In difficult times...

I can so relate to this situation.

While reading blogs this afternoon I came across a post about a woman who's made a quilt she will be donating/giving away to raise money for her Husband's open heart surgery. It breaks my heart that I am even writing a post of this sort, because I am baffled and amazed that in this wonderful, beautiful country I have been so fortunate enough to live my entire life, there are still so many people who do not get the medical care they need and deserve...because it is too expensive. This hits very close to home for me. I don't like to be too opinionated or political, because that is not the purpose of this blog, but I tell you there is just no reason good enough in my opinion that a family should have to live in fear of not being able to afford life saving medical treatment for someone they love. It just doesn't seem right.

In any case, please pop over to this blog and if you want to, and can afford to, donate. I hope someone might do the same for me if ever I am in need. :)

Winter Sowing Progress

Pansies on the front step...

Just some progress on how my winter sowing is going. Here are some of the best lookin' babies I've got going so far. I think I might have had a higher germination rate if I'd used different soil and done some other things differently. I will keep it in mind for next year.

Containers that have no lids are that way permanently for now. If we have a fluke cold snap I'll blanket everything. I started cutting back bottle tops because it's going to be 75 tomorrow. I might even move them to shade, if it gets too toasty.

Sunflowers...these are annuals and I didn't think they would do well with winter sowing but surprisingly they did alright.


Calendula...my Mother in Law gave me a pack of these from the dollar store for my birthday. Who says cheap seeds aren't as good as expensive ones? These cost 33 cents and the germination is higher than some of the seeds I've paid $3 for.

Hollyhocks...these are the Burpee ones. Isn't it funny how they decided to germinate? For some reason one side was happier than the other.

Shasta Daisies...I think I will be growing tons of these in the future. These are by far the easiest and hardiest buggers I've ever grown. Even last year these grew quickly for me...but be sure they get plenty of sun. Mine ended up croaking last year because another plant ended up growing taller and shading it from any light.

Echinacea...

Canterbury Bells...

Bachelor Buttons...from seeds that I saved from the plants that I grew from seed last year. Woohoo!

Bargains!

Look what I scored at Big Lots for $1.50 a piece! Yay! Roses! Lol* I bought one of these earlier in the year, for $2.50 which I thought was a pretty good deal. But they had just a cartful left yesterday when I ran over there to pick up a bag of potting soil...all reduced! Woohoo!

I'm also very excited, and had to share, that my bleeding hearts came back! Even had a baby! Yay! I am going to have to move them though, I bought them last year at a plant sale and sorta just had to plunk 'em down somewhere until I found a place for them. I think they are going in the backyard. I will leave them be until they are done blooming anyhow, and I can't wait for that! :) I am not sure what that is, that's growing under it...it was in the pot when I bought it. It looks pretty though, so as long as it doesn't seem to be bothering my BH, then I guess I'll leave it. :)

Here's the baby...and a weed...or two. LOL*

Oh and I can't forget...I bought some annual seeds to start. I've decided that I love zinnias. LOL* Last year I wasn't so sure, but them I planted a pack of them my Dad gave me and they were so gorgeous!!! So, if I play my cards right we'll have them coming out our ears this year. :)

I wanted to share these amazing poppies I spotted too...I am normally not a poppy person, but these are so beautiful!!! I can't wait to see them bloom. :)

Just Checking In :)

Well, I have not been quilting, but I have been decorating! Lol* At the moment, our second living room has doubled as a playroom and sewing room. While I do love my sewing, it's not a very effective use of the space so I think I'm going to pack a lot of my things up and hide them away in a closet for now. I have all that space and everything at my fingertips, and I still take my sewing machine over to the kitchen table to sew! Lol*



But before I get to that room, I've been working on my oldest daughter's bedroom. Hubby and I hit an estate sale on Friday, and I purchased an old lunch tin and a tablecloth made from feedsacks that looks as if it were sewn by a quilter. It is a trip around the world pattern, hand sewn, with perfect 1/4 inch seam. Anyhow I folded it up nice and neat and put it atop the lunch tin, and look at how cute!

Her room is a sort of an antique/vintage/garden theme. She is very excited because Mommy has let her have some of her Boyd's Bears to decorate the room. I gave her some garden themed choices and she picked her favorites. I also have a fence in progress that I've painted going around each wall...it is my goal to get that finished this week and I will show pictures. :)

Getting the G back on HGTV

I frequent the Garden Web gardening forums, and came accross this web blog through one of it's passionate members. I am saddened to learn that Paul James show Gardening by the Yard will no longer be in their lineup, and hope this group can accomplish what they have set out to! I would love to see more gardening shows back on HGTV, or really, ANYWHERE on TV. I can't imagine there is no profit in gardening when countless chain stores have devoted so much to cater to us home gardeners.

I hope that HGTV, their advertisers, and others will hear the voice of the consumer and recognize there is an opportunity in gardening programming. I would love to see more shows like the Victory Garden, the way it USED to be. I'd love to see gardens of people like me, see what they grow and learn what worked for them. It always seemed the few garden shows that are, or were on tv were about gardens that I would never visit, or would never attempt to create in my own yard. Not that those gardens aren't interesting once in a while, but I'm interested in making MY garden look amazing NOW! Lol* So I hope that maybe sometime in the near future we might see a down to earth practical gardening show on tv.

Just thought I'd share. :)

It's beginning to feel a lot like...Spring!

Boy is it beginning to feel like Spring! Things are really starting to take action in the garden. This is my third year actively gardening, and boy is it exciting! I feel like my little garden is really starting to look like, a garden. I can't wait to see what it will be like in 10 years!

Here's some of what is emerging now...

Sweet Peas...my first time growing them. I'm kind of amazed they could go out so early and even with the unpredictable weather this time of year they are growing. I am so excited to see what these babies do. :)

Daffodils have lots of buds and a handful have begun to bloom. We watered this guy yesterday so he's a little muddy, but gorgeous none the less. He's almost opened up! :) I bought nearly 100 of these bulbs last year at a yard sale and so I had no idea what kind of daffodils I would get. I'm so happy to see that some are this delicate pastel yellow - my true favorites.

Here's rudbeckia from last year, looking a little shaggy. Hopefully it'll look pretty once it gets going...

Asiatic lilies working their way up...

Phlox beginning to emerge...my favorite!

Here are some daisies I've winter sown in a pop bottle - I think they win the award for easiest thing to grow of all that I attempted this year. Those suckers just keep germinating, and seem to tolerate any kind of weather.

Echinacea winter sown babies in a lasagna flat, and I'm impressed to see they are beginning to grow their true leaves...woohoo!

Las but not least hyacinths. I dug mine up from last year to replant, but didn't clean them off well enough and they got moldy and one of them was eaten from the inside out by some kind of bugs. Yuck. So these guys are new this year. Potted them up and I think there they will stay for a few years! :)

Here's a little list of what's sprouted so far of my winter sown/spring sown seeds:

echinacea

rudbeckia

aubrieta

shasta daisies

painted daisies

phlox

canterbury bells

snapdragons

multicolor hollyhocks

black/deep purple hollyhocks

bachelor buttons

zinnia

calendula

sunflowers

pumpkins

larkspur

delphinium

foxgloves

The only thing that hasn't woken up are some zinnias and impatiens I put out by mistake incredibly too early. Also the pansies haven't germinated, or the pack of lavendar that was packaged for the 2007 growing season have yet to germinate.

I forgot to put out the convolvulus and the portulaca! Lol*