I hope everyone is enjoying a lovely weekend. Our sky is a bit overcast but the flowers are all in bloom and green is everywhere! Spring is a wonderful season!

Don't forget, if you're interested in picking up one of my wine country pillows they are only available from Joss and Main through today. Of course if you need one at any time you know where to find me. 

I was working in the garden last weekend and as I neared the full-bloomed Marion Berry bushes I literally heard humming.  The berry bushes were covered with all kinds of bees.  I always am so excited when bees find my flowers, fruits and veggies.  I work hard to keep the chemicals out of the garden so it’s reassuring that I must be doing something right if the beneficial critters are finding the healthy blossoms to pollinate. I'm pretty sure they're part of the hive my neighbors just set up this spring. So nice when it benefits everyone!  I snuck out with my camera and holding very still caught them in all their wonderful glory. Enjoy the pictures.

 

A bit fuzzy, but I love him

 

 

 

                                                                                Happy Happy Weekend!

Don't forget my Wine Country Pillow Collection still happening at the Joss and Main site.  Follow the link here. Sale lasts through 5/20

Sometimes the universe is there to give us a little slap upside the head when we need it.  This happened to me the other day; coincidently on my birthday, which was a big one that I had spent way too much time fussing over.

                                                       This is me at my 4th birthday and it’s pretty much how I felt this year.

We decided to spend the day at the beach to “celebrate”.  The weather was nice and we walked and walked, took pictures and enjoyed the fresh cool breeze.  As we climbed the steps up from the beach I asked my husband to pose with the dog for a quick picture with the ocean behind them.

Just as I was focusing, a woman behind me said “let me take your picture, then you can take ours”.  She was super enthusiastic and already reaching out for the camera.  Ok, I thought, great! So we posed, she snapped, then we traded cameras and I took pictures of her, her husband and their sweet baby girl.  As I handed the camera back to her, she handed me her phone and asked if I would mind taking a couple more quick shots.  “Sure” I said,  “easier to send photos, right?”  She then said she had to make sure everyone knew she was okay because she’d just been diagnosed with breast cancer.  Shocked, I looked at her and sputtered out my condolences and told her she looked great.  She said she’d had a mastectomy last week and still had drainage tubes and all but she wanted everyone to see that she was happy, doing well and was spending a wonderful day at the beach with her husband and baby.

I mumbled something about how foolish and vain I now felt in feeling bad about my big birthday and she claimed she couldn’t believe I was that old.  Never mind me and my whining's; she had instantly and completely changed my attitude.  How could I complain when I had just met someone who would give anything to know she was going to make it to 60 and watch her baby girl grow up?  There, I said it…60!   So there you have it.  Occasionally the universe hands you a little something to think about, which might just make a difference…if you’re paying attention.

Thanks for the photo nice sweet lady. I’m thinking of you and sending healthy good wishes for your long long life!

Let the fun begin!  My pillows are featured today on the Joss and Main shopping site.  One week only but oh what fun!

                   

Check out the pillows and so much more. Give your home the look of a Vineyard Inn in the Wine Country.  Thanks Joss and Main.  They’ve been great to work with and made my first trip into the world of flash sales most exciting!!

 

I was hoping to find a tall glass cylinder 'pot' when I stopped by Garden Fever in Portland.  I was in the mood to make another terrarium and had been looking for the perfect vessel.  I wanted to add height near the window and I wanted it large enough to make a statement.  Garden Fever is a wonderful shop and nursery so it was easy to find the plants I needed too, and before I knew it I had everything I needed and was on my way.

 

Keeping in mind the absolute “musts” in terrarium building, I layered an inch or so of clean gravel, another inch of charcoal and then several inches of fresh potting soil.  I Set the plants in first to make sure they would all fit then dug a small hole and planted them.  My funny little elf guy just sits on the rock, contemplating nature. I watered enough to settle in the roots and I was finished.  I’ve found with my other terrarium that the less I do the better.  They hardly need any water and I just turn it occasionally to keep nice even light.  Most of all I just enjoy.

Here’s the link I shared previously: http://www.ehow.com/video_9374_make-terrarium.html

 

      

                                             Give it a try sometime.  It’s a simple, yet somehow elegant way to enjoy houseplants.

 

 

 

 

A few quick phone photos from our bike ride today.  It seems like everyone was outside enjoying our wonderful sunny Sunday! I hope you are having a perfect weekend whatever your weather and wherever you are!

One hundred eighty pillows that is!  I have a big event coming up and it’s time to let everyone in on it.  The shopping site Joss and Main will be featuring my pillows in one of their flash sale events beginning Monday May 13th.  I first noticed Joss and Main late last fall and was keeping my eye on the wonderful merchandise they sell everyday.  In January I approached them to see if they were interested in selling my Wine Country Pillows and YES they were very interested!  We had several phone meetings and lots of emails back and forth, and all the while I was stitching up a storm in preparation for the big event.  My pillows are finished, my boxes, liner bags, labels and everything else is ready to go.

Find the Joss and Main site here.  You have to “join” which just means you give them your email and they alert you to their daily sales.  It’s quite simple, no other requirements…and you really wouldn’t want to miss anything.  A quick email each morning just to let you know what wonderful things they have that particular day. Each event lasts between 3-5 days; thus a Flash Sale. Joss and Main work with big designers and small companies (like me) and we agree to offer a discount on our products for a limited sale event.  I am always impressed at the wonderful products and I am thrilled to be a part of their Summer Homes event in just two weeks.  If you’ve been waiting to buy one of my pillows, this will be the time to do it.  Besides the pillows I can’t wait to see what else they are offering. Stay tuned…I’ll be reminding you.

                                                                                           180 Unstuffed Pillows

As always you can click on the studio link up in the column on the right or here.

Lots of yard work accomplished this weekend.  The back vegetable area which is fenced looked like the weeds may be winning the battle.  Provide nice soil, mild winter, spring sunshine and it perfect for all the native weeds.  I got to work, bed by bed, and path by path until it was beginning to look like a garden again and I felt my enthusiasm for the garden returning as it does every year.  What to plant and where to plant each favorite? 

As I reached in to the strawberries to clean out the debris I grabbed a nest. Yikes! What to do???  I had my gloves on so I hope mama bird won’t abandon her eggs.  I carefully replaced the nest and made sure the eggs weren’t left lying among the strawberries but I felt I had badly disturbed the little nursery.

When I was eating lunch I brought out the camera with the long lens and kept an eye out for mama.  She hopped down to check her nest, added a bit more nesting material to (probably) replace the damage I’d done then seemed to glare in my direction.  I hope the babies hatch before my strawberries are ready.  I also hope she picks a better place to nest next time.

While eating I heard quite a ruckus in the sky and soon the ruckus makers appeared.  A hawk and crows seemed to be challenging one another in a sky show.  I grabbed my camera and documented their antics.

 

Nothing like “a murder of crows” to get ones attention. They rocked and rolled, cawing and screeching.  The hawk seemed to keep his cool, gliding and turning with little effort as the crows chased and taunted him…and then they were gone.

So back to the garden I went, avoiding the nest but clearing, weeding, digging and hauling away buckets full of weedy yard debris, all the while dreaming of blueberry muffins and rhubarb crisp.  Happy Monday everyone!

We are being treated to the most beautiful weather right now. Our very soggy spring of last year is just a bad memory and we are now enjoying spring as it should be.  Every shade of green, and all colors of flower in full, glorious bloom.  I’m working on getting the front yard in order so I can spend time in the back yard which has been quite neglected.  After the mandatory weeding, the big pots are in need of freshening up with a bit of thinning and the addition of a few annuals.

I added the Sem Ash Leaf Spirea  on the left as well as the white bacopa.  I think the Spirea is a great contrast in texture to the tall, dramatic chartreuse  Euphorbia.  The purple Aubretia spills over so beautifully and I love it next to the green pot.

My friend and I are having fun planting these discarded olive oil cans. I especially love the dark and bright green one . I planted Mediterranean herbs and flowers. There’s French lavender, rosemary, thyme and oregano. I couldn't resist the sweet pansies. It will eventually become too crowded but I enjoy blending them and they smell wonderful. They easily lend themselves to the green and purple theme I have going.

I think the thing to remember when planting pots is to treat them as little groupings.  Rather than planting each one completely separate from the others, try staying with a color theme.  Similar plantings and colors will provide en eyeful of coordinated color and design without looking too spotty.  Tuck in something new every now and then when other blooms are spent.  Every year I change a few things, add a different color or texture and trim and toss.  Some of the plants stay in the pots for years and others are simply annuals that come and go. Plant a couple of basic shrubs as your anchors and then add and subract over time. Big planters are such a fun way to enjoy an ever evolving miniature garden.  A fairly small commitment for a nice big punch of color.

Happy Spring!!