape? my first attempt looks rather more like a stumping than a stocking. I'm almost tempted to make bags instead,  just straight lines! no funny bits. Look at the lovely bunnies, I have a thing about all white objects and I wish these three could come home with me. Sensibly I thought  there are still presents to organize for other people, bunnies will just have to wait.

ESTHER DEAN'S GARDENING BOOK

 This little book is an eBay find, the book and postage were less than $10.00 total bargain. My first garden bed was a traditional dig \ de-stone \ weed \ feed and it took weeks to complete the soil was so hard there were so many rocks and the grass just kept coming back. That bed now has two sorts of potatoes thriving so it was worth all the hard work.

Then I read Growing Without Digging it sounded to simple, I've seen  no-dig gardens before and they workout to be quite expensive with lots of layers. Esther Dean's bed construction is straightforward and easy.

1.  make a frame, can be anything
2.  layer newspaper 1\2 cm thick
3.  layer with pads of  lucerne hay

I watered at this point as it was a hot day.

4.  sprinkle organic fertilizer
5.  cover with loose straw about 20cm high
6.  sprinkle some more fertilizer
7.  tip a circle of compost 10cm deep & 45cm across 
I used a potting\compost mix  3\4 compost 1\4 potting mix
8.  plant seeds or seedlings in the circle of compost

9.  lightly cover with loose straw and lightly water 

The photo above shows the the circles of compost and seedlings coming through the straw, you don't have to cover the whole bed with potting\compost mix just in the places you want to plant in. So far they are thriving, the seeds have germinated faster and are healthier.

I'm going to make three small Christmas stockings one for the flatmate, one for the Furgus and one for me. Do other people give their fury friends stockings with more than one gift?  here are two fabric choices so far I think Rudolph will be the flatmates and I'm not sure about the hearts I think I'll use the mushroom fabric from my stash for me. Now just have to find something nice for Furgus,  I must be going mad will a cat even notice the pretty fabric? and do I really care.