Month End Miscellany

Month End Miscellany

Quilting

Last month when I was putting together a flimsy I came across a few 12 inch Friendship Star blocks plus some cut pieces, a few HSTs and fabrics to finish blocks for a Friendship Star quilt similar to some of the ones I made for my granddaughter Kayla's friends last year after she passed away. 

The Friendship Star was started for my other granddaughter Isabelle but I gave her a different quilt instead - the Pickle Dish wedding quilt I had stored away in the hope chest for Kayla. 

Well, anyway, I decided to finish up the 30 blocks for a quilt as leader /enders this month even though it did not fit my '30s theme. 

Now the blocks will go into the SAR (Some Assembly Required) box to be assembled another day.

And, yes, there are some marijuana leaves on that black fabric. I bought the fabric online last year and did not notice the leaves at that time. I guess I will have to be choosey about the recipient when I give the quilt away.  

Actually I live in Iowa in the country and once in awhile I've seen a wild marijuana plant pop up out of nowhere. I guess it's called ditch weed; however, it is probably hemp. During WWII hemp was grown in Iowa. "Hemp for Victory" was an urgent appeal. We needed rope for naval towlines, webbing for parachutes, thread for shoes.    

I don't just see ditch weed pop up from time to time - I also see lots of wildflowers appear out of nowhere too like American Bellflower, Daisy Fleabane, Blue Aster, Yarrow and Goldenrod. (Those I let stay in the gardens here and there). 

Gardening

So far the only thing blooming outside is the crocus and they have survived several snowfalls. 

Species crocus have naturalized in the lawn and larger crocus appear along the pathway here and there in the cottage garden. 

I'm thinking this year I'm  going to make a scrapbook of BLOOMS.   I have a lot of old scrapbooking supplies as well as empty scrapbooks. I have several years worth of old seed and plant catalogs and old seed packets. I have pictures of my garden flowers. I'm thinking it would be fun to catalog all the flowers I grow.

Last year instead of planting onions from sets we planted onion plants we purchased online from a farm that specializes in onions.  We were pleased with the results and ordered from them again this year. And they have arrived already! Hopefully within the next week the weather will cooperate so I can get them all planted. My hubby has outpatient surgery again on April 3 for esophageal dilation (fourth surgery since Nov. 9) so I don't think he will feel much like helping. 

We found the Patterson onions to be large and good keepers. I still have some of last years crop and I think those will last me until this year's crop is ready to harvest.   Some of these will be planted closer together and harvested as green onions. 

I eat at least one raw onion almost every day. You might want to read up on the health benefits of onion! We also eat a lot of them cooked. 

I also have my seed potatoes. According to folklore potatoes yield better crops if planted on Good Friday. You know, I actually try to do that if I'm able and Good Friday is close enough to the last frost date. Not sure what will happen this year.

Winter Sowing

I winter sow a lot of seeds and have been doing it for years. If you don't know about winter sowing there is a public Facebook group about it.   I've been sowing a few different kinds of seeds every week or so since January. The first seeds I sow are usually wildflowers that need 30-60 days of cold stratification.  This month I sowed:

March 1 -- Sweet Peas - Beaujolais, Grandiflora Mix, Flora Norton, Miss Willmott, King's High Scent.

 

March 2 -- Butterhead lettuce - May Queen, Sanguine Ameliore, Gustav's Salad; Romaine - Forellenschluss; Forget Me Not and Charter's Double and Creme de Cassis Hollyhock. 

March 15 - Band of Nobles Lupine, Calendula Mix and Calendula Flashback

March 29 - Snapdragons - Tall Deluxe, Black Prince, Chantilly; Calendula Butterfly Mix and Touch of Red Buff; Borage, Shasta Daisy, China Aster.

Books Read This Month

I like to read a lot of historical novels especially those based on true stories. I like stories set in Ireland during the famine, the depression era in the U.S. and WWII.  I like to read stories about survival, bravery, courage and human kindness.  I often ask myself if I could be so brave, courageous or kind with my own survival in question. I wonder how my ancestors survived.  And every once in awhile I like a good old fashioned mystery, legal thriller or psychological thriller. 

1. The Dry Grass of August by Anna Jean Mayhew - novel set in 1954 in the segregated South. 

2. The Wife Who Risked Everything by Ellie Midwood - WWII historical fiction based on the true story of the Rosenstrasse protest. 

3. Growing Wild In The Shade by Jean Grainger - Book 2 of the Irish Garda Mags Munroe Mystery series.

4. Rock, Paper, Scissors by Alice Feeny.   - I'm surprised I read all the way to the end of this mystery thriller. I did learn something new I had never heard of before - prosopagnosia. 

5. The Girl on the Platform by Elie Midwood - WWII historical fiction based on the true story of Libertas and Harro Schulze-Boysen.

6. The Orphans of Amsterdam by Elle VanRijn - WWII historical fiction based on the true story of Betty Oudkerk and others who saved children from the Nazis. 

7. The Girl Who Escaped Auschwitz by Ellie Midwood - WWII historical fiction based on the true story of Mala Zimetbaum. 

8. The Little Orphan Girl by Sandy Taylor - historical fiction set in Ireland 1901, the story of a girl who leaves the Irish workhouse at the age of 6 and grows up.

And sew on...

Looking forward to April where the theme in my little sewing space will be Strings, Crumbs and Orphans.