Category Archives: Garden & Yard

Crochet – diamond painting – garden – pc issues

By

I wasn’t happy with my crochet shawl project. I unraveled it and started again with a c2c v-stitch pattern. It’s taken me some time to work it out, but so far, it’s going well.

I finished my diamond painting. I’ve decided not to frame/hang it up. I’ve added it to our portfolio folder-notebook. I used to just roll up the finished diamond paintings (dps) and keep them on a shelf. Whenever we’d want to look at them, I’d have to unroll them all, then roll them back up. It was okay, but not really enjoyable.
Fortunately, my blogging buddy Claire mentioned on her blog how she keeps her dps in a portfolio. It’s such a great idea. I leapt on that idea and ordered us one. The portfolio can hold 60 or more depending on size. That works our great for us.
“Thank you so much, Claire. You’ve helped make our diamond painting more enjoyable. ❤ ”

My husband is really in the gardening mood this year. He tilled up a small garden spot. I might add that since he tilled the garden spot, we’ve had several rainstorms and the temperatures have been running as low as in the mid 20°F. So, for now, we wait… Come on warm weather and some dry days to plant!

I wish all of you oodles of nice Spring weather.
Have a super rest of the week!

P.S. I’ve ran into some pc issues the past few weeks. I’ve pretty much got them worked out. A new battery and a factory reset did the trick. Hopefully, it’ll be smoother sailing for a while. Now it’s time to play catch-up on my visiting and blogging. 🙂

Big Beautiful Daffodils

By

We bought 4 pots of big, beautiful daffodils to plant. We figure we’ll have a nice showing in our yard for a little while before they die-down. There were 6 to 7 bulbs in each pot and with the 50 bulbs that I’ve recently bought we’re hoping to have oodles of great big beauties in 2024. We planted the daffodils and the daffodil bulbs yesterday. The weather was perfect for it.
I apologize for the quality of my photos. Yesterday was a wonderful 58°F, no wind, but it was overcast, and my camera has issues with dimmer settings.

Here’s wishing you all a week full of sunshine and smiles.

WIP Wednesday – Shawl – Daffodils

By

I’m crocheting a new shawl using a new type of yarn for me. I’ve reworked the pattern a few times and raveled out the started project 4 times. I think I’m finally at a happy place with the way it’s going.
I’ve not used this yarn before. It’s ‘Red Heart Unforgettable’ Meadow color. The yarn is super soft. I love the color.
The pattern (of the moment) is a simple V-stitch. I like how it looks, so far.
I ordered 50 yellow ‘Dutch Master Daffodil’ bulbs. They arrived this morning. I’m so happy to have them here. I’ll plant them soon. They won’t bloom this year, but hopefully next year they’ll make a pretty showing.

I’m still working on my diamond painting. It’s coming along, but it’s time consuming with all the many colors.

The sun is shining, and the temperature is a comfortable 77°F. It’s such a nice day.
I know there’s some freezing weather moving across the states. I wish the warm winds of Springtime would blow into your areas and chase the winter cold away.
Take care and stay safe.
Have a pleasant rest of the week!

 

 

.

 

Diamond painting – Daffodils – old thoughts

By

I’ve gotten a smidge past the middle point of my diamond painting. In real-life it looks pretty. It’s a real adventure trying to get a fairly clear photo of diamond paintings. The diamonds reflect light and can make it a mess of spotty bright spots. I’ll be happy to get it finished, framed and displayed on the wall. However, to me, it’s a bit monetish in that I need to step back from it to see its real beauty, which works out well for where I plan to hang it.
*(Monetish (moe-nay-ish) is not a real word. I made it up using the last name of Oscar-Claude Monet a French impressionist painter. I use to describe ‘something’ that one needs to step back to see ‘the something’ more clearly. A metaphor of sorts, I suppose.)
The weather has been absolutely lovely. It’s been mostly sunny and near 70°F. The daffodils in our area are blooming lovely. When we’re out for a drive, they’re like splashes of sunshine fallen to Earth, lined or splattered about the landscape.
I particularly love the fact that when the daffodils are in blooms you can look through the trees or across a field and see where the old homeplaces were. It’s quite a bittersweet view sometimes; to think once-upon-a-time a home stood amongst the trees or in the midst of a field. Perhaps it was a small place or a big place with a few children or oodles of children. Perhaps they danced around, picking daffodils and laughing as they discovered the yellow glow or pollen on their noses. I wonder how their lives progressed. I suspect it was much as it is today. I figure some of them grew out of their daffodil collecting days and scattered about the country making more dancing children and more homesteads. I wonder if any of them told their generations of offspring about the daffodils left behind. I wonder if their following generations ever appreciated that the daffodils are like a beautiful reminder of what once was.

Here’s wishing you all a wonderful rest of the week.
May your dancing with flowers days never end in your heart.

 

 

Diamond Painting and Daffodils

By

I’ve a new diamond painting to work on. I’m hoping it’ll turn out well. I really enjoy getting in to the ‘zone’ of placing the dots 1 or more at a time. It’s mindless work, to be sure, but quite relaxing on the brain.

It’s that special time of year. The daffodils have broken the soil and are on their way to growing and blooming into the first colors of the new year.
However, it also means that the old wives-tale is on our minds… and we’re hoping that if the ‘snow lays once on the daffodils’, it’ll be a light one.

I hope this first month of the year is being kind to you all.
Happy Crafting!

 

Wildlife Wednesday – Mockingbabies

By



While trimming one of our snowball bushes, my husband found a nest of wee mockingbirdies. They were so cute.


The parents kept bringing the fledglings food.
Then, one afternoon, we watched a fledgling flexing its wings as it ran across the yard. Over the next couple days, the other fledglings, like the first one, ran and with short hops and flights as they learned to fly up to the treetops.
And now the nest is empty.

You know it never ceases to amaze me how quickly baby birds learn to fly.

Bird watching made for an extra bit of joy over the past few days.

I hope you all have an enjoyable rest of the week!

 

 

Next Round Sunburst Granny Squares – Marigolds – chamomile tea for seedlings

By

I finally got the white rounds on my sunburst granny squares. Now I’m working on the next round. Only two more rounds to go then I can join them and start on another project. It’s taking me a lot longer on this one than the others. To be honest, my interest is lacking at the moment. But with time, I’ll get them finished.
With the exception of a few inside/window plants, I had no intention of gardening nor growing anything but pre-started annual flowers this year. That changed when we went to look for annuals to plants in our flower beds. We got some pretty flowers of several colors.
However, we mainly wanted Marigolds because they grow and bloom until first frost.
There wasn’t a marigold to be found in 3 counties.
Marigolds are the most inexpensive and easy to grow annual flowers and no store nor nursery had a one of them. The only thing I can figure, is ever other gardener wanted marigolds and they sold out swiftly… everywhere :/
So I bought some marigold seeds and started some seeds.
The seedlings are looking quite healthy. I’ve begun watering them with chamomile tea water. Many years ago, my brother told me about using weak chamomile tea water to help stop the plants from getting a disease called dampening-off, when I transplant them outside.
I planted a test-marigold outside a few days ago. It’s been through sun and storms and looks pretty good. The chamomile tea seems to have worked wonderfully. I plan on planting the other marigolds outside this weekend if the weather allows.

I reckon this is all for me at the moment. I just wanted to drop by and share a few thoughts.

Wishing you all a pleasant rest of the week.

 

 

 

Sunny Spring Saturday

By

P1700249
My daffodils were so pretty this year. They began blooming last of February and then burst into a glorious display early March. I had began to think they were safe from snow
and then…
P1700342
March 12, 2022 we got a heavy, but pretty snowfall.
It caused my daffodils to freeze-to-death.
That made me sad.
However, at least we’re done with that ‘snow-laying-on-daffodils-once’.
Now Spring can continue to bud and bloom…
(until our last frost in a month or so, which hopefully won’t freeze so hard that it bites all the beautiful green things to death.)
P1700432
Speaking of Spring, my day-lilies have awoken and are growing. Shelibean posed in front of them for me.
Bless my wee-boy’s-heart, he’s starting to show his age, thankfully he’s still a puppy at heart and a loving, happy little soul.

Happy Spring to you all!