Spring Flowers

I just wanted to share the beauty of spring in my backyard, please enjoy the photos.

A shining beauty of all times the Dogwood blossoms.

An old-time favorite - Flowering Quince

Bubble is sleeping by the last of the Forsythia in bloom

The Lilacs smell sweet.

 

Paige is in the garden with the Dogwood tree blooming in the background - also the tulips and forget-me-nots are all abloom.

Grape Hyacinths are blooming where the early tulips once bloomed.

Parrot tulips by the birdbath, the miniature daffodils are still blooming in the background. In the back are my old neighbor Mrs. Jensen's Primroses.

Finally you can see the clematis I had pruned earlier is leafing out and the grape hyacinths (muscari) are blooming. I love this little garden right by the back door. Happy Spring!

Earth Day

Tomorrow is Earth Day.

I thought I'd share a few ideas I had on how to celebrate.

Plant a redbud tree.

Purchase more grocery totes.

Purchase a water filter for the kitchen faucet.

Take name off junk mail list. http://directmail.com/directory/mail_preference/

Find coffee thermos for coffee-on-the-go (This helps the savings account also).

Plant a few pansies just to brighten the day, the table, and the soul.

Buy locally grown asparagus (my favorite way to fix it is to put it on hot dog forks or skewers, drizzle with olive oil, salt & pepper to taste, then grill. May be topped with shredded Parmesan cheese).

Or just roll in the grass!

Let's enjoy our Earth tomorrow.

A First Glance at This Week

Every Sunday I sit down for a few minutes with a cup of coffee and look at the week ahead. A moment spent looking at my new year's resolutions, business, family and personal appointments. Here is what I came up with to do this week --

Resolutions -
Celebrate myself; do something for me. This week I'll try a new hair color (maybe go back to my original red hair color not strawberry blonde) and check out a new spring purse (shop my closet first maybe there is one that I forgot about or one I can retro fit. Hmmm?)

Nurture friendships; spend time who people who encourage each other and applaud achievements. Maybe a get-together we haven't done that since February. Also I'll send a hand written note to acknowledge someone's success or good news. (A friend just found out she is going to be a Grandma and card to the expecting parents would be nice.)

Becoming a Healthy Renaissance woman; I have a new recipe to try for dinner and for my lunch. Also I found a new tea to try - still looking for the perfect iced tea for summer. Search the internet to find out how to get my bike ready for riding - finally bike riding weather. I would like to find some new/old music to listen to, I'll ask the kids what they are listening to these days. Does anyone else have ideas?

Business -
Get a Face book fan page for my website. Along with sending out an email newsletter (I have a few signed up, Yeah!)

It is Administrative Professional Day this week I'll have to think on this.....

Family/Personal -
Keep working on the David Bach book plan. This is building on Dave Ramsey’s plan.

Plan something fun for the weekend.

Spring Cleaning; Where? And what?

Earth Day this week what should we do?

Take time to sew.

Lots of things to do and think on but not lots of work just life. I'll share as I go this week...

Just went out to edge the flower beds. Not planting time yet so this is the best time to edge and get a jump on the spring chores. The temperature was in the 50's today, warmer than normal. My father stopped in and mentioned the rhubarb was big enough to pick.

Yes, a fresh rhubarb pie was on his mind. And since it started my mouth watering and my husband smiling I picked some and went in to make a pie. My go-to recipe is from Lisa Yockelson's 'Country Pies' cookbook. (It is part of a three cookbook set including 'Country Cookies' and 'Country Cakes'. A great collection!) A bonus - I was able to use some strawberries I had frozen last summer in the pie. Only two packages left in the freezer enough to last until picking time in 6 or 7 weeks. Sunday dinner is now complete, yum.

A note on this picture of chopping rhubarb. The cutting board is from my niece as a Christmas gift she made for me in middle school shop class. What a dear thoughtful gift - I think I am always chopping.

Flowers Blooming

I thought I'd share a few flower pictures. We are being blessed with an early spring. These tulips, Heart's Delight (Kaufmanniana or Water Lily tulips), are planted with lamb's ears and muscari (grape hyacinth) with each blooming later. All of them are planted under a mature Japanese Maple by our patio hence the orange electrical cord for the lights in the tree. I planted this last fall and am bowled over by their beauty.

I also planted miniature daffodils because of the wild life eating the crocus. (Only half of the crocus bloom and part of them are dug up so I do not know if there will be any next year.) Again these daffodils went beyond my expectations! As you can see there is only one lonely crocus blooming and Paige came running to be in the picture. I ordered all these bulbs from http://www.johnscheepers.com/

The garlic in the garden is getting bigger. I planted French red shallots, white 'keeping' onions, spinach, lettuce, radishes and peas. I am trying a few French varieties of peas, lettuce and radishes - to keep experimenting in my French year. Luckily these are cold-weather veggies since low temperatures are coming back. I'm off to pot-up the dahlias so they can be blooming earlier and so I can enjoy the sunshine. Have a great weekend!

Warm Weather

Hello Warm Weather and April! We have been blessed with temperatures in the 70’s, today close to 80 degrees. Yesterday, the girls and I went out and worked in the garden. I trimmed the clematis. This took some research that I wanted to share.

Here is some background. My plant came from my grandmother over 10 years ago and she did not know the variety or type. This poor plant has moved with me 5 times. So it has not had a chance to thrive or for me to see it bloom. Well it bloomed last summer big beautiful purple blooms. A picture from clematisnursery of my variety -

I have not trimmed it all these years because it has never gotten over 3 feet. My last move was 3 blocks two summers ago, when I got married, so I dug it up with a big soil ball, put it in the wheelbarrow, walked it up the street and planted in immediately. And it bloomed the first year in a new spot. Yeah! Now it is time to prune, it is falling over the support. I found out after visiting two wonderful sites – homeofclematis.net and clematisnursery.com – that I have a Jackmanii variety. More specifically, I have a 'Purpurea Superba' with dark, velvety purple flowers. Here is a photo of the clematis before pruning -

Another photo I can not resist putting in of Bubble.

Now here is all the other wonderful information I found. Clematis can live up to 50 years and its trellis or support should be adequate for its final height. (Mine is not so it is time to think of something new.) ‘Clematis X jackmanii was the first of the large-flowered clematis hybrids, and it and its subsequent selections and hybrids are still the most popular varieties. Members of the Jackman group of clematis produce flowers on the current season's growth, and therefore bloom later in the season than do clematis cultivars that produce their flowers on the previous season's growth. The Jackman cultivars climb with twining stems and cling with leaf stalks that twist and clasp. With good support, vines can reach a length of 10 ft (3 m) in a single growing season. The vines are semi woody and the deciduous leaves are trifoliate or simple, opposite, and 2-4 in (5-10 cm) long. The spectacular flowers are abundant and large, to 7 in (17.8 cm) across, with 4-6 petal-like sepals, each about 2 in (5 cm) long. Produced from midsummer until first frost, flowers of the various cultivars may be single or double and come in a rainbow of colors. They are saucer shaped and face up and outward, proud of their singular beauty. The fruit is a very distinctive achene (dry, 1-seeded capsule) with a 2 in (5 cm) long silver gray wispy "tail" covered with long silky hairs. They are packed in long lasting fluffy clusters…

…Since Jackman clematis produces flowers on the current season's growth, they should be pruned to the ground in late winter or early spring before new growth begins.’ This all comes from Steve Christman, http://www.floridata.com/ref/c/clem_xja.cfm. I'm thinking again, I need a new pillar or a tall trellis. What will it be? I quick picture of the girls watching me prune - the grass isn't greening up but it is a great day. (A note about the girls they are adopted retired greyhounds. They love to run for short periods of time and then they rest for longer periods of time. They are such great company in the garden.)

Some of the rest good information I found was wonderful pruning diagrams from clematisnursery.com. So I pruned out the dead wood and broken vines. Here is a picture of it completed - no hanging vines.

Afterwards I sat down with a friend, a glass of tea and enjoyed the sun. The tea was a new recipe of green tea with frozen blueberries and strawberries, it need a zip maybe next time a bit of mint or sugar. I’ll keep you up to date on the recipe. Let’s go enjoy the sun again today.

Remember today is April Fool's Day in the USA. I am not a good person for thinking up pranks but I do enjoy hearing about them. So today let's remember 1998 and the USA Today newspaper story of Burger King's Left-Handed Whopper. So when is the Right-Handed Whopper coming out?

Spring is flirting with us!

Spring is flirting with us in Michigan these past few days. The weather has been unseasonably warm in the 60's. I took the 'girls' for a walk yesterday - today we just played in the backyard. They ran through the crocus I planted last fall, only a few were broke. I'll have to come up with an interesting fence. Today I am planting my leeks and 'Green Zebra' tomatoes inside. I am a little late on the leeks but the seed just arrived today. My neighbor tried starting the 'Green Zebra' tomatoes last year with the other tomatoes and they didn't have enough time to produce. So I thought I'd start now. I am trying a few seed trays that I had in the garden shed.

I decided to start a variety of heirloom tomatoes, leeks, Nicotiana alata (flowering tobacco) and a few French vegetables (Rouge d'Hiver Romaine lettuce, Merveilledes Quatre saisons, and Quadrato d'Asti Red Bell Pepper). This is a wink to my education of all things French. On the Michigan side of my garden, the garlic I planted last fall is coming up. I caught the 'girls' checking it out also. I think they were checking to be sure it was coming up because a few hours after I planted it - they were digging it up. (They only dig where I dig in fresh soil and never dig undisturbed soil. Interesting....) But both the hard-neck and soft-neck garlic varieties are coming through nicely. Here is Paige by the hard-neck garlic.

The soft-neck garlic is poking up also.

Here are a couple of my favorite books on garlic - 'Growing Great Garlic' by Ron L. Engeland and 'Garlic is LIfe' by Checter Aaron. The 'Growing Great Garlic is linked to a good source for both types of garlic. I do need to share two last photos of our early spring. The day in the yard with the sun shining was fun for all. I got the birdbath up and Paige has claimed it as her outside water dish...

...Bubble and Paige looking around for a ball or squirrel to chase...

As a final word for the day, 'Welcome Sunshine!'

March

Wow! It's March and I'm sorry I haven't written. Life had a detour planned - menopause. I do not want this to be a sad journal this is just a bump in the road since my total hysterectomy. So it is a new element to life to be navigated. So let's celebrate this journey of life! The snow is still on the ground so no outside gardening but indoors - the amaryllises are blooming their stalks off. (OK bad pun.) But see....



this doesn't show their true color so here is a better one - up close...

Sorry about the forgotten mail on the table. I was just so excited to show off the beauty of these bulbs. I ordered them from http://www.johnscheepers.com/. I also ordered miniatures that are just starting to bloom. I'll share those soon. I am dreaming over his garden seeds for spring planting, so many kinds to choose from. What will I do? Off for now - the sun is starting to shine and the girls (my precious greyhounds) want to romp outside. I promise to be better with my writing, the next one all share March's goals, lessons and adventures with you.

New Year Resolutions...Hmmm...

OK. It is a big list of resolutions. But it all boils down to a New Year, kind of a new home and again kind of a new life. We just celebrated our one year anniversary and have sold my home and decided to stay here. So this year is to combining homes, lives and business. How do you create a home? As an interior designer I have helped many people with their homes - even won awards for it. But how do you create a HOME? I have always admired grand homes from the South, France and England. So this year my thoughts are to explore creating a home with a history - our history. So each month I'll break down and explore 'home-making'. This month I'll work on organizing the office and kitchen. Why? If the office is organized bill keeping will be easier therefore financial goals can be worked on. Also if the kitchen is organized (especially getting rid of the third blender from merging the houses) eating healthy will also be easier. So this month lets explore offices and kitchens....

The other resolution is for me to grow to be well rounded. So I joined the 2010 Happiness Challenge. This week is focused on getting enough sleep. This is an area I need to work on, I push myself to keep getting more done. I am setting a bedtime and sticking to it. I also thought as I wrote my thank you notes for the holidays that I was weak in this area. I went and borrowed a few books from the library today - 'The Art of the Handwritten Note' by Margaret Shepard and 'Words to the Rescue' by Steve Fadie. So my goal is to write one handwritten note a week and to learn more about this 'art'.

To make this week fun in these resolutions I am giving myself an artist date to find some fun ink pens, markers and/or pencils to write with. In my local town there isn't a stationary store but Arnie's Arts & Crafts may work, if not I looked up and found a stationary store, Papers Plus, in Grand Rapids. Maybe a road trip....Also as a treat for organizing the office this weekend I'll make some fun note cards - rubber stamp, watercolor, paper scraps. I'll post them soon.

OK places to start on the resolutions, let's get going on them.