Bargain finds

While in Vancouver I had a chance to visit Dress Sew, I was a kid in a candy store..if you are ever in the downtown area of Vancouver I urge you to visit.

You will find fabric for everything, thousands and thousands of buttons, zippers, sequins, lace, oh my, I could go on and on.

I purchased 4 metres of denim, 10 metres of eyelet lace and 10 balls of yarn for 21.00CAD.

I can hardly believe my good luck!!



In the gardening department....

I've been fighting a cold for a week with no signs of getting better but I was able to transplant my seedlings to bigger pots.
I was happy to see 10 more seeds sprouted while I was in Vancouver so I now have jalapenos and eggplant, as well as hollyhocks, delphiniums and merigolds that I can add to all my tomato plants.

Here they are in a sunny window.



And under lights for those not too sunny days..

Craft books

On my last visit to Vancouver my mom gave me three craft books, one on embroidery and two about crocheting. They have lovely patterns but they are written in Italian. I mentioned on a previous post that I can't read crochet or knitting patterns but I'm determined to learn. So I crocheted beanie hats from a very simple pattern and was very happy with the finished hats.

But..Italian, yikes, I don't know if I'll ever manage..




I'm off to Vancouver again, this time for work, but I will be staying with my mom, and with free evenings I wonder what she can teach me this time around, hopefully socks...

Margaret

Update on the seedlings

Only half of my tomato seeds germinated, very disappointing but I guess 20 tomato seedlings should be enough. I'm not sure if it's the conditions or the peat pellets but next year I'll go back to using little plastic starting pots. Last week I also started some cucumber, peperoncini, jalapenos and eggplant. As of today three cucumber seeds germinated. In the flower department one marigold and one hollyhock are good to go.

As soon as the seedlings grow their true leaves I will transplant them into larger pots and put them under grow lights because I don't have enough space on my south facing window sills to accommodate the larger pots.

Art put these together for me, they should work just fine.

About a month ago I also started some flower seeds in my unheated greenhouse and so far I have about 10 marigold seedlings. None of the other seeds germinated but I suspect it's due to our unusual cold weather.

And...

There has been one or two critters eating my tulips and pulling bulbs out of the ground. I suspect deer have been eating the tulips but I didn't think they would go after the daffodil bulbs, so their might be some guilty squirrels or chipmunks out there as well.

So...I'm surrounding my pots with armour...

Spare bedroom

I've been looking for a shabby chic dresser (cheap) for the spare bedroom and I found one this weekend.


Art fixed it all up and it's ready to go, I love it.


See the blanket, aka granny blanket to my boys, on the right hand side? My mother in law crocheted that about 30 years ago, and it's still around, and it's still useful, and most of all, it's still loved.






Margaret

Fabric Swap

A little while ago I mentioned the Sew Mama Sew fabric swap and last week I received the fourth and last swap, here they are.





Now what to make???

For all the fabric crafters out there, check out sew mama sew, they have tons of sewing ideas and helpful tutorials. Best of all they have frequent fabric give aways.





Margaret

Seedlings

I didn't check my seeds yesterday..bad mistake..Some of the seeds sprouted and took off looking for light!






I placed them in a sunny window but I sure hope they get stronger and that more of my seeds sprout.





Margaret

And the winner is ....

Scrappy Quilter http://a-journey-of-scraps-and-pieces.blogspot.com/, I hope you like what I send you.

I had several entries but not all on my blog, some came via email and some via facebook.

Thank you to everyone who participated, stay tuned, I'll have another give away around the 2000 visit mark.

Margaret

Give-a-away

Well I just noticed I reached and passed a small milestone in the blog world but a big one in my world. By blog has had 1000 visits, very cool. To celebrate I'm giving away something from my Etsy store.



Visit my Etsy store, then make a comment on this blog about which item you would like. I will contact the winner. You have until March 15, 2009 to enter for the give away.



Margaret

Seeds and a funny picture

Time to start some seeds, this year I'm trying Jiffy 7 Peat Pellets. Just add water, allow them to expand, plant your seed, keep them warm, and fingers crossed my seeds will germinate.

I purchased 50 pellets, lots right? I have, tomatoes, eggplant, cucumber, peppers, melons and zucchini. Well I started with tomato seeds and that's as far as I got. I ran out of pellets, yup, 50 tomato plants are on the way. I hope they all germinate, I'm probably dreaming..but I really hope they all grow. I should have enough space for them but if not I have neighbours and friends that I can share with.

I chose two varieties from Veseys which I used last year with great success, Tiny Tim Cherry Tomato and Roma Tomato and two from WestCoast seeds, Black Krim Tomato and Gold Nugget Cherry Tomato.

Remember the five hats I made for my sisters..well here we are, goofy but we had so much fun.

From left to right, me, Elisabetta, Iolanda and Guiliana, missing (but not from our thoughts and hearts) is my sister Alessia in Australia, I'll be sending her the white and red hat, she must take a picture and then send it back to me which I will then post.

Bowser, BC

On my way home from Victoria I dropped my sister Iolanda at the Nanaimo Ferry. The crossing is about 1 1/2 hour long; she may have been lucky and seen a whale or two..

Then I keep driving north to the Comox to Powell River ferry. I was early so I decided to take the scenic Ocean Highway as opposed to the quicker Island Highway. The Ocean highway takes drivers through Parksville, Qualicum, Fanny Bay, Union Bay and Bowser. It was in Bowser that I saw about 30 fishing boats concentrated in a small area. I'm not sure what they were fishing but after I explained the sight to my husband he thinks it might have been herring but we are not sure. It was a beautiful sight to see.

I'm back

I'm now back from my weekend in Victoria spent with my sisters. We had a great time and it was fun to catch up, watch movies, shop and of course eat. We all cook but my sister Elisabetta is amazing. Friday we had bbq fish fillets wrapped in prosciutto and Saturday night she made short rib pasta sauce, I'm still dreaming about it.

Friday we visited Buchart Gardens, not a lot to see because it's still early but beautiful none the less. It's very peaceful and tranquil especially now without the usual summer crowds. The sun was out, the birds were singing and we could not have spent a better afternoon anywhere.

My sister Giuliana at the entrance to the sunken garden.





This is looking back towards the entrance to the sunken garden.



Ross fountain behind sisters Giuliana and Elisabetta.



You can also get to the gardens by boat and dock at Buchart cove.



Margaret

Baby crafts

My next door neighbor is expecting a baby in May so I'm busy..I'm using left over materials from the quilt I made for my grandson. I finished the bib but have to quilt the changing pad and for the first time I'm sewing little booties, the pattern and sewing instructions can be found here.

I'll post the finished items next week.

Here is my beautiful grandson with the quilt I made for him. He is so precious.

and his big brother, equally as beautiful and precious. Not sure what he's up to but he is very focused.

5 Hats for 5 Sisters

Three more sleeps until my "sister party" in Victoria; I crocheted 5 hats for 5 sisters. Only four of us in Victoria.. the hat that does not get picked will make it's way to sister number 5 in Melbourne, Australia. Hopefully it's the white and red hat, very Canadian eh!

Pumpkins

I know, it's not pumpkin season so why am I talking about it. Three reasons:

1. I have one left over pumpkin from last year.

My two pumpkin plants gave me four pumpkins last fall. I used two for Halloween, one I cooked, pureed and froze (still have some in the freezer) and one I kept in the cantina. Yesterday I decided I had to use it. Pumpkin soup and muffins today.

2. The Canada food guide suggests one daily serving of an "orange" veggie.

See number one, delicious!

3. Dare I sow pumpkin seeds in a few weeks?

It's really hard for two people to consume four pumpkins but they are so easy to grow. So I will grow pumpkins this year, two plants. One I'll pinch all pumpkins off except for one, hopefuly creating one really large pumkin for Halloween. The other plant I'll use one of the pumpkins for personal use, the others will be given away.

Happy Sunday everyone.

Margaret