This Week's Pretties

Our weather has turned warm and the rest of the tulips opened up this week.

These are supposed to be Blushing Apeldoorn tulips I ordered, but they
look quite a bit different from the sales photo. They are still pretty.

The Heuchera x villosa Caramel has quite exceeded my expectations.

The flowering maple (Callianthe megapotamica 'Variegatum') is covered with tiny red flowers.

The English Daisy (Bellis perennis Super Enorma Red) has some unauthorized white and pink flowers. LOL

Thanks to a friend, we have mason bees this year. 

The Negrita Double Tulips all opened this week.

Our Scarlet Sentinel Columnar Apple Tree has burst into blossoms.

We picked up this little Wulfenia x schwarzii on a whim last year and it's quite nice.

Secret Garden Growers

Anyone who has followed our blog for a while knows that I obsess about things. My latest obsession was about a silly evergreen maidenhair fern, the Adiantum x tracyi. I've been looking for them at our local nurseries since January when I realized how pretty they looked over the winter.

I found them online a while ago at a nursery in Canby, Secret Garden Growers, but I successfully talked myself out of driving there. But on Friday, when they advertised a 10% off sale at their Facebook page, I could no longer resist. And I figured I may as well go to the grocery store too.

It was a nice little nursery. I bought a few more plants beside the Tracy's Maidenhair ferns. Plus, I bought another Ribes x gordonianum, this one a 2-year old plant and MUCH bigger (and nearly the same price as the little one). I wish I'd found it before I bought the little one, but I did not.

This larger plant has the advantage of being more likely to survive the ravages of our dog children. We put the smaller plant in the front yard where the girls are less likely to stumble over it.

I need to be done plant shopping now, at least until it's safer to venture outside of the house again.

Friday Night with Friends Fail

My project for Friday Night was to finish one of the cushions for my Living Room Reupholstery Project. I looked over the old covers and tried to sew the cushion the same, but it has weird puckers on the corners.

The original covers weren't snipped and they looked fine, so I'm reluctant to cut them more than I already have. I'm worried if I deeply snip them they'll eventually rip out at the corners with use. Perhaps the difference is the old fabric was much lighter-weight.

I tried stretching it out tightly to see if it would look better once I've stapled it on, but I don't believe it will. So, I'm debating tearing it all the way apart and reducing the width of the seams.

Anyway, by the time I got to this point, I was frustrated and ill-equipped mentally to take on the trouble-shooting so I called it quits after a short night. This is a difficult project for me, but I am determined to figure it out. I just need a bit more time to figure out the solution.

Bareroot Bleeding Hearts

In January, I placed an order from Easy to Grow Bulbs for bareroot bleeding hearts and a few other flowers. The order finally came today.

I placed the order primarily because I found they were carrying yellow bleeding hearts and I really wanted them. I ordered two of them. Out of the package, they looked pretty sad. There was no sign of life, but I soaked them for an hour and then planted them. I'm crossing my fingers they make it.

The white bleeding hearts looked considerably better. The roots looked bigger and healthier and they both had a bit of new growth at the crown.

Even though it was raining today, I got all the plants in the ground and I'll be watching for any signs of life in the coming weeks. I really hope they make it.

March WOOFA Wrap-Up

I finished the Circle Denim Quilt at the beginning of the month. I had planned to take this quilt to a laundromat to fray up the edges, but it will wait now as hanging out in a public laundromat for an hour is a pretty optional activity.

I got distracted by the garden for at least two weeks.  We did some plant shopping and picked up some of the spring plants we couldn't find last year. I can waste an entire day poking around online for plant options for the few empty spots we still have in the yard. I'll have my wish list ready for when life returns to normal.

I made us two DIY face masks out of batik for when I have to go out grocery shopping. I might make more, it was pretty easy.

I used this website as a starting point: How To Sew A Face Mask With Filter Pocket (NO ELASTIC!). I assembled mine differently because I thought they would look better with bias tape on the side edges. I basted in the pleats and then covered the side edges with bias tape and then I added the bias tape on the top and bottom.

I knocked out two quick cheater mug rugs for our tea cups. This was a scrap leftover from a panel project I did many years ago. I got two little potholder-size panels. I'm hoping to make at least two more mug rugs to call my WOOFA line item finished.

I did manage to cut out all the fabric for my living room reupholstery project and I sewed all of the side cushions. I had to order zippers for the back cushions and I'll be surprised if they arrive before the end of next month.

I stripped the old fabric and batting off the cushions. The foam was pretty gross and I really wanted to replace it. Had it been a little more convenient to buy new foam, I might have made the decision to pay more than $200 for clean foam, but I don't want these cushions sitting around until Portland reopens for business. The old batting was pretty filthy too and had to be replaced. It had been glued on, but I didn't have any spray adhesive so I decided to just wrap the new batting around to the back and staple it.

I'm planning to work on the seat cushion covers for FNwF (Friday Night with Friends) this coming Friday.

Trying to Enjoy Spring

With so much horribleness happening, I have found myself focusing my attention on our own little world. While being stuck at home is not a hardship for me—I've been acting like a hermit for several years—dealing with all the stress and inconvenience of grocery shopping is wearing on us.

Negrita Double Tulip and Purple Sensation Hyacinth

When Jeff retired he took over the cooking (he's a much better cook than I), and he also took over the grocery shopping. But I have temporarily taken over the grocery shopping again since Jeff is in a vulnerable group (he's had pneumonia so many times, I've lost count). I made a produce/dairy run this morning and stocked up on vegetables so we can continue in our efforts to eat healthy. 

It took way too long to clean all the food/produce before we put it away.

I had also pre-ordered a few plants from Xera Plants and picked them up as well. 

I picked up a Pacific Northwest native, Orange Honeysuckle (Lonicera ciliosa), to grow on a trellis on the wall. We were planning to build a trellis from cedar this year, but with the coronavirus making shopping so difficult, we're just going to jury-rig something from bamboo for this season.

The Camellia x williamsii ‘Night Rider’ has obviously died. I saw Shasta run over it last fall and I stood it back up and added the stakes, but it was obviously too late. When I found the Gordon's Currant (Ribes x gordonianum), I decided to change the plan. The little plants in the lower right are Sundrops (Oenothera fruticosa) that we were given by donaleen.

I am seriously in love with the Flowering Currant (Ribes sanguineum) in the front yard.

The Flowering Maple (Callianthe megapotamica 'Variegatum') has started putting on flowers.

I've been out every day admiring all the beautiful plants waking up in the Hidden Garden.

March Friday Night Sew In

I joined Wendy from Sugarlane Designs and others for the Friday Night Sew In again this month.

I decided to work on my long-neglected living room reupholstery project.  I spent Thursday cutting out all the necessary pieces and shortening metal zippers so I could jump right into the project.

I spent Friday night sewing together the first cushion and then ripping it out because the corners were bulging weird. Then I finally figured out the best way to sew it together and sewed it together again.

By then it was getting late. I decided to build the other five side cushions with an assembly line process and I started by assembling the zipper panels.

My Friday Night Sew In continued into a Saturday Sew In. On Saturday, I finished assembling the remaining five side cushions.

I still have the three back cushions to finish as well as recovering all the seats, but I hope I'll finish them before next month's sew in.