Alyrenee's Copious Spare Time

The City Gardener's Handbook: The Definitive Guide to Small Space Gardening With nuptials looming and the very real threat of having our reception at our apartment instead of the theatre, (due to said theatre being a bunch of dunderheads) the State of the Garden has moved to DEFCON 4!!! Luckily I did some raking and weeding before all this rain started, so it could look much worse now. My perennials are happily making their way into the world though. The first strategic planting attack will be Mother's Day. I'll be sticking with reds, whites, and yellows for annual flowers. I must work on the front yard this year beyond flower boxes on the porch (I have generally ignored it in the past). Perhaps I should read up on some city gardening?

In this Episode: Knitting, Spinning, State of the Garden Address, Costumes, Comics, & Dolls! Knitting: Ravelry Group Stitches Midwest Acquisitions YarnCon Chicago! Yarncon vendors I either bought from or loved their stuff... Arrow in Her Quiver Biggie CloudLover Chicago Knitters Unite! -Knitting Meetup Group KnitCircus Magazine Pattern Tamers Pumpkinhaus Stitch Candy SpinSpanSpun Knitting Projects: DIY Niddy Noddy Side Cable Hat Hollywood Herringbone State of the Garden Address: Stonecrop Plant Saving Morning Glory seeds... Comics: Geektress Podcast DC Wednesday Comics Genuine Molded Plastic: Dolls Fashion Royalty Convention Recap Tonner Sinister Circus Modern Doll Collector's Convention Sinister Circus Backstabber Project Dollway Couture Doll Design Challenge Podcast Question to Ponder: Managing your stash? Is your collection/stash size getting you donw? Do you feel overwhelmed by the amount of fiber, fabric, comics, dolls, toys, etc that you have acquired or do you feel t...

In this episode: The 3/50 project: Supporting your local community, a State of the Garden Address, Knitting Adventures in Wicker Park, sewing Built by Wendy patterns, and a Guilty Pleasure: Ice Cream Parlors. Enjoy! Support Local! Click to Listen! http://www.350project.net State of the Garden Address! Crafty Beaver: Knitting Raglan Cabled Baby Sweater Bijoux Sweater Bucktown/Wicker Park Adventure: Soutache Knitting Workshop The Needle Shop Fluevog Shoes Nina Chicago String Theory Yarn Company Owls Sweater Sew What? Built By Wendy Hoodie Pattern Guilty Pleasure: Old Timey Ice Cream Parlors Margie's Candies in Chicago!

Planted it all this saturday and sunday with the help of me mum on saturday and I did the rest on sunday night! Huzzah. And all for $50 in annuals. Which means I have $25 left in the garden budget to get a few more perennials this year. Weee.

So, I started on the garden this sunday. Did some minimal weeding and broke up the ground a bit while it was still soft from all the rain. I took some before pictures for your viewing pleasure. I then went to ye olde walmart to get some cheap annuals. When I scurry up some more cash I plan to go get a few nice perennials to add to the growing perennial collection. I figure in the long run it's a way better investment than annuals. The magnolia tree in the backyard is AMAZING this year as well!

Well the bulk of my garden is now dead,dead,deadski...but the morning glories are a force of nature...