I'm thinking of renaming this blog. Something like, The Blog of Good Intentions. Or maybe, The Road to Hell is Paved with Blog Intentions.
I just can't juggle like I used to. The good part of that is when I'm not blogging, it's because I'm busy at my sewing machine. Yessiree, I was sewing up a storm this summer, making and selling bags at the local Farmers Market. I didn't make a bundle of money - didn't come even close to covering my time, but I made enough to be able to afford a few more zippers and remnant bundles. Life is good.
Or was. Now my sewing machine needs an infusion. Honestly, it's never been quite the same since the needle hammered the needleplate apart earlier this year. The stitches after that were less than crisp, 
and in the past two weeks they've turned downright ugly. The tension is whacked, and no amount of fiddling will make it right. So it's into the repair shop on Saturday when we go to the big city. One nice thing about spending most of my Saturdays this year at the Market selling bags is that a few people asked me for custom orders, and I'm still working on a couple. So I need my baby back in top form.
The stitching has gotten so bad that I was sewing together two pieces of material a few days ago, in an area that was going to be covered by lining, and the stitches looked so awful that I ripped them out and did it again. And I'm not usually that fussy!
The other thing that consumed my time this past month was the vegetable garden! Tons and tons of tomatoes. And a bumper crop of hot peppers - de Arbol chilis, Jalapenos and Habaneros. Thanks to that huge mound of dirt next to the garden, left there when the paving blocks were put down last summer, the pepper plants were warm and happy all year. My husband learned how to can 
from one of our neighbours, and has turned several tons of tomatoes into tomato sauce - a fantastic addition to our Friday night home made pizzas. I've also made a few jars of tomato chutney and some salsa. And there are still more tomatoes.
I highly recommend the Amish Paste heirloom tomato as a tasty and highly prolific sauce tomato. The Super Italian Paste isn't bad, either. And I entered my Brandywine beefsteak tomatoes in our Fall Fair in September and won First prize! (Yes, I still have the ribbon.) They are the BEST eating tomato I've ever tasted.
I grew dozens of tomato (and pepper) plants from seed this Spring and sold them at the Market. What I didn't sell, I planted in my garden, but I sold a lot. Several customers came by my table at the Market later in the year to let me know that the plants they bought from me out grew and out produced the plants they bought from the local nurseries. I'm already making plans for next year's plants.
If you want to try any of these bags, here are the patterns that I based them on: you can find the wristlet here, the wallet here, and the Halloween Treat Bags here.
Until next time,
