...4.6...Over the weekend...

...we started the weekend with a tofu scramble...

...followed by the weekly shopping...absolutely nothing of note...

...and since it was the first weekend of the month...we did all of the once-a-month-cleaning things around the house...

...and then it was after noon when we finally started on the job to replace the overgrown boxwoods out front...

...we just used the saws-all to cut off all the branches...

...and then we dug and dug and dug...to remove the roots...haha...

...and we're replacing them with the gardenias that we already have...these are the two that we moved last year as they weren't doing well at all in the sunny back yard...and although this variety is supposed to be able to handle full sun...it was not...but since they're doing so much better here on the shady side of the house, we're going to move them front and center...well almost...the really small one will go under the yaupon tree...

...so we planted him first...

...and then the shiny healthy one right next to the steps...

...we've still got two more boxwoods to remove...

...and we'll be replacing them with the two beside the backyard gate...but we called it a day for now...

...the next day...we sawed off all the limbs...

...and dug and dug and dug...again...

...looking down from the steps...

...and then we popped the two larger (wider) gardenias into their holes...and then moved the two (new) gardenias as they were also showing some stress...and we had bought them to replace the first ones...they grow taller and not as wide...so we dug two new holes and planted them behind the first one...

...and it looks a lot better...

...just neater and not as straggly...

...hopefully they'll all do well here as they'll be shaded most of the day and only get the softer afternoon sun...and the grass is still trying to turn green...haha...

...and since we'll be reclaiming the two corners by the gate as garden space...I moved the lillies to the spaces where the transplanted gardenias used to be...

...and I think the only food prep I did was to make some guacamole for a snack...

~Wishing you a lovely start to your week!

...4.4...Dinner and a Movie...

...almost forgot to post today...

...the Man used the ingredients we got last weekend to make a delicious ramen lomein...

...it was perfect...

...and the movie was a couple more episodes of His Dark Materials...we just finished season 1...and although it does follow the books better than the movie did...it helps to have already read the books as there's quite a bit from the second novel (The Subtle Knife) intermingled in this first series...

...what have you been watching lately?

~Have a lovely weekend!

...4.3...Fix-It-Friday...

...almost a year ago...while the kiddos were visiting from Alaska...they gifted me this purse...and I lost the zipper pull...my own fault really as I knew the end of the zipper had come unstitched from the side of the bag...and I did not do a "stitch in time"...so now I've got to do "nine"...haha...

...but knowing that my local thrift store almost always has un-sellable purses/wallets/bags for free...I knew I could appropriate a new zipper pull that would be the right size (purse zippers aren't the same size as most clothing zippers)...I just took out my little scissors at the thrift store and snipped the end of a used up black poly bag...the fake leather was flaking and worn and I figured its only purpose now would be to furnish people with 'parts'...haha...

...I'm also reversing the way the zipper pulls...it's just easier to put it on that way...but I want a more permanent stopper on the end than just tucking in the zipper and stitching it to the bag (the way it was before)...so I took a lumber staple from the pack...

...cut it off and bent it to shape to fit over the zipper teeth...

...poked it through the fabric and pinched it together...then I stitched the rest of the zipper closed with strong thread...

...and now pulling the zipper to the end it will stop against this staple...I know this pull is shiny gold and the old one was burnished...but I'm ok with it...

...I'm happy to have a functioning bag again...

...and the library book is for a future project...haha...more to come...

~Have a lovely day!

...4.2...Delicious Vegan Food we ate...

...we made Marry Me Chickpeas...

...such a delicious one-pot meal...

...what delicious food have you been eating lately?...

~Have a lovely day!

...4.1...W.I.P. Wednesday...

...Little Sissie's Birthday present is finally on it's way to Alaska...

...I sewed her tutu back together...

...and I found this Free Girl’s Leotard Sewing Pattern over at Bonnie and Blithe...and I also found a stretchy lavender coloured adult turtleneck at the thrift store so I cut that up and the pattern fit on the folded back perfectly...

...cut it out and stitched it together...I think it looks good with the dark purple tutu...

...added all of the elastic...and it was a lot...

...it's so cute...

...now on to the ballet slippers...I just grabbed this pattern from Pinterest...and scaled it to size with the printer...and the dollie's one too...

...dollie's slippers were really fiddly to make...

...but they turned out super cute...

...making the ribbon ties...

...attached the ties to the back seam...

...wrapped them to the front and tied in a bow...

...then just stitched up the girl sized slippers...making larger ties with the bias tape doo-hicky...

...and in case you thought I only played yarn chicken...you'd be wrong...I play thread chicken as well...hahaha...

...and the lavender ballet slippers were complete...I laced them up over some paper tubes just to hold the lacing prettily in place...

...and then I cast on for Little Sissie's ballet leg warmers...I used the Ballerina Leg Warmers by Caryn Prouty pattern...

...it's pretty shapely...and the top ribbing is designed to sit above the knee...

...the neat calf increases up the back...like knitting knee socks...

...so you end up with a left and a right...

...Little Sissie's entire purple ballerina outfit is now complete...a little hard to photograph like this though...

...trying to get it all from overhead...

...dressing dollie up in her matching outfit...adding the leg warmers...

...and the ballet sweater...

...and then I strapped her back into her box...which is also purple...ha...

...and finally...I don't know why I've not already made the girlies a Birthday Crown to wear on their birthdays...

...I should have already done it...

...the Princess Crown pattern is from Hatting Madley Crochet...

...the Man replaced the downstairs thermostat...and it came in the perfect box for storing the crown...

...so I traced it onto a piece of poster paper...

...so then I creased all of the folds...

...and folded it into a box...

...the perfect size replica box...

...for storing the crown between birthdays...

...and the crown sits neatly inside...

...so then I decorated the top...of course...

...what's in your workbasket this week?...

~Have a lovely day!