Seedlings

A few weeks ago I sowed some Feverfew, Pennyroyal, and Hyssop seeds I got from 'Nichols Garden Nursery' in pots of soil from the vegetable garden. What has come up so far? Some weeds and 5 onions. I guess I shouldn't have gotten soil from so close to the green onions. Which isn't so bad, because we can always use more onions.

After these less than spectacular results, I've decided to try going back to the old school science experiment where you put two beans in wet paper towels placing one in a dark location and the other in sunny spot to see which one does better (long story short, the one in the dark did better) by putting catnip seeds in a wet paper towel in an old pill bottle and leaving it in a dark spot in my closet. Checking every other day it to make sure it's still moist. It looks like two of the seeds on top are germinating, or they are growing some weird looking lines of white mold.

By the way it's wasp season over here. Mom has stopped six nests from being built in the green house and the pump house already.

      Thank you for reading Bats Bizarre's official blog. Have a bat-tastic day!

Roxi Rabbit

My Roxi Rabbit doll is named for a pet rabbit I had years ago. She was an 'opal' mini rex and liked to chase the cats around the house. She would kick up her heels as she turned the corner.  I wish I had some pictures to show you, but she got sick very soon after we brought her home.

 
  It takes me about 9 hours to make one doll; which means I'm basically running a one woman sweat shop, but I really don't see people paying that much for a doll... cute as it may be.
   Most of the time is spent sewing, stuffing, and embroidering the bunny's face. It probably wouldn't take as long if I didn't obsess over the amount of stuffing and the placement of the eyes and nose; but, let's face it, that's not going to happen.

  I don't really know how or why, but every rabbit I make is slightly different. Not just in the way I embroider the face or the way I stuff it, I somehow end up knitting it a little differently each time.
The one in the middle is the first one I made, the prototype rabbit, aka my rabbit.
I sign each one with a green 'J'. Mom says I should number them, I might start doing that.



For some reason I can't make a pom-pom that won't fall apart when pull on it. I have to take a needle and white thread and sew through it repeatedly all the way around, before I sew it on.


 Buy one at: https://www.etsy.com/listing/118366145/roxi-rabbit   

   
   Thank you for reading Bats Bizarre's official blog. Have a bat-tastic day! 

Easter Chicks

It took a while, but I finally figured out a pattern for hand knitted chicks. I wanted them to look like day old chicks, which pretty much look like a little ball on top of a bigger ball on stilts. I couldn't make the stilts, so I sewed little feet on them. I'm not sure how many people know this, but chicks have blue eye when they hatch. They turn yellow or brown after a couple of months.

   When I was knitting the second yellow chick I thought to myself "It would be cool to make one that looked like a Barred Rock or Australorp chick." Both are black with patches of cream. (I'm calling it a Barred rock chick, because surprisingly Australorps have more cream on them.)


 I've never seen a chicken with an orange beak and/or feet, but everybody's chicks have them so I thought I'd offer it. 

Some things I've learned while making the chicks:
  I stink at making eyes (I'm working on it) and color working in the round is hard. (But I still prefer it to making it flat and having to sew it up later.)
Below is the listing.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/127592485/hand-knitted-chicks?ref=shop_home_active

                  Happy Easter.  
 
                                 Thank you for reading Bats Bizarre's official blog. Have a Bat-tastic day!

Snakes and seeds

After a 2 week hiatus my Chinese New Year Snakes are back available for sale, and with a new color: black and gold.



I got the Eucalyptus and Ancho chile seeds I ordered from Johnny's seeds today.  Guess I'll be planting soon. This is my first time trying the grow Eucalyptus. It's an annual in places were the ground freezes, which means you can't come count on it coming back in spring, so I'll be keeping it in a pot and moving it in to the green house next winter, assuming it grows. I love the smell of Eucalyptus.

 My Mom loves Ancho peppers, also called Pablano peppers. They're the ones you're supposed to use for stuffed peppers. They can take the place of bell peppers or hot peppers in recipes.