Spring has Sprung in North Carolina

Spring has Sprung in North Carolina

It's a dreary, cold day today, but that's ok.  It's an outlier from the amazing weather we've been having lately.  In the winter, Charlotte is very brown and bleak.  Within a week, the whole place has turned green.  Sad sod has perked up into perky green spears, golden forsythia blooms abound, and spring bulbs like daffodils and tulips are everywhere.  The pansies and violets continue their steadfast contribution to the landscape, while plants like hostas and rhubarb begin their ascent by timidly peeking out above the moist dirt.  I love spring and I love Charlotte.

I thought we might be able to look into buying a house, but unfortunately, things happen (my favorite saying) and it's not likely this year.  What forces me to keep my rental another year gives me more opportunity to continue to develop the garden.  A few recent events have given me more hope for a productive garden this year.

Event #1
Alpaca Manure:
I've bartered a spinning demonstration for alpaca manure, and though it's rocky and filled with fire ants, this black gold is the backbone of my fertilizing program, in contrast to the mainly wood-product municipal compost of last year.  Low in nitrogen and hydrophobic, I will steer clear of it in the future.  I had overseeded my raised beds with rye and vetch, and have since cut the crop down and left it to compost with a layer of alpaca manure and leaf mulch.  Hoping that the vetch and alpaca manure will help the remedy the problems of last year.


Event #2
Straw Bales:
Dawn went to Walmart and discovered that they were getting rid of straw bales that had overwintered in the weather.  Soft, damp and slightly composted, they are a dream come true.  I took the truck and acquired 8.  Will have some straw bale gardens and potato towers,  Going to try to get some free tires for those.


Event #3
Mattress Inner spring:
When Pinterest ideas take hold, it's hard to prevent myself from obsessing over them.  Fortunately, when a free inner spring came up on Craigslist, it was right on schedule.  Pea trellis, here I come.  Along with the straw bales, I have the perfect vine set up.  This will also support the two soda bottle strawberry towers.



Event #4
Bricks
Craigslist strikes again.  I knew I wanted bricks, and have been lurking on free stuff for over a year.  I finally was rewarded with a winning inquiry before the masses.  We loaded up the truck and got about 40-60 bricks, plus some concrete cylinders.  I would have liked more, but they were demoed and had chunks of mortar on them.


Event #5
Mulch
This hasn't happened yet, but I will be going to get municipal mulch for $10 cubic yard to line the paths I had envisioned last year.  It's possible I could end up making stepping stones for the paths to make them last longer.  That would be awesome!

A gardeners work is never done, and there are plans for squirrel cage on the salad bed which will also support a row cover to prevent bugs from getting to the lettuce.  In addition, I'd like to attempt a rainwater collection system for the summer, since the water bill was a nightmare.  Maybe even a water feature...

Ah, spring.  I love it.

Happy Ice Week! Mill tour and Peg Weaving!

It's official!  We're having a nice ice break from school.  This comes at a good time, as we have already started the countdown, 75 days.  Dawn and I went to Asheville this past weekend to go to Echoview Fiber Mill, where I was researching an article.  We had a great time and ended up going to Woolworth's lunch counter for some grilled cheese and tuna melt action, and some egg creams.  We also went to a tea and spice shop, where I got some rose petals to add to some spice mixes, and ate dinner at Luella's BBQ, which was delish.

The day at the mill was lovely and Julie Jensen was a fantabulous hostess.  We made fast friends with the canine pack, and our accommodations had a lovely view overlooking Tennessee.  The mill is amazing, from the building to the layout, everything was well thought out.   We toured the facility and in one room, Julie showed us a peg loom with some weaving in progress from selvedge scraps leftover from a fabric mill.  I was smitten, and the loom haunted me for days to come.  After marathon watching videos about peg loom weaving, it was time to go outside and find a log.  Yes, I have some scrap wood in the shed, but I really wanted a log.  Don't ask me why.  Here are some crappy iPhone videos that document the beginning of the project.

I apologize for not finishing the video series.  My archaic iPhone 4 has met memory capacity, and I was roaring to get started on the cat rug, so I finished my rug in a few hours.  Suffice to say, there are plenty of peg weaving videos, so my novice snippets are all you're getting!

Here are photos of the rug.  Cat approved!

Went hunting and brought back trophies!!!

Hello!  I'm taking a break in the midst of my marathon cleaning day to type a quick entry.  Dawn and I had the most fabulous time yesterday, traipsing around Matthews.  We went to the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store, and I bought a sewing machine.  Now for those who REALLY know me, you won't ask why I bought another sewing machine.  For those who sort-of know me, I assure you, I did need it.  You see, before I left New York, I had a lovely Singer treadle machine with a beautiful cabinet.  It had gingerbread decals on it and was from about 1918 or so.  I sewed my historically accurate dress for Old Bethpage on it, and always planned on having the cabinet restored.  Unfortunately, when moving to Charlotte, I realized I had no place to put it in the new apartment/house.  It was a tearful decision to donate it to my favorite thrift shop, but since it hadn't been used in a long while, I realized it was time to spread the love to another happy owner.

Now that I've been here for a while, I know how much space I have, and it's been a bit of a struggle to keep all the stuff contained.  There have been numerous opportunities for a replacement machine, however, it doesn't solve my lack of space.  A full sized treadle table takes up a good chunk of real estate.  Did I mention this summer I bought a serger, a ridgid heddle loom, and my third spinning wheel?  Clearly, there's enough stuff jam packed into our mid-century modest abode.  Why we'd be lucky to have 850 sq feet in this place.  And that's OK.  But anyways, while living our dream of the perfect Saturday, filled with crepes, navigational adventures, ReStore, discount shopping and thrifting, we spotted a beautiful sewing machine.



She had no tag, so I cautiously asked how much.  The woman hadn't decided yet, and proceeded to go on eBay to price it.  She remarked she found a similar one with minimum of $25, and then we found dollar brushed nickel knobs for Dawn's decidedly uncool brass themed kitchen, so she trailed off mid-sentence to help us find what we were looking for.  My heart sank, as I figured she'd give me a price higher than the minimum, but when we asked again, she said $20!  After a quick inspection, it was determined that she did indeed work.  We said, "Hell yeah!" And I found $20 magically in my black hole purse. It was a sign from the crafting gods.  And Dawn lugged it to the car because it weighs about 30 pounds, lol.

My new baby is a Japanese "badged" or clone machine.  It's marked "Home Mark," however, I've seen it branded "Aux Claire," "Morse," "Fleetwood," "Bradford," "Good Housekeeper," "Edison," "Brother," "Modern," "New Raymond," "Wizard," "Riccar," "Bamberger," "Sovereign," "H.G. Palmer," "Premier," "Compac," "Dress Maker," "Western," "White," "Housekeeper Deluxe," "Remington," "Princess," "Viscount," "Universal," "Marvel,"and that's just with a brief online search.  This list is by no means exhaustive.  If you're searching for one, try keywords "vintage deluxe precision sewing machine."  This seems to gather good hits.  Having seen all the names in a list, it's pretty funny that they attempt to convey modernity, royalty, or domesticity.  If you have this model with a name not listed, please leave a comment and let me know :)

 It is a slightly improved version of Singer 15-series, complete with hinged bobbin cover, exterior feed dog knob with 4 settings, and a fun color.  Take that Singer!  These machines can be inexpensive, being that they were considered "cheap junk" back in the day, and the American market was flooded with them after WWII.  I believe these will be highly collectible in time, especially, working models in good condition.

She works great, just have to fiddle with the tension some more, but more tales from the thrift tomorrow :D