Calling all gardeners!!

This is part of our backyard.

Please excuse the mess - we've been working!

My rock star husband did a wonderful thing for me this week!!

He knows I have been struggling with this darn yard since we moved in. I love vegetable gardening... and we have tried and tried, for 6 years to get my garden to be productive.

The problem is... (over to the right where you dont see) the people before us had laid i-dont-know-how-many-tons-of-rock on the clay soil to park their RV.

I have picked rock until my fingers are bleeding. Literally.

We have rototilled, fertilized, mulched, added about 4 tons of good soil. To no avail :(

Basically a jungle of weeds think that's their home. We have sprayed kill-all-vegetation for two years in a row - but those suckers keep coming back!

Oh.. and in all their wisdom, the previous owners had also bordered the entire lawn with 2 feet of rocks.

So... i told my husband, I GIVE UP!

IF i could get that weed jungle to stop growing, i could build a raised garden. That has kind of been our plan for the last two years. Thus trying to kill all those weeds and baby tree roots!

Yah. No go.

We live at the top of a hill, and the yard is severely slanted (so much so that a kiddie pool overflows at one end and is empty at the other - on the flattest part of the yard! lol)

I love spending time outside 3/4 of the year. And we are slowly working toward building an awesome back covered patio - that has a deck above, off of the master bedroom.

Last year we laid the patio, and inset 4x4 holders. Replaced half the fence, and the gutters, and painted the house.

(next year is the fence you see, that we share with our neighbors)

Slowly but surely!

I have been growing my tomatoes in big pots in the back yard, because i cant go without fresh maters in the summer!! LOL!

But that's about the extent of any gardening the last few years, here in the back yard!

Soooo... my wonderful husband came up with a great plan!!

He showed up the other day with a truck load of soil, and a bunch of logs, enlisted Bailey's help and they went to work!

He laid weed sheet (or whatever you call it) over the rocks, and built a little raised bed all the way around the fence line!

He said he knows I have wanted to have a bunch of flowers surrounding the yard - and he thought this would be a cool way to do it! He also thought maybe just maybe i could put vegetables in here too.

HOW SWEET IS THIS?!?

:D

Ok, so I've been thinking!

(ouch)

And I need to learn about good sunny perennials!

I have approx 2 feet wide, by the length of this trough, by about 10" high.

And i know NOTHING about this kind of gardening!

Can I plant perennials in this depth of soil? Will they thrive or die?

What are your favorite flowering perennials?

Can you reccomend anything?

Any tips, or suggestions?

I can do some now, and seed some this winter to put in next spring if i need to.

I am really excited! But have no idea where to start! LOL

Please... oh wise gardeners out there... share some of your ideas with me?

What would YOU do with it?

oohh... sooo excited to hear your suggestions!! :D

blessings,

Bren :)

Wrap skirts

Hiya!

Let me just start off this post by letting you know a quirky thing about me.

I HATE sewing clothes.

I avoid it like the plague.

I have been sewing since I was 8 years old, and creating everything under the sun. And the few times I have made anything wearable, I get extremely frustrated - so i totally avoid it! LOL

Personally I think it's because every BODY is different, and no one pattern will ever cover all of the differences in a person's body!

I am short. 5' 4 3/4" - 5'5" on a good day :)

I would have done well in the roman crusade days when they liked reubenesque women :)

Nicely put, i have curves! LOL

And sometimes those curves are bigger, and sometimes they are smaller. Right now, I am desperately trying to make them smaller! But it's been rather slow going :( These last 20 pounds are hanging on for dear life :(

Soooo ... i got a brilliant idea to make a few of these for my summer wardrobe, because they would adjust as my size goes down - and I wont have to buy new clothes until I hit my goal weight. Smart, eh?

This is "The Versatile Wrap" by Toni Crawford - Make it Perfect patterns.

I mean... how cute is this??

Simple. Comfy. Casual, and yet can be dressed up. Perfect for summer!

And how hard can it be? I am a good seamstress! LOL

(i do this to myself every now and then, i guess i forget why i hate sewing clothes for myself and have to give myself a reminder! lol)

So the pattern arrived, and I dropped everything to run down to my sewing room and get started. I was very excited!!

So being the smart girl I am... i was not going to waste good fabric to try it out and find out it didnt look good. So I made a mock up out of muslin and some ugly fabric for trim first. Glad I did!! This is a VERY simple pattern! It only took me about an hour to make it, start to finish. Three big pieces, and top and bottom trim.

Simple pimple!

And for the most part, it fit great, and was designed very well! But my short, rounder frame needed some adjustments.

So trying on the mock skirt, I discovered it veered out, making my lower half look like a big obtuse triangle. :(

Well it sure doesn't look like a triangle on the gal in the photo! haha

So... adjusted the angles way down.

And, I had a bunch of extra fabric all loosy goosy at the back of my waist, that wouldn't tighten up no matter how much i cinched it.

I assumed that was because i put the buttonhole too close to where the layers overlap. (Wrong assumption!)

So i set about making a real one, and my daughter Emily had way too much fun digging out fabric from my stash and holding it up on me - "dressing" me! LOL

So i asked her if she wanted to make one too. Well.. she jumped at the chance!

She is a beginner sewer, and this was the perfect beginning pattern for her to try her hand, and have something to wear when she was done!

Sooo.... we started cutting, and i started educating :)

It was tons of fun!

Granted... it took us 11 hours to get through the process! LOL

But she did all the measuring, cutting and sewing!

(i did help by doing the serging of the raw edges, because she was a wee bit intimidated by the serger - but i think she was less intimidated by the time we got it done- and that sure doesnt take away from the fact that she did EVERYTHING else!!)

She was totally stoked!!!

And having a normal, pretty straight frame, this wrap skirt fit her perfectly!

(we did use the adjustments for angle and waist on hers too though)

Here she is modeling her sewing accomplishment!

How cute, right?!? Well, since i was sewing on mine first, and showing her as i went - we discovered several things along the way. LOL Thankful we did it that way, so hers wasn't a frustration to her!! Mine however.... LOL

I still had gobs of gappyness at my back. So... i added some darts along the back side to help make it fit correctly. I made my buttonhole in the waist about 4 inches away from where they overlap, so there was room for losing size, and it all worked out!

Then on hers, we hadn't added the top sash yet, so we were able to curve in and take a few inches off the waist area - and that made all the difference in the world! Hers fits terrific! So... i have fabric to make two more, and i have my notes on my adjusted measurements, and I think they will go pretty smoothly now! woohoo!! So.. i'm not into modeling. LOL But here's a peek at mine :) Now that i know what i need to do, i am going to make the other 2 simultaniously. And it will go much faster, since i will be sewing alone! :D

I have some soft thin gorgeous Kaffe fabric, and some that i picked up from hobby lobby for the other two. I think i may be on a roll now! LOL Wish me luck! xo Bren

Is it worth 5 entries?

Is it worth 5 entries?

To totally expose myself and my messy cramped sewing room - not moving a thing or picking up before taking pics???

For the Accuquilt cutter on IHAN's blog??

Holy cow - YOU BETCHYA!!!

Ok...

But I must admit i totally wavered on this one! LOL!

I am a MESSY QUILTER!

Dude..

Small little room, cram packed with stuff... i literally have a little walkway to get to my sewing machine, and about 25" of a table to cut on. Then of course i thought it was a brilliant idea to bring down a full size ironing board and cram it in there too. LOL

Cuz i was really tired of ironing on one of those little travel boards!

So here it is... in all it's messy glory.

ugh.

Can't believe i am doing this!

Be forewarned - I DO NOT HAVE A GORGEOUS, FANTASTICALLY DECORATED DREAM ROOM, PEOPLE!

But... it WORKS. So i am not complaining!

(i sewed for far too long in our living room!! to have my own room is such a blessing! i can just shut the door and walk away and pretend this mess doesnt exist! lolol)

My little happy place. Do you see the overflowing trash can under the desk? All the scraps on the floor? 2 starbucks cups - (one WAS from yesterday - honest! the other is empty and waiting to be thrown away. lol)

The gross orange waffle pad under my machine? (trying to keep it from sliding all over the place - it doesn't work all that great btw)

There is a cd player on the right side of the desk, a can of air, quilting gloves, scissors galore, a basket of thread and a tin of bobbins, two jars of safety pins, a lamp, and a pile of batted scraps for me to test my machine stitches on (when the machine is giving me fits, I adjust and test - so always need that stack handy!)

BIG clock above desk so i dont fall into lala land and forget to pick up my kids from school! (hubby hung that for me after I spaced picking up my 7 year old daughter one day!)

sigh. this is just embarrassing!! :(

Two baskets on the floor - for any scraps that are larger than 2", and one for selvedge edges.

The white wicker drawer cabinet holds tools and stuff. To the left is my pitifully small stash, organized by color, and a gorgeous wonky red and white quilt that Jacque made me, hangs down to hide the stacks of batting behind it. It brightens my day every day when i walk in here! :)

The quilt over the sewing machine was made by my friend Lori - such a wonderful unexpected gift - and truly what I think sent me into the world of trying my hand at quilting :D I look at it all the time and it inspires me! Her hand stitching is just gorgeous!

A little to the right, in the window is a gigantic pair of wooden painted scissors that emily made for me for my birthday last year- and are proudly displayed. :) My square rulers hanging on the wall... well some of them anyway...the ones that aren't buries on my cutting table.

The half finished self portrait rug that I did in Rae's class... on monks... in a #5 cut! (gasp! i know, right?!?) It has a slew of words of a mother's love... and i have yet to figure out the right color to go thru the background and still show up - so hung it on my wall to motivate me to finish it. Because i DO WANT to finish it!

On the ironing board are two of the skirts I made yesterday with my daughter. The blue one is mine... the white one with icky orange trim - that was my mock up made out of muslin to see if it would even fit my body when the pattern was followed. LOL More on that in another post.

Then to the right... we have a jumbled mess.. semi organized... lol.... ironing board, and a metal table that i have stuff stacked on and cut on, book shelf for books, more fabric - solids and multi colored fabrics, fabric i have pulled to make my youngest daughter a stripped skirt, but havent started yet... starch, cutters and rulers.... in the foreground you can kind of make out my Hey Diddle cat and fiddle mascot - who's always nearby. LOL

What you dont see is another shelf with primitive fabrics, and behind me is neatly stacked (i'll have ya know! lol) wool.

OK THAT'S IT KELLY!!

(note to those of you who don't know: she's really rather mean...or i should say ornery! forcing us to dance a jig on you tube, do extraordinary contortionist acts, show in depth our messes.... you KNOW she's sitting there laughing her fool head off at all these posts, dontchya? Probably sipping a glass of wine, and showing her cutie husband - "wow look at this slob!!" LOLOL)

I want that darn accuquilt cutter so bad, I can taste it! Enough to show you (and the world) my little pig sty of a sewing room! LOL

Oh... and by the way - here is my plea/reasoning and i'm stickin to it!

IF I HAD THE ACCUQUILT CUTTER GO - I WOULD SPEND WAYYY LESS TIME CUTTING, AND WOULD ACTUALLY HAVE TIME TO CLEAN UP MY MESS!!! :D

Think about all that extra time i would have on my hands! Oh.. and less scraps on the floor too!

No guarantees that i would actually empty my trash can.... lol... but i would definitely have more time to organize, prettify my room and sew more!

So please please please enter my 5 entries into the drawing!!

LOL praying they are WINNING entries after this humiliation!!!

;D

ps...and if you want to see my friend Debbie's entry - who by the way suffered NO humiliation showing HER room (how do you manage to keep it that clean Deb?? Especially doing all that you do?!? Brat.) Click here :)

Stuff

Hiya!

Not a whole lot to post about, but then again tons! Do you ever feel that way?

I have been tres busy, ripping up carpet and laying a new floor for my mom. I am sooo sore. And achy. Oh my gosh i feel like a little old lady, hobbling along. LOL I have been on my hands and knees for three days - and it's taking it's toll!

And starting that project came on the heels of tons of yardwork and planting a bunch of beautimous flowers out front. So I was a bit sore after that. Yep. pathetic huh? It's amazing... how when raking you use muscles you don't normally use!

And on one side, i feel like a total flabby wimp because i am sore. LOL

And on the other hand, i feel like SHE-RAH! "Because I laugh in the face of sore muscles and push through and got the job done! " hee hee

So today is my little Calli-Belle's last day of second grade!

Jeez, they just grow up so fast :(

I am on my way to the second grade picinic here in a few minutes... and then she will be a big third grader! How'd that happen???

She brought me this gorgeous painting. I ABSOLUTELY ADORE this!!

I need to find a frame big enough to fit. I love the bold colors, the intricate design on the bug's body. That smiley face! I just love everything about it! Things like this,total creative freedom... and when kids do self portraits - are my favorites! I have collected some pretty cool self portraits from the kids over the years, and have decided I want to frame them all, and hang them down my upper hallway. Bold. Colorful. "THIS is who i am!" It doesn't get anymore honest than that!! And it just speaks to my heart! :D

I made two market totes a couple weeks ago, for my mom and my mother-in-love for mother's day. And donchya know - i didnt take any pics! They turned out pretty fun! I made them large quilted grocery totes (or flea market, or library or swimming or whatever)

My mom's was bright limes, oranges and blues. I saw it hanging on her pantry yesterday and snapped a pic with my phone - so not the best photos in the world. LOL

She loves it :D

I still need to snag a picture of my MIL's. I made hers a little less wide, with wider quilted handles, out of Joel Dewberry reds and teals, and red polka dots. They both turned out totally different and fun :) I haven't even touched the sewing machine since finishing these guys. Just been so busy, and not home at all! Speaking of which, I better go brush my hair and make myself presentable so all the second graders don't laugh at me! LOL! See ya soon! xo Bren

Birthday sleep overs

Girly birthdays are so fun!

Here is my (not really cross eyed -just focused on the cake) birthday girl :)

3 Best friends - these guys are HILARIOUS together! Sassy, spunky, and too smart for their own good! LOL And yes, my daughter thinks she needs to show ALL her teeth, when smiling.. or give the eyes half mast look. Sheesh. (seems to be a trait that runs in our family.. see below. LOL)

I wish I had the pics of them last night - they all got dressed up like princesses... or somewhere there abouts. LOL One looked like a hoochie mama gogo dancer, one was in royal princess dress and crown, and the other was a cheerleader. LOLOLOL They were giving makeovers, and built their own little "spa" (ie chairs covered in blankets, and different "stations" to go to - nails, lip gloss and blush, and hair) Oohh all three of them are SUCH GIRLS. LOL Cracks me up!

Let me just say... they are either born that way, or their not! Cuz she sure doesn't get the pampering spa girly genes and mentality from me!!!

We did snap pics (spying on them from the other room. lol) with Dan's camera. So might be able to show you those later :)

They were up til' midnight, giggling nonstop, when i finally pulled the plug and said, time to calm down and get some sleep!

And of course they were up bright and early this morning, running around and laughing hysterically! They decided they wanted to play jump rope in the back yard... couldnt find a rope - so they improvised and used the hose!

of course Lexi wanted to play too!

So last night, taking pics at the table... full of family... trying to get a couple decent pics of each person. But my kids... nooo... little posers! LOL Every time they see a camera come out, they make some goofy face or stance. grrrr. fingers up noses, sticking tongues out, crossing their eyes... you name it. They think that's just sooooo funny!

(until years later they look at pictures and say, how come the only pictures you have of me are lame??? lol)

C'mon Bay! Give me a normal smile!

Nope. Can't do it. So instead I'll give you my fake patronizing smile!

Emily - refused to smile at all. She had on her pouty irritated face. Kept razzing her trying to get her to smile! Finally, right as the camera clicked there was a hint of one!

Ok, now how bout a REAL smile? A NORMAL one??

Nope. Gonna be like Calli and show ALL my teeth! Is this good mom??

LOL

They are so goofy!

And I love them to pieces!!!!

So glad they aren't boring, totally shy, introverted people! haha!

Never a dull moment in this house! :D

Well, got most of the mess cleaned up, and the kids taken home. Taking a few quiet moments here on the computer and then I need to go down and finish my mother's day presents! (yah... i didnt wait until the last minute - honest! They are mostly done, just a few things left to do - and gearing up for Calli's party took precedence since it came first! LOL!)

Hope you all have a WONDERFUL Mother's Day!

Wishing I could sleep in tomorrow - i soo tired! But I know they will be there bright and early at my bedside with breakfast in bed! :D (gotta love it! Hopefully they'll bring me coffee first!! :D )

xo

Bren

Made cupcakes this morning.

mmmmmmm

it's all i can do not to eat one!

On my way to Calli's school to have a little birthday celebration :)

My sweet little Calli Max was born on mother's day

Best mother's day present ever!!

So every few years we share that day!

This is one of those years.

But I believe birthdays should be special - and YOUR day - not shared with anyone (unless you are a twin of course! LOL) So on the years that we share that day - we celebrate a day or two early, so the attention can be solely on her for her day!

But of course we wait until her REAL birthday for her birthday spankins! LOL

Donchya know she's looking forward to that?!? :D

Be blessed this spring day!

xo

Bren

(those little toothpicks and marshmellows - a martha stewart trick (i think?) for transporting cupcakes - that way the saran wrap doesn't get stuck on the frosting! Nifty, huh?!)

Spring Cleaning

I got a bee in my bonnet yesterday

cleaning house like a mad woman

i was a woman on a mission!

(my 13 yr old son asked me "what's wrong mom? you seem angry!")

angry no. fed up? yes

fed up with the clutter, and the mess, and all the EXTRA CRAP that our family manages to accumulate - that we dont need!

4 kids - only 3 at home now - and a hubby (cant forget him! lol)

and me - a woman that loves fabric and achechipees (snicker) - all adds up to piles of STUFF.

Just stuff.

McDonalds toys, polly pockets, books for toddlers (umm.. no more toddlers here!) paper galore, coloring books, and construction paper, and paper dolls, and crayons and markers, and board games, junky jewelry, electronics that dont work, legos, movies, children's artwork, old school papers, and and and the lists go on and on and on.

OY VAY!

So i hit my point of tolerance (happens about once every three months or so) and started rampaging thru the rooms, pitching stuff left and right. Now... can i just say...

WHERE DOES IT ALL COME FROM???!! LOL

I did my best -knowing this mission mentality would wear off in a day or two. Wishing I had ten times the energy and ten more hours of daylight to accomplish what i actually WANT to accomplish in each room! Truth be told, each room - to do it right - and go thru each and every movie, and book, and so on, and purge out things we don't use - would take a whole day for each room - in my opinion. Maybe cuz i'm thinking total overhaul, thorough purge/clean as you go.

K, so i just scratched the surface in the family room, living room and kitchen yesterday.

But it's already feeling better!

Hallelujah!

Washing curtains and steam cleaning the carpets today.

Getting ready for Calli's birthday tomorrow, so have errands to run also.

I know i'm going to be whooped once i slow down! But oohhhh feels sooooooo GOOD to get these things done!

Now... just to get buy in from the rest of the family!

Anyone have a sure fire way to do that? And convince kids they dont need to hang onto every little scrap of paper?!

(ok... look who's talking right? she who has a basket of fabric scraps and wooly worms!)

But THEY are usable! LOL

Ok.. off the computer, and onto tackling those carpets! Poor spoiled little Lexi is gonna have to spend the day outside!

Wish me luck!

:D

Achechipees?? Goofiness!!

Ok, forgive me in advance! LOL!!

I used a word that may not be widely known. *Grin*

And I got an email from a friend - who is very...umm.. particular... about her words.

LOL.. and here i am ... i can spell, and i CAN use good grammar when i'm not being too lazy, or on this little bity laptop. Most of the time though... i am the queen of run on sentences... using slang and made up words.. and slingin' words like some people sling hash! hee hee

Remember though... i have 4 children! And I act like a child myself half the time!! :D

I like goofy things that most people hear and never think of again - me and Dan - oh noooo - THOSE are the things that stick with us and crack us up - over and over and OVER again!

Yah. I know. Easily amused! LOL :D

Stupid lines, but that had perfect timing, from movies - our faves.

Things kids have said and stuck - faves.

Something you mistakenly say in conversation with a friend, and they never let you live it down?

:D

Small example. My daughter (who is now 7) speaks very clearly, and maturely. But there are a few things that she has not gotten past... yet. And we know eventually she will... and sadly it's all too soon! Anyway, this one cracks us up.

She says HODE ON! (or, if you prefer... HOED on!)

No L

at all.

LOL

HODE ON, i'm coming

HODE ON just a sec

HODE on...

hee hee hee... so of course now our entire family says HODE ON, and probably forever will!

If i said that around adults that have never been around Calli, they would look at me like i was an idiot with three heads. Right? um yep. And have i done it? um. yep!

But funnily enough - people who are around her (besides family members) have also coined the HODE ON, and are having a hard time shaking it! LOL

Sooooo onto the entire reason for this post! :D

Do you know what Achechipees are/is??

And yes, i went fo-net-ick on that one :D

cuz "pies" didn't look/sound right! lol

Will you join in, just for fun and take a wild guess at what it means? There is a poll on the upper right hand corner of my blog -(i can't figure out why the header question isnt showing up? but it's there!) and answers from my eldest and youngest daughters as to what they thought it was. How bout you? Vote and let's see!

pssst.... and if you truly know... and you know WHERE it came from... leave me a comment telling me! LOL This oughta prove fun! :)

xo

Bren

2 quilts & 2 Peeps

Tutti-Fruitti and Panachly Charming finished, washed and ready to roll.

Both of these baby quilts will be up for grabs in our new etsy shop.

Jacque Anderson (The Doodles of My Mind) and I are doing a co-op shop on Etsy called 2Peeps. We wanted Fresh and Modern quilts to be our focus - but being that we are both primitive rug hookers and designers, you will also find rug hooking patterns, gorgeous mill wools, and hand dyed wools. Hooking achechipees and goodies, market bags, placemats and other quilty things... whatever happens to strike us at the moment! So will be changing a few things here and there to accommodate all our pursuits.

So pop on over and put us in your favorites so you can check back later as we get pictures taken, and things uploaded. There is still quite a bit of tweaking to do, and we both have been pretty busy. Hoping in the next two weeks to have it up and running full swing! :)

I'm posting this now, to try to force myself to get a move on!! LOL!

I hope you'll come check us out!