Above: The Garden, October 16. Prepared the soil for seeds.

Below (from topmost): The Garden, December 11; hello tomato; zucchini in the making; peas and corn! 

Devon requested for this journal set. She picked out the shiny violet buttons and instructed me on where to sew them: right smack in the center of the journal and the bag and on the handle. She then created an original artwork with pen and colored pencil, which I attached as an inner lining to the journal. So now she has a truly unique journal! She told me she will take it to school, and when people ask her where she got it, she would say, “In Heaven.”

I’d like to credit Pham Fatale for this delicious salad recipe. So refreshing and easy to make — it went perfectly with the barbecued lamb we had for dinner. I am reprinting her recipe here, with tweaks for two servings — and I used feta cheese instead of Pecorino pepper cheese, and preferred to not roast the walnuts. Delicious! I shall try her other recipes!

Ingredients
Yield: 2 servings 
2 cups rocket leaves, washed and spin-dried
1 Granny Smith apple
8 whole walnuts
2 lemons
2 teaspoons creamed honey
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, finely minced
¼ teaspoon salt
4 tsps extra virgin olive oil

Method:
Prepping the apple: Core and cut the apple in thin wedges, leaving the skin on. Place the apple in a bowl and coat in the juice of half a lemon to prevent oxidation of the fruit and drizzle with a teaspoon of honey.
For the vinaigrette: In a bowl, mix together the remaining honey, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Set aside.
Assembly time: Place the rocketin a large bowl. Drizzle with 3-4 tablespoons of salad dressing. Toss well. Top with the sliced apple and nuts and crumbled feta cheese.

Drizzle with the rest of the dressing (or serve on the side). Serve immediately.

For today’s project, I decided to hone my drawstring bag techniques. While I won’t talk too much about my faults (ie the lower left curve of the slipper bag is too angular, not rounded), I will talk about what inspired me. The small floral prints are reminiscent of summertime, which is just around the corner here in New Zealand, and so are the cherries and pair of Japanese zori (slippers or as they say here, jandals). The cherry bag is called Noelle (my friend who asked for cherries and who is a December “summer” baby) and the zori bag is Natsuko, which means “summer child”. They’ll come with matching journals for writing your work in progress.

Practice makes perfect, so I’ve made a commitment to sew something daily — no matter how small — just so I get into the habit of using the sewing machine and learning how to discover different ways I can use it. So far, I’ve been making little pouch bags, and while they have been cute, they are literally rough around the edges.

Today’s project was one I found online: a pellon-lined fabric journal cover I call “Mayumi” made from scrap cloth. The strip of patchwork was fun to make, and the Japanese floral fabric inspired the name, which means “truth, reason, beauty” in Japanese, and “gentle” in Tagalog . I didn’t know how to “close” the top and bottom, so I just sewed across and then did edging to keep it from fraying. I actually like the rough look, but am worried it’ll come undone anytime soon. So to my crafty friends out there, feel free to share your advice!