Weeds: Conquered!

A lot of worms were murdered yesterday...victims of my weeding tool of doom. Doom comes in many forms. For this gardener it comes in the form of my aching gluteus maximus (emphasis on the "maximus"). One would think that weeding on one's hands and knees would be a knee killer...which it is, don't get me wrong. But the real torture comes to one's posterior, although I'm not sure why. Anyway...the weeds are pulled, and I'm a wreck. Of course, now I need to make a second pass around the areas I've already done because they're mounting a second wave there.

Have I ever told you about my weeding tool of doom before? This is a great tool, with so many functions. It's called a Hori Hori knife. This is the one I have:

It has a very strong blade and handle. It's hard to see in this picture, but the blade is slightly curved from side to side, like a little hand shovel. The markings are useful when you're trying to dig a small hole to a certain depth. On the right side, it has a serrated blade. It's one mean weeding tool, and you can use it for self-defense in the case of a worm uprising. Honestly, it's saved my life a few times. Here's a link, if you're interested.

Of course, the day wasn't all about killing worms. There was this little person hoping if she snuggled up, she could get me to open the door early. (We keep them in until there's plenty of movement and noise outside.)

She's an excellent lap warmer while I do my morning embroidery. Later, she helped me pull weeds.

Right beside her, the Andromeda is moving into full-fledged blooming mode. In a few days, it will be covered by cascades of white flowers and bright red leaves.

Also, the dogwood is so, so close to being in full bloom. Today might be its day to shine.

As for me, there have been two NSDs (no sewing days) in a row. Time to remedy that.

I spread out the Quiltmaker's Garden quilt over my sewing chair several days ago. It's begun calling to me, although I was avoiding it initially. Do you sometimes have to think long and hard about a project before you can start it? For this one, I think I've needed to negotiate a peace with it, but I'm ready to get started.

Initially, I was thinking of doing an all-over design. But then I started thinking about keeping it simpler than that. With all those 2-inch patches, I could easily do a diagonal grid, or a series of "terry twists" and then just fill in some details on the flowers, leaves, birds, and butterflies. Already I have an idea about how to quilt the gazebo. Getting started, I think I'll begin there in the middle with those blue 2-inch squares and see where it leads me.

After spending the entire day weeding yesterday, a day sitting at the sewing machine sounds heavenly. I'm still keeping after the Gingerbread Village, and I'll probably do a little more work on that today. Also, I'm keeping Wine Country in my sites, but still thinking about how to set the now-framed blocks. My friend Dana calls this process "circling." Such a perfect name for it. By the way, Dana, if you're reading, we're missing you here in Blogland.

This morning I need to make a run into town. I noticed that the little vegetable stand has hanging petunia baskets for a good price. I'll stop in and see if they have something, since I've yet to acquire any petunias for my own baskets. It would be nice to find some already planted at a price that doesn't break the bank. Also, Mike is expected home tomorrow afternoon, and so I suppose I should pick up some food...something other than eggs, which is what I've been surviving on for the past week or so. Eggs and BLT's. Food for the soul. I always put avocado on my BLT, which makes them a BLAT. Seems appropriate, doesn't it? Sometimes I add an egg, which makes them a BLEAT. Shall I go on?

All this talk of eggs has me hungry for breakfast. Time to get cooking.