Sunday, October 23, 2011

the front garden

How have we spent nearly every nice (and some rainy) weekend day since the beginning of August?

About a year and a half ago, a plumber told us we'd need to replace the sewer line to our house, and replacing the water line wouldn't be a bad idea either. So over the course of the past couple months, our front yard was dug up, and dug up again, and messed up yet again, and probably messed up some more. The new sewer and water lines went in (boy was that an expensive and mostly invisible home reno!), the front walk was demolished, the front step demolished and then poorly repaired (it will need some tiles or something one day). Then we (or mostly Mr. Mitten) undertook to do the landscaping ourselves.

I drew up a few ideas, we chose the one we liked best, then drew out the plans. Then digging and more digging, moving rocks and more rocks (did I mention this area used to be a rock and clay quarry?), shovelling soil and sand and gravel. Finally I could plant! I've done what I could, considering it's now late Autumn here. Plus, I'm still waiting on my order of Spring bulbs. The beds will be about 2/3 full by the time the snow starts falling, so I'll have room for annuals next year, and maybe a few more choice perennials. After several years of being a knitting designer, home-maker, and mom, it's lovely to get my hands dirty and feel like a gardener again!

Front garden before

Front garden after

Thursday, October 13, 2011

new toys

I finally got myself organized enough today to get a bunch of toys listed in my Etsy shop. These are mostly toys that have not sold before, or have been waiting around since last winter (when somebody decided to arrive early). This time I decided to list clothes separately, to give my customers more choice in how the toy will look. As well, these will probably be the last toys I knit for sale for a long time. If you want one, you might want to be quick like a bunny, as three of the toys have sold already!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

busy days

The days have been full and busy, with not much time to pick up a camera and record them. Also, Kyr hasn't been sleeping well, so neither have I. Most days I feel a bit like a zombie, wandering around the house, trying to keep kids happy, laundry washed, and enough food cooked to keep us going. If that's all I get done, it feels like a good day. Anyway, I'm sure all you other mums out there can relate. Here's a couple cute photos I did manage to get. Until we're sleeping better, that will be all :)

cute baby making puppy eyes 
(probably because he wants something I'm eating)
cool giraffe, waiting for my Etsy shop update 
(could be a few weeks, the way life is right now)