A good weekend

It's been one of those rare weekends with the perfect mix of hard work, good fun, and happy meetings with friends. No one was sick, we had a bit of sun (and a bit of rain), and no major catastrophes occurred. We are grateful.

Friday night after Miss A went to bed, I sewed up these little pants for a sweet baby girl just welcomed home by some friends of ours:

 

This is my new favorite pattern. It's the Quick Change Trousers from Anna Maria Horner's book Handmade Beginnings.  I don't usually buy books, but I made an exception for this one because it wasn't available at the library. This one pattern has made the purchase well worth the investment. The pants are reversible, with no visible seams to unravel or irritate baby's sensitive skin. And they're quick and simple to sew. I have plans to sew a few more pairs for new babes expected to arrive soon.

Saturday it was Dan's turn to be productive. We decided to take the plunge and tear up the rest of our back lawn to make space for more food. I had been hanging on to it, thinking we needed a place for little ones to play. But after the hundredth-or-so time of hearing myself complain about how we didn't have enough room to plant all the vegetables we wanted, I was struck by the epiphany that the lawn just had to go. We are lucky enough to live within a few blocks of two parks and a school, so it only takes us a few minutes to get to a space where we can run and kick balls and swing from the monkey bars.

I have to say, watching that lawn being tilled up (from the safety and quiet of the house) was exhilarating!  I'm just salivating, thinking of all the tomatoes and peppers and broccoli and beans that will be growing in this space in a few months. The toddler question of the day was "Where'd the lawn go?" And the toddler answer: "Daddy took it away!" Yes indeed. We would have liked to use no-till methods to eradicate this lawn, but we just don't have access to enough organic matter (or time) to cover the entire space and wait for it to break down. So our plan is to till it mechanically once, add compost and a few soil amendments, then hopefully we'll be able to maintain it from now on with minimal tilling.

After the lawn was demolished and the rototiller was returned, Dan and Miss A walked to the park so I could poke through an estate sale down the street. What treasures I found!

These lovely linens all appear to be hand-embroidered, though I really don't know much about vintage linens and fabrics. There was a whole room full of them at this sale, and I felt it my duty to make sure that at least a few of them were given a home where their beauty and craftsmanship would be cherished.

The little seedlings have been productive, too.

Our little hoop house is overflowing! Sunday afternoon turned into family gardening time. We potted up a bunch of seedlings and planted a few more outside.

(that's the newly tilled barren lawn behind us, just waiting to be planted)

Our babies are growing up!

And we have some happy little peas popping up in the front yard.

We were having so much fun outside this afternoon that dinner time came upon us before we knew it!
Thank goodness for quick scrambled eggs.

Thank you happy hens!