scenes from the backyard farm

I love this time of year.
~RLM

ruby star shining

I've been on a huge garment sewing kick lately. I want to make all the clothes!

This skirt started out as a gathered elastic waist skirt loosely based off of The Flirt Skirt tutorial, but it looked ridiculous on me.  The fabric is a linen cotton blend and way too thick to be gathered around the waist.  Not flattering at all. 

I let it sit for a week and then removed the elastic casing and modified the gathers into pleats.  Since the pockets were already in place, I used a fantastic slash zipper tutorial to insert a center back zipper.  I really like the weight of the metal jeans zipper I used, it holds up well to the heavier drape of this fabric.  

A slim waistband finished things off, and I hand-stitched a hook and eye closure near the top. 

I love it! And I'm hoping it transitions well through summer and into fall. 

~RLM

anticipation

I'll be back there in a month.  

It hasn't really sunk in yet that I'm going back.

It's only for 10 days, but still: I get to go back to Greece. 

I'm helping the madre out with her service learning spring term course.  I'll be playing tour guide in Athens and Santorini and then escorting the students back to the States. 

And of course my camera lens has decided to stop auto focusing, so while I was all excited about having a nice camera in Greece for the first time, now I'm trying to figure out how to fix or replace it.  And dreaming about a brand new Canon that is not in the budget.

In the mean time, I'm counting down the days to departure by sewing all the things! I have a finished skirt to post later this week and two more wiksten tanks to finish.  The madre is getting a new bag (that is only half finished) and as she is leaving 10 days before me - I really need to get it done. 

~RLM

up and running

Thanks to our mild winter and overly warm early spring, the garden is already alive and well.

I've started out with some new stuff: garlic that overwintered, snap peas, and kale.

I've got broccoli in the backyard this year, instead of the community garden where it got way too much sun last summer. There are herbs (peppermint, lavender, and french thyme) companion planted with the kale and broccoli, supposedly smelly plants will help deter pests. And a small crop of beets and radishes are in bins on the patio.

The strawberries and blackberries are coming back strong; if I can keep the birds off, we should have a good sized harvest of both.

Dad came over on Saturday with a van full of supplies and power tools, to build me some new stuff to expand the backyard growing space. There's a tower and small raised bed for two different types of potatoes.  We made an arched trellis off one section of the old raised bed, for a small crop of pole beans. And two trashcans were turned into a compost bin and rain barrel, both of which I am dorkily excited about.

I carted home a large stack of homesteading books from the library yesterday and then proceeded to read until two hours past my normal bedtime.  I finished Made from Scratch on Monday (love library for kindle) and am more than halfway through Barnheart, both by the same author. 

If you'd told college-me that I'd be staying up late to read farm memoirs and then ordering seed potatoes before going to my day job, I'd have laughed in your face.

~RLM

tank obsession

I've made three of these since Saturday.

I can't seem to stop sewing.

Record breaking high temperatures mean tank + jcrew pants = perfect ensemble for work.

The pattern is by Wiksten, but fair warning: you end up with A LOT of excess fabric if you cut by her instructions.

I see myself living in these tops this summer, especially since I'm heading to Greece for 10 days in May.

~RLM