Candy buckets, project bags, and ornamental grass

I got the second candy fabric bucket done, loaded with candy, and delivered on Saturday. I spent all day Saturday visiting family.

I did get a 10x13 vinyl project pouch made for one of my blog readers. I had some small scraps of vinyl, so I decided to make two small bags - an 8x10 and a 8x6.25 - while I was at it and it used up the 2" and 4" strips I had left.   I decided I needed the 8x6.25 to put in my project bag to keep the floss separate.

I did hit one quilt shop while I was out on Saturday. They had just put a bunch of fabric on the clearance shelf so here is what I picked up for $6.00 a yard The fabulous Marcia Derse. There was 4.75 yards!

I liked this green and I thought the spider fabric was cute.

Then I got a yard of this tone on tone print just because.  It was regular price. 

I was having a hard time getting motivated to do anything Sunday, so I worked on my zebra sampler. I got the zebra done. I next had to figure out how much space I needed to leave for the motifs right above the zebra. I don't want to stitch those until I have the location of the border on the right figured out so I can center the heart. So in order to figure that out, I need to stitch the alphabet. I have the horizontal border started then I can start on the alphabet. I have to think about what to stitch since I don't have a chart and that things might not end up exactly as the picture.  I call this improv cross stitching!  LOL!!

Later Sunday I finally decided I needed to do something physical so I decided to start digging up the ornamental grass. The plants had gotten too big for this bed so it is time to divide them.

This is not going to be a easy job! I now have a process figured out so taking out the rest of them should be a little easier. First I dug around the clump, then went around again pushing the spade down to lift the clump out of the ground, then I tried dividing the clump by thrusting the spade into the clump. Well, I got no where with that technique and trying to cut the clump with a knife was fruitless. Then it dawned on me to use my little electric chainsaw to cut up the clump. I know the dirt is not good for the chainsaw blade, but whatever! I got 5 chunks out of that clump! Those clumps weighed over 5 pounds each.

Here is the plan for the clumps; planting them along the property line.

I got out my mattock to chop some holes for the clumps. This is similar to mine. It is better to use than a shovel because it will chop thru roots and there are a lot of roots in this area.

So now they are planted. I'm not looking for perfection here. There were some big roots that I just had to dig a hole where I could. The dirt was easy to dig thru; to roots were the challenge. I think this will look nice once the plants start growing in.  It is about 30' from the top of the hill where I started to the end of the neighbor's fence.  I have plenty of space for the rest of the divided clumps.  All that green is day lilies that never bloom.  I don't think they get enough sun.  I will probably get out the string trimmer and keep cutting them down.  Eventually they will stop growing. 

Here is one gone, 5 to go. My plan is to dig up one clump each night this week. It took me an hour and a half to dig up and replant the first clump. It ought to go a bit faster since I won't waste time trying to divide the clump with the spade. I will be replanting smaller clumps of the ornamental grass in this bed.