Gardening woes, and Christmas already???

OK, so my garden was a complete failure... the ants liked the beans so well that they ate them before they sprouted!  I planted them three times, but they ate them every time, so I finally gave up on beans.  The black-eyed peas came up (well, three of them did...) and looked nice for a while... I even had a few blossoms and bean pods, but then the ants ate the beans and the pods right off the vine and I had no harvest!  The cantaloupe and zucchini also sprouted, but due to the poor soil or the hot sun (or both!) they did not survive... the peppers were the last to come up, and they never got over 3 inches tall... Here is a photo of the total harvest from my experimental garden...

Yep, that's it... one TINY pepper!  I guess I'll go back to what I know best, flowers!  Here are some that I rooted from some broken pieces given to me by a friend...

The leaves are such a lovely purple, a nice contrast from all the green around here!  They bloom early in the morning, so I get to see them at their best as I'm leaving for school...

This unusual flower was already here, so I can't take any credit for it... but it is lovely!



As the rainy season has returned, things are now green and lush again... the dust has settled, and the humidity has increased with the temperatures... I'm having a hard time getting in the mood for Christmas, with all the rain and hot temperatures, but it is coming whether I am ready or not!  My daughter was able to send me a package of Christmas fabric, so we have been busy little elves the past two weeks!  Christmas prints are almost impossible to find here, so we have been making home decor items and aprons for sale at our first Exposition of the season... THIS WEEKEND!  Yes, I know it seems early to those of us who usually wait until Thanksgiving is over to decorate for Christmas, but remember, there is no Thanksgiving holiday here in Africa...  So, on to Christmas!  Here are some examples of what we have been making...

Table runners and napkins

Little girls' sundresses

(remember, Christmas is a SUMMER holiday here!)

...and some really cute aprons!

Here I am using what has become my favorite sewing machine I have ever used!  I mean it, including the nice electric ones!  This one is a treadle machine, and I have come to prefer it over all others!  My grandmother had one like this, she made hundreds of clothing items for her family!  This one is over 100 years old and is in perfect working condition... it can't do ziz-zag and buttonholes, but I have not had a need for them here... what craftsmanship!  They really don't make things like they used to...

Like this sewing machine, I pray that I may continue to be useful and dependable, a trusted tool in the hands of the Creator, even into my old age!