Plant Update

So, I meant to post this Monday about how my raspberry plant is doing.  Considering the sudden cold snap and now to high winds, it's holding up pretty well.  I trimmed it Monday morning so more nutrients can now go to the living leaves and hopefully make the branches stronger.

Here's what it looks like, after its trim.

While trimming, I noticed one of the stronger branches is half broken.  I need to do some research to see if I can re-attach it or just start a second plant with it.

This morning when I woke up, I noticed several other plants are starting to sprout...

My Oriental Lillies

My tulips

My herbs

It's so exciting to see things start to grow.  Hopefully I can actually keep my herbs around long enough to use them.  Last year didn't turn out so well.  I also got my starter tray set up with roma tomatoes, green beans, green onions, spinach, and cantaloupe.  Two other containers now hold red and yellow onion bulbs.  I timed everything to be ready to transplant once I move back over to Western Washington.  My dad has some garden space, it'll need a little work and TLC to be ready.  I think it'll be a great project for my brother and sister to help out with.

Music Stand Bag

I play in the local community band and our season is slowly starting.  Summer is our busiest time.  As more and more performances are cropping up on our calender, it just makes sense to keep certain items in the car, my music stand for example.  My first summer I just borrowed a stand from a fellow clarinet player, but I always felt bad about it, that I wasn't as prepared as I should be.  Last summer I found a fold up one at a yard sale for super cheap...then I would forget to bring it.  This season, I told myself I would not forget my stand, and in order to help with that, I made a bag to keep all the pieces together and make it easier to carry around.  The design came from the bag my camera tripod came in.

What you need is:
*some scrap fabric (about a 1/2 yard or so)
*cording (the length of the bag + the width of the bag + a little extra so it can hang off your shoulder)
*cord stopper
*item to go in said bag (my music stand, for example)
*rotary cutter, ruler, and mat
*gauge
*basic sewing supplies

First you want to cut a length of fabric that is about 6-8 inches longer than the stand.  I cut mine on the fold, so I only have one seam to worry about.

Next sew up the bottom.  Be sure to re-enforce it!  I used a standard 5/8" seam allowance here.

Now comes the detail work.  Make a 1/4" narrow hem on both sides at the top.  Have the hem go down about 6".  This will make your opening nice and neat.

Then press over 1/4" at the top and then fold over another inch to make the casing for your cording.

Next, feed your cording through and add the stopper.

Then keep the cording inside the bag and pin it where you want it to attach at the bottom.  Mine is about 2" from the bottom seam.  I have my cording stick out a little bit from the edge, so I can see it better when I sew the seam up.  Re-enforce where the cording is to make sure it stays put.

Finally, trim the corners and flip it right side out.  And, ta-da!  You have your very own music stand (or whatever) bag!  You can press the seams if you want, but it's not necessary.

This stays in my car and it keeps all the pieces together so they don't go sliding around everywhere in the backseat.  And with the shoulder strap, I can carry it easier to and from performances.  It's also big enough that I can stick my phone and a water bottle in there too!

An Experiment

Yesterday I went out to see what Easter candy was left (and consequence ridiculously cheap) as well as pick up potting soil and starter trays for my garden this year.  Didn't find much as far as candy goes, which is probably a good thing.  However, roaming around the garden center at Wal-Mart I found some rather sad looking berry bushes.  I've always wanted fresh raspberries, and due to their sad shape they were only a couple bucks.  It looked like they sat in the direct sun for too long and probably over watered.  I needed to get plant food anyways, so I took home a raspberry bush.  Mixed in a little fresh soil and gave it some plant food before heading off to work.  I wish I took a picture, poor thing only had one green leaf.  I found this when I got home 4 hours later...

Once a week for the next month, I will water it with the water-based plant food I have and then go down to every other week (Box recommends every 7 - 14 days during busy plant growth) and we'll see what happens.  I'm not expecting any fruit this year, but if I can at least nurse it back to health and then hopefully I can have lots of raspberries in the future!  Every week, I'll post a new picture and track its progress.