Happy Thanksgiving everyone! And a big online Black Friday Cyber Monday Sale to check out!

We have so much to be thankful for. A roof over our heads, food, clothing, friends and family. The turkey is started in the electric roaster. Set on a bed of potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, and parsnips. Butter, sage and thyme rubbed on and under the skin. The neck and giblets are simmering on the stove with broth and seasonings for the stuffing. The green bean casserole is baking as we speak. Pies were all baked yesterday and line the counter. The table is decorated and set. I love pulling out the old linens, candlesticks, turkey decorations. The house is straightened and polished. Well, as good as I can get it. (Don't look in the office or closet!) We waited for almost 2 hours this morning for the paper to be delivered. And what a paper! I am saddened by the stores that are open today for sales. this should be a time for family and friends, not shopping. Think of the people who have to work on a day that should be celebrated. But then again, I think business' should be closed every Sunday anyway. Growing up in Canada, all stores, banks, etc. were closed Sunday and Monday. I we survived. The parade has started. They weren't certain if the balloons would go up because of high winds, but so far so good. What would the parade be without them? I have a special event starting at 6pm today and running thru midnight December 3. It is put on by EZ Craft Show ans worth checking out. Lots of vendors including myself who have put together an array of items. They also will link back to our websites and Etsy, as in my case. Be sure to check us out for some great deals. Have an awesome day everyone! Patti

Happy Fall Y'all

So where did summer go? I'm sounding like a broken record with all the excuses about not being consistent about writing on here, but jeez, where did the time go? I can hardly wrap my head around the crisp, foggy mornings, the nip in the air at noon while the sun is brightly shining, the growing silence of bird songs I wake to in the early hours. Thank goodness there is the beauty of colors in the Fall. It is its redeeming quality amidst the dying foliage, the drooping of heads, the grey and browns enveloping me. Everything I have striven for all year has completed its cycle and gone back to the earth. But put away the summer clothes, bring out the sweaters and flannels, replace the sheer curtains with insulated. Quilts and warm fleece throws don the backs of couches, rugs rolled out onto chilly hardwood floors. Warm the house with the stove and crock pots working overtime making jams and preserves from the last of the summers bounty. Candles with their comforting aromas and flickering light keep at bay the darkness of night coming too soon. Bring in the plants from the porch, to be replaced with a new decor. Dried hydrangea bunches, sprigs and branches with summers fruit, gourds and pumpkins, cornstalks and straw bales. The moon is at its best this time of year. Enormous and the brightest it can be with a deep orange glow that colors everything around it. The man residing there has seemed almost to have outgrown his space there. Too soon this season will be replaced with howling winds, bitter cold and shuttered homes. Deep snow will soon cover the drifts of colored leaves.Vague shapes will be all that's left of garden beds. So embrace Fall and all its destruction of summer, because it too will soon be a memory. Happy Fall Y'all

Ducklings In The Tub

Well, nothing new about this. Spring usually finds me with some sort of baby. This year it's ducklings! Jessica, Cheyenne and Damien arrived at work the other day with 3 ducklings in a box. I think it's payback for me giving them bunnies last Easter! Anyway, straight home to the bathtub they went. A towel for bedding, a cup for food and a pan for water and the brooding lamp and they are as happy as "ducks in water"? UPDATE After a week of placing them in a box every time we want to take a bath, the ducks are now in a cement mixing pan on the dining room table! However at the rate they are growing we are going to need a deeper containment area. And are they ever messy marvins. I don't know if I want them in my pond. They will be working those pumps overtime! Probably join the bunnies in the chicken coop. We have over a thousand tomato and pepper plants already transplanted in the greenhouse. The new rhubarb crowns are growing like crazy and hanging baskets are lining the roof. My succulent plantings and terrariums are set aside for the first garden show this weekend at Spokane Community College. ( see the ads on my Facebook). The pond plants are doing really well in the greenhouse. My umbrella plants will be going from the pond to container plantings with assorted flowers. The water hyacinths are as big now and making off-shoots as they are in mid-summer. The resident greenhouse toad has been out sunning himself in a plant flat. The burgundy water iris is in full bloom under a bench and a self-sown nasturtium is blooming along the back wall. My first garden show this spring was glorious! it is in it's third year and sponsored by the college horticulture department. They have plants for sale from their greenhouses (I had to partake in a few items!) and do beautiful floral designs and fresh flowers for sale. A very good turn-out and lots of enthusiasm for the coming growing season. Met lots of new friends and caught up with old ones. My succulent plantings in the dinosaurs sold out as well as the pink flowering dogwood trees and almost all of the chicken feeder planters. People got a kick out of my shotgun shell party lites and expanded line of redneck glasses. I now have champagne toasting glasses perfect for the bride and groom, margarita, martini, and shot glasses, along with my different sizes of beer glasses. UPDATE The ducks are now in a wading pool on the table. And last night we added chicken wire round it as they were looking to escape over the edge! As soon as the weather gets warmer, they are going to a grassy area alongside the pond. It is pouring out today so am doing some work in the house. Sorting thru items in the craft room in readiness for the Retro Bella Vintage & Garden Show at the Greyhound Park in Post Falls, ID on Saturday April 27 from 9am to 6pm. Not just garden things for this sale. I will have some of my antiques, furniture, crafts and jams. Lots of frou frou! Hope to see alot of you there. Stop in and introduce yourselves!

I'm Still Here

I think this is becoming repetitious around here; not just the blog but certain other activities. You know, you start out the day with best -laid plans but before you know it, it's bedtime and the day got away from you. I had a couple extra days off due to a surgery, but wasn't really able to do much because of being so loopy from the drugs. Back at work tomorrow and I haven't even tried driving yet! Spring is finally showing itself round here. Although we were blessed with a milder winter as far as snow, it still seemed too long. But now the plants are emerging, the buds are swelling, the animals are frisky.... The greenhouse is getting into shape thanks to Dan and the grand kids. Giant rhubarb crowns have made there way in and flats are filled waiting for the tomato and pepper seeds. We will be getting a place ready for 30 or so new baby chicks to fill in our somewhat elderly flock. As i sit here after putting in my first order of the year for aquatic plants and tags for all the veggies, a wind and snow storm beat down on us followed by a period of calm and sun, and again wind and snow. That hot tub looks inviting just out the sunroom door, but I have vowed to get these last few thoughts down before I quit! Does everyone, like nature outside feel this time of year is a renewal? A chance to start over and fresh. To throw away the old and neglected items sitting idle for too long. To try a different path or do the same thing, but twist it up? Dan always gets nervous when I make the trek round the yard, taking notes and getting ideas. That usually means a revamp of an area or a whole new project. Bottom line, more work. But I think this is a good time to look at the 'bones' of the garden. To see the lay of the land. Try it in your own yard if you have a chance. see the slope and texture of the ground. Can you add a large boulder as an accent between some shrubs. Does that tree need pruned more on that one side to spotlight that evergreen shrub or make it more balanced? Do you need more flowers in that one space or do they need divided and placed somewhere else? A fresh layer of compost and mulch might be needed. Take a camera or notebook and take pictures and jot down ideas. Take a string or hose and lay out a pathway or new flower bed. Spring is the time for creation. In the fall I have actually laid down layers of newspapers on an area of lawn that I mean to take over for flowers, and by now the grass has dies, the paper has broken down and I can get ready to plant. Plan to visit some home and yard shows and check out new ideas. Read the gardening mags starting to appear on the bookshelves, visit garden centers for ideas and inspiration. Even a walk in the parks and arboretums in your area can add influence as can driving thru neighborhoods and looking at yards the same way you do with Christmas lights during the holidays. holidays,renewal,nature,mulch,plan,seeds,tomatoes,family Think about adding some chickens to your yard. Free manure and fresh eggs. Plus those girls are so fun to watch! And add a rooster if you like that morning alarm clock! Better check with your neighbors first tho! The point is, just get out there and have some fun. Stir your creative juices and wake up those dream cells! You never know.