Lettuce in old recycle bin

Spring has finally started here in the southern hemisphere and after a good few weeks of battling in the backyard we seem to have got it under control for the time being. We have only a small back yard and the only access to it is through the house, which means getting anything into the backyard is a bit of a pain. As such when we brought this place (3 years ago on the 10 of Nov) that we could settle for a hand mower, it meant a few things: 1. I could easily carry it from the backyard to the front without make too much of a mess. 2. No need to buy gas & 3. It would be good excerise for us. One thing we didn’t fully understand was that with a hand mower it needs to be able to get traction on the ground for the blades to turn and cut the grass and over winter with the rain we get here in Auckland the mower becomes pretty much useless as it just slips all over the place. So this year with all the rain the grass got out of control and took some serious weed whacking to get under control. Having spent the best part of a whole day last weekend undertaking said weed whacking I was happy when the extra weekend day (Labour Day Monday) rolled around and I was able to plant a few vegies.

We have plans for our big garden to be taken apart and made into 3 smaller ones which will be placed in more appropriate places in the yard so in the mean time I have gathered up what containers I could find and have planted in those. I have even tried tomatoes in the hanging basket this year, I’ll let you know how they go. So far I have 6 lettuce and 6 tomatoes, I am hoping to plant corn, potatoes, carrots, leak, and  beetroots all once we have moved the garden.

It seems every time I finish a project which has taken more than say 3 weeks, I get itchy feet and can’t decide nor stick to my next project. I don’t know what it is that causes this, perhaps it is because I have hit saturation point on the finished project that I am unsure weather to start another large/long project or go for instant satisfaction.

After finishing the Featherlight cardigan a few weeks back I hit this problem, what to do next? I have kept myself occupied with non knitting related projects, TP’s Alice Dress and the little Sarubobos. I have however picked up the needles a couple of times during this period but not on a specific project. I have cast on a new slipper for Lossy, and I have also started (and finished the first of) a pair sock for TP, not to mention knit a quick cowl like necklace. But none of these projects are stickers if you know what I mean. They are time fillers unit I find my next big project, which when it comes to an end will start this cycle all over again.

TP is ready for the opening of her school’s new library now that I have completed her Alice dress & apron. It came together well with just a little adjustment necessary to the apron which isn’t a surprise since I did that part without a pattern. The smile on her face when she tried it all on was all I needed to know I had done a good job.

The last day of the school holidays and we have had terible weather, but we were able to keep ourselves entertained. TP and I sat down with the off cuts of the Alice dress and followed Mai’s instructions for little Sarubobo dolls.

They were a little fiddly but that is because I forgot to add the seam allowance, I often do this when sewing. TP did so well, she doesn’t have a lot of patience for handcraft but considering the afore mentioned fiddlyness I think she did great with only a little bit of help. The first photo are of the two I made, they remind me of Lossy & TP playing on the floor, and the second is TP’s sleepy one lying on top of the Imac.

I have just spent the best part of an hour laughing so hard at this blog, well really it was a regular feature on the blog,  Mid-Century Menu. Where the author, Ruth,  gets to cook weird things out of vintage cookbooks and feed them to her ever willing husband, Tom for dinner.

Jellied stuffed eggs would have to be my favorite my Nana makes great stuffed eggs and could always be counted on to have them on her plate when requested at a gathering. I don’t know if they would have been so popular if they were jelly coated.

Do check out this feature it will have you laughing, and wondering if people back “mid-century” really did cook these things, or if it was just a joke they published these recipe for later generations to try.