25 June 2010

Grapes!


Did a bit of gardening after dinner last night and discovered we are getting grapes on the grape vine for the first time! We planted it 2 years ago so we haven't been waiting too longl. So exciting. I reminded Kevin that they will have seeds and he was immediately less excited.

And we have been enjoying the start of the raspberry harvest the past few days.


And we are waiting for the wild raspberries to ripen.


This year all our perrenial fruits have really taken off and its great. Especially great this year when the baby plus the hungry rabbits are threatening us getting many vegetables. This year I added a rhubarb plantI think next spring I am going to spend a bit of money adding more - blueberries, maybe another grape vine if we like it this year, and maybe I will research about something new like elderberries or gooseberries.

24 June 2010

Blanket Bin Version 2


I really liked Blanket version 1 but it was too huge and I knew how to make it better. So I quickly made version 2. I only started it yesterday, it was super quick to make. I like this fabric even better. And I used another fabric to line the inside to make it nicer.
The next version will have a lid and will also be a bench - I am excited about that.

Knitting for Henry

It is so fun to knit for a baby. I have to knit him lots of stuff now before he gets too big. I am currently working on some kitty slippers for fall.


Here he is in a sweater I made to match one I had. It should fit him in the fall I think.


And here he is in the cutest hat - he wasn't being very co-operative about having his picture taken.

23 June 2010

Henry Plays


Henry is really learning to entertain himself playing these days. He especially likes his play mat.



Cool Bean Stout


We bottled our Cool Bean Stout last night. We bought a stout kit from the grocery store and added a bottle of vanilla and some cocoa powder.

It was great after our experience last year bottling - this year the siphon actually worked, made it seem so easy in comparison. We didn't add sugar to the bottles (to referment) so it won't be fizzy and we decided that meant we could use wine bottles and the corks wouldn't pop out. But we also did some beer bottles for smaller portions to give away. Luckily I had found a capper at our thrift store last week.

It's not supposed to taste good for at least another week. But we tasted it last night. And it was alright. Definitely hoping it tastes better. Kev said he could taste the cocoa vanilla, don't think I could. Anyway it was fun and I am so happy to have a hobby that Kevin and I like to do together.

17 June 2010

Henry Rolls

Henry learned how to roll from his back to his tummy today and he's been doing it a bunch. A few times today he went from back to tummy to back again. He often seems to get stuck on his tummy and then get upset even though he's been able to roll from tummy to back for a month now.



And he was also working on his sitting skills today. He is getting better and better at it, still can't qutie do it on his own.


And he is learning to do more and more in general and becoming more and more alert and aware. It means he can have a lot of fun playing even by himself.

Blanket Bin

I finished a project this morning. A big blanket bin for the living room. I wanted something to hold our 2 snuggling blankets and the big nursing pillow and our little basket was always overflowing and falling over and a big mess. So I made this. I wanted to make sure it was big enough so I obviously made it way too big. But overall I like it.

I used 2x4s to make a frame with a thin plywood bottom. I was able to use scraps other than the plywood so this part cost almost nothing.



And I covered it with this bedsheet with this awesome pattern that I got from our thrift store for 50 cents.


And here it is in its spot. A little huge but it serves its purpose. And I do like how it looks.

15 June 2010

Morning in the backyard

I went out to do a bit of gardening this morning and ended up being stuck out there as Henry fell asleep on our swing and I didn't want to have to wake him up. So I did more gardening, got some hedge trimming done.



We have been getting about a pint a day of strawberries for the past week!


And here's Henry playing and exploring the garden with Daddy after he woke up just in time for Daddy's lunch break.

Knitting Bag


Henry napped for what seemed like all day last Wednesday and Thursday so I managed to make myself this knitting bag. Now that we have a car we drive places on weekends and they are often far enough to make it worth taking knitting along.

http://tinyhappy.typepad.com/tiny_happy/2006/06/shoulder_bag_tu.html
I used the pattern for that shoulder bag but made it a bit bigger in case I get into some really big knitting projects one of these days. The really fun part was deciding on the perfect little pockets to make since I know exactly what I would want to be putting in the bag.

Inside:

Pockets for the pattern, a pen, and also a slot for an extra pair of knitting needles:2 elasticized pockets for stitch markers and scissors etc:

08 June 2010

Henry sucks his thumb


Henry has become a connoisseur of hand sucking and has decided that the thumb is the best. He started doing it when he hit the 3 month old mark and now he picks his thumb pretty consistently.

Here he is today getting angry that he can't pull the dangling toy down far enough to suck on.



And finally accepting that it would also be fun to just hold onto the toy and suck his thumb instead.

Strawberry Season




Strawberry season started on Friday and we had some more yesterday too. We are still sharing them with the squirrels but we have enough that we should get a handful every few days to ourselves.