Saturday, March 17, 2012

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Well hello there friend....  hope that you had a beautiful day today. First to all the Irish as well as the wanna-be Irish... Happy St. Patrick's Day! I hope you all had some great food and got to see friends.
If you are a quilter... Happy National Quilt Day! I hope you got to work on something in your sewing room! I wish  would have had the time to do some sewing today.
What did I do instead you ask? Well Mikhaila and I went to the 12th annual New Ventures Gardening Seminar in Minong, that I told you about a couple days ago. It was a beautiful day here in NW Wisconsin and we got up early to get ready and get on the road. The seminar started at 9:15, we were greeted by smiling gardeners and coffee and donuts for breakfast. There were different vendors that had various goods to sell- anywhere from books to plants. The presentations were all very good, inspiring and we even watched the movie "A Chemical Reaction" that is out. Lunch was great! Very good food, the ladies did a wonderful job hosting - also any men that may have been behind the scenes. =) We saw various people that we knew but had not known were coming, it was fun to catch-up.We will sure put it on the calendar for next year!
Here are some pictures that we took. Enjoy!
Lovely flavored water, refreshing!

The water looked to good to drink! Mint, rosemary, fruit, basil, dill, lemons and water

Lunch was very good. The cook did wonderful treats for dessert , sandwiches that were yummy, an awesome noodle salad! It really was worth the $14 just to have the lunch!



Another yummy drink! Shaved ice in a punch with grapefruit and lime slices! Wonderful!


A close-up, wish I would have gotten the recipe for this one!

The tables were decorated for St. Patrick's Day.

Mikhaila with her green on! She was originally going to rebel and wear red, white, and blue. I am glad she changed her mind, she looks great in green!

She still put alot of food away even though she had a good cold going on!

One of the table displays. People could bring in pictures from the yards or from their clubs. The planted bowl on the right was awesome!! All miniature plants and accesories- it was a door prize!

Isn't it awesome! I would love one that looks just like it!

Another door prize! They really had some great things donated!

Awww it was so good to see plants that were all fresh and blooming!! Beautiful!

Meleah- one of the presenters, she gave two presentations. Both were very good. She can be reached on her blog www.everydaygardener.com

Mary Ellen was there with info on the Monarch Butterfly. The Happy Tonics are right in Shell Lake- they have a great butterfly garden that  you can stop and see. Their info www.happytonics.wordpress.com
 The table on the right sold plants today. Very Nice plants!

Meleah giving her other presentation. A great table set-up behind her with pictures and cards to sell.

Here is a close-up of the plant table. Its looking a little bare now! I know I brought two plants home.

Oh aren't they cute! I thought the St. Patty's colors went well with having  a garden seminar! It was nice they decorated for both!

Some more of the St. Patty's Day decor.

One of the attendants!! LOL No it is actually a dsplay at the Minong school where the seminar was held. Very nice school!

Mikhaila won a gift certificate as well a garden stake. She is soooo lucky!

A BIG thanks to all the vendors, presenters, works, planners and attendees. It was a wonderful day to talk about gardening!

Friday, March 16, 2012

Try it Tuesday Update

So a week ago on a Tuesday I planted some plants and shared them with all of you here on the blog. Well this last Tuesday I checked in with the plants and took pictures so you can see what is going on here as far as those plants. I have to say that with this warmer weather  I really want to get out and start working in the soil. I want to start plants and plant things outside.Now I know that we could still get some colder weather, and we have there was frost outside earlier this week. But wow I just want to have a green yard and some fresh veggies from the garden.
Apple is doing good. I think he has laid down some roots by now as he has been planted for a week and a half. We shall see how it grows....

This is the lavender today- it has grown alot since Tuesday when I took the other picture!


This is the same lavender that I took a picture of today! See how much shorter this plant was on Tuesday??

These lavender are growing great too! I am so excited!! Can you tell I have Spring fever???
This is a great plant- I love succulents and cactus! If you look at the top you will see little nubs ad they are fuzzy. I think that he is going to flower! My shorter cactus I don't thin are mature enough, these must be older  as they are taller. Only the back plant has nubs on him the one in the front does not have any. Can't wait to see what color the flowers will be!
Here is a close up of the nubs. Not sure if they are going to be flowers or are they new plants? hmmmm I am excited either way.



Ok that has been the update on the started plants. Oh except the dahlia- she isn't growing. So I am going to try some lighter soil as the stuff she is in is heavy. We shall see. Tell me what you are growing? Is it really growing or just kind of sitting there? I am going to a friends this weekend and all the ladies there will do a seed exchange. I am excited for that!! Have you ever done a seed exchange? What did you like or not like about it?

12th Annual New Ventures Gardening Seminar

Good Morning  friends, I wanted to share this with you- I do apologize about the short notice. As part of my blog I like to share what is going on locally with my readers.  I think its worth knowing about what is going on in your local area so that you can support the local businesses and have fun in the processes!. Lets face it we all get our info in different ways and there are times you might not be able to read the local  paper, or sometimes the event is not in there. So I like to think that my blog has the job of informing/reminding you of things that you might want to know about. 
 
 The 12th annual New Ventures Gardening Seminar hosted by Northwood Community Ed, Spooner Garden Club, and the North Country Master Gardeners will inspire gardeners – and be a thought-provoker – on Saturday, March 17, at Northwood School, Minong.
Gardeners will be able to welcome spring with a day of camaraderie, shopping with garden-related vendors, great food, and four interesting, informative sessions:
• Decoding Gardening Advice by Meleah Maynard
Gardeners hear a lot of advice from all kinds of sources, but even the pros can be wrong. Frustrated by how confusing that must be for gardeners at all levels, Master Gardener Meleah Maynard and University of Minnesota Horticulture Professor Jeff Gillman (author of several books, including The Truth about Garden Remedies and The Truth about Organic Gardening) researched some of the most common recommendations and turned their findings into the book: Decoding Gardening Advice: The Science Behind the 100 Most Common Recommendations, which was published in December.
Does overhead watering really contribute to more plant diseases? Can urine be used as fertilizer? Should trees be staked? You’ll find out those answers and more.
• 10 Mistakes Even Experienced Gardeners Make and How to Avoid Them by Meleah Maynard
Gardeners always make mistakes as they learn. But even experienced gardeners blunder now and again. This presentation is a cheat sheet for gardeners who want to avoid 10 top mistakes and save themselves time, money, and a whole lotta back pain.
Besides being a book author and knowledgeable gardener, Maynard is a journalist and blogger. Her articles, columns, and essays have been published in regional and national publications, and she blogs at www.everydaygardener.com.
• Succulent Succulents by Scott Wald- www.simplysucculents.com
With the possibility of a hot, dry summer ahead, what better plants to consider than the diverse range of succulents, with their fascinating shapes, textures, and colors? Learn about their traits, what soil and watering techniques help them thrive, how they can be used in the garden and containers, and how to create artistic projects with them.
Scott and Sue Wald founded and operate Big Brook Greenhouse and Simply Succulents in Cable, WI, and have specialized in succulents since 1985. In 2011 Garden Design magazine recognized Simply Succulents as one of the seven best mail-order sources of succulents. They grow their succulents, so they are all hardy to Zone 3.
• A Chemical Reaction
The New Ventures Garden Seminar is presenting a different venture this year: a showing of the award-winning, engaging film A Chemical Reaction, which was released in 2009 and has been screened at film festivals and other events in the United States, Canada, and around the world.
Almost 21 years ago, Hudson, Quebec, near Montreal, became the first North American municipality to ban using “cosmetic,” synthetic pesticides on public and private gardens and lawns, except golf courses. The challenge to that law went all the way to the Canadian Supreme Court, where it was upheld. Now 80 percent of Canada and an increasing number of municipalities in the United States have enacted similar bans of over 200 insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides, including commonly used ones such as Round-Up.
The film has been called “fascinating,” “enlightening,” “inspiring.” It follows the movement from its beginnings when a dermatologist in Hudson began seeing in her patients health problems related to pesticide contact and she persistently lobbied her town board to ban the chemicals.
Paul Tukey, a resident of Maine, combined his years as a journalist and then landscaping contractor and speaker to star in and produce the documentary, spurred by a serious illness he developed from the products he applied to lawns.
He is the author of The Organic Lawn Care Manual, the companion DVD Making the Organic Lawn Care Transition that received the 2007 Garden Writers Award for Best Electronic Media, founder of safelawns.org, and host of the HGTV show People, Places & Plants which aired for two years beginning in 2002. He has won numerous awards, including the 2006 Horticultural Communicator of the Year Award from the American Horticultural Society.
 
Seminar stats
The seminar will be held from 9:15 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., with registration and vendor sales beginning at 8:30 a.m. Pre-registration is required by mailing in $14 (includes lunch and snacks) with name, phone number, and address. Registration by at least a week in advance is appreciated so enough food and handouts are available.
As is the tradition at the seminar, 4x6-inch photos of plants, area gardens, and visited gardens are welcome and will be displayed during the event. Photos that are 8x10 are also welcome for displaying. Attendees are invited to send photos with their registration (not e-mailed in), along with the photographer’s name and a description of the photo. The snapshots can be retrieved after the seminar if desired.
Vendors with any kind of garden-related products are invited, too.
The books Decoding Garden Advice, The Organic Lawn Care Manual, and if published in time for the seminar, Tukey’s new book Tag, Toss and Run – 40 Classic Lawn Games will be sold at the seminar.
More information about the seminar is available from Julie Hustvet, gardenseminar@charter.net, or Northwood Community Ed Director Micki Brisky, 715-466-4692, ext. 331, or michela_brisky@northwood.k12.wi.us. Questions about vending can be directed to Hustvet.
Northwood School is four miles north of Minong on Hwy. 53. The New Ventures Garden Seminar is held annually on the third Saturday in March.
 
Northwood School Community Ed
N14463 Hwy 53
Minong, WI 54859
You can make the check out to Northwood School Community Ed.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Try it Tuesday!

So I am naming this Try it Tuesday- it is a name that I borrowed from my friend Jo over at http://www.joscountryjunction.com/ . She has a link up so that people can try things out and then tell others if it works for them or if it didn't- it can be recipes, or patterns, maybe a canning recipe  or whatever comes to mind. So I figured today I would give it a try.
What did I try you ask?? Well first I have to say I have been having some Spring Fever so I have been wanting to get into the soil and started diggin'!! Alittle while back I bought a pineapple and I thought he would root if I put him in water, well he hadn't so  thought I wonder if he is one of these plants that just goes right into soil? So I pulled out my copy of Jerry Bakers  book- I Never Met A House Plant I Didn't Like ( it cost me a whole 25 cents at the library!!) and looked up Pineapples. Well sure enough they just go into the soil and are not rooted in water! So...

So Apple was the first one to get a new place to lay down roots....


I buried him right to the bottom of his greenery. Them I watered him in the center of the plant like the book said. He looks healthy on the outer leaves but has lost some of his inner core leaves so we shall see what happens. It is Try it Tuesdays so we are going to see if he grows, he won't grow pineapples- however he will be a nice house plant.


Then on to my lavendar- I was very sad when this plant froze! I am a lavendar freak! I bought this Munstead Lavendar at the garden shop and it smelled lovely!! Then when the heat went out in the old house well it kicked the bucket!! So I am still in denial that it is dead so I left the root of this plant in the pot. What can I say!! .


So I trimmed all the lavendar I could off of it.  These smelly cuttings will go into sachets sometime soon. 



Then I watered the soil in here very good- let it soak. I planted one of the Lavendar tubers  that had new growth on in here right across from the root of the other plant. It they both grow that would be awesome. Remember I am in denial!! However if the one bulb that I planted today grows then she will still have room to start making tubers. It is March and  she will get ahead start on her other Lavendar friends that will end up in the yard this Spring.


These are the bulbs I am using. I bought them from my neighbor at the old house.She has great gardens- I love her Dahlias, the Lavendar, her berries!! I have to say I was surprised that Lavendar is a bulb root as I have always bought Lavendar plants. I went through this last year with the Dahlia thing as well- there are seed Dahlias and there are root Dahlias.


Yes I know what you are thinking I should have cut the tubers apart. I would have had more plants.  Well like I said I bought them this way , forgot to do it before storing them, and I was just trying to keep them alive this past winter. Over all I did keep most of the Lavendar and the Dahlia tubers in shape for growing. This s an achievement on my part as I have killed all kinds of bulbs in the past. The house we live in was hard to regulate heat in and so things froze. These are starting to sprout so they are wanting Spring and warmer weather too! 


Two smaller Lavendar  roots went here. Just to get them going and then if need be they can be transplanted. The growth of the tubers will not be that much before we get warmer weather to not be able to be transplanted. Plus this is an experiment, will the plants from inside grow faster or bigger than their friends that get put in the ground in the Spring?  I guess we shall see. I just know I have to break ground up in the Spring before I can plant so anything that gets me having plants started is a plus!


Two tiny Dahlia bulbs got planted as well.They are small so  they went in together to start and then they will get split. I really don't like the soil that is in here- its pretty heavy so I may have to add some fluffy soil to help lighten it up some. But they are in the window and they do have sprouts!


The Lavendar plant in the window by the cactus. I am a cactus person too! Matter of fact that may be my next Try it Tuesday. I have some seeds to start cactus. But I have been hesitant to use them as I am thinking -How long will it take to grow a cactus from seed!

So that is my Try it Tuesday. Go check out what others are trying over at http://www.joscountryjunction.com maybe it will inspire you to try something new. I do like her website, I am always inspired by something on there! If anyone has bulbs to share or a cactus or anything else gardenish  I would be so interested!! Until next time...


Sunday, March 4, 2012

Some inspiration.....

So  I was looking threw some pictures that I have taken to see what else I could share with all of you. I was kind of looking for some inspiration today, I want to start sewing on a new project but I am keeping myself reigned in until I get some things finished or done! That has been really hard for me as I am kind of the type of person that finds it really fun to do various projects all at the same time. HOWEVER, that means I don't always get them done or sometimes if I am close to getting them done I have lost most of my interest and therefore they don't get done. So anyway...while looking through pictures I found some from the fair last year. I share these with you to kudos to such wonderful crafts- ladies as well as to inspire us. Remember a quilt is not built in a day-  Enjoy!
All I can say is beautiful! Whoever did this quilt is talented. I would love to do some applique. I just have not gotten there, I feel I would screw it up or something. It is a hurdle in my mind that I will get over once I get some quilt making under my belt. I really love the colors and the pattern.

I have really become a fan of light yellow backgrounds. To me the quilts made like this say homey, use me to cuddle up in. I love the fabrics in here! They just remind me of the quilts from the past. This is an edge that I want to put on a quilt- I think it just adds so much to it! I recently saw this edging on a wool rug too and it really just caught my eye. Do you have a favorite edge or pattern that you would like to do? Or one that you keep going back too? They really did a great job on this quilt- beautiful!!

Mikhaila really liked this one because she is a dog hound! LOL  Very cute! I like the use of the small squares in between the blocks.

I think these are great! Something that is artsy and functional. I have some potholders in my pile that need to be finished, however they are not this cute. LOL

I took this picture because I really like how they quilted the green. That is a beautiful pattern!

Wonderful huh? The detail in this blows my mind!I think it would look fabulous framed on the wall. I don't think if I would have made it I could ever use it! Awesome!

Here is another quilt that I find very interesting. I like the hexagon shapes - I really like the edge on this quilt as well. Plus the red makes it pop! I have a problem at times putting all the different fabrics together when I am thinking of making a quilt . But when I see quilts like this I LOVE how it looks! I am in the process of starting to cut hexagons out for a Grandma's Garden quilt. I am going to have to see what I have still in the stash to work with as I am still trying to get the blocks done for my crumb quilt- I am running low on crumbs!! I need to hook up with some people that sew and don't use their scraps- especially those that use bright fabric as I have none of that in my stash!
Here is Mikhaila taking a break with our friend Karen. Karen is a great sewing person ( she sews and quilts) she is the 4H person to go to for all your sewing needs and wants. She also is in charge of the 4H fashion show and she volunteers long hours with 4H as well as in the textile building at the fair. Thank  you to all the volunteers at the fair!! Thanks to all those that always put things into the fair - you are all awesome to share your talent with the rest of us! Keep the great projects coming! 
I hope you have found some inspiration and had fun looking over some of the things that were entered in last  years fair. If you are looking for more inspiration here are two talented ladies that I always get inspired from  www.joscountryjunction.com  and www.quiltville.blogspot.com.
Have a great day!

Saturday, March 3, 2012

The Saturday Sewing Room-

Good afternoon everyone! What are you doing on this fine Saturday? Are you working in your craft room? Sewing? Quilting? Maybe you are reading?
Well until about 11:00 this is what my daughter was doing.
Can we say passed out?? She was up late last night doing homework. This morning she let the dogs out and then went back to bed! Nothing is waking her this morning!



This is a close up of the blocks that I already had done. I added a rails block that I had laying around. I thnk that I will add some more rail blocks, I like the way they look.

Another close-up of the blocks that I had done. I really like the star block.


So I started out with 13 done. I need to get 42 made, this may take alittle time. But I am looking  forwarded to getting this quilt done.





So these are the ones that I started out with having done.The first row is sewn together, the rest I put up on the wall so that I can see where to put them in the quilt.




I really like the wonky hearts and the other star that I got done.


These are the extra blocks that I got sewn last night- 8 more so that helps alittle.


This is not a good picture but for whatever reason  blogger won't let me not put it in! The computer is not helping me out today at all!
Let me know what you are working on this weekend.