In an attempt to avoid the heat, I’ve been getting out to work in the garden early in the morning every day this week. A couple days ago, I heard a bird making a noisy racket up in a tree near one end of the garden. I walked over to see what all the fuss was about. Just … Continue Reading →
“Hand in Hand, Crafting With Kids” (Sterling Publishing/$19.95) by Jenny Doh will have you spending hours crafting with kids with lots of new and exciting projects. Featured projects include making stilts, papier mache masks, a felt tooth pillow, a felted flower bowl, an electronics pouch, a “first quilt,” a paper roll bracelet, a keepsake pillow and so … Continue Reading →
You can use your knitting and/or crocheting skills to participate in the “Birmingham in Stitches” public art yarn bombing project. This just in: “The Birmingham Public Arts Board is seeking volunteers to participate in its “Birmingham in Stitches” public art yarn bombing project. This project will involve knitting/crocheting large-scale objects for placement on or near … Continue Reading →
If you like knitting garments that are especially feminine looking, then “Essentially Feminine Knits, 25 Must-Have Chic Designs” (Interweave/$24.95) offers you a range of patterns to choose from. The author, Lene Home Samsoe, a full-time knitwear designer for yarn companies, magazines and periodicals, shares her instructions for simple-to-knit sweaters, hoodies, shrugs and accessories, all of which can … Continue Reading →
As my friends and I plan for a trip to Italy and Spain this month, we’ve been perusing guidebooks and websites to create an itinerary, one that includes not only major ruins, monuments and museums but also hot spots for dining, nightlife and entertainment. But as I browsed the fruit and vegetable stands at Detroit’s … Continue Reading →
It has been pretty dry in the garden for the past several days. The plants have begun to show a little drought stess but I’ve been able to keep up with watering. I took advantage of the dry weather by drying some cilantro. I had some that was started early and needed to be harvested. … Continue Reading →
I own a lot of different kind of gardening tools. The most unusual one has to be my hand-held rotary hoe. Farmers have been using large rotary hoes for decades. These are non-powered tools, not to be confused with rotary tillers. They were especially popular in the days before chemical herbicides came into wide-spread use. … Continue Reading →
A couple of days ago an unexpexted guest showed up in front of our garage door. It was a big, two-eyed, scary-looking beetle that was just sitting there, motionless — looking like it was dead. It was easy to scoop up into a jar so I could have someone take a look at it for … Continue Reading →