So what's your favorite "garden hands" rescue?
Yes, that's the best I could do... I'm still downloading my backup zip file, so all my photos I wanted to post on the before/after of the kids' room today are still M.I.A.
We had very nice weather over the weekend, so instead of fretting about my computer, I was able to get my garden manicure supplies down from the upper cabinet, a few more miscellaneous seedling chores done, as well as a bit of weeding done in the yard. Nothing too spectacular, as I don't intend to get caught off guard by a late frost as has happened in years prior. The artichoke and broccoli seedlings have been hardened off and did get planted, and the peas are now up, but any other outdoor sowing will have to wait a bit longer.
Another sign of spring:
A teeny harvest, but a harvest at least, parsley and scallion for our belated Saint Patty's Day dinner
Our annual tradition on Saint Patrick's Day usually includes dinner and the planting of the potatoes, but it was all thrown askew this year due to the kids' music lessons that evening and the ensuing computer crash, but we still managed to celebrate a couple days late. I figured with names like Lochlann, Finnegan & Erin every day is Irish day here, prick us and we bleed green :)
Bangers & Mash & Guinness tastes better on a Friday anyways, right?
Potatoes will be planted this week, hopefully that's not bad luck for us for breaking tradition!
I spent most of the day watching my download wheel on the screen spin, waiting, and sketching random quilt designs on scrap paper. Yeah, I pretty much got nothing done today :)
You?? Not get anything done of a day? Ha! Don't anybody believe that for a minute.
ReplyDeleteI actually thought of hanging laundry out today but got over it pretty quickly. Forty degrees might be pushing it just a little.
That plate of bangers and mash and Guinness looks WONDERFUL. (Not that our Black Bean Soup for dinner was okay . . . hmmm, maybe I should have added a Guinness. Whoops, no Guinness in the house, but we did have a big bottle of Chimay we could have split!)
Oooh Guinnes! Kindred spirits...yummy! I love a good Black & Tan as well! I'm just down right hungry now!
ReplyDeleteSo you were playing with quilt drawings, huh? Dare I mention EQ7? It's on my 'someday' list.
I am not responsible for any enabling...just sayin!
I don't have any garden hands stuff. Just a good scrub brush and soap. I wear gloves to not alot of dirt gets on my hands. Our soil is contaminated with lead and heavy metals from the local smelter. It's fine for above ground crops but not for root crops. And thus why I will be making some new beds with fresh soil for my root crops.
ReplyDeleteAnd that meal looks yummy. We had stew and fresh bread with peas tonight. It was pretty good too but didn't look that nice on the plate.
oooh, looks like an awesome Irish meal to me!
ReplyDeleteI about cried when I saw the laundry on the line photo. Hubby spent the better part of our first day home re-stringing my lines n anticipation of the first Laundry-on-the-Line of the year. Yesterday was SUPPOSED to be sunny and 45. Instead, we got fog and 39. Rats. And now they're calling for 10" of snow and temps in the 20's for the next week. Double RATS! I am an envious envious person.
ReplyDeleteLacking a dryer, I will hang laundry outside as long as it is above freezing! It still gets dry - it just takes a little longer!
ReplyDeleteI admit, my only "garden hands" remedy is an old toothbrush! I've tried gardening with gloves, but I hate not being able to feel what I'm doing. I also usually start trimming my nails back to "ceramics class" length, so less dirt gets stuck underneath.
Yum.
ReplyDeleteHey, I am toying with buying a sewing machine (I say this every year now for the last 10 - but this year I may actually do it. Yup, I am threatening. I am. Suggestions?
Mama Pea, I really should be hanging my laundry out all year long, I don't know why I don't, lazy I guess, and I hate being in the ugly brown yard in the winter, plus my stuff would probably blow into the ocean that time of year LOL
ReplyDeleteSparkless, that's terrible about your soil contamination, do you know how long that stuff stays in there? Probably forever I guess if it's lead, bummer!
meemsnyc, thanks, it was delicious and completely calorie laden :)
Sue, soon! I saw the forecast for your part of the country, hang in there!
Alison, I also use hubby's nail brush, he's a jet mechanic so his hands are always yucky, too. Big difference though is that I clean the sink when I'm done LOL! I'm with you on the nails, mine are always short, short, short as I don't like gloves, especially when it's hot,yuck!
Kelly - well of course you SHOULD start sewing, I'm nothing if not a great enabler! I research everything to death and what I came up with is the Janome Magnolia 7330 looks to be a fantastic machine in the lower price range that is still a GOOD machine. Stay away from the junk (even the low price Janome's and Bernina's in this range are made by some other company and are junk) in the fabric and big box stores, an older 70's-90's model off Craigslist will give you a better machine than the new $100-300 range machines out. I am really in love with my new Brother but it was spendy at the $750-1000 range. I opted to purchase a new Janome Magnolia 7330 for my mom, it is in the $300-370 range (look for deals at this price you won't feel bad about ordering it on the internet), got fantastic reviews and will do everything you need it to do, crafts, clothing, quilts, bags, curtains, etc, has just a few of the new convenience features but not a lot of the "other stuff" that never gets used anyways. Here's a link to a video review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPFbiNweE0I
ReplyDeleteThis one is hugely backordered at lots of shops due to the favorable reviews it received, but I think can still be had via the internet (most nice machines are dealer-only, so this is a nice option)
Anyone else want to chime in with their thoughts? We have brought another over to the "dark side"! :)
Usually a big celebration here, we semi-missed St Patty's this year. Although dressed in our green, St Patrick's Day on the Mexican Pacific Coast just wasn't the same. But I'm not EVEN complaining. Not even for a second! AND while we left for vacation in a snowstorm, we arrived home to beautiful spring weather: one day before the daffordils, hyacinths and my star magnolia POPPED open!
ReplyDeleteGarden Hands: I try to remember gloves and then it's a bit easier to clean the dirt from my fingernails!
I don't plan on quilting. Honestly, not being to sew a curtain for the bathroom project is the thing that keeps weighing on me. Also, I REALLY want to make some reusable produce bags to bring to the grocery store so I can ditch the plastic. Hemming pants. That kind of stuff.
ReplyDeleteI am eyeing a Brother, computerized but low end with fairly good reviews.
Wow, you have gardening hand care? I just wash with my homemade castile soap, and thats it. Sometimes the hands do look at little rough. It matches the rest of me ;)
ReplyDeleteGosh, just look at all your gardeners hand care supplies. Maybe mine look so rough because I only use soap, water and a scrub brush... I do use some hand lotion, but not enough, I guess.
ReplyDeleteIsn't hanging laundry out fabulous? I gotta enjoy it right now, because the time when everything will be covered in yellow pollen is right around the corner...
Okay, I checked out the Magnolia and yes, now I want one. But I don't want to pay for it. :( I am torn now. If I buy a lesser machine and get frustrated with it I will never sew. If I buy the Magnolia that you suggest I will likely sew without trouble, but will be seriously questioning if it was something I should have spent that much money on.
ReplyDeleteSorry for hijacking your comment section.
haha, I have hijacked many a comment section! Be very careful of any Brother machine under $500... they are manufactured by a totally different company and for the most part are junk. Seriously, a 1985 Kenmore is a better bet than any $199 or $249 type Walmart/Joann Fabric model. Mama Pea and Apple Pie Gal warned me and I tested them out for myself and my old Montgomery Ward nightmare was built better :) That Janome is a good machine and I think worth the little extra so it will work. That way you'll be able to hem denim if you want to. And BTW quilting was the farthest thing from my mind when I started (I used to yawn thinking about it!) but now I'm glad I have a machine that can do things like that as well as sew some outdoor fabric for my pergola, that's what I'm doing later this month I think. Check Craigslist, there's usually plenty of people that buy nice machines and then never use them, (kinda like exercise equipment LOL) but if you do that, I'd bring a friend who sews to push some fabric through it and make sure it's a good machine. Where's Mama Pea? She has the best advice! (or was that just enabling in disguise?... I think so) LOL
ReplyDeleteI purchased the Magnolia 7318, a manual unit. It should hem denim (I think), and it seems pretty user friendly. I just can't spend more $$ than that right now (remember that bathroom reno??) - and I plan on doing VERY simple sewing for now. Thanks for the suggestions, you helped send me in the right direction. :)
ReplyDeleteKelly, that's fantastic! I think you'll be happy with that one, and since it's a mid range Janome, if you end up not using it you won't have any trouble selling it. Good luck and do a post on those curtains when you get it figured out :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Erin. I already ordered vintage pillow cases off ebay to make shopping totes with, so I think that and veggie sacks will be my first project. Maybe curtains this winter when I have developed some skill and the garden is asleep.
ReplyDeleteHope you computer troubles are fading fast!!