Gardening

The Cardinal that joined me out in the backyard. Perhaps he was looking to snack on the grubs I threw out.

So I've been able to do a little gardening (although the bending over gives me heartburn). I bought some peat pots to start some veggies in. I've got green onions, roma tomatoes, watermelon, and green beans. A strange mix but veggies I know we'll eat/use in cooking. So here's how much of a gardener I am, I just found out these peat pots are made to plant directly into the ground when your plants are ready. Amazing! Even though I don't know where we're going to plant them yet. I also received a Hydrangea bush from my grandma. She said it wasn't blooming at her house because it wasn't getting enough sun so she gave it to me to put in a sunny spot. Hopefully it does well because every other plant that has been planted in that spot has died from heat exhaustion. Things are moving slowly when it comes to gardening but things are moving.

I moved all of my potted plants out of the greenhouse and did some pruning. They're looking a little scraggly (sp?) but they'll be back in "full bloom" very shortly. I think this week I'll give them some miracle grow. Unfortunately all the limes I thought we were going to have died. I'm not sure if the tree got too hot in the greenhouse or what happened but all the little buds turned black and fuzzy and fell off. I'm hoping I can get a few blossoms out of it before it's too late.

The greenhouse my husband built for me for Christmas. It's now housing my little veggie pots.

The peat pot that can be planted right into the ground

Green Onions starting their journey nice and warm! I'm hoping to get some shelves to put in the green house so everything doesn't have to be on the ground.

The hydrangea plant from my grandma.

My bag of soil was full of yummy grubs! Happy eating to the birds!

It's finished

These are the straps pulled together.



This is one end of the strap with a button so it can be removed.




This is the long end of the strap that can be adjusted tighter as needed and also removed.

This is the entire finished product. Big enough to be used as a blanket without worrying about the straps getting in the way.

Well I did it! I finished the nursing wrap and I think it's going to work. Again, I just started with the basic blanket template that I've done before. I did make it a little larger so it would leave room to wrap around the sides. I sewed the straps together and was ready to attach the buttons. For some reason the option on my sewing machine to attach buttons wasn't working well. After many failed attempts and readings of the manual to make sure I was doing everything right, it worked. I'm not sure what it was that wasn't working, I have a theory that the bobbin thread was wound wrong and eventually, after my failed tries, was working the way it needed to.

One step I was unsure of and will only know the answer to after the wrap is used is how far apart to put the button holes. I put them just a bit wider than the width of my shoulders hoping the straps would cinch up the fabric to "wrap" around the shoulders. I've got a while to hear the reviews on it but am looking forward to making one for myself.

My Next Project

I've finally come up with my next project, my next new venture in the world of sewing. With some friends having babies and myself having a baby you'd think this would be easy but I was looking for a new challenge and I've found it.

There are these nursing wraps that are becoming very popular. It's essentially a blanket with a strap to put around your neck to prevent exposure while nursing. It's a great idea and I've seen one in use; the mother loved it. So I decided to try to make one.

I've made the plain ol' baby blankets before so that will be my starting template and then I plan to add two button holes on one side. These will be for removable tabs that will be on each end of the strap. The strap will be adjustable. So you end up with a nursing wrap or if you'd rather, you can unbutton the strap and use it as a blanket.

The last few times I've ventured out to do something new without any patterns or instructions, they were miserable failures so I'm a little nervous, however I know I can do the blanket part so if that's all that turns out right then it won't have been a failure. A strap shouldn't seem too hard since it's just a small strip of fabric but it's amazing how easy it is to screw up something simple and small.

Wish me luck!

Clearing out the weeds: Patience

Well since I am not really doing anything with my hobbies at the moment, I decided to write a little bit about some personal "gardening". 

Obviously having a baby and getting ready for her has been at the forefront of my thoughts these days.  However, while I've spent time in prayer for her and about her, I think my preparedness has been focused on the material things she'll need.  While those are necessities and important this has greatly affected my patience in the whole matter.

I've become very impatient to meet her, impatient to quit work, impatient to get "stuff" for the baby....etc, etc, etc.  So part of "clearing out the weeds" for me right now is learning to enjoy this time that God has given me and to hope that the baby takes all the time it needs to develop healthily (if that's even a word).  I also know that once she's born the years will go by fast and I'll wish that she was back to being the baby that I now sit and feel as she kicks her little legs.

My prayer is also that Jon and I spend this time preparing ourselves spiritually, mentally, and emotionally  to raise this child that God has entrusted to us.  It reminds me a lot of when we got married; spending so much time on planning for the wedding and about half as much time planning for our marriage together.  

I now have about 4.5 months until little Hadley arrives, I hope to make the most of it.

Blogging and Hobbies

Well I did it! My first blog and to be quite honest I feel a little silly, to be taking time to sit here and write about myself, at first it seemed/seems a little vain but I suppose it's a social norm these days and is similar to journaling. I know my husband will probably give me a hard time about it at first but he's got his own brew blog for his beer stuff and I figure once I'm at home with our little one and starting up all these "hobbies" I may like a place to keep track of what I'm working on. So I'd like to justify hopping on the blogging band-wagon as a way to track my new hobbies.

I do already have some hobbies in mind, some I've already been doing but not near as much as I'd like. Sewing, as most people know about is one of them. Just in the short time I've been at it and with the few projects I've attempted and even less I've completed, it'd be good to be able to write down some of my mistakes or things I learned so I can remember them for the next time. I've heard of a nonprofit group called "Project Linus" that makes blankets of all kinds and sizes to give to children and teenagers so I'd like to be a part of that and keep on going with personal projects as well.

I love gardening even though I still kill plants, especially indoor plants. I hope to create two beautiful ornamental gradens this spring/summer in our backyard along with growing some vegetables in the awesome greenhouse my husband built me for Christmas. We also have a mexican lime tree, lemon tree, and some other orange citrus tree (no, it's not naval oranges; I still need to figure out what it is) that I'd like to take a little better care of and have them actually produce some good fruit.

Oh the dreams of what's to come. For now I suppose I can blog about life as it happens and live in the now. What I'm most excited about is our ultrasound next week and then being able to get the nursery ready for our little baby hasbrouck. Oh wait, still looking forward to the future......