Sweet Potatoes

Did you know it is really easy to grow sweet potatoes? I grew them by accident!

We have a garden bed in our front yard which I decided would be great for veggies, so I started collecting kitchen scraps and burying them in the garden bed as we have really sandy soil. I had a couple of sweet potatoes that were getting a bit old so I buried them in there. So of course one of them starts growing really well! 

These sweet potatoes are the third crop I have dug up!

I have started taking note of the dates I dig them up as it is hard to tell what's happening underground. So far it seems that it takes 2 - 3 months to get good sized sweet potatoes. When digging them up you need to be careful as it is easy to knock the little sweet potatoes off the plant. If you notice raised patches of soil, chances are you have some sweet potatoes nearly ready.

I only allow my sweet potato plant to grow in area about 100cm x 60cm. I have to trim the plant regularly to keep it that size. You can use your cuttings to make new plants or you can eat the leaves like spinach/asian greens in stir fries.

Aren't the sweet potato flowers beautiful! Look for them in the morning.

Yep, I still get excited when my plants grow fruit, veg or even flowers!

Alfie's new jumper

I looked after Alfie recently as his owner was in hospital

I have to say anyone who fosters dogs must be saints! I am lucky in that I knew Alfie and had some idea of what to expect when I brought him home. As for the people who foster dogs from animal shelters without knowing anything about the dog and having the patience to work with that dog until it finds a new home, I honestly don't know how they do it!

I realise now that Trixie is a really well behaved dog. Sure I don't know what she would be like if she was in Alfie's situation, but for now I am going to believe people when they tell me she is a good dog.

In Australia it is Autumn and the last two nights have been pretty cold. Alfie is a destructo dog so there are only 2 blankets left for the dogs. I recently made Trixie a test jumper from an old sheet which turned out pretty good even though it was too long. Because Alfie has such short hair and very holey blankets I decided to attempt a jumper for him as well.

Because I don't have any large  pieces of material hanging around the house, I had to get creative and recycle! I used the cover from an old foam mattress for the outside of his jumper - I have no idea what the material is but it seems like it may be water resistant which will be good if he needs to go to the toilet when it is raining. For the inside I used an old cotton curtain from when we moved into this house. And sandwiched between the outer pieces for warmth I used the polar fleece blanket we have on the couch - luckily I was considering giving those to Trixie and Dash once it got colder!

As someone who still isn't confident with or good at sewing, I am very happy with Alfie's jumper! There are a few things I need to tweak but its good enough. I guess the added bonus is that he kept it on all night without getting it off and destroying it. It really is impossible to get a good photo of Alfie, so here is one where he was at least standing still showing off his jumper! And Trixie in her too long jumper.

All that white fluff is from Trixie's pillow that she has had since she was a puppy. The orange, yellow and grey scraps are from 3 destroyed blankets. Like I said... destructo dog!

And here is a photo where Alfie is looking at the camera!

Time to get blogging... again!

Well it has been nearly 2 months and about time I get everything back to normal. I'm still not quite back to my craft a day, but I plan to catch up by making extra pieces to make up for the days I have missed. I have done some crafting since Suki died, but I just can't focus on one thing for too long. 

I have made a few presents, but unfortunately my brain has been fried and I keep forgetting to take photos before giving the gifts away.

It took me a long time to go through and find my favourite photos of Suki to create a collage. In a way I think spending the time creating Suki's collage helped me get used to the fact that she is never coming home.

We buried Suki in our backyard and have planted a mango tree over her grave. At this stage the tree is still alive even though Trixie ripped it out and chewed it to pieces!

Oh and I am changing things on my blog a little, hopefully for the better!

RIP Suki

On Tuesday I took my cat Suki to the vet to get her teeth cleaned. The thought never crossed my mind that it would be the last time I saw her. She only turned three last month. 

She was my first pet that was truly mine, I picked her as a tiny kitten, everything for her is in my name, I made all the decisions for her, she was my little baby. As soon as I saw the photo of her on the RSPCA site I had to have her. We drove all the way to get her and arrived early to wait for the kittens to be dropped off. We took home this scrawny little kitten, who loved to be cuddled and turned out to be food aggressive! She loved her food, which was totally obvious when you saw her tubby belly. Even though she was fat, she jumped, climbed and ran around like the kitten she still was. She loved to snuggle under the blankets and would stay with me for hours if I felt sick. As she got older she became more scared of other people, and with most visitors she would run and hide when she saw them walking to our door. If it was us coming home she knew, and she would be waiting at the door so she could sneak outside. 

I really miss my little girl and wish I had not taken her to get her teeth cleaned that day.

"It is better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all."

Please excuse my absence from my blog and my 365 day challenge, my creativity has disappeared, as has my motivation to do anything other than what I have to. 

Bee Cross Stitch Pattern

I have been a bit cross stitch obsessed lately. Of my first 20 days of crafting, 5 of those days have been the completion of cross stitch pieces.

Today marks another day of working on a cross stitch pattern for my crazy bee. I have made up a pattern sheet to share with you. It is just a basic pattern sheet as I know I ignore the instructions that come with cross stitch kits. All I need to know is what colours to use and how many strands!

This is the first time I have ever made a cross stitch pattern, so please forgive the blurry lines! If I can get the quality any better I will let you know, but for now I feel it is legible.

Here is the link to the pattern in Google Docs.

If you want to see photos from my "Create for 365 days" you can visit my Flickr account. Or even easier - watch the slideshow located at the top left of my blog!

I think this would be a great cross stitch pattern for kids just starting out with half stitches. There are only 3 colours and each side is almost a mirror copy (it easily can be if you want the eyes in the same spot).

Oh and don't tell anyone but I didn't have any white embroidery floss... so I used my sewing machine thread! I now know embroidery floss definitely looks better for cross stitch, but I wouldn't drive all the way to the craft store just to get white floss - it is hardly noticeable.

I am adding this to the label of tutorials to make it easier to find the pattern.


* Edited to add this image of the pattern so you can simply right click and save as...