Chim Chim Cheree Carnations!

I can't remember when or where I got a free pack of carnation seeds, but Dustin has made it a habit to empty the bags of junk that I drag home with me from work from time to time. Most of the time to get my coffee mug so that I can use it in the morning (yes, he is a sweetheart.) I guess one day he found a pack of carnation seeds and decided to plant them in our hanging planter on the balcony.

Perhaps it was one of the many free give-aways at Yonge and Dundas? Perhaps I got it from work? Perhaps it was placed into my Matt and Nat by someone else? Perhaps I had a wicked childhood? (We're going to see The Sound of Music tomorrow night!)

I believe they have been growing and growing for over two months now. A couple weeks ago, they started to show signs of budding (is that even the right term?)

From garden

This afternoon, I enjoyed a crisp breath of fresh air on the balcony and realized that one carnation has come into full bloom. They appear to be a deep red: so pretty. My mom has always enjoyed the view from our balcony. She says all the rooftops remind her of Mary Poppins and the "Step in Time" scene when all the chimney cleaners do a crazy dance (and I mean CRAZY.)

From garden

"Mary Poppins, step in time! Mary Poppins, step in time!"

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My Birdie Sling Factory

My first class at the workroom was Amy Bulter's Birdie Sling.

I was in love. I could spend hours (and did spend hours) picking my fabrics at the store.

I wanted to make more: but why do I need more than one beautiful Birdie Sling? Operation "get my friends to love the bag and ask for one" was in order.

To date, I've completed 8 birdie slings: making slight enhancements as I went along.

In the class, we learned to add a zippered pocket to the inside of the sling (lower right picture with the cupcakes,) I added a cell phone pocket with a contrasting button (upper right picture) and I even tried making one with outdoor fabrics for a water resistant feel (left picture.)

From sewing

I had also gotten a request for a bag that was slightly smaller. Resizing the bag? Couldn't be that hard, right? After what felt like an LSAT exam ("Suzy can't sit with Johnny, but Johnny can only sit next to people shorter than him, and each bus must hold 4 girls and 2 boys...") I decided that the only way to ensure success was to make the strap smaller from the centre (taking from the ends would surely need the band to be resized, and resizing the band means the bag opening will need resizing...) and reducing the depth of the bag and not the width (changing the width would mean needing to adjust the pleat size and proportionally reducing the size of the lining.)

The result? A slightly smaller bag! The stranger on the left is from Amy Butler's website, and I'm on the right carrying the new Birdie Slingette!

From sewing

My friend requested for a "burnt orange" feel. I thought the seahorse fabric in brown (by Heather Ross) would be perfect contrasting fabric; the main fabric I found in the upholstery section at fabric land, and the lining is a cute sunglasses pattern.

From sewing

I figured that I would soon get tired of making Birdie Slings. Perhaps one day, but until then, keep the factory going!

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Bloody Generous Friends

Since I first posted about my Grandma Initiative, it's been so exciting to hear about all the donations being made on behalf of my grandma. Such generous people!

I didn't realize it, but when donating blood in honour of someone, Canadian Blood Services can actually put the donation in writing!

From grandma initiative

Such a moving thing: donating in honour of someone. How I wish I could do it.

Thank you, Steve, Mymy, and Andrew.

From grandma initiative

Dustin was donating on and off for a while now. Since the Grandma Initiative, he's been donating regularly. Two weeks ago, he made his tenth donation!

From grandma initiative

I wonder how high the numbers go on the pins? If Dustin can donate every two months (approximately) that's 6 donations a year, so in five years, he could have a pin that says 40!

Thanks to everyone who donated as part of the Grandma Initiative! If you've donated as part of this initiative and haven't already sent me a quick note: please do! I've estimated that the number of donations to this initiative is something like a dozen. Half way to my goal!

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Balcony Garden

Having a blog is strange: you go about your day often thinking "ooo... I could blog about that. or that. or that." But sometimes I forget to take key pictures that are essential to the composition of the blog entry...

Today I made a delicious pasta dish using the cherry tomatoes from my balcony garden. But I forgot to take a picture. So I drew one.


The red dots are bits of cherry tomato (from the balcony garden,) the green strips are pieces of zucchini (grown "close to home") and the yellow spraypaint is Parmesan cheese. Doesn't it look delicoius?! Imagine what the real thing looked like...

I started my balcony garden this year after being inspired by my coworker. Every year, he brings tupperware container after tupperware container of homegrown sugar snap peas, raspberries, and tomatoes saying "Take more! Take more!"

He convinced me I could do it this year, and set me up with some tomato seeds: tiny tims, cherry red bunches, cherry yellow bunches, monster reds, and others that I can't remember. March: I began indoors with the tomato plants. And here's my first baby:

From garden

Isn't he cute? I named him Tom. (Short for tomato. Genius.)

I eventually planted them in long skinny planters on the side of my balcony and last week (almost four months later,) they started to turn a beautiful shade of orange.

From garden

I picked it when it was a luscious red.

From garden

Earlier in the spring, I also tackled the sugar snap peas. So delicious. They sprouted quickly in the early spring (apparently they thrive in cooler temperature) and in no time, the plants were taller than me.

From garden

My first crop was glorious. Ate two on the spot. So sweet.

From garden

Finally, my coworker (yes, the same awesome coworker) picked me up a hanging strawberry plant. Perfect for my balcony garden. Although his strawberries were being attacked by opossums (creepy little buggers: like giant rats with raccoon diets) my hanging plant was up high in my balcony looking gorgeous above the tomato plants.

From garden

There you have it. A mini garden in the comfort of my balcony. Peas, strawberries, and tomatoes: oh my!

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The Behemoth

From vacation

If you haven't been to Canada's Wonderland in the last year or so, know this: things have changed. Some for the better, some for the worse, and some for the AWESOME!

This past Wednesday, my "Urban Family" and I went to Wonderland to escape the world of work, research, and whatever it is that Dan does. Also: we wanted to avoid the weekend crowd.

Apparently everyone else had the same idea, so although our first three rides (before 11am) were without lines, the majority of the day was spent standing in line, judging all the thick eyeliner, coloured contacts, impeccably short shorts, tight-see-through tops, double-popped-collars, exposed chest hair, and Lamb of God (the heavy metal band, not Jesus the son of God) t-shirts. We must have missed the memo on Canada's Wonderland dresscode.

We found ourselves saying (on multiple occasions) "my mother would never have let me out of the house looking like that." (The first occasion was referring to exposed cheeks. Not the ones on the face.) How proud my mother would have been.

To prove that we were just from a more "tastefully dressed" era, and not "old," we made it our mission to do The Behemoth as many times as we could. Last year, we did it four times. This time, we only managed three -- limited only by rain and the length of the lineup, and not our Young Roller Coaster Spirits.

From vacation

The ride is fabulous. I recommend to all. Even my mother would love it. Words alone cannot express how exhilirating a ride it is; therefore, I bought a mug. A very large mug. You could say it was a behemoth.

From vacation

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My Mailbox has Stitches!

I love getting stuff in the mail! Okay, maybe not those value-pack envelopes of coupons that try to advertise carpet cleaning. Or bills. (That's why I do e-billing.) But PACKAGES! ("...brown paper packages tied up with string...") All packages are great.

My best friend Priscilla is blessed with the ability to pick out great gifts. Wait -- rephrase: I am blessed with a best friend that has the ability to pick out great gifts. Unknown to her, I had searched for a copy of Stitch Magazine ever since reading about it on Karyn's blog. Although I didn't look very hard, I never found it. Not only did I get a package in the mail today, but the package contained TWO Stitch Magazines (winter 2008 and spring 2009)!

From sewing

I think Pris already ordered them before I gave her the leather clutch that I made from a class at The Workroom. Although backwards, I think the clutch was a perfect "Thank you" for the beautiful magazines!

Photo taken by Karyn Valino, The Workroom

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That's my girl

Who is that sad sweetheart giving the dog version of "stink eye" in the Done Well header? Why that's my husky-shepherd-something: Mackenzie.

From Mackenzie

Although her childhood was a mystery, she's my girl now (well, "our" girl) and I don't think she could be happier. She told me herself. Her full name is Mackenzie Bucci-Cumming-Dunwell and her hobbies include hunting squirrels and removing the squeaker from fluffy toys.

When I was first obsessed with sewing (thanks to The Workroom) she used to lay by my feet to keep me company -- or check if I was sewing delicious food. The beautiful bag behind the beautiful dog was my newly completed Amy Butler Nappy Bag for my sister.

From Mackenzie

How cute. Which is lucky for her, because she is a shed machine. Not like a machine that belongs in the shed, but if you wanted to purchase a machine that sheds dog hair, she's your girl.

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