Spring has come to our house

GARDEN UPDATE

I have been missing all of you and chatting about our garden! Lots to share, as I am sure there is at your garden, too. A big shout-out to my buds at the Garden Club in Huntington Beach...hope your sale was a success!!

We purchased another greenhouse and have been enjoying it immensely. Right now we have corn, acorn squash, butternut squash, a hybrid zucchini called "8 Ball", cucumbers, zucchini, pattypan squash, peas, strawberries, pumpkin, 5 kinds of lettuce, and numerous herbs. In the front garden we have rhubarb, watermelon, beans, and of course the topsy turvy tomatoes...SEVENTY TWO of them. We are not buying a single tomato this summer!! Trying a few new varieties like black cherry tomato and lemon pearl.

The front greenhouse continues to be happy and full of healthy, growing plants. I followed in my parents footsteps (they were great gardeners) and of course my Aunt Ruth with her blue ribbon award winning amaryllis.  Two years ago my husband gave me three amaryllis for Christmas. Last year two bloomed and this year the red one bloomed and it was amazing!! Bigger than my head.

This year my MIL gave us a lovely gift of a large crock with 4 amaryllis. They are just blooming now.

The garden is waking up and all the plants we have been babying are coming back to life. Here is our beautiful alyssum, which should be an annual, making it into the perennial side.

EASTER ART IDEA

Try this fun idea for those Easter eggs!! 

Make some awesome marbleized looking Easter Eggs quickly and

 easily, without a lot of mess and spending a lot of money.

Here’s what you do:

1. Get some cheap white shaving cream, spread out on a cookie sheet.
2. 
   
3. Dribble food coloring across the surface.
4. 
   
5. Neon food coloring makes cooler looking eggs.
6. 
   
7. Use toothpicks to swirl the colors around in the shaving cream.
8. 
   
9. Take your dried, and cooled hard  boiled egg, and roll it around in
10. 
    
11. the cream. You can use sandwich baggies as gloves to help keep  
12. 
    
13. coloring consistent, keep finger prints off, & keep from staining you
14. 
    
15. Sit colored eggs to the side on a paper plate and allow them to dry
16. 
    
17. for fifteen minutes.
18. 
    
19. After allowing the eggs to sit, wipe off shaving cream & rinse with 
20. 
    
21. water!

 

Here we are starting a whole new year and I am still blogging! So, all of you who thought I couldn't keep it up, you were wrong!! I can't seem to stop sharing the beauty and adventure of our gardening.

This year we are planning to have a large veggie garden. I have already cordoned off a secure area,(which Scoobs already proved was inadequate when his ball ended up in there). I was going to start preparing the soil when I realized that if I put them in pots they would be high enough for the dogs not to bother them growing. So, that's the plan.

Today I started seeds in growing pans to start slowly in the greenhouse to beat any frost we might have. Today I started with Cukes (Muncher and National Pickling) and Rainbow Peppers (Grand Bell Mix). I would love to make pickles as I have never done this! We so enjoyed the bell peppers we had last year and used them to snack on them, in herbed vinegars and dried to use in recipes later.

Also, it's time for bulbs and sadly, after reaching the 1000 mark for planted bulbs, we realized that the dogs are just tearing them up as they run thru the yard. So I am relocating them into pots, where they can sit undisturbed. It's always good to separate your bulbs every couple of years to help their growth.

This is this year's new bulbs I planted today: Ranunculus, Grape Hyacinths (Muscari), Allium, Red/Yellow striped tulips, black tulips, pink parrot tulips, rainbow tulips crocus,chionodoxa,crocosmia and some non-bulbs, morning glories. Tomorrow I will continue with more veggies and some sunflowers. I am going to add sweet corn, spinach, stringless green beans, pattypan squash, zucchini, tomatoes, lettuce, pumpkin, watermelon and peas.

The weather has been so wacky, I am taking advantage of planting early to capitalize on all this sunny weather. Still aways to Spring so they will be quietly, happily growing in the greenhouse until it's time to transplant.

Hope all of you get to play in the dirt a bit this year!


AWKWARD PHOTOS
Here's some from my FB page in case you have missed them. Enjoy the awkwardness!

Copyright 2014 No use without permission

About Time

Happy Veteran's Day! To all who served, or who kept the home fires burning, we thank you.

Well! It has been quite a while since I have posted. For those of you who are new, welcome. This used to be a daily blog but now it is a "whenever" blog...much easier to read and there are lots of great posts for you to rummage through. Don't miss our Index page and List of Recipes and Craft Ideas!

We celebrated the first fire in the fireplace of the season yesterday. Always something to celebrate because it means Fall is officially here to stay.

Still have tomatoes on the vine and hope they quickly ripen before the first frost. It seems that the first frost always sneaks up on us so keeping a good watch on the remaining tomatoes, green beans, pears and bell peppers that are still ripening.

 

Been chilly at night here in the High Desert and snowed in the local mountains this weekend. Of course, being typically California, it was also 75 degrees today and sunny. Chickens are taking advantage of the weather and are still laying strong.

We have been visited by a plethora of fauna lately...baby wild bunnies have a few dens, a red tailed hawk (we could do without his visits), a family of wild quail ( sooo cute the babies trotting after Mama with Daddy proudly watching out), baby bats, alligator lizards and a HUGE roadrunner who loves our front fountain.

Hope where you are the weather is cooperating!

AWKWARD PHOTO OF THE DAY

HALLOWEEN FUNNY

COLORING PAGE

Right mouse click, choose Save Image As...and save to your computer. Then print for Halloween or rainy day fun!

How hot IS it?

Hi, Everyone,

Don't know how the weather is where you are, but here it is late afternoon and 112F. Whew! Keeping a close watch on our animals and making sure they are staying inside.

Weirdly, the chickens are laying like crazy. Must be all that sweat (DO chickens sweat?)

Had 4 beautiful amaryllis blooms, 2 multi-striped red and white and 2 pure white. Gigantic blooms, as big as my head!

Harvested a bounty today with strawberries, yellow, sungold and red tomatoes, sugar snap beans and apricots. Never had SunGold tomatoes before, they are the orange ones and soooo sweet.

Here are some more giggles for ya...but seriously, they are even more disturbing! But enjoy!

Stay cool!

More of those awkward moments

 Howdy, everyone!

Garden is growing great with lots of veggies and fruits ripening in the sun.Duplicated my Grandmothers garden from 60 years ago and think of her as I harvest.

Been caught up on my genealogy and life intruding so hasn't been much time to talk atcha all, but hope that Summer, only two days away here!, will bring much fun in the sun and time with friends and family.

We are heating it up on Pinterest with our hilarious awkward family moments caught on film. Enjoy!

Snowtime!

"How did it happen that their lips came together? How does it happen that birds sing, that snow melts, that the rose unfolds, that the dawn whitens behind the stark shapes of trees on the quivering summit of the hill? A kiss, and all was said."

Victor Hugo

TODAY'S SEEDS OF WISDOM

• PHOTOBOMBING
• GARDEN UPDATE
• GARDEN GIGGLE
• FEEDBACK

GARDEN UPDATE
Lovely late Winter storm brought us some snow the past few days. Thought you might enjoy seeing our garden under its cold blanket!

PHOTOBOMBING

   

GARDEN GIGGLE

·I changed my iPod name to Titanic. It's syncing now.

·I tried to catch some fog. I mist.

·When chemists die, they barium.

·Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.

·A soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.

·I know a guy who's addicted to brake fluid. He says he can stop anytime.

·How does Moses make his tea? Hebrews it.

·I stayed up all night to see where the sun went. Then it dawned on me.

·This girl said she recognized me from the vegetarian club, but I'd never met herbivore.

·I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. I can't put it down.

·I did a theatrical performance about puns. It was a play on words .

·They told me I had type A blood, but it was a type-O.

·A dyslexic man walks into a bra .

·PMS jokes aren't funny, period.

·Why were the Indians here first? They had reservations.

·Class trip to the Coca-Cola factory-- I hope there's no pop quiz.

·The Energizer bunny arrested and charged with battery.

·I didn't like my beard at first. Then it grew on me.

·Did you hear about the cross eyed teacher who lost her job because she couldn't control her pupils?

·When you get a bladder infection, urine trouble.

·What does a clock do when it's hungry? It goes back four seconds.

·I wondered why the baseball was getting bigger. Then it hit me!

·Broken pencils are pointless.

·What do you call a dinosaur with a extensive vocabulary? A thesaurus.

·England has no kidney bank, but it does have a Liverpool .

·I used to be a banker, but then I lost interest.

·I dropped out of communism class because of lousy Marx.

·All the toilets in New York 's police stations have been stolen. Police have nothing to go on.

·I got a job at a bakery because I kneaded dough.

·Haunted French pancakes give me the crepes.

·Velcro - what a rip off!

·Cartoonist found dead in home. Details are sketchy.

·Venison for dinner? Oh deer!

·Earthquake in Washington obviously government's fault.

·I used to think I was indecisive, but now I'm not so sure.

FEEDBACK

 

As always, we would love to hear from you! Please share here; Or find us on Facebook Or Pin us! 
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Recycled Art Project: The Love Bee

"Love is life. And if you miss love, you miss life."
Leo Buscaglia

TODAY'S SEEDS OF WISDOM

• AWKWARD PHOTO OF THE DAY
• GARDEN UPDATE
• FAUNA
• GARDEN GIGGLE
• GARDEN GOODIES~SHARE OUR GARDEN RECYCLED ART PROJECT #0014: THE LOVE BEE  
• FEEDBACK

 

AWKWARD PHOTO OF THE DAY

GARDEN UPDATE
Had some snow a few days ago...pretty stuff, swirling in flurries gently down to the earth. Lately it has been BBBBRRRRRRRRR. Doing some garden clean up, love to see the new stuff hiding underneath!

GARDEN GIGGLE

FAUNA

GARDEN GOODIES~SHARE OUR GARDEN RECYCLED ART PROJECT #0014 THE LOVE BEE

Make this adorable garden bee as a welcome to the neighborhood or hostess gift, teacher gift, etc. Super easy and oh-so-bee-youtiful!

You will need:

• Acrylic Paints – Baby Pink, Black, White and Red (Editor's Note: You could do a yellow and black version of this project also)
• Clay Pots, (1) 4"Clay Pot, (1)2"Clay Pot and (1) Clay Saucer
• Pipe Cleaners – White, Black and Green
• Pencil
• Paintbrushes 
• red cardstock
• Lace
• 4"Ribbon
• Low Heat Glue Gun
• Marker, Extra Fine – Black

Instructions:

  Base coat both pots with Baby Pink. Base coat the saucer and inside the larger pot with Black. Allow to dry. Add Red stripes to smaller pot.

 Add White eyes using a pencil eraser. Use a stencil brush or cottonball and Red to lightly paint cheeks. Use paintbrush and black to paint the mouth. Add black dots to the centers of the white eyes with the end of the paintbrush.

Glue the pots together, and then glue the body to the black saucer.

Tie a lace bow for the wings and glue to the back.

 Glue a black pipe cleaner to the back of the bee for the arms and roll up ends.

Glue two black pipe cleaners to the saucer for legs. Roll up the ends and bend at knee.

Fold a green pipe cleaner in half and roll up the ends. Cut a heart from the red cardstock. Write your love message with extra fine marker. Glue heart to the green pipe cleaner. Place in one bee hand.

Fold white pipe cleaner in half and roll up ends for the antennas. Glue to the inside of front of pot.

FEEDBACK

 

As always, we would love to hear from you! Please share here; Or find us on Facebook Or Pin us! 
Tweet   Delicious