SUMMER: SOWING (AND SEWING)

Here's our  new 'picnic roll'. It was soooo easy and fun to make, and it has a purpose which is always nice (but not necessary!).

The pattern/idea was taken from this book, with some adjustments to accommodate our picnic cuttlery and serviettes. My Mum gave me the fabric during our visit to Sydney last October and, because some of it was pre-quilted, I was able to skip adding the layer of wadding (love a good short-cut).  It wouldn't have been my first choice of fabric but, it was nice to use up some scraps and I'm happy with it. Mum looked at the pattern and noted quietly "oh, that's nice, I made myself something like that in the 60s".  I can imagine her using it  with her then seven or so children on visits to the beach, perhaps to watch Dad participate in surf-life saving carnivals. In those days there were 'only' seven of us (plus Mum and Dad) with a 'few' (three) more children to come. Crazy! Wish she'd held onto her picnic roll but, then I wouldn't have had the pleasure of completing this nice, quick, project which is destined for a good use!

I picked up the cuttlery second-hand a few years back and the napkins were another gift from Mum; they were her Mum's in the 1920s.  I like the thought that my grandmother used them and now, so are her great-grandchidren. I never met my grandmother and actually, my Mum doesn't recall much of her either as she died giving birth to her second child, my Mum's little brother, who also died. A very sad tale. And to think that she has ten grandchildren through that one daughter, my Mum, and twenty-nine great grand-children (my children and their cousins). Wow. I wish we had known her, or at least, that Mum had so she could share tales of her with us. Now I have her napkins in my picnic roll and that's something,  not much of a 'something' but something nonetheless. For the ribbon-tie I picked from this stash, giving the roll even more of an 'ohh' effect (for our family that is). Beyond backyard picnics, which are special in themselves, we're yet to make a day-trip with this in hand but, it won't be long.


And the garden....it's growing more and more each day, in the way that gardens often do (!). Most importantly, it's providing more and more ingredients for our daily meals.

We're loving our vegie gardens/plots, despite not having yet completed all of hem; the timber lays in waiting (I'm told the vegetables don't know the difference!). The first bed was planted out on Christmas Eve and is thriving, except for the capscicim/peppers that the possums seem to LOVE. In this plot we've planted pumpkin, capsicum/peppers, zuchnini, tomatoes, basil, French beans, eggplant, dill and corn. Our potted plants are enjoying some extra attention too (they hold lemon and olive trees, strawberries, oregano, mint, thyme, and tomatoes). When in the garden, I often think of this book, the tale of a little boy working with his Nan in her vegetable garden. It's a simple tale of how their vegetable garden changes from season to season. I look forward to experiencing our garden as it changes through the seasons.

We've recently added two more vegie plots to the front garden (one contains sage, chives, tomatoes, carrots, snow peas, climbing beans, broccoli, more oregano, more basil, silverbeet, lettuce and baby spinach and the other is yet to be planted out). We're hoping to eat plenty more from our garden soon, assuming the possums, birds and snails don't get there first. Perhaps I should work on a chilli spray this week. I need some idea on pest control. I've sprinkled coffee grinds and crushed eggs all through one vegie patch after hearing that snails and caterpillars hate the stuff and we'll see how that works. Some photos from when there was space to walk through the garden; it's grown so much since...