Let the Mulching Begin

My March bead journal project is the Red-breasted Nuthatch. We also have Pygmy Nuthatches.It's a spritely tiny bird and one of my favorites to watch at the feeder. Also this is the third installment of the saga of my garden for the birds..

Let the Mulching Begin

As mentioned earlier Spokane is semi-arid with 12-14” of moisture for the entire year and most of that is in the winter… It is not uncommon for us to go 80-90 days without rain during the summer. So if I wanted to have a bird garden without supplemental watering I simply had to mulch. My first impulse was to rush about planting here and there… a waste of time, energy and money. I decided to focus on 200-300 square feet each year and just put blinders on to the rest of the area…

Then what to use? Without a doubt my favorite ground cover material is old carpet….fairly easy to come by if you put the word out. Because of high landfill fees, one carpet installer was glad to give me the old carpet as he installed new carpet. … I did require it in larger pieces than he usually cut as he removed it. I was especially happy to get brown/gray carpet but settled for any color… (photo also shows organic fertilizer – deer droppings) If I didn't have enough carpet I used rolls of heavy black plastic, which I perforated with a pitchfork so the ground could breathe. With either the carpet or plastic it had to be covered with another layer.

At the time I was doing this there was an embargo on imported lumber so cedar mills nearby were operating full tilt. Shredded cedar bark was perfect for me as it knitted together and never rotted… Landscapers didn’t want it and the mills were anxious to dispose of it so it was incredibly cheap and I bought it by the dump truck loads. I credit my Garden Witch with this fortuitous chain of events because once the embargo was lifted a few years later, the mills quit running and shredded cedar bark was unavailable at any price. I ordered piles of bark like this every year for six years before I had the garden covered...

So an area was covered with carpet or plastic and then about 4-6” of shredded cedar bark. My husband would put the bark out in piles and then I would rake it out, cut holes and plant small seedlings and run a drip to it that I could turn on at night. Each year I added another area while the earlier ones became established and then I moved the drip to the new area.

Pictures are of the very first area I planted by the drive as it progressed over the years... It is now bird heaven. It is this critical step of mulching that has kept the garden thriving for 30 years. The original carpet or plastic are intact and the bark is still in place plus years of leaves falling has added to the mulch beautifully

This was after it was beginning to take hold...

This picture I took last fall from the back side of that same area.. I will have to take a new picture this spring. Some of the things planted for birds in just this area include wild roses, hawthorn tree, crab apple trees, junipers. apple tree, pine trees. pyracantha, elderberry, mulberry, bird cherry trees...just to name a few

Next month will be "Hips! Hips!, Hooray for Roses!!!"

Bin Control

Ahhh! Seems like only yesterday...... well maybe the day before that I was so smug about slashing my stash into one bin..... Well it so happened I had to pass my favorite thrift store on my way to the doctor yesterday...

Bought just a few treasures...The ties are not a big problem as they go right into my Alliance quilt bag. The patterned one is a silk Bill Blass and has all the perfect colors for that project..so they take up no bin space... Found a pair of "sun" earrings...no problem... On the lower right is a chiffon blouse, which when beaded, will be perfect for my "Garden Good Witch" gown.. Again no bin problem as it goes into witch bag.

But the lovely black and beige is an entire dress. It coordinates beautifully with a whole collection of browns, blacks, and rusts that I am saving.... But a bin problem because of the size... I will have to be strong and cut it up.... The puffy white top makes fabulous flowers and I can dye it.. Had some red like it once and shared it with Cathy... I want all of it...

Years ago when we were first married my husband pronounced that he was limiting his wine intake to one glass a day... He has stuck to it for the most part but over the years I noticed that he kept buying bigger wine glasses... I've decided to follow his lead and the next time I am out I'm going to buy a BIGGER BIN!!!

Two post day...read on!

Progress on Rita's Encrusted Block...

Finished the lettering and pulled the guide stitches... I wanted the raindrops to be subtle so I did them in a fine silver thread... but they are so subtle that the camera hardly caught them... and my cloud needs a little more work to look like a cloud... I thought a cloud would be easy... The thread on both seams is a variegated cotton that Cathy gave me last week and I just love it.

Lots and lots left to do.....The bunny will be last....

Rita's encrusted RR block

We picked up the package at the post office on the way to Costco to get our groceries. I could hardly wait to get home and study the blocks.. Having made my choice the first thing I always do is put in a stitching guideline to keep me from getting too close to the edge. I mark and baste from the back of the block so there are no marks on the front. Since I am adding the word "Spring" to the block I also mark and baste the guidelines for the letters on the back (upper right). I need guidelines for everything.

When the block is turned over you can see the outside guideline and hopefully (I should have used a darker thread) the guidelines I put in to keep all the letters the same height. When the lettering is done I can pull the threads. I find I'm much happier with my lettering by doing this prep step...

Finally Rita said she wanted birds, bugs or bunnies on her block... "BUNNY!!!" I say..... You all know how I love to do bunnies...so I have one on sketched felt... This is my favorite bunny pose and I've used it on a couple other blocks... This time it is larger though as it will be the focal point of the block. I'm doing the bunny on felt exactly like I do the birds and when I applique him on I'll plump up his "bunny butt" a bit...

By then it was bedtime even though I could have stayed up half the night stitching... Since I'm getting a late start on this block it has jumped to the head of my "to stitch" list... Our weather has been so unusually warm and I have been working outside transplanting like crazy...so a spring block really fits my mood... Last two years we had late springs because of heavy snows. Plus last year my broken leg was still in a cast and the spring before I had surgery on my knee after Andy knock me "head over heels" so there is a lot of catching up to do...

And the gold medal winner is................

If they had an Olympic event for stash organization I'm sure Cathy K. would win.. She had at least 3 times as many open bins as shown of the left (and these were very large baskets) and these were just the small pieces of fabric (6-12"). Then there was a floor to ceiling bookcase with all the cottons folded and sorted by color and THEN there were the big bins for larger pieces and specialties such as velvets and sheers. Some of the lace bins are shown on the right...She had 15 categories and subcategories for lace alone. I didn't even begin to count all the bins and drawers on shelves with threads, ribbons, trims etc....all neatly labeled and sorted by color.... It was absolutely overwhelming and I'm pretty organized myself.....

I did come away with some good ideas. I have my threads sorted first by type (rayon, silk, cotton) and then by color... She had hers separated by color FIRST and then by type... So she brought out a big bag of greens and in it were smaller bags of perle, silks, cottons. etc... This made a lot of sense to me and will do it soon.... Also she was disciplined about only keeping pieces 1/4 yd or less and giving the rest away. I had entirely too many large pieces that I am emotionally attached to.

So this morning I went through all my fancy fabric and only kept pieces about 12-18" (well a few 24") and the rest is in my car to go to the thrift store or in the trash....I was able to reduce every single large piece except one...so I did what any confirmed fabricholic would do. I wrapped it in tissue and hid it at the bottom of the large bin.... My goal was to have ALL my fancies in one jumbo bin.... I didn't quite make it but I came close enough. All the beads, trims etc. I have under control but need to subdivide my laces more like Cathy's. Now I can go outside for the rest of the day and feel I've accomplished something.

If I didn't feel guilty enough after being in Cathy's studio, I read Kerry's blog this am about her progress on her sewing room and I quote: "approximately 30 boxes of books have left the sewing room destined for the second hand book store, the thrift store and the library sale! In addition, approximately 10 boxes of stash have gone to the thrift store." .. Thanks Cathy and Kerry for spurring me on!!!!