Looking forward to rhubarb

I derive a lot of pleasure from seeing the first spring growth of perennials. When that perennial is edible, I am nearly obsessed.

Last year we divided and relocated several rhubarb crowns from the "lower" area (down by the river) to the "upper" area (by our house). While I used to do a pretty good job of harvesting all available rhubarb, I am looking forward to 1. more rhubarb, and 2. not having to climb 20 stairs to get it.

Knowing the decision was going to be a fairly permanent one, I chose to plant the rhubarb in an area that needed some foliage, but that I had found to be unsuccessful for growing veggies in previous years. The area has good southern exposure, but sees some animal traffic. I am unsure whether the same animals that enjoy eating tomatoes will enjoy rhubarb, but I figure that if they didn't eat it down by the river, they weren't likely going to eat it near our house...unless they are different animals.

Last year, rhubarb started poking through the leaf cover in late April. I'm looking forward to seeing this year's crop, and how we did in the replanting. We didn't touch the rhubarb last year, as we divided it in the spring. Detailed instructions on division at this blog, which has BEAUTIFUL pics of budding rhubarb.

Beet shake

Beets! I bought some massive, beautiful beets a couple of weeks ago, which have been sitting in my fridge begging me to put in the time and roast them. So today I decided to try Chocolate Covered Katie's Pink Energizer Smoothie.

Delicious. Beautiful and alarming in colour. If I made it again I would reduce the amount of milk, to make a thicker smoothie. Looking forward to trying these this summer, with fresh garden beets.

Reading Ru

Just started reading Ru, by Kim Thuy. The book is most recently the winner of Canada Reads, but is also winner of the Governor General's Award for Fiction in its original French. Its list of accolades is long. Immediately it reminds me of the Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson, in its image-heavy,  prose poem style.

This is one of my favorite styles of writing to read. I find the vignettes more manageable than a conventional novel, in particular when I am reading in short spurts. While there is a narrative flow to Ru, you can read slightly ahead or behind your "place" without compromising the story; as a reader, I like having this extra amount of control over my reading experience. I dislike when I feel locked in to the author's story line, when I have to leave off at a logical spot in order to pick up the book and proceed. These days I don't always have the time to finish a chapter.

Thuy paints very poignant scenes, which, when reading, make me thankful that such moments were captured. I get pretty emotional about good writing, I'll admit. But to me, this is the kind of writing which makes you watch and observe the world around you more closely, realizing that we are constantly moving amid these notable moments.

What else I am reading this month:

• Improving Your Soil, Keith Reid
• Bed Timing, Marc Lewis and Isabela Granic
• Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems, Richard Ferber
• The No-Cry Sleep Solution, Elizabeth Pantley
• Canadian Gardener's Guide, Lorraine Johnson (ed)
• 500 Kitchen Ideas, from the editors of Country Living
• The Sewing Book, Alison Smith
• Blind Window, Sleeping Woman, Haruki Murakami

Favorite tree

Figs again

Groundwood Books has released a kids' title about figs, Rosario's Fig Tree. I'm into it!

I can tell, just from the trailer, that their character uses a different method of overwintering than I will employ (burying his fig tree rather than bringing the potted tree inside).

Their blog features a mystery vegetable anecdote by the author. Now I want to grow bottle gourds too.

Blooming aloe

This is the second year my aloe plant has bloomed. Based on what I have read, I suspect it is the sun room - my track record with other houseplants is quite poor. Aloes, however, are very robust.

Finished project - Flip style diaper

 I needed to increase our diaper stash and so made it a goal this week to finish at least one diaper. Although I have made a few different  diapers using both purchased patterns, those freely available online, and combinations thereof (I once made a Franken-diaper that pulled from as many sources as there were seams), I've come to settle on Arfy's freely available patterns and tutorials as top of the line.

This diaper is sewn using her Flip style pattern and tutorial. I find this style of cloth diaper easy to diaper with (less washing), and easiest to sew. Sewing waterproof legs is a talent. The less fabrics to interfere with this process, the better.

I made this diaper with a velcro closure, even though the reviews say that snap closures are pretty much the way to go (they don't wear over washings, a big deal in cloth diapering). I have made a few diapers with snaps already, and the application process is quite time consuming - hence the velcro. I just wanted a diaper today!

The fabric is from Diaper Sewing Supplies. I was sucked in by the soulful eyes of the puppies. I probably wouldn't have sewn my own diapers at all if not for those eyes.

Overflow

Completed project: simple - yet - effective shawl

I blocked another piece this week. I finished the simple - yet - effective shawl a couple of years ago, but finally got around to blocking it this week.

The idea of alternating two Noro Kureyon colourways was not mine, I saw it on Ravelry. This for me is variegation at its best: I keep knitting (and knitting) because I am always looking forward to seeing how the colours juxtapose.

Bircher muesli

I love bircher muesli.

I bumped into these Blueberry Pie Oats and learned that the process of soaking oats overnight is called bircher muesli. While the Blueberry Pie Oats recipe is a little divergent from the origins of bircher muesli, the basics are there: soak rolled oats in something overnight, with fruit involved somehow.

I first encountered this way of making oats in the What to Expect book. Their recipe calls for soaking half a cup oats with raisins and apricots in half a cup orange juice and half a cup vanilla yogurt. While I more or less stuck to that recipe, I switched to plain yogurt so it was less sweet.

This became the only thing I really wanted to eat for what seemed like weeks on end. In my first trimester I craved things in 5 minute bursts. Once the burst was over I was nauseous, sometimes just thinking about the food I had moments before craved. But these oats really did it for me (it didn't hurt that I could always eat first thing in the morning). I also liked the convenience of making it the night before, and that I could bring it to work in a handy Mason jar.

So the fact that there is whole world of bircher muesli out there for me to explore? Makes my day.

William Dam Seeds - Trip

While I read catalogues from several different seed companies, William Dam in Dundas is the only seed company I visit. Friday was seed day!

William Dam is where I buy most of my vegetable and flower seeds. I like that they've maintained the family business feel, I appreciate their commitment to organic and heirloom gardening, and the fact they have a cat at their storefront. I also love their selection of green crops, which help with soil improvement. You grow the crop, you mow it if necessary, you turn it into the soil. Bam. Your soil is better. 

Although I needed to restrain myself from buying flowers and vegetables, green crops are a worthwhile investment. This fourth summer at the house, I am ready to do some serious renovation of the planting beds. Buckwheat is a fast growing cover that suppresses weeds, and the 50/50 peas oats mix is supposed to be a good nitrogen fixer. I have plans to use both in various sections of the garden throughout the season.

Although calling a three-dollar packet of seeds a "splurge" I must impress that I have many, many seeds already, and almost ten types of tomato seeds. So my splurge was actually for my father's garden: a crossed heirloom tomato that keeps the great heirloom taste, while providing more disease resistance. William Dam has several new "heirloom marriages" this year, and while I will still grow traditional heirlooms I would like to give these a try as well.

While it is by no means exclusive to William Dam, I also picked up some diatomaceous earth for snail control. We have many, many snails. We will see how effective this treatment is.

Completed-ish project: Kernel

My to - do list this week was threatened by an unexpected trip to William Dam Seeds. I am an over - informer,  especially for things about which i am passionate; I already spend hours looking at seed catalogues, so when I actually get to visit a seed shop that is literally all I want to do. Look at seed catalogues. 

But on my to do list was the blocking of this scarf (Kernel from Knitty), which I finished years ago. Lace knitting generally requires blocking to take its full effect, as blocking stretches out the stitches to show the pattern properly. Before blocking, this scarf was a waste of lace. This is why lace is a magical knit: the blocking transforms it completely.

Consider me impressed that I managed to sew a new thing on my to - do list AND finish a WIP in one week - or at least, it is finished - ish. While blocking I found a hole in it that needs to be patched up.

Triangle

From the to - do list: wetbag

Used this tutorial to make a small wetbag today. Needed something to carry soiled diapers and inserts in. I made it much smaller than the tutorial called for, as mine is specifically for a diaper bag.

This took me about half an hour, including a lot of fiddling with the zipper foot. I lack confidence in my zipper sewing abilities.

The PUL is from Diaper Sewing Supplies. I love it. I love so many of their fabrics. Must use up PUL so I can buy more PUL.

Oh no. I didn't

Despite having less exposure to the public than I have possibly ever had, I am on my second cold of the year. Of course colds are miserable in general, but with a 5 month old baby the experience is even worse. I have  little opportunity to sleep, which is the only way I really believe works to fight a cold. And sleep is absolutely the only way to overcome the restless sense of constant boredom that inevitably accompanies the cold.

So I decided to make the Awesome Allium juice from the Juice Bible. I could have tried a fruit-based antioxidant juice, but I felt like my illness has already proceeded past that. I was both intrigued and horrified at the ingredients, which included half an onion and a clove of garlic. Sure, I have problems stomaching raw garlic, never mind its concentrated juice, but how much could a clove hurt me?

After the juicing I was more confident. It was very green, green is good, right? So I too a taste while nursing my little one. I would down the rest of it later.

No I wouldn't. There would be no Awesome Allium later.

It didn't taste as horrible as it should have. At least, not at first. Yes, it made my eyes water. Yes, it was a bit spicy. But not unpalatable. Seconds later, though, as the garlic and onion spread down into my throat, I regretted my tiny tasting with an infant on my lap. She started crying quietly, as if my onion reek was painful for her to be around. I called to my husband urgently to bring me water. I practiced deep breathing. Read: do not drink this on an empty stomach.

So most of the juice remains in a Mason jar in our fridge. Yes, I want this cold to be gone, but I just can't do it.

Overhang

Bug taggie toy

Finished the bug/bird taggie toy this week.

Made of scraps except for the ribbon, which I bought at Len's Mills. Embroidered the eyes and along the edges of the wings. Good practice but I wish I were better at it. Used a cereal bag in the wings to make it crinkle.

Balancing our house

When we first moved into our house, I started to get the feeling that I would slide out of it, right into the river. Not because of any issues with its construction, but because we spent so much of our time in the back half of the house. I felt like my energy was directed out over our upper backyard, down the hill tumbling 20 feet down to a lower back yard, where the dirt path through the Ponderosa gates slopes down to the Nith.

But the moment I had put our daughter to bed in her own room for the first time, the energy in the house shifted. I felt like we occupied it in a new way. A room in the front of the house was used. It was as though all 15 pounds of her anchored the north east corner of the building down. I shut the door to her room suddenly aware that she would live in it for years to come.

I felt newly aware of the front of our house. The cars passing on the street. The untended section of garden underneath her window. The snake that I saw slip into a crack between the bricks. And with this new feeling comes the knowledge that her growing energy will contribute to the balance of this house.

Pumpkin scones

Made these pumpkin scones today. I had a can of pumpkin open after attempting to make the pumpkin nut muffins they used to make at the Cocoa Bean, and wanted to try a different pumpkin recipe. I didn't double-glaze these as the recipe suggests. Just one glaze is enough. I grew up on plain scones with raisins in them. One glaze already feels like I'm cheating.

I am trying to figure out whether I should grow pie pumpkins this year; I grew regular pumpkins with some success in one particular bed and would like to switch them out for something more practical. So I am experimenting with baked goods just to see how practical I can make pie pumpkins.
I have eaten more of these than is healthy for one day.

WIP - bug crinkle taggie toy

In the crafting and knitting world, WIP refers to a work-in-progress, or a stalled project. Finishing things has never been my strong suit. I have many works-in-progress. I also have a high level of comfort with wearing and using half-finished items.

This is why my baby plays with a partially finished taggie thing.

After seeing her grasping at the short tags on some of her toys, I decided to make a taggie blanket. After looking at pics online for inspiration (so many cute ones, but this cloud and this circle made me smile) , I decided to make a much cooler taggie toy. But I wanted crinkle in it too, so I decided adding wings would be good. I think it was at this point that the project got bigger than a one-hour Saturday night sewing.

Everything is properly secured, but I only managed to sew on one wing, and no face, before I got sick of it. So instead of a character, the toy is really just a thing. Goal this week? To finish the toy.