The fall garden

Today I took the time to walk around the garden that will soon be no more. I thought I'd share my walk. This is an old TV tower that I planted morning glories at the base. A few more feet and they'll be hanging off the antenna!

The first sign of fall. The leaves on the dogwood are turning a pretty orange

 Many flowers are now entwined, some have wrapped around the sunflowers.

 This poor thing got hit twice with frost but it hung in and is now blooming it's little heart out

 These are Dave's favorite planted at the side of the garage door. It's a memory of his childhood in Philadelphia where they grew in the cracks of the payment.

 These are taking over at this time of the year. The butterflies love them

 The corn getting it's self ready for decorating the porch. Boy does that field need weeding!

 These are the strangest pumpkins I've ever planted. Usually they are green when they first grow and then turn orange. Not these, they are yellow! Even after the ground hog destroyed a good amount of them, they found their way into the lilac bush.

 and the driveway

 and the neighbors yard

 and around the rose of sharon that is just beautiful right now.

 I'm wondering if they will turn orange?

 The largest ones are laying on black top in the driveway. We had to move a wood pile so this one had space as it seems to get an inch larger each day.

 These were sad all summer but now they are taking one last stand and have grown huge in the past 2 weeks.

 I stopped to pick some peppers and

 some green beans to offer for free at tomorrow's yard sale...my freezer is full so I'm hoping someone else can use them. If not...we'll be having peppers and eggs all week!

And then the mail girl handed me a package that contained some seeds to start my garden next year..Thanks Rita!

The birds will soon be the only color in the garden. But for now I'll keep enjoying every last bloom.

Another doll outfit is finished

This one started out as velveteen leggings and ended up a 4 piece interchangeable set.  This shiny fabric is very hard to photograph. I  recycled a child's size 3T Christmas dress for this outfit.
First is the pants and top

 She also has a vest

 and a bubble skirt

 skirt without the pants

 Now tomorrow I will unpack the serger and get to work on finishing up some of these outfits. I also will have decorations to hand sew on.

The garden is down all but for beans and peppers and of course pumpkins. The freezers are cleaned for the season. The garden will need some work to put it to rest for the winter but that will come in a few weeks.

I have to work on pricing the yard sale items on Thursday and just enjoying the weekend but next week I will do a big push on the doll project.

All "Green'd" out!

Wow, I don't know who decided green was a good color on your eye sight...I can tell them they are wrong! This block is done!  I can't wait to pack it up and ship it home. This is the upper left corner block with a butterfly and roses added.

 Next is the lower left corner

 Then I did the flower in the lower right. I also added the butterfly and crystals to the block next to it. It just seemed a bit unfinished.

 I used up 2 more blocks with a tree and rose garden

 I've shown this heart before that used 2 blocks

 This is the finished block. At least every block has something going on. I ran out of idea's and my green supply is just about empty. I did use a bit of color to finish but since the center block had color I don't think my small addition will matter.

It's been one of those busy weeks. I also took down a lot of the garden and did up corn, beets, tomatoes, peppers and herbs. I'll need a full day to clean up the sewing room and put away all the green! Maybe now I can take care of the doll project.

Taking about that, my serger works on one needle and 3 spools. Good for all those fancy things but not good for seams and especially knits and stretch fabric's. I ordered a Baby Lock because every one says they love them...it came, I spent $1000.00 and could only find one item that was different from the cheaper ones. They use an air system for threading it. I've never minded threading my serger and have done it hundreds of times to change color. I packed up Baby and sent her back.

I ordered a Brother for $200.00. At my age with poor health, I just don't think it's wise to put so much money into machines. I am happy to have $800.00 back and now that the Green is done I might be able to open the box and try out the new Brother serger. I have 2 tall piles of doll clothes cut out and waiting for the serger and I should be able to knock that out pretty quickly.

Another busy week coming up with a Labor Day Yard Sale and turning over the garden to winterize it.

Crazy Quilt block...green monochromatic block

This must get finished and in the mail! I used 2 of the 7 empty blocks for this heart. Maybe I'll get 2 more done today.

Country Western Rock Star Outfit

This is the first complete outfit and it was a lot of fun to make. I'm not happy with the fit of the pants but will adjust the pattern if I use it again. Now all she needs is a guitar!

Her pants are overalls...since they are currently in style I decided she needed a pair. I don't like the blue button now that I see it in the photo so that will be replaced.

 I have another one almost complete so maybe tomorrow.

"I've fallen and I can't get up"..ultimate + last Crazy Quilt Monochromatic Block

We all have seen the ad and even made fun of it. Well that ad is simple compared to my fall!  I have to tell you that this was ridiculous and I laughed so hard after it all was over...at myself!

Pennsylvania has been pounded with rain. It's raining again as I speak. This was not a good year for gardens. Plants rotted off at the roots. No one expected that they should plant in mounds but it would have been a good idea. Our garden is flat. It is also a sea of mud but veggies are still trying to grow and that means picking.

I'm sure you all know I have RA. My right knee is shot and in a brace and the right hip needs replacing so my right side is useless, stiff and keeps me from bending or getting up from anything, even a regular chair is too low. ..*The above person should not be swimming around in mud, but she is blonde and has no sense!

I can't use my walker in the corn fields because it is too wide so I'm on my own when picking. I was doing so good until I reached too far to twist off an ear of corn and my foot started to slide in the mud...*a corn stalk is not a good thing to grab onto when sliding...so down I went with the stalk, face first into a mud puddle. Everyone in the area works and even so who would look for someone laying in a muddy field of corn. Besides the sunflowers surround the garden and they are huge this year.

Ok, I stayed there long enough to feel like a child in a magical garden with the corn silk gently blowing until the sun came out and the bee's arrived. The rest of the story is not pretty...sliding on my belly like a Marine to find something to pull myself up on. Let's just say I went to the garden at 7 am and finally got in the kitchen at 1 pm...mud all over the place, steps, door, sill and kitchen. It's a good thing there were no small children around or I would have scared them to death...the mud monster exiting the corn field. When I looked in the bathroom mirror I had one of those laughing...crying jags.

So it's been a slow week. I refuse to admit that this experience hurt me, even with my black eye...but I've been moving slow.  I'm so sorry no one was around to take some photo's. Every time I think of it, I start laughing.

A few days ago I got the last block in the Monochromatic Round Robin. I am the last person to work on this block and again it has way too many empty spaces to send it home to the owner. How disappointed she would be so I'll just have to do some extra on it and pull it in shape.

Right now there are 7 open spaces and some other work that needs to be done. I hope I can think of enough ideas to finish it up. I chalked in a heart on the right side that will cover 2 spaces. I'm thinking tree and garden on the left side and silk ribbon flowers and beads in the rest of the empty spaces. We'll see what comes to me as I work on it.

By tomorrow I should start to have some doll outfits to show you all. I've been waiting on a new serger, but more on that later.