Sunday, August 28, 2011

Garden Disaster -- self inflicted!

Oh dearie me!!!    I got the bright idea of fertilizing through the water in my planters.....did a quick mental calculation of gallons to tablespoons of Miracle Gro and put it in the water.    Bad move!  I badly burnt the roots.  Must seriously rethink calculations...maybe with a pencil.
I quickly watered from the top very thoroughly and flushed out the reservoirs to dilute the fertilizer.  A week later I have lost all the beans, probably the cucumbers (will have to give them some time).
Bin #1 The yellow Zucchini are still struggling but have promising new growth.
Bin #2  Beans are toast.  Green Zucchini  looking iffy, always were, only one harvested to date.  Sweet 100 tomato severely damaged but tips are reviving.
Bin #3  Heritage tomatoes, Ukrainian Purple and Black from Tula are flourishing - good old fashioned varieties are very sturdy.
Bin #4  Cucumbers looking bad, Bush Beefsteak and Primo Red tomatoes seriously damaged.  I think I have helped cure the blossom end rot in these two with some crushed egg shells run through the blender.  This adds Calcium.

Mind you this is today's harvest:
 
- Left hand vertical row is Primo Red with an example of the blossom end rot.
- Top three rows are Ukrainian Purple, only two on the left show some small blossom end rot.  No calcium treatment in this bin.  Very tasty almost paste like variety.
- Four examples of Black from Tula tomatoes.  Ugly yes, and these are not the ugliest, but super sweet, juicy and delicious.
- Big bunch of Sweet 100 tomatoes from a plant that might not recover from its overdose. They are soooo good that they are like eating candy.
- Four Bush Beefsteak tomatoes.  They do not seem to thrive in planters, they are small.
- Last hand full of salvaged beans.

DH said there was one plum left on the tree so I went to look....wonder of wonders I picked another 18 plums.  They hide, and one of the most productive branches is almost on the ground.  I am going to try to train it up a bit.  We got a total of 29 plums in this its third year. Hum!  There were only 3 last year and if I calculate a bit I get a 866% increase, therefore next year we should get 25,133.43 plums!

I have visions of Plum Jam, Plum Pudding, Plum Dumplings, preserved Plums, pickled Plums, Plum juice, and maybe even a little something for Simple Simon.....

I was going to take a picture, they were large and very plump and purple with green hints, but DH and I had desert last night and this is all that is left:
I think we even swallowed some pits!

In case you were ever wondering, this is what is under the table that I use to take the pictures:
Must dust....most embarrassing.....


Posted by Picasa

Friday, August 19, 2011

This n That & Then Some

Well, this toe is proving to be taking just as long to heal as the last one.  I think you have to keep it absolutely immobile and stay off it for a few weeks..........by that time the toe will be real good but the rest of me will be immobile!  So I am munching Tylenol 3's and keeping on truckin'!

This is how I finished the back on Riverbend 1:

I covered a piece of cardboard with fabric then painted Paverpol on it, but the moisture caused it to buckle!
I will have to cover the cardboard with masking tape first.  But it is still a nice finish and it is ready to hang.

Did some harvesting in the garden and some rummaging in the fridge and have made up a batch of beet borscht.  Only once in 43 years have I ever made it so perfectly like my Baba's that upon smelling and tasting it I felt like she was standing right beside me......wonderful feeling.  But it is always good unless you make a glaring error like forgetting the beets or something! 

We will have this tonight for supper, along with some cheese biscuits fresh out of the oven.   Now I just have to figure out how to get the cheese into the biscuits!
I have never done that before.....Kitchen Kemistry is so much fun!

 
Almost as much fun as Studio Alchemy.......


Posted by PicasaThis is the start of my Dragon's cave...It is getting deeper and deeper.....oooohhh scary!

DH is home...time to make buscuits!

Monday, August 8, 2011

The Perils of Pauline (read Dianne)


Well I've gone and done it again!  Really done it!  Sunday morning I was hurrying to get dressed for a 100 mile trip to see my sister (who has not phone just now, so I couldn't cancel) and I kicked my cane again.....

 
Popped some Tylenol 3's and off we went for the day.  Sis has a new friend, a cowboy....he and I had a wonderful time talking horses.....DH and Sister went for a walk!!   Now, knowing my background there is certainly some irony in her getting a cowboy and me getting a florist!!
We visited some friends out that way too and got back to Steinbach around eight and stopped by the hospital as I was thinking that maybe I did more than break a toe, lots of pain up in my foot.  Got it x-rayed and sure enough there is a diagonal fracture in the long (relatively speaking) bone.  The nice doctor told me there was nothing they could do for it, which I knew, and that the only cure was to live long enough for it to heal!  Very encouraging fellow!  Three to six weeks.  He scolded me for not keeping it elevated and on ice.
I am still trying to figure out how to elevate a toe and ice it......
I asked him if there was a remedy for my Croc Foot problem.  That confused him for a bit until he took a second look.     hehehehe
Posted by Picasa

Thursday, August 4, 2011

I had a visual that just had to be made.  I managed it in just three days.  There was some overnight drying time involved with the Paverpol.

This is gallery wrapped on a stretched canvas then painted with two coats of Paverpol which makes the fabric look wet.  Dark fabric gets very dark, so I lightened it up with coloured pencil...need to do a bit more.

 
The background fabric is a thrift store find and the river is men's ties...fancy that.  The centre square is an upholstery sample.  A stone bead, and glass beads are the embellishments, the line along the river is actually a picot edge.
Where do you think I should sign this piece?

Posted by Picasa

Back and working again.

I'm still walking with a cane, but my hand is healing nicely.  I have even accomplished some more work.

I have finished a custom bag.  The perameters were:
          * must be hung around neck
          * must be purple
          * must have Amythist gemstones
          * must be made with some ties
          * must hold an easily accessable small package of kleenex
          * must hold an easily accessable small pad and pen (items supplied)

I just love a challenge!  This is what I came up with:

The drops and the button centres are Amythists, the pink branches are Coral.  The organza flowers were an ebay purchase.
The purple pad and pen were supplied.  The fabric is an embossed cotton velvet...purple of course!
The handle, lining and the Kleenex panels are ties.

I am also trying to teach myself Kumihimo braiding.  This round braid was fairly easy but I am not going to even try to show you the flat braid I am working on now.......scary!!

Pageviews last month