things are growing in the garden

I am usually impressed by how fast things grow here (out west), but this is a new record.  The garden we planted mid-May is growing hearty and already making an appearance on our dinner plates!

Now, anyone who has grown radishes before probably would have known this, but I was amazed.  These ones are a variety that can grow up to the size of baseballs, but I don't really need that much radish in my life.  I'll probably let a few get that big, but just for the photos.

My little helpers are really loving it too.  They do most of the watering and some of the weeding/thinning out (mostly the thinning out where it doesn't necessarily need it, but oh well).

Marvelous, aren't they!

Also, our gnomes (who usually live in our garden, as glimpsed here, or behind us in the first photo) have suffered an accident (at the hands of Little Bean, she may be small, but is far from delicate).  While they're awaiting repair, we have a flamingo friend taking their place watching over the garden.  I'm calling him Havelock, the Predatory Flamingo.  This is Bugaboo's impression of him:

I have an unusual love for tacky garden ornaments.

Special Delivery - April

I'm finding increasingly, as the sunny weather is really starting to kick in, that I am very much influenced by it. On bright sunny days, such as today, I'm tidying, gardening, knitting and blogging with a fervor that I lacked all gloomy weekend long. However, I've suspected I'm solar powered for some time now, so this is nothing new. Have you ever had a day where you're outside, soaking in the glorious warm rays and enjoying a cool drink of water feeling like you might have been a plant in a previous life? Ok, maybe that's just me, however...

Our lovely garden is progressing. I don't say growing because it is still in the stages of being filled with dirt and other yummy treats for my future crops, so all the growing is still taking place on our window sill. I might have underestimated the amount of stuff it takes to fill a 1'x4'x6' raised garden. Oh well, it will be lovely once it's ready.

(This is my husband and son dumping another load of dirt into the garden. I'm pregnant, and so my husband offers to do any heavy shoveling for me. The trailer is still unavailable, so we've been hauling dirt down in our recycle bins and garbage can.)

As far a actually completing tasks, I've taken a brief knitting hiatus from my baby-blanket, and whipped up this for my April Special Delivery.

It's a coin purse from a pattern I got here: http://www.bernat.com/pattern.php?PID=4728. There seemed to be a bit of in issue with the pattern though, because while they do a decent job of explaining the 'Ssk' stitch which I believe is used to make the button holes, it doesn't actually appear in the pattern. I just omitted them and sewed up the sides. Either way I doubt I'd use it as a coin purse (it would be too easy to loose things that way) but a little pouch is sure to come in handy. I'm also really fond of the button, which I added just for show. It was in an antique sewing kit my grandmother found me at an auction, and I've wanted to find a good use for them. I think it's pretty!

The whole project took a little more than 2 hours to whip up, and I'd recommend it for anyone who is just starting to knit and wanting to practice their knits and purls (it's in seed stitch, which is just switching back and forth between the two).

Now that I'm back into the knitting swing, I hope to finish up that blanket, but I find big projects so daunting (short attention span I guess). Wish me luck!