dragonlady7

So I finally got around to taking/uploading pictures of things!!!
The garden, lasagna composting, the cats, the blue dress I'm working on, Z being adorable, more garden, more garden, Fi's amigurumi crochet projects, and some pretty flowers.
To see all, start here and go backward thru the photostream.
For more of a guided tour sampling,

Z is cute with Chita. (Here, he is cute with Remi.)
And Chita and Remi pretend to get along.

Lasagna gardening: Here is an early picture in the process, showing the first layer of cardboard over the sod.
Action shot of peas coming up in the bed today, and here's a view of what it looks like now:

There's a cucumber fence of chicken wire down the middle, held up with garden stakes and broom handles and the like.
Today I planted some vining cucumbers to climb it. (Yesterday's planting were bush cucumbers, which I realized fortunately and so planted out a little ways to leave the trellis free.)

The garage bed, which is a southern exposure. Note the big daylilies taking over. I ripped out a bunch last fall, and some more this spring, but once they were big, I let them be. They'll help keep the ground moist. I hope. Or something. There they are, anyway.

Front of the house, neighbor's driveway side. (Here is this same view from inside that window, which is the cats' perch.) Melon trellis (and cuke, and zuke) made of bamboo stakes I found in the garage. Tulips and daffodils in riot mode. Alliums coming up-- WTF is up with the foliage??? The other bulbs are all fine, but the edges of the allium leaves are crispy and brown. What's happening? I suspect a mineral or PH imbalance, that the tulips and daffodils are impervious to, but what?? Hmph. They're my favorite bulbs, because they're so alien and dramatic. (I wanted the truly enormous kind, but I settled for the one that's only about three feet tall topped with a six-inch spiky globe...) Just off to the right of the picture, in front of the evergreen bush, is the strawberry patch.

heebiejeebie gave me these strawberry plants last year and they are amazing and incredible and taking over the world, which is precisely what I wanted. They are delicious and productive and work very hard. I hope they do as well their second year as they did their first-- I planted them already in bloom, and they went to town right off the bat. I don't know the variety but they were awesome and amazing, which I hope they keep doing.

New front bed, where I ripped out the pachysandra and put in tomatoes, basil, peppers, and assorted veggie seeds. I'm considering adding a wee trellis with nasturtiums and morning glories, but I perhaps should not get too carried away. We shall see what comes up. There's a side view, so you can see the new bed a bit better, here. However, the thing to keep in mind is that the tulips and daffodils will die back in early summer, which means the peppers and tomatoes will be On Display. I am going to attempt to get marigolds to grow from seed in there, to kinda take over, but I have my doubts as to how well that one will work. Hm. Oh well, peppers are ornamental, right?? Maybe I'll plant another hot pepper somewhere else, and over-fertilize the two in this bed so they get big and lush and don't produce much fruit... We'll see.

Enough with the garden tour, I suppose. On to the crafting!

Fi made these two little guys, from patterns in Creepy Cute Crochet, a book of crafts for the slightly sinister, or so it says. I was thrilled: the ninja star is made of some silver embroidery thread that I got that is nearly impossible to embroider with. It snags and frays something awful, but Fi somehow managed to crochet with it. She's really something else.

My project of late has been to adapt

chargirlgenius's pattern for the self-supportive linen-lined kirtles of the 14th/15th century into something I can wear to parties. I've talked about this a bit offhandedly as "the blue dress". I ordered blue silk twill from fashionfabricsclub.com, for $5/yd, and it has turned out marvelous.

I'm holding the shoulder strap, which gave way when I tried the thing on. Hm, you think I'm putting some strain on it, maybe? Needs tweaking, but mostly just needs finishing. Not bad; it'll be a little weird as party wear, but better than a bra hanging out of a plunge-front dress. A bunch of construction photos in the photostream, useful if you're making one of your own, but not notable as photos in and of themselves.
But for comparison, here was the outfit I wore to my interview on Wednesday, so if you wondered what I look like in normal clothes anymore... Fatshionista Outfit of The Day style, I'll give specs-- your model is five feet seven, about 215 pounds, size 14/16, wearing Lane Bryant and Old Navy and on my feet, yes, those are Crocs, but I swear you can't tell. For the record, my interviewer was wearing ripped jeans and a t-shirt.

There: pictures, to prove I'm not all just wordy words. Also to prove I'm not lying about that garden-- it's come a long way since my first year! (For the record, here's what the front yard looked like in 2006, and when we first put in the beds on the neighbor's-driveway side.)
Oh wow-- we've lived here since 2004. I wonder if I have photos from that long ago. I think I do. I should find and post some. Mm, a project for another time, perhaps? I really ought to be sewing right about now.
There was a break in the rain today, so Z and I went to Urban Roots and bought gardening supplies-- lots of them. And I managed to spend a few hours gardening this afternoon and evening. I was about to plant another tomato when it started raining. Dang it. I have the spot all prepared, anyway. I have planted a bunch of herbs in the herb garden by the driveway, at least.