Garden Progress: Before and After Front Landscaping Update

The front landscaping has been evolving slowly. The goal is to keep it looking nice while transforming it to mostly edible or medicinal plants. Last year I planted a bunch of blueberry bushes, some currants, and of course continued to cultivate the monster Rhubarb plant. I was going to replace the barberry bushes, but then found out that they are good for herbal medicine. Mother Earth Living has a nice article about their uses here.

I snapped a few pictures before I started digging in.

Aside from the need to weed -- The overall landscaping base from when we moved in is off balance.   According to my landscaping books, when the house is not symmetrical it is best if the landscaping balances that out by being heavier/more dense on the side where there is less house.  So the left side should have more landscaping and a larger density of plants.

The books also suggest that the line of the landscaping heights should follow and compliment the roof line. I drew a diagram to illustrate this plan about a year ago now. It has taken me AWHILE get organized for the implementation...

Here are some of the steps needed:

• Move the pine tree from left corner to align with roof line
• Move the barberry and butterfly bushes from the right to the left side to extend it and balance with the house
• Order a rose bush with hips (edible and medicinal) for the right side
• Plant berry bushes (this was the phase I did last year) -- but they have not bushed out as much as I was hoping so I needed to make some adjustments for that
• Since the rose bush (supposed to be 4 feet wide eventually) was just tiny, I decided to move up my hydrangea bush from the side garden to the right side as well. 

I encountered one major problem on the right side -- the landscaping dirt was getting too high relative to the house's siding, almost touching it in fact. That encourages termites and plant damage to the siding etc.  I spent about 4 hours shoveling and excavating the dirt from the right side of the house and wheeling it out to the back yard, about 15 wheel barrels full.
I also decided that I needed a pretty border of perennial flowers the keep things looking nice, especially until the other plants grow to their full sizes. Here are some quick "after" pictures of what more than 20 hours of digging in the dirt accomplished:

The new rose bush is that tiny pair of green twigs next to the front porch. Also notice that now the dirt plus 3 inches of mulch is still at least 5 inches below the siding and slopes down from there.  Whew! It makes me happy to see some progress.  Now on to painting the house, updating the shutters, changing the awning, a new front door...   All in good time.

Sew Special: Puppets, Curtains, and Knitting Projects

I started making and selling "Custom Curtains & Valances" in my Etsy shop and already had my first order.  She chose a plaid tartan fabric for her cabin.  Here is how they turned out:

I was in charge of making the puppet family for Joy School this year. I just followed the instructions and templates in the manual.

Joy School Puppet Family

With the start of A's dance classes, I have another hour to sit and knit.  I made another "Button Lovers" ebook pattern.  I have made so many of these now, but I still love this pattern.  As always, it turned out bigger than I was expecting. Big sister A is still trying to decide whether to add long or short sleeves. The yarn is 100% cotton. We are planning to make some covered buttons for it.

Family Schooling Summary

The Labor Day Parade goes right past our neighborhood, so the kiddos ran over to see it with daddy. Big sister A took pictures of her favorite parts to show me. 

Joy School started this week for brother M and 4 buddies his age.  We did the "Getting Acquainted" modules. That includes learning the rules of Joy School, meeting the Joy School puppet family, making crayon shaving pictures (melted) and cutting and gluing shapes. Big sister A was happy that it was at our house so that she could join in the fun. 

Chicken Update: Our First Eggs

Big sister A found the first egg on Saturday. I say "found" because it was not in the nesting box as we were hoping it would be. It was in the shaded space under the coop. Hmm. And egg number 2 today -- same problem. Perhaps the coop is too hot in summer? 

We know that it is one of the Araucanas that has started laying since both of the eggs have been a beautiful blue green color -- slightly different.

Not to be outdone, Felicity decided to show off some of her talents today by climbing/flying on the roof of the chicken coop and run! Another first. Might be time to clip their wings. 

Sew Special: Finishing Up - Tutu, Mittens, Bibs, Quiet Book

For some reason pregnancy gives me "project anxiety"(more than usual).  I have to complete as many things as possible each day. This week I was working through my "half finished" sewing and mending pile.  I won't show the mending things (boring), but here are some things that I finally finished up:

1. Bibs -- used the cute goldfish one that my good friend gave me as a template to turn some unused burp cloths I had laying around into soft bibs. I thought baby S might like them better than the vinyl ones... Nope.

2. Doll Clothes - My neighbor gave me this little Dianna Effner doll to use as a model.  She wants me to try to sell some more doll clothes outfits for her shop. I made this one from bits of fabric that I had on hand.

3. Sweater Upcycled to Mittens-- One of the sweaters I made a few years ago somehow made it into the washer and was felted/shrunk. I finally remade it into some toasty mittens using the pattern from Little Things to Sew. I adapted the pattern by adding the pieces of knit ribbing to the wrists, so that they stay on/keep the snow out better.

4. New Dance Tutu -- Perfect timing for the start of another season of dance class. This pattern is also from the Little Things to Sew book, but again I did not follow the directions! I wanted to use up some nylon mesh fabrics leftover from making doll dresses and did not have the many yards of tulle laying around which the pattern called for.  So it is soft and drapey instead of full and poofy.  No complaints from my product tester.

5. Quiet Book #2 -- When I was pregnant with S I think I finished the quiet book that I started while I was pregnant with M and so here we go again! Another baby expected and another quiet book finished.  A group of ladies from church and I did this one together actually.  We each did 2 sides of pages, replicated it 5 times and shared with each other. That is the part that was finished when I was pregnant with S.  I have had these cute little pages sitting around waiting to be sewn to a backing and bound together.  I made the cover picture with printable fabric paper and powerpoint. 

 Noah's Ark

 Lehi's Dream of the Tree of Life

 Nephi Building the Boat (the pocket has tools in it and the boat pieces velcro on)

 Joseph Smith Hiding the Plates and Esther

 The Mormon Trail with Wagon Car (this is the one I did-- each state has a different fabric texture)

 I also made a pioneer pocket for the back of the book to keep the wagon and other stuff in.

Family Schooling Summary

School stuff this week: Fancy Nancy (I Can Read versions), writing practice, math problems, telling time, and another lesson on Native Americans, per big sister A's request. We got our official response letter from the county that they have accepted our "Notice of Homeschooling" for big sis A. It is so regulated around here!

We also had the Orientation Meeting for Joy School at our house this week. It starts on Tuesday. And big sister A started her dance classes again.

Here are the kiddos after our regular Monday night swim (FHE) -- chowing down on another cantaloupe from the garden:

Portrait of brother M taken by big sis A:

Making a mess with popcorn at family movie night. We watched "An American Tail".  

Recommended Reading: Holes and Medical Anthropology

This week I finished 2 great books. I highly recommend them both.

1. Holes by Louis Sachar

I have been meaning to read this book for awhile. Our library had it on cds, so I listened to it in the car with the kiddos as we were going about our various activities. The story is full of funny interconnections, some that I did not think of until hours after listening to it! It would be a great read for girls and boys interested in adventure stories, probably appropriate for about ages 8 and over.

2. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman

I am planning to have the students in my anthropology class read this book as part of the sections on health & illness and religion & spirituality.  It is a sad story, but so well written. The author tells it in an unpretentious and personal way.  She identifies and defines important aspects of cultural context, but does so using peoples' stories, humanizing the book and making the Hmong perspective easier to understand.