April is Lawn and Garden Month

Oh April, don't you just love it? Winter is over and spring is truly here. There is a reason that April is both National Garden Month and National Lawn and Garden Month. It it time to get outside in the dirt and freshen things up in the yard and garden. Don't know why we need both but I don't make the holiday list I just like to look it up.

We have been sprucing up our outdoor spaces around here while taking advantage of spring's cooler temperatures. Jim has been planting new things in our backyard flower beds. We have added lots of flowers and colors that hummingbirds like because it is some much fun to watch them exploring the yard for nectar. We are also going to try growing citrus for the first time. We have added a lemon and a lime tree to our backyard.

To make this kind of work easier and therefore more enjoyable you need good tools. The enjoyable part is very important for my retired husband. If he can't find joy and satisfaction in the job he's not going to do it and lord knows he needs something to keep him busy. But back to the tools, we now own a small tiller among other things. 

Working on those flower beds garden watering tools were a big part of the job. Jim believes in using high quality garden tools built to last a long time and make jobs easier. Plus the guy seems to like playing with the hose to care for new tender transplanted flowers or cleaning off the patio. A set up shown below would work great for those jobs. These are from Eley Hose Reels. This comes with 2 nozzles, one for cleaning and one for watering. I really like the idea of a swivel connection, solid brass with no lead, and easy water flow control and this durable watering tool has all those features.  

And finally just a peek at what I see in my front yard right now. My Palo Verde tree is blooming. Bright yellow flowers that the bees love all over it.

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

(This post contains a sponsored link.)

Out Back

In our backyard in Arizona we have planted a bush known as Mexican Bird Of Paradise. They are starting to bloom now. Looking out the patio door to see the bright flowers and lacey green leaves makes me smile. I do hope you found something to smile about today too.

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

Flowers As Gifts, Yes or No?

Beautiful, aren't they? For Valentine's Day and Easter my husband sent me flowers. They are lovely but if asked I might have made other choices or given him a few ideas. Christmas seems to go much the same. He says get yourself something and I think that's not quite right either. If I order or shop for a gift myself for myself that doesn't feel as if it actually is a gift. I guess I should be pleased he remembered the day. With Mother's Day coming up I wonder what color the flowers will be. 

I worked with someone who got flowers and she told her husband she didn't like them because they died. She realized after many years of marriage and strange gifts that she might have prefered flowers after all.

I have asked for things to decorate the house and was told those aren't appropriate. The ideas I gave needed to be personal but they didn't realize my home is personal to me.

The flowers come. Most of the time they smell wonderful. All of the time they look beautiful. I will say thank you and take pictures. Then I will have a new vase to keep for dust collecting or give away.

So today the question is do you like to get flowers as a gift? Would you prefer other things or are you at that time in life when there is really nothing more you want?

Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!

Handmade Home

I always seem to have a hard time enforcing time lines on myself. I can meet everyone's deadlines and schedules but struggle with my own. I tend to ignore myself. Do you think that comes from the years of being a mom when making sure family members did all they needed to do on time without regard to what I might want? Enough of that silly self examination and on to what I really want to share today. I hope to do this kind of post much more regularly. I think I will try for about once a week. We will see how that goes won't we?

Over many years Jim and I have collected handmade things here and there that we like to have around us to see and enjoy. In the early years of our marriage of course much of it was small and inexpensive. We may have admired the work of an artisan and just got pieces we could afford. Some were gifts and we certainly appreciated the generosity of the gift.Frankly I don't remember where or when we got this tiny little oil painting. It has just always been around tucked here and there as I move things around in my house. I am known in my family for always rearranging things. It is only a couple inches high and wide and right now lives on a shelf in the master bathroom but I took it outside to take its picture. I do think that making things tiny takes a special skill and it makes me happy to look at this little bouquet of flowers each day.

Sharing a Favorite

I decided today that I have been remiss in sharing and showing off some of the fabulous things that can be found on Etsy.

The pin you see here today is from the shop Niven Glass Originals of Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Her specialty is fused glass jewelry. Her work in the shop includes birds, flowers, bows, divas and of course this hat which I marked as a favorite some time ago meaning to blog about it. Someone should own this beautiful piece, maybe you?

In the artist's own words-

My background is in Graphic Design and Illustration. Six years ago, I took a stained glass course that completely changed the direction of my work. Since then I’ve replaced my paint brush with a glass cutter. I now work full time as a glass artist, focusing primarily on the endless possibilities of fused glass.

I design and handcraft each piece of my glass art. The individual pieces are cut, layered and kiln fused at approximately 1400 degrees F. Most pieces are fired twice to ensure a high polish with smooth even edges. The larger foldover pieces require a third firing. The same amount of care goes into each design and every piece of wearable art jewelry is unique.

What are you waiting for? Go look!

Every Blooming Thing

I think of this afghan as Flowers for Emma. As soon as I send a picture and make sure it meets her approval it will be on its way. This young lady wanted a new blanket because she has worn out her baby one and wanted a new blanket fit for a person of 6 and one that she could enjoy for many years to come. I found out that she likes pink and flowers. I think I have given her both in this design.

This afghan is made up of flowers trimmed with v-stitch borders and final borders of v-stitch all around the edge. It is laid out in a pattern of 5 blocks by 7 blocks. That makes for 35 flowers in the blanket that all have pink in them but no two are exactly alike. I am pleased with the way this turned out and being able to get it from my mind into the finished product so well. I hope she likes it.

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In other blooming news take a look at what came to my door today! I have heard of Edible Arrangements before and have been in one of their stores. This gift was sent for Mother's Day from my daughters and their families. I am saving it in the fridge to show my husband when he gets home tonight. Well not all of it, the grapes had to go to fit better. They were so sweet!

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This post is part of the EtsyBloggers "Spring Bloom" blog carnival. The carnival will be published on May 12th. You can get links to it from the blog carnival widget on the left for this carnival as well as those in the archives if you are looking for some great reading.

First Spring

I lived within 10 miles of the Pacific Ocean for most of the first 34 years of my life either in southern California, Guam or the San Francisco Bay Area. None of those places had anything like you would call spring.
With a new set of orders from the Navy we found ourselves moving to Utah in September of 1989. We bought our first  house in Murray and it had many fruit trees in the back yard. These included apricot, plum, peach, cherry and apple. The previous owners had a good sized garden and all these trees and it was one of the reasons we bought the house.
As winter was turning to spring that first time I kept an eye out back on those trees. Watching for the changes each day as leaves and flowers came out and the fruit started to develop was wonderful to me. Where I came from things didn't go dormant and then come back to life so I really did find the process fascinating.
The tree that stands out in my mind that spring was the apple tree that was the oldest and largest of them all. Watching the leaves come out I remember thinking, "So that is apple green". Seeing the color in real life rather than a crayon box or paint chip made it so much more beautiful. Nearly 20 years later I can still recall that first real spring and the beauty of my backyard.

New Look

I wandered around the backyard this afternoon playing with the camera. I took shots of birds, flowers and trees. Then when I was going through them I decided to change my banner and avatar. I wanted something brighter for summertime. I am pleased with the way they turned out. You can see them here on the blog and in my shop on etsy. If you are in the mood let me know what you think.