Dreaming about my Garden

I can't wait! In 4-5 months, I'll be able to start my garden again! I've been perusing my seed catalogs and compiling a list of new plants I would like to start next year. I really shouldn't do as many plants, but it's so addicting and I want to see how they turn out. I've been thinking about containers to start my seeds in. Last year I used aluminum baking pans and I didn't like them. I need something sturdier and that doesn't transfer heat energy so quickly. Plastic would be best but where can I get large, deep trays that are also on the cheap side?

Here's my list:
Heirloom tomatoes
Sugar snap peas
White sweet corn
Strawberries
Tomatillo
Red and Orange Bell peppers
Zucchini
Naguri squash
Fairytale Eggplant (mini)
Long Eggplant
Lemon cucumbers
English cucumbers
Genovese Basil
Lime Basil
Brussel Sprouts
Artichokes

Flowers:
Oriental Poppies
Cone Flower-Echinacea
Sun Flower
Buttercups
Tulips-Double Late "Angelique"
Double Daffodil "Cheerfulness"
Allium-"Gladiator" and "Ivory Queen"
Ranunculus

It looks like I am going to need to expand my gardening area next year.

Both Wednesday and Thursday was super warm for November! With both days off from school and work, I was able to take advantage of the warmth and clean out the garden. I hate the cold and procrastinated for a while, but I am so glad I did because the weather was perfect and I was able to get everything done.

Although we have a blower, I raked the leaves anyway. I just enjoyed the exercise and being outdoors. I forgot how much I missed being out gardening. We have the most leaves on our front yard than anyone else because of the 2 large trees and the direction of the wind.



The kids love jumping into the leaves, so I took a break and let them drive through it. They were having so much fun with it. There were so many leaves, the kids actually got stuck in it and couldn't move their car.



Of course after I raked everything manually, Keith had to be a big shot and drive through with his riding lawn mower. He's so obnoxious but I love him! He mowed the entire lawn and it looked really nice actually. The grass was coming in really healthy. This obsession with a green lawn is totally a NJ thing!



An hour and a half later, here's my huge pile. You can't tell in this photo but the pile was up to my thighs and as wide as a car. Of course, later the wind blew a ton of it back onto our lawn.



In the back, I cleared out all the old plants along the fence. Leave the leaves on top of the soil to protect it from the winter.



As well as the one in the middle back of the yard. I think I will keep it for next year and grow watermelon again. They seemed to be really successful and very rewarding!



As I gathered my planters and cleaned up, I found that my parsley finally came up! It sure took a while.



I also had sage! It's so pretty and fragrant. I dug them up, put them in pots and brought them inside.



So now I am all ready to cook for the winter. From left to right, I have Mint, Sage, Basil, Arugula, and Parsley!



I love looking down the street and seeing all the leaves change.

I Love Emeril Live - Braised Turkey Legs

Now this is my kind of meal. Keith loves turkey legs. I just got done watching this episode and it looked so good that I just had to blog and make a note of it.

Recipe here. The turkey legs were cut in cylindrically. I wonder if I can get the supermarket butcher to do it for me.

DIY Baby Bouquet

To use as centerpieces for a baby shower, I volunteered to make these bouquets using baby onesies and cloths. It was my first attempt, so it was a real experiment. Next time, I hope they come out better.

Materials:

• Baby socks, cloths, onesies, etc.
• floral wire
• floral tape
• silk leaves
• ribbons or tulle
  

I picked up a pack of baby onesies (the smallest you can get) and a pack of baby cloths. I was looking for socks, but the colors didn't match. I think socks are more useful and easier to make. ACMoore was having their Fall florals sale so I bought a bouquet for 75% and just cut the stems to reuse and took the flower heads off of them.

Making a Rose: Using the same technique as you would with origami, I rolled this rose out of a baby cloth. I did the same with a onesie, but it was much heavier.

1. Fold the cloth into a 1.5" strip or whatever works.



2. Holding the cloth in both hands, fold the corner down. Begin to roll across horizontally.



3. Fold the other end of the cloth back just like this and begin to roll while spreading it out like a rose.



4. Keep folding it back to create the look of "petals", roll, fold back, roll, fold back, roll.



5. When you reach the end, make sure you get a good hold on it and wrap floral wire tightly around it to hold it in place. Tape might work and so would a rubber band if you have a heavy onesie.



6. Using the stems from the bouquet I bought, remove the flower head. Stick it into the flower and wrap the floral wire around the stem to hold it in place.

7. Wrap floral top around the bottom to conceal the floral wire. You don't have to do this, but it makes it look nicer.



Tadaaa! We have a rose! I also experimented with making other "types" of flowers.



Making a Butterfly: I thought it would be really cute to try to make a butterfly. It came out super cute and was really easy.

1. Roll the onesie from both ends, but rolling one end more than the other to create the front and back wings. Secure with floral wire.


2. Fold it in half and secure tightly.



3. I made antannaes using the remainder of the floral wire but just rolling it.


4. Stick a stem into the onesie and wrap the floral wire to the stem.


5. Wrap with floral tape to make it look neat and pretty. Then I wrapped it with the rose.



I thought the results were really cute!


6. The floral tape is sticky and to make it prettier, I wrapped tulle around the stems like a wedding bouquet in a criss-cross pattern.


7. Start at the bottom and work your way up to the flower. Using what is remaining, tie a bow. Tie several bows and fluff it up.


Here are the other 2 bouquets I made for centerpieces. The one above is just a little extra something for the mommy to be's place setting.


My model.


I don't know if you can tell but the one in the upper right corner is supposed to be a Calla Lily.




This is a different butterfly I experimented with and 2 leaves.

Treasure hunt!

New Address Labels

Now that we're married, I am looking into a "family" address label for Thank You notes and holiday cards. In particular I really like these labels from Felix Doolittle that Mrs. Bee suggested. There's something classic about their illustrations. You can choose from dogs, flowers to hobbies on your labels. $42/100 custom labels. I wonder if they could superimpose our house onto the address label.























Mrs. Violet blogged about Sweet Paperie, a rubber stamp vendor from etsy shop. For $20-$30, the owner Farrah can create a custom stamp. I'd prefer the rubber stamp since it would never "run out" like the labels. You can use any color ink you like to match the related holiday.

"New" furniture!

We got this old bureau from our neighbor. Keith will take anything home, even if it's a junker. He wanted to put it in his office for storage. Even though it's old, it makes a good storage piece to put in your basement or attic for various things. ie. tools, wrapping paper, old pictures, video tapes. So I gave in. What the heck, right?

Turns out, it was a HUGE bureau! Too big to put in his office, but would make a great tv console! Just what we needed too! I love those tv consoles from Restoration Hardware, but I can't imagine spending thousands of dollars on one.

It had a lot of water stains/damage on the top surface. It was really worn.



The front was really worn, dirty and had a huge scratch on the front of the cabinet door and dresser drawer. The picture on the left is more accurate of how worn it was. The picture on the right is actually really flattering.




Keith decided he would sand it down and give it a new coat of stain. He was sanding and vacuuming at the same time to reduce the amount of dust in the house.







Once he got started he decided to sand the whole thing.




You can see where he had to really sand the damaged areas. It was still a little discolored. Then he wiped it down with a damp rag to get rid of any excess dust.



Then Keith began staining it with the first coat. As you apply the stain, you have to do it quickly and spread it evenly so there aren't darker areas.




It looks really pretty and glossy when you apply the stain. It really smells, so do it in a well ventilated area, preferably outdoors.




Then allow to dry for at least 4 hours before applying a second coat. As you can see, when it dries, it soaks into the wood and it doesn't look as nice as when you first applied it. It just needs another coat.



Then he stained the cabinet doors and dresser drawers.




The following day be sanded it again so that you could no longer feel the grain of the wood. It almost looked laminated afterwards. Then he gave it 2 more coats.



Then he also did the sides. The results were like night and day.


And tadaa!!!