Sunday, April 19, 2015

Kelpie-a Hap and the Rapunzel Project



Spring has hit in full force in our neck of the woods. Hopefully all of you are finally, finally saying adieu to Old Man Winter and are starting to see warmer days and greener landscapes. It's been really busy here at Chez Chrissie. We have both been doing a lot of yard and garden cleanup. Our backyard has been neglected for several years and the front really needed an overhaul too. This coupled with crazy man Archie tearing up the yard has given us a ton of work!! That's OK, it is just so nice to be outside and muck around in the garden. I was complaining about all the dirt that was getting tracked into the house till I realized the dirty footprints were mine!! Oopsies!!
 I have a lot of perennials in the front but unfortunately the garden plant bullies had taken over and crowded out the nice well behaved ones. As a result there has been a lot of digging and weeding I have been reading up about edible landscapes a lot lately and I am going to try to incorporate some edibles in the front. We have deer to contend with so I have to think about that too. If anyone has any ideas on that topic I sure would like to hear from you!

Update on the Rapunzel Project

Well it is all about the straw bales now!




Since my last post, the bales have been going through their conditioning treatment. For a 10 day period they received a dose of fertilizer every other day and water every day. This is to start the composting action in the bales. By the end of this period the bales should be heating up. Well our guys hadn't read the memo! They were still quite cool inside. Our weather, although warm, wasn't overly warm and we were still getting quite cool temperatures and good frosts over night.This is typical April weather. I think we were all getting a little excited about our unseasonably warm winter and spring (I know, I know, I have family in Eastern Canada and they DID NOT want to hear about that). So we thought we would wrap our bales in heavy plastic to keep them warm and cozy overnight.  Fortunately we had a roll of plastic in the shed ( I don't recall why we had it, but we did). We looked out one morning and some of the bales had big black spots on them. I got a little freaked out as I am thinking spontaneous combustion but in fact it was some weird mushrooms. Obviously our bales were a cookin'! Off went the plastic.



 The next step was the installation of drip lines on top of the bales. Brent hooked them up to some of our irrigation heads so we can flick a switch to water (hopefully) rather than hand watering all the time. This man loves a contraption so he has been busy rigging up a system. I think only one or two bales will have to be manually watered.


We have started to plant some of the bales this weekend. Basically a layer of potting soil is pressed down on top of the bales and the seeds are popped in. This bed will have Watermelon Radishes. These are the best radishes ever! They are green on the outside and hot pink inside. They are  sweet and crunchy and are my absolute favourite. If you see them in the grocery store, get some and try them. We have also planted kale, chard, peas, scallions, lettuce and probably a few other things in some of our other beds and in the garden space in front of the bales. Everything is coming up so it is all pretty exciting . The drought in California coupled with a weak Canadian dollar was made us both do a rethink on our garden. Ergo edible landscaping ideas!!

That is about it for progress on the bales.

Before I forget, you have to go visit Nicole's blog, for two reasons. First, it is a wonderful blog, she is a busy super creative, rocket gardener mom of three beans  and secondly, she has written an interesting post on Permaculture. You will love her!!


Kelpie-A Hap

I have been working a bit more and gardening but there is still a bit of time left for some knitting. I finished this shawl or hap sometime ago. A hap is a Shetland shawl or wrap. Typically there is a garter stitch main section, with borders in the feather and fan or old shale pattern and often a knitted edging. There are lots of great articles written about this style, hopefully I got my facts straight. I have knitted a few from different designers. I like them as they are so pretty and are very interesting to knit. I am a real process knitter as I like an interesting project.




This is Kelpie, a modified hap designed by Jared Flood. I guess technically it is a half hap, but that  may just be a guess on my part. I really really love this wrap. It is so soft and warm and I loved knitting it. It is super nice to wear too.

 

I knit it with Rowan Fine Tweed in several colours. I really like this yarn, it has a more rustic handspun look but knits and blocks beautifully. I don't know if you can see the colour bands in the picture that well, but each band is a different colour. The colours start at a medium blue and carry through an increasingly darker spectrum of blues and greens. Picking the colours for a new project is one of my most favourite things. I have my eye on Hansel, a hap designed by Gudrun Johnston. KristieinBC is knitting one too. I can't wait to see hers, she has chosen such lovely colours.
I love knitting wraps, shawls and socks a lot!

Food !!






Recently, my friend Cooking Heather, invited us out for a morning of knitting and a delicious brunch. Honestly, when Heather invites you, you  immediately say yes please and when!?! And then do a happy dance! We had goat cheese appies, two kinds of quiche, a lovely salad, sausage rolls, guacamole, salsa  and a mango cheesecake. And she just throws it together, just like that. I have the vapours just thinking about it! I recently did a Thai cooking class with her so I will talk about that next time.

 I hope you all have a great week!!

Keep smiling!!

Chris

24 comments:

  1. That looks and sounds like an amazing brunch!!! The menu is outstanding!!! And holy cow are you guys rocking it with the bales!!! I am so happy to hear that they are heating up! And that water system sounds so cool!! At my class we learned about sheet mulching and it was very informative...something I am looking to try once I get my fruit trees! I am so proud of you! This garden is amazing and I just bet that your veggies are going to be delicious!!! Let me dig through some things to see if I have any deer articles...do they visit both your front and back garden?? Keep us posted on your garden Chris!! You are a rockstar...and you are too sweet to give me a shout out as what YOU do is inspiring!! That wrap is just gorgeous! The texture and colors are awesome! Here is to doing what we can friend! Happy Gardening! Nicole xoxo

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    1. hey Nicole! I have never heard of sheet mulching, I will have to look it up! Fruit trees, which ones do you plan to plant? The backyard is almost deer proof. We have to replace some sections of 4 ft fencing this summer. Looks like I have a glam job of painting fence boards soon. It is sure a great time of year, we are all fun of dreams and plans, aren't we? Have a super week!!

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  2. My goodness you have been busy. Both you and Nicole are putting me to shame with my wee little container garden. I love the idea of the bales and how you take care of them and eventually plant int hem. Very interesting. And both you and Kristen are putting me to knitting shame, I need to get out my needles and get busy.
    Hugs to you Chris,
    Meredith

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  3. Meredith, you get more done in a day than I get done in a week!! I love your crocheted Jordan's , they are so pretty!! We all have such big plans in the Spring, if I get a fraction done that I plan I am lucky!! I think you'd faint if you saw the veggie prices in the grocery stores here. It's a great incentive to plant some vegetables. Have a super week!!

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  4. Still so busy .. you're impressive !!!! But you give us some interesting ideas for the garden. Have a lovely day !

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    1. This time of year there is so many things I want to do! I wish I had cleaned out lots of stuff during the winter. We planted some seeds in our bales today.Wish us luck!

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  5. I LOVE Your shawl. Fascinated by bale gardening. Cant wait to see yours

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    1. Thank you Kathy! I was looking at my yarn, thinking how I could knit another with a different combination of colours . wish us luck on the bales! Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment! Have a great week!

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  6. I've never heard of using bales like that - very interesting. Your hap is beautiful. I love knitting with Shetland wool to make baby blankets. A similar sort of process.

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    1. I had never heard of bales either till I saw them on Pinterest. Two days later my friend asked me if I wanted to go to a garden club meeting about straw bales. It was destiny!! Lol! I really like knitting with that type of wool and my hap was fun to knit!

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  7. I'm very curious to see what happens with those bales. I love the shawl. I thought a kelpie was a small dog, which is much harder to wrap around your shoulders than a shawl. Shawls are so much m ore cooperative. Yours is loverly, as usual. :o)

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  8. I am curious too!! I had a crisis of faith yesterday. Today I am optimistic again. Perhaps I should have tried it for a year before I opened my big yapper about it!!! Nah, it's good to be humbled publicly occasionally! It is hard to wear a dog on ones shoulders . Thet never stay put. They really take offence at being speared by a shawl pin too. Fussy fussy fussy. Our kids used to drape our late cat Mr Puff around their necks like a scarf. Didn't faze him at all, our cats weren't too bright. Im on a shawl knitting streak again. They are pretty fun to knit.

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  9. Wow! You are really busy in the garden and have a lot of work to do there. But already it is looking very good. I'll be curious to see how everything grows. Those watermelon radishes sound really interesting and something I'd like to try but I don't think I've seen one yet. Probably they have some at Whole Foods or some place like that and I will keep my eyes open this summer. The shawl you've knitted is beautiful and don't you just envy someone like your friend who can pull a gourmet meal and get together with seemingly little effort. I wish I could do so ;-) Have a wonderful weekend. I hope it warms up soon enough.

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    1. Hi Penny, I just noticed my reply disappeared!! We have too much work in the garden, but what gets done gets done and what doesn't is ok too! Kerp an eye out for the radishes, they are delicious. Thanks for your kind comments about my shawl, I think it will be one of my favs. My friend is an amazing cook and she just loves cooking for people. We love eating her cooking. Perfect match!!

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  10. I'm loving your hap. And I'm fascinated by the haybale beds. I've realised that if we could raise them above (pardon my crudeness) boy whippet wee level they might work for us to. I shall be glued to your every update :)

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    1. Hey Annie! One of the biggest reasons we got the bales is for the exact reason you mentioned. The bales are about 20 inches high and the veggies will be out of range of Archie. And if he does hit them, there will be no damage... Lol!

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  11. I'm slowly catching up on my blog commenting after being away. I love your Kelpie! I think it will be the next hap I make. I think I'm becoming addicted. I am really enjoying knitting the half Hansel. Have you started one yet?

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  12. I haven't started it yet as I am still thinking about what colours to use. I did buy Hansel though and I'd really like to knit it. Choosing the yarn is the fun but hard part.i did get sidetracked by some Tosh neons for a sweater. There are too many projects I want to knit!!!!!!

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  13. Hi, Chris! Thanks for stopping by and commenting! I came to repay the favor and have a look around. Looks like you are a prolific knitter and have made some really wonderful stuff! I'll be following along. Maybe I'll learn something since I am really having a hard time getting comfortable with the whole knitting thing. I've been a crocheter for years and years, but I want to get just as good at knitting and have only just begun.

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    1. Thank you for popping in too, Pammy Sue! I think if you are either a knitter or a crocheter for a long time it's sometimes harder to make a transition , your hands have a particular muscle memory and pattern reading can be quite different. It's also a lot easier to rip out crocheting than knitting! If you ever need any help just pm me!

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  14. Your ongoing experiment with the hay bales is interesting. I have never heard of watermelon radishes, but they sound delicious. I will be curious to see how the other crops come out.
    You seem to keep really busy. I like your latest knitting project and the cooking class must have been fun. I always watch cooking shows on TV, but have never taken a class. I love Thai food so that would have been a great class to attend.

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    1. Hey Jennifer, if you ever see those radishes in a store or market buy some!! I probably should have tried the bales for a season first and then blogged about it hahaha!! Oh well. I get a bit too busy and I work part time too. I think I'd get more accomplished if I focussed on one or two things and I wouldn't fall asleep in my chair after dinner!! I love Thai food but I would have never have done it on my own, the class did give me a good push. My friend teaches them who is a knitter too. We have a lot of fun.

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  15. Hi Chris, Thank you for your kind words and introducing me to your lovely blog. I am fascinated to read what you are doing with your straw bales. The only other time I have seen them been use is for growing strawberries. I also spied Archie, so good to meet with another Westie owner and also from the country where my great grandmother emigrated too. Sarah x

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  16. Hey Sarah! Thanks for coming by and leaving such a nice comment . The straw bales are starting to do their stuff, I will have to blog about it soon. We discovered Archie and Fergus ( Kristies dog) are related , too funny! Westie are great little dogs but they sure can have a lot of Westitude!! Have a great weekend!

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