First on the agenda, was some pj's. My former nightgowns were getting rather thin and holey as I haven't sewn in .... ages. Anyway, got those out of the way...
Here Mary Alice is kind enough to model for me.
Then I was moving things around in the sewing room and found a pattern that looked simple and quick (I'm tired of complicated and long... the dogs slobber on everything anyway...) and I had some fabric in my stash to use. First I cut out a toile (tester bodice , toil is pronounced "twal" by the way) to test the fit. Always , always do that first. It saves you a lot of grief later .
Voila, bodice done. The skirt on the pattern wasn't full enough for my tastes so I dug through my huge pattern mess and located the circular skirt pattern I'd drafted ages ago . I keep telling myself I'm not going to do anymore circular skirts because I hate ironing and you have
miles of ironing to do with one of those.. But they are so much fun to wear...
Dad's slippers... the latest in pattern weight technology.
Pinning the lining down for handstitching. I put pockets in this thing too. It is an extra step that I always hate but later, it is nice to have pockets...
Then dress has hung on Mary Alice all night so the bias in the skirt can hang out. See how wonky it is? That and I think Mary Alice is listing to the left.. well, her right I guess..
Marking the hem.. I did sort of straighten her out first..
Sewing the hem... it takes years... Well, not really, it just seems that way.
This is without the hem but a full shot.. since I didn't get a front shot later. Ignore all that mess in the background..
Back shot.
And here is the whole reason for the full skirt. Tis fun to twirl. ;-)
A baby quilt I'm working on for a friend's baby . She is having a baby shower in 2 weeks and I still have to get the binding on. This is just the top piece before my sister Violet quilted it all on her machine.
Field peas blooming.
Lettuce greens in one of the new beds .
Kale and more lettuce... the kale seems a little more eager to come up than the lettuce... but that side doesn't get as much sun so maybe that is why... or the seed was old .
Mustard greens.
After I made all those soil blocks I planted tomatoes and peppers. They sprouted in only 4 days!! I was amazed. Maybe it was where the moon was or maybe they really liked the heating mats or the soil mix they were in... who knows. But I don't think I've ever had things sprout that quickly before.
Onion sets... I need to plant more.
A couple weeks later and look how big they are!
They get watered every so often with a diluted tea from the fermenting nettle tea. It smells really really bad but they seem to like it. The boys seem to love it.. they still try to drink it whenever they can .
Someone has been pinching my field peas!!
He grazes... I guess I don't need a sheep.
Here is my noxious brew.. these are the killer wild nettles we got up in the foothills (Urtica dioica).
These are the common "domestic" or lesser nettle (Urtica urens. ) . They stink just as bad though.
When you stir it they foam!
Jean.. from Jean's garden. I don't know why but when we got this statue years and years ago and put her here, she just reminded me so strongly of the character of the same name from Keeper of the Bees . A Gene Stratton Porter novel. So that is what we called her. The Little Scout keeps guard over things while she is reading.
The Banks rose is blooming already.
The roses are leafing out.
The peach is blooming. Looks like it survived the rain we got a few days ago.
They smell so sweet .
Comfrey is pushing up.
Dew is on the peas.
And the ladies are back into the full swing of laying. Well, almost full swing.
My quilt top got quilted and I just thought this bubbling pot of cauliflower and tomato stuff was interesting. That's it for now. 
