Sunset - June 2, 2020

Sunset - June 2, 2020

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

A work in progress....

...and long overdue... A wedding quilt for a nephew and his wife - married last year. (Picture - hanging my quilting head in remorse...) this is one of the Mystery Quilts Aunt 'Reen offered back in May.

The rows will be going together now and I am determined to wrap this up soon and off it goes to be quilted.

I have always tried to be more prompt but life sometimes does not give out enough hours in the day. Here in the northcentral part of Wisconsin, summers are much too short - this one especially with the very late Spring arrival we had. The gardens have finally started to offer up their harvest for the season. Green beans are slowing down but tomatoes are still very green and we usually get frost in September. Summer squashes are prolific as always - no matter the weather...

And these carrots were just thinned out this morning - will be so tasty in winter soups and stews. Lots more left in the row!

Another work in progress is my favorite play house - our potting shed.

No! That is not it!!!


Ours is a working potting shed - not made for lounging in and reading a book of poetry while sipping a cold glass of lemonade...it holds tools, soils, buckets, baskets, umpteen pairs of gloves and all the other "stuff" gardeners need - kind of like a quilters sewing room only more earthy! And my favorite feature - a big sink for soaking vegetables or washing up.

Moving through the weeks of summer, what is hanging to dry will act as a calendar. Sage leaves are getting dry to the touch and and tiny marjoram and thyme leaves lay on the racks of the dehydrator. Annabelle hydrangeas begin to show a hint of cream to pale celery green - just right for hanging from the hooks Mr. Outback positioned in the rafters.

When the time allows to "sit a spell" -

...out comes my garden journal where notes are kept...where veggies were planted in each bed from year to year; what seeds performed well or not so good; thoughts for the next growing season..

Check out these herbal markers that were a gift from my friend, Barbara Jean. Trying out 2 of them now and when the new herb bed is finished next year, all of them will find a home - aren't they great!!

So the summer goes...each day growing a bit shorter as it winds down.. Too fast...I want it to linger, to gather up each moment in a huge apron and make it last...
Thinking of our son and dear daughter-in-law too - so far away in Alaska - and hoping this time next year we will be together taking in mountain views or watching whales in the water.
Wishing each of you a week of progress...
Pat

 

6 comments:

  1. You must be a marvellous gardener to have so much harvest, and such a well organised potting shed. I love our mild Australian winters but I am starting to look forward to Spring. Thank goodness the seasons change! Good luck with the wedding quilt.

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  2. I too just love your garden pictures Pat! Such a wonderful harvest and I love how you decorate all your "garden rooms" outside and in!
    I'm sure your nephew & his wife are going to love this wedding quilt! The top turned out really beautiful.
    Wishing you more bountiful veggies from the garden before frost!

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  3. The rows on your quilt look great together. It won't be long before you'll have more time. Your garden produce looks fantastic. I have to get mine at the farmers market.

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  4. It was truly a joy looking at the pictures of your garden and "real" garden shed. (I think your garden shed is worthy of a magazine spread because it really is a garden shed, and not a decorators idea of a garden shed!) I did a smaller version of Doreen's May sew along quilt, and it was a fun one to make... love the fabrics you used for your nephews wedding quilt! Hope that first Wisconsin frost holds off for awhile... at least until the last of the tomatoes are picked from the vine!

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  5. I love your garden shed ! I made that same quilt on Doreen's May sew along in May our of French general fabric . I really like the fabric you chose for your nephew's wedding quilt ! They are going to love it !

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  6. Doreen had some great sew alongs this summer.
    How to store your carrots to last until the winter? freeze, can?
    Will you pick the green tomatoes before the first frost?
    Your potting shed is so neat.
    I have been thinking about a dehydrator but not sure what brand to get. Which one do you have?

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