Days of Yore Update

I can’t believe it has been 6 months since I started my Days of Yore Challenge. The time has flown by. So, how is it going? Time to do a mid-year evaluation.

I must admit my challenge is not going as well as I had hoped. Dealing with family and caking commitments took necessary precedence over a self-imposed challenge and sidetracked many plans.

Baking

In late January, I was asked to make a wedding cake for an old friend’s daughter. I have known them for years and jumped at the chance. The cake took several weeks to complete and near the end I was working 10- and 12-hour days to get it finished on time. As usual, I was not completely happy with the end result – I never am – but the cake was enjoyed by many and that was my goal.

It was a chocolate cake with 2 fillings; one was dark chocolate ganache and the other passionfruit curd. It was then covered in Swiss meringue buttercream and finally fondant. I made gum past calla lilies and stephanotis to accent. The bride supplied the cute cake topper, the bride and groom sitting back-to-back playing a video game. I was exhausted when it was finished but I was glad to do it. I may never get the chance to make a wedding cake again.

I took a couple of weeks in March to get caught up on general household chores that had been neglected while making the wedding cake then it was time to make my birthday cake. I had an idea and wanted to try it out. Again, it did not turn out quite as I had hoped (I rushed it at the end) but it was okay. The idea was to make a witchy vase. The bottom tier was a coconut cake with a lime filling. The top tier (the neck of the vase) was just Styrofoam. The gum paste flowers were then inserted into the Styrofoam. I was able to keep the top and the flowers and eat the bottom. The cake tasted pretty good but the lime filling, although good, had a bit of a lemon flavour. I believe this is due to not having used only fresh limes and substituting a bit of bottled lime juice. I think it gave the filling a more acidic flavour than it would have had if I had just used fresh.

Another simpler birthday cake ended the month of June.

Making

I have not yet completed any of the sewing that I intended to do. With my house being quite small I only have the one large kitchen/dining room table to use. So, when I am making cake, the table is out of commission for anything else.

I finally finished one of the dollies I was crocheting for Gwyl Awst (August 1). I was hoping to make a second one to match but I am now working on a new produce bag for my onions. I have found that keeping my onions in the same box (different drawer) as my potatoes is not working. If I don’t use up both quickly enough, they react to each other and then I loose them all. So, I am working on a bag that I can put my onions in to hang in my pantry. I will share the finished product when complete.  

Gardening

My garden planning was completed in March. I never know exactly how the spacing etc. is going to work out until I am actually doing it. On May 25, I started clearing out the weeds. These are primarily dandelions that I always let grow in the spring for the bees. This took a few days to complete, and I had the blisters to prove it.

One thing I would like to note is that I pulled my Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) out of my garden as I discovered it was considered an invasive plant in Alberta. This opinion has been proving correct as Wormwood has started to spread all over my yard. Wormwood is also, while considered medicinal, poisonous. So, I pulled it out and have replaced it with oregano and spearmint. Now, I know, you are going to say – “NO! You didn’t plant a mint in the ground!” But yes, yes I did. After watching Monty Don speak about how to control mints, I am okay with this plant. Also, voles don’t like it so if it spreads a bit, I am not too concerned.

On May 28, I was able to add my amendments to the soil and had my hubby rototill. Yes, I know it is better not to but until I am happy with my soil, this is how it is going to be. There are still a lot of stones and clay from when we had the house built 20 years ago and the builder just dumped everything in the backyard and covered it with crappy soil.

By June 4, I had everything in the veggie garden planted. Within a week, I started seeing my baby plants sprout. Everything is now up. The last thing to get into the ground were my new raspberry canes a few days ago.

The Meditation Garden is doing well. Everything I planted last year has come back. My Burr Oak took his time but had yellow male flowers this year. Yes, they do flower. He now has a new beautiful batch of leaves and new growth. My Lilac has beautiful new leaves and the Ninebark, although it had a difficult winter, is leafing. I threw out some wildflower seeds and planted a few new seedlings – Echinacea, Foxgloves, and a new Royal Fern.

In the front I pulled my Meadowsweet. It hasn’t really been doing well there, and I instead put in a native blue columbine. I also pulled my old moss phlox from the garden around my Mountain Ash (Ashlyn’s Garden) and replanted a few new ones, as well as another blue columbine and a couple of Alberta roses. My plan, as you may already know, is to increase the native species in my yard. I am working toward having a native wildlife garden.

Hearthkeeping

Finally, I am going to report on the other things I was planning to do. The primary one being cutting back on social media. This has proven more difficult than I originally thought. While I have cut down, I am not where I want to be. I use YouTube for music and much of the time, I end up watching silly videos and some that are downright stupid. So, this challenge is still a work in progress.

As for my other plans – less eating out, wearing period clothes, planting native (see above), making handicrafts. These are also works in progress and I will report further in the future.

I would also like to share that in January I completed my Alberta Food Handlers Certificate through Alberta Health Services. In June, I rejoined the Alberta Herbalists Association. I have finally picked up my Master Herbalists program again. I am also back to learning Welsh using Duolingo. So, these activities will all need their own time. I think making a schedule might be an idea?

I hope your summer is going well and everything you plant grows into a great harvest this fall.