The days go by as if their tails were on fire. And so do I. I can no longer work out my priorities. But the first rush is over now. In the garden, in the chick house and in the sewing room. And it is getting more exciting all the time.
* In the garden I have in previous years put the emphasis on perennials and ornamental shrubs. Alongside some ten different evergreens, 11 varieties of rose, 25 different ornamental shrubs, a rich rockery and peonies and lilies in various colours, my favourite tulips and daffodils (close to 30 varieties in all), irises (17), day lilies (12) and 30 other different perennials, each lovelier than the last, and herbs, offer beauty to the eye and warmth to the soul.
Now that there is more time for home and health, I have decided to put more emphasis on growing garden produce and herbs. It is so pleasant in winter to eat natural raspberries, strawberries and blackcurrants, to drink natural juice, to season food with home dried dill and parsley and to make herbal teas every day.
I keep my garden free of artificial fertilisers of any kind. Compost and sawdust mixed with hen manure help keep the soil fertile. There is enough of the latter to mulch the beds, the fruit trees and berry bushes and the ground under the raspberries.
* Herbs for tea I am picking especially plentifully and in a rich variety this year. All winter they were a good shot of vitamins for our whole family and for friends: cowslip, yarrow, chamomile, calendula, peppermint, lemon balm, wild thyme and so on. Every day a big jugful of vitamin drink for the whole family and not a single illness.
The first bagful of cowslip flowers and leaves picked in a forest meadow is already drying.
* The chicks are a month old by now. There is quite a bit of trouble and wrestling with them from the moment the incubator is switched on. Temperatures, humidity, candling. After hatching, warmth again, proper food, clean water and constant cleaning. Because chicks are like children: they climb and scratch about everywhere they can reach and fit, including the food and water dishes. If the food is not clean or not right, illnesses are quick to arrive.
When all is well, they simply sleep most of the day, like small children. In the picture above the chicks are only a day old.
* The work in the sewing room is getting busier all the time.
New covers for the sofas in the teachers' staff room are in the picture above. The previous ones were not only very worn but rather dull, all one colour. The teachers asked for something more cheerful, stripes or diagonals or the like. This is how it came out, and the client was very happy and pleased.
Spring is here and sewing canopies is the new trend. Extremely cheap sun shelters fall apart within a couple of summers. Then you face a choice: buy a new set or have a new cover sewn from quality (weatherproof) material. That costs many times more than the whole set cost to begin with. I will not take on work like that any more. I will write about my experiences separately in some later post. About how I measured, cut out and sewed together the pieces of a 16 m2 sun canopy in a room with only 2x2 m of free floor space.
Spring is here and picnic blankets, in patchwork, stylish, beautiful and pleasant, are coming into fashion. Sewing them will soon need a helping hand. At the moment a commission for a nursery is under way, 5 picnic blankets.
In the picture are the finished patterned tops, waiting for their wadding, backing and quilting.
And as before, today I thank all my dear clients for their trust and for such interesting commissions.
