How to Reseed Your Sunflowers!

This is how my sunflowers keep coming back each year. As I clip the spent flowers, I place them at the base. The bees are still happy and my flowers keep growing:

New In The Shop

I'm making a few more of these in different styles, but these are my first and I couldn't wait to show you! If you'd like a better look, please check them out here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/88657561/needle-felted-flower-sprout-in-ceramic and here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/88681496/needle-felted-cactus-in-ceramic-pot - they're pretty adorable!

Summer Lovin'

This summer has been hot and this summer has been long. Oh, wait. It's only half over so far and this is a good thing because I have a ton of knitting to do.

The last week has been perfect as far as figuring out which gifts I'll be knitting for my loved ones and I've been lucky enough to be keeping busy with custom orders too. It's also been perfect for designing some new and exciting pieces for the fall shows and we're starting to get those set up. I'll be posting dates soon on the facebook page and the site.

My garden has been growing in leaps and bounds and at this point, it's hardly containable. Turns out the cucumber seeds ordered from burpee were packaged incorrectly and where I planned cucumbers, there is the most beautiful pumpkin vine curlicue-ing around almost everything. In the morning, there are gorgeous huge yellow star-shaped flowers blanketing the large leaves.

If all of these bloom, everyone I know will receive pumpkins this year!  It's the first time I've ever grown pumpkins. My garden is not very large and I usually plant bush cucumbers and bush beans to consolidate my space. These may even choke out my peppers and it's grown out of the garden and across the lawn too. 

The tomatoes are doing well! These are from this morning and I have to go back out later to finish picking. I used some last night to make a fresh bruschetta-style salad to toss into cheese tortellini. Is there anything better than fresh tomatoes? Yes, possibly the fresh basil. Mixing the two together is delicious!

Poppied

I nurture my poppy plant all year long. It's growing larger and larger each year and blooms more and more too. The flowers now reach my waist and though I've tried unsuccessfully to start another from this beauty, I've not had luck. I'm still happy with this one Jurassic sized specimen. 

 

I find the poppy to be stunning and showy. I hope to make some progress this weekend with the gathering of old things for a yard sale I've been procrastinating with, but I wanted to share these photos with you and wish you a lovely weekend. What are you doing for fun today? What are your wishes for the upcoming summer?

Never Before

Never before have I seen a miniature orchid until last week. All of a sudden, I had to have it.

Sure I've had several orchids. They always look healthy and then it happens. The first leaf drops, then the second and so on. I water/lightly feed them once per month and spritz them with water and supply them carefully with filtered light. Simply put, they hate me and I'm not sure why. I nurture them and tell them how beautiful they are. Some have even never bloomed again, but seem to be happy, growing new leaves.

All this talk about orchids is making me want to watch Adaptation again. If only I could master the keeping of these delicate beauties. I know several people who have given up on them and I have an adopted one here now. This little miniature orchid amazes me and I'm going to carefully primp and try my best to keep it happy and healthy. If you have any advice on the care of orchids, I'd welcome it.

To You and Yours...

Happy Holidays!

beached

This is why...

...exactly why. When I open my bedroom curtains each morning, I see this. I'm a self-taught gardener and I learn as I go. When I first moved here, there were a few gardens in the front yard, but nothing in the back. I created a perennial garden outside my bedroom window as well as a vegetable garden out there. I'm still in the process of shifting a few of the plants around, it's a constant work-in-progress.

Beautiful Day!

I found these on my morning walk today. They were so tiny, but a sure confirmation that Spring is here. A day early, but I'm noticing things popping up all over. When you look at the trees, there is actual color in their silhouettes. I love this time of year.

Today is also my birthday. I started it all off with a sweet morning walk with my 17 month-old nephew and we had some serious fun. He's at the point now where is shadow amazes him and as he gets to a curb, he stops and accesses the step ahead. The morning light provided a nice long shadow for him to run from. He twirled, ran, stomped and amazingly, that shadow couldn't not be shaken. I love watching him learn and figure these little things out.

Good Things

Today was my slowest Monday ever! I stayed in bed for a little while before getting up to open the curtains and walk the two pugs who are usually tossed about above and below the comforter somewhere. It is super sunny and 70 degrees today and there is plenty to do: cleaning the house, heading to the post office to ship this weekend's orders and of course stopping to find some new fiber for custom projects. Not bad weather at all for November. We had a yard sale this past weekend and today's late morning was well-deserved.