as it always is when one of the Blue Cedar folks shows up to help... We ran a LOT of errands, including scooping up Ursel for some social time on Saturday, which was lovely. There was much yardwork, with leaves raked, driveway crevices and blueberry zone weeded, yards either mowed (front) or weed whacked (back), and the Earthbox planters moved to the backyard so that they are ready to be filled and have garlics planted. The emptying also entailed re-planting the corcosmia bulbs in a different spot, so some are in the front yard, and some in the side yard. In addition, I weeded around the tarragon, removing masses of chickweed, some of which I replanted in the other narrow raised planter near the porch. Chickweed is a mild crunch green which keeps growing all winter. If I can encourage the bits to reroot near the front porch, that will be a good thing.
There has been additional progress made on squirrel proofing the salad table, with new support structures lashed together that fit above the planting flats and hold bird netting. The idea is that squirrels will then no longer be able to tear out my baby plants in order to dig holes in the dirt. Hoping that the greens will take root and grow, to add nutritious leafy bits to my winter food. The chickweed planter also now has a layer of heavy mesh draped across it to keep the "tree-rats" from their depredations.
※※※
Sunday we made the terrible mistake of going to Portland Nursery on the same day as their apple festival, which made the simple task of getting some compost and potting soil vastly complicated, but we persevered. It would have been smarter to just have gone to Linnton Feed for all the things, since we ended up there anyway to get wood shavings, and also found, for the refurbished salad table, some of the nicest baby winter greens starts: tah tsoi, lacinato, swiss chard, and mizuna...
※※※
The only other major thing accomplished this weekend was getting all the block printed trim completed for the Viking Age forepart I am making for Isabel. Was my first time using the oil-based/water-cleanup textile ink from Speedball. It works well, and really is easy to clean up afterwards. The softer brayer did just fine for spreading the ink, and since I lacked a good smooth plate to roll the ink out, the back of a large, rarely used sheet cake pan was an acceptable substitute - indeed that pan
beginning the trillium border
trillium border completed
elaborate trim on shot silk
※※※
October SMART goals (x=extra)
| # | THINGS MADE | THINGS FIXED | THINGS GONE |
| 1 | Laurel tablet weaving | Ironrite chair | old tourney seat |
| 2 | Marya cuff | plant hooks | bag to Goodwill |
| 3 | grape syrup | grapes picked | bag to Goodwill |
| 4 | charter # 12 | back door latch | shelves to Goodwill |
| 5 | Ellie apron dress | squirrel proofing | yard waste bin |
| 6 | another Marya cuff | x | - |
| 7 | Isabel trim | x | - |
| 8 | x | x | - |
| 9 | x | x | x |
| 10 | x | x | x |
| 11 | x | x | x |
| 12 | x | x | x |
| 13 | x | x | x |
| 14 | x | x | x |
| 15 | x | x | x |
The trillium block looks so simple by itself but it worked up into an intricate and elegant piece. It's wonderful to see all the different stages of your different crafts.
ReplyDeleteQuestion on the squirrel proofing: how high above the soil will the bird netting be suspended? Will the squirrels be able to sit on the netting? What kind of squirrels do you have? (I know, that's 3 questions. Many squirrel problems here.)
My post today shows how the netting cage sits just above the salad table flats. I doubt that squirrels will want to sit on the netting, it is most unpleasant, and I have used it in the past successfully. Not sure what kind of squirrels we have, some are grey and some are more brown? (according to the following article they are likely both non-natives, Fox squirrels and Eastern Grey squirrels
Deletehttps://audubonportland.org/wcc/urban/squirrels