I’m doing something different, we’ll see if it sticks. With the blog posts I’ve done this year, each one has acted as a monthly wrap up of sorts, being written on the last weekend of each month. Thing is, other than wanting to write a monthly blog post, there are no rules. It’s April, this can be the start of my April blog post, even if it is the 10th, and not the 26th.
Plus, I’ve already done a bunch this month and have stuff to write about even though it’s only a third of the way over. I, start to finish, sewed a pair of pants already (pictured above). These are the 4th pair of pants I’ve made using the Lane Pants pattern. The jury is out, but I might tweak the legs to be a smidge less wide. Otherwise, I love them. The fabric was a clearance Chinese New Year themed tablecloth I got for $7. They are red with golden fire horses. They are glorious and I’ve taken to calling them my fancy pants.
I’m still working on my Hanni cardigan. I got confused and started with the side of the button band where you have to make the buttonholes first, instead of the easier/minus the holes side. I’ve never done a double knit style band before. It took me a few tries to get going, but I’m over halfway and love the way it looks. It’d be cool if I finished it this month, but I’m in no hurry.
Of the eight milk jug greenhouses I made, I’ve transplanted five into pots. Two of them seem to not only have survived my clumsy first go at transplanting, but are thriving somehow. Two others are still alive but by no means happy about it, and the last one is on life support. The last one pains me in particular because the seeds were for coneflowers and they’re supposed to be a native plant where I am. I had two sets of seeds for them and I don’t think one set will even make it out of the jug. This is possibly my third attempt at this plant over the years and I’m not a fan.
My backyard is still coming along. I have snowball bushes (pictured below) that survived another winter and maybe even grew an inch. I have camellias as well. They lived, but haven’t grown at all. In the fall, I transplanted a very unhappy rhododendron and a happy, though overgrowing its pot, hydrangea. Both made it through the winter as well and seem to like their new homes. I’ve tried plant food/fertilizer, but whatever I plant, if it lives, tends to stay the size it was when I bought it, or smaller. My thumb, while far from green, isn’t black either. Is there a color to represent just keeping things alive?
Earlier in the year, I wrote about wanting to move our hot tub into our garage. A simple internet search made it clear to scrap that idea and leave it outside. Still, it’s sitting in a pretty focal spot of our yard and is not fitting in with the cottage garden I will someday have. Inspiration, by way of a killer sale, led me to get a pergola kit online. There are now three large boxes full of cedar wood in my garage. Not this weekend, but maybe next, we will attempt to put this thing together. When completed, it will be 10 by 12 feet and sit over our hot tub. Until then, my garage has never smelt better. If we are successful in building this, I’ll add a picture.
It’s now the 22nd of April, and I can include more updates to the above and some new stuff. For one, today is my wedding anniversary. Nineteen years ago today, Seth and I tied the knot. I think a true reflection on our marriage, with all of the ups and downs we’ve gone through over the years is, if I had it to do all over again, I’d still still say yes. To celebrate, I’m taking Emma to the dentist and working on this post.
Today, or more accurately, last night, we received confirmation that the Yes vote on redistricting for Virginia won! Hopefully, it means we are one step closer as a nation to balancing the current power dynamics in Washington, D.C. It’s nice to have a bit of good news with everything else going on.
Otherwise, here are some updates to the above. I’m not sure how I feel about my milk jug seeds. While my investment of $2 to $3 dollars a seed packet was minimal, I wonder if another container method would work better. Plus, I think some critter dug up one of my pots. As of today, I think only 4 or 5 of the original 8 might actually survive. If I use milk jugs again next year, I might try to fit smaller seed trays in them and then plant. I’m still thinking about it.
I’m happy to announce I finished my Hanni Cardigan. I love it and plan to wear the heck out of it, as long as Emma doesn’t steal it. She has made hints of her intention to do so. Sadly, in my excitement to finish it, I overdid it and have had to wear an elbow brace ever since. A knitting related injury is a clear sign of my current life priorities.
Seth and I have pre-assembled almost half of the slats that make up the top of the pergola. The other half need to be assembled as we’re building it. It likely won’t be up before the month is over because we’re waiting on our public utilities to mark any lines. This way we won’t accidentally hit anything when we install it. Speaking of the backyard, I learned about a Virginia Department of Forestry program to buy shrubs and trees for $3 each. You have to buy them in groups of 5. So, I am now the soon-to-be proud owner of 5 elderberry shrubs. They’re being shipped so I won’t know how big they are until I get them.
On Friday, Seth and I are going to see a musical at Emma’s school. She’s part of the tech crew and is convinced we’ll love it. Earlier this month we saw a comic as a family. Being together ended up being more fun than the jokes. I’ve been reading more and will include the covers of the ones I’ve read this month (pictured below). This month I also enjoyed a C-Drama I streamed call The Pursuit of Jade. It was great. Since then I’ve been watching some new anime including, Witch Hat Atelier, Always a Catch, and Ascendance of a Bookworm. I’ve also completed another page of my watercolor workbook.
I’m not sure if I’ll add anything else to this post before the end of the month. Though somewhat in random order, I’ve also included some fun pictures from the month. April, for our family, is busy with birthdays. The kittens turned one on the 4th. This is also my birthday month, along with my mom and mother-in-law. I’m turning forty-seven this month, and if anything, just grateful for the years I’ve had and the life I’ve lived.