PLANTING and GROWING
Planted some Heirloom Tomato Seeds, but will only know which ones I’ve put in when they start producing tomatoes.Some went into a pot where they will grow and some went into faux mini greenhouses, actually lidded strawberry punnets. Now I wait! Also monitoring tomatoes on a self seeded tomato bush, hoping they will go red.
REPAIRING
For years I have kept embroidery hoops and floss, darning mushrooms, cottons and threads, bobbins, lace and other sewing notions in this picnic basket. I pulled it out of the cupboard looking for some tape I needed to mend something and noticed the wicker was damaged. I like to repair things, if possible, as soon as I notice they are broken.
There were two areas requiring attention; the handle and a loop on the lid. I used contact cement to glue the pieces, some masking tape to keep the mended loop secure and my very favourite tool for so many jobs, pegs, on the handle. Pegs are so useful for holding things in place while the glue dries!
So I mended the broken pieces and left them to set while I foraged through the contents of the basket. Now all the spare buttons are in colour coded jars, the sewing threads are upstairs with the machine, and the embroidery threads are all together in a ziplock bag.
I gently wound the wicker back around the rest of the loop, glued it with contact cement and taped it with masking tape until it was dry. Job done!
Mending the handle was more difficult as some of the wicker wound around the frame was missing. I have secured both loose ends and will look for a small piece to glue into the gap.
Also mended the turned edge of this sheet. These sheets are quite old and regularly used and I have repaired the edges often. This time the cotton has just worn through, so I decided to sew cotton tape over the worn out strip. Sometimes I have to hand stitch the lace, sometimes cover a worn piece with tape and sometimes I do a little bit of both. I’ll keep mending this sheet until I can’t fix it anymore and I suppose then I’ll use it for something else!
PRETTY LAVENDER ENVELOPES
These adorable paper envelopes are based on a design from Diana’s dreamfactory (here) . Diana’s envelopes are more ornately aged and coloured. I made the mid-sized envelopes from her download . When they were finished I filled them with dried lavender and gave them to friends. I thought they could be placed under pillows and the scent of lavender might encourage sleep. So many of my friends struggle to get to sleep and stay asleep. ( More about the naturally dyed, lavender filled hearts here https://www.makecookgrow.com/2019/08/making-natural-dyes-and-lavender-hearts/)
Printed the template, speckled them with strong coffee, left them to dry. I used an old toothbrush and very strong instant coffee to “splatter” the paper. I diluted the coffee when the first lots had dried on the paper and added lighted spots.
Using just my finger I smudged some of the bigger blobs of coffee.
I “aged” half of the envelopes and left the others plain as I wanted to use them to line the envelopes. Glued an aged envelope and a plain envelope together when I had cut them all out. Trimmed any pieces which didn’t match exactly. Put them carefully under a heavy book until they dried. This resulted in flat, smooth envelopes
Glued each envelope and left them to dry. Gently shook some dried lavender into each envelope, sealed them, gave them to friends. They smell very pretty and were fun to make. I really enjoy Diana’s blog and her craft activities.
FAST DINNER
Quick Vegetable Stir-Fry ( to use up all the vegies before I go shopping.) The bok choy is going to seed, and I had plenty of celery ready to pick. I was making dinner for two people but could easily add more vegetables for more people.
I picked, washed and cut up the celery and bok choy. Sliced an onion and 3 cloves of garlic and browned them slightly in 1 tbspn olive oil. Added the Dutch carrots, some bits of broccoli, cauliflower and a few green beans which were in the fridge. While they cooked I whisked 3 tbspn brown sugar, ¼ cp chicken stock, ¼ cp soy sauce (low salt) and 1 tbspn cornstarch. ( I didn’t add the thickening this time, but usually do.) Move the cooking vegetables frequently so they cook but not burn. Add the mixed sugar, stock, soy sauce and cornflour then pour over the now cooked vegetables. Give it a minute to thicken, then serve. This also works with baby corn, mushrooms and snow peas. This time I added slithers of steak but chicken goes well, too.
Wednesday 8th of September was TEDDY BEAR DAY. A favourite toy for many children and adults, too, teddy bears evolved about 118 years ago. Apparently, Theodore Roosevelt, the then president of the United States, refused to shoot a bear cub when he was out hunting.
A store owner in New York, inspired by a popular cartoon published after the event, created a bear and wrote to Roosevelt asking if he could name the toy after him. Teddy bears were born! Their popularity continues today.
