PINECONES!

So I finally got the gumption to do something with the pile of pinecones out by the door. I picked them all last year because I was going to make a garland. I tried but found it difficult to work with the wire and it looked aweful so I gave up! So yesterday I decided to put one of the wreaths I made to use. With a little spraypaint, glitter and hotglue...

The question now is what to do with the rest!!! I barely made a dent in the pile. I mostly have Norway Spruce and Blue Spruce left. (Those are the larger ones)

It's Fall

The leaves have fallen, the days are darker, and there is a sprinkling of frost over everything in the mornings. It's definitely fall. The geese have been flying south steady for weeks now and they soon will be all gone but I saw some cranes fly over today. Today, November 1st, is the first day of deer season, we went out and Terry shot a doe mule deer. I've got two mule deer tags as well, so hopefully I'll get one next time! I didn't get any pictures so hopefully I'll get some of those next time too. I was trying to remember the other day what date Bonfire night is, I think it's Nov 3rd. I miss Bonfire night, they still do it in Newfoundland - it's an old English thing I believe. Happy Fall everyone!


I should make a comment my Christmas cards, I've been making them since September! I've got my quota made but still making more. I've got lots more ideas. I just ordered a new stamp from QKR Stampede and I've got a Stampin' Up parcel coming from my mom & sister. Exciting! I think I'll post some of my cards online eventually. Bye for now.

Okay so I found out that BonFire night is the 5th. http://www.bonfirenight.net/

My Early Birthday Surprise!

So Terry tells me he knows what he's getting me for my birthday and TRIED to order it and inlisted Mary's help, then looked online to order and got even more confused about what exactly to get. So he just HAD to tell me! He wanted to buy me a hydrangea but didn't know which one to get and because ordering them cost so much money (over $100) he didn't want to get the wrong kind for our zone, or something I didn't like... so he let me choose!

We found one really cheap at a local garden centre (Evergreen actually). It is an "Endless Summer - The Original" a mophead hydrangea which can be blue or pink. It looks like mine is mostly pink! It's supposed to be hardy to Zone 3 so we're giving it a try!!!

I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!! However it is a bit disconcerting when I go out on a super sunny day and it's all flopped over! Apparently that's natural but I'm afraid I've planted it in too sunny a spot. Well we'll see how it goes. Any hydrangea tips? YAY!!!

Lady Lilac's Lovely Lilac's!!!

So here are a few pictures I took last week (or at least I think it was last week). Our fantastic lilac hedge has come into full bloom and with handfuls of that sweet smell on the table every day. Sadly they are fading now. I HAD to post the picture of the Allium(that purple ball)! They are about amazing about 2.5" tall and 4 inches across!!! I'm so glad I bought those, I wonder if you can get different colours? Then I also included my Lonely Lily of the Valley. A few came back but only one bloomed. I'm so glad I got some Michelle. I've since gotten some more from Mary so hopefully next year there will be MORE!

I've got a video of around the garden that I have to upload to YouTube. I should probably go do that. And I've got another little surprise to share with you guys!

Very much enjoying my garden, I hope you are enjoying yours :)

May Flowers!

So last Saturday I finished replacing the brick edge and planted all my annuals. :) On Sunday my purple tulips bloomed and I was more excited about them than the whole bed of flowers! LOL I'm not sure what else to say really. The lilacs will soon be blooming, the one tree next door has a few blossoms but ours aren't out yet. I love lilac's so much. There are so many sunflowers coming up from last years plants WOW we'll have plenty of sunflowers this year!!! I had a few gladiolus bulbs from last year but they looked pretty small and shrivelled so I planted everything in one big lump in one corner of the vegetable garden. We'll just have to wait and see what comes. I don't have much else to say, I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves. April showers bring May Flowers!

Misty morning

On Thursday when I drove to work I was shrouded by a veil of foggy mist. It reminded me of that scene in Pride and Prejudice where Elizabeth is walking through the field then Mr. Darcy meets her there. I wish I had my camera at the time to take a picture. I also had the feeling that I was in Ireland with all this new very bright green grass and the mist drifting over the valley's. Of course I've never been to Ireland but that's what it made me think of.

Our Loot!

It was so fun picking out flowers at the garden centre (center? I never know which). We got:
allisum,
dark red snapdragons,
mixed snapdragons,
"frizzle" mixed pansy,
sunflower seeds,
ostiosperum (african daisy),
marguerite daisy (those funky pink flowers),
tomatoes,
mini tomatoes,
cucumber,
green pepper,
and corn!

When I was looking at the ostiosperum I just said "I'll take one of EVERY COLOUR!" LOL it was fun. :D And actually there were a few colours I didn't get, I only picked the "Proven Winner" brand - that limited it to only 7! Hehe.

Plan to get them all in the garden this Saturday.

SO EXCITED!!!! :)

The Status of My Flower Garden

It's pretty tricky working the seasonal department at The Home Depot day after day and not to buy any flowers. Everytime I walk buy certain flowers I say to myself (or outloud) "I should buy that". The lavender in particular, they smell SO GOOD!!! Alright you are probably wondering about the garden. I haven't put the brick edging back yet. The tulips, allium, and tiger lily's are up but none flowering. I just noticed today a few lily-of-the-valley coming back, and I THINK (and hope) I see one of the peony's emerging. None of the lily I planted last year are up yet, nor the hosta.

I just bought a small bleeding heart to put by the steps, and a small pack of snow-in-summer (not sure what to do with it yet).

I want a hanging basket that will attract hummingbirds to hang above the deck again this year.

I turned over two spots on either side of the delapadated garage down in the garden. We strung up some mesh and hopefully I'll have some sweet peas and morning glory trailing up the sides. If the sweetpeas ever decide to sprout!

There are signs of life in the Golden Clematis but I don't think the fuchsia one I bought last year made it.

I am aiming to bring mostly perennials into the garden (so far so good) and I have poppy seeds, and calendula seeds that I collected from friends to sew pretty soon.

Oh I could just talk about flowers all day long! I'm so glad to be working in the garden centre, even if it's out in the rain it beats Staples ANY DAY! :)

Showers of Blessing

Wow I just won a $40 gift certificate from Kathy's Greenhouse! The other day Sharon and I took a little trip to visit Castle Garden Greenhouse (and attached antique shop). Then we decided to continue on up with road to Kathy's Greenhouse - the first time I'd ever been there and it's a VERY beautiful shop. Very clean and super organized! I only bought a couple of things but (as an afterthought) put my name in for a weekly draw. I was very surprised this morning to find out I actually won! Yay for me!!!! Thank the Lord - I've been wondering just how much I could spend on the garden - and now we have a little extra.

All in all that day I bought more antiques than I did flowers! But it all worked out, I'm glad I didn't spend a tonne on flowers at that time. I can't wait to go back!

P.S. I bought a MINT CONDITION FireKing Peach Lustre 8" bowl in the swirl pattern (there were two but I could only bring myself to buy one - "good Nancy"). I also got a peach custard dish which is considerably warn BUT a FireKing and it was only $1. At the greenhouse I got a "Scarlet O'hara" morning glory and 12 multi- strawflowers.

Riding Along Singin' a Cowboy Song

Taking another opportunity on this "snowday" to update my blog. Last Friday Terry and I went for a ride. This time I brought the camera, but it's hard to take pictures while bouncing along on the back of a horse. We stopped to take a few. Terry rode Peanuts the Third, I got Cinnamon, and of course Lady tagged along.


They weren't very excited to leave their friends behind but we weren't out for very long. It was a beautiful day though.

Yay for snow days!

Hi friends, yesterday was a snowday, pretty huge storm with 90+km of wind. It was snowing and blowing all night and it's still snowing now but it's not as bad as it was yesterday. So we are staying inside except for to help push out the two trucks that got stuck in front of the house. When we got up yesterday morning you couldn't see out any of the windows because the snow was stuck to ALL the windows. But I managed to take a few pictures. It's about lunchtime now and it's actually not looking too bad outside, we might be able to go to town this afternoon!

The Adventure Has Begun!

So I had a little time this morning so I thought I'd go out and clean up the garden a little. You know, pick up the sprucecones, cut off the old stems from last year and maybe start putting the bricks back in place. Well my heart did a leap when I saw this one little sprout poking out of the ground... then when I looked I saw more. I RAN in the house and got the camera. Then I counted 11 bulbs poking up altogether! No sign of the peony yet. I am going to put some garlic in this year. I realize now that it should have been planted in the fall but they can be planted in the spring. So I'll do that sometime in the next couple of days I guess.

This seasons adventure has begun!

Campfire Crazy

So we went to the lake but the ice was still too close to shore to fish. And we couldn't have a fire on the beach because it was far FAR TOO WINDY!!! So we found a nearby picnic shelter and had ourselves a picnic! :)



We had some hotdogs...



...roasted a few marshmallows...




... and just enjoyed sitting around by the fire - er - I mean stove?!

Happy Spring!

I'm playing homemaker today. I did dishes, laundry, tidied a little and made bread. The house is smelling so yummy! I start my new job at the HomeDepot tomorrow! :) So now I have bread to make sandwiches. Then I got creative and made some tags for some gifts for two of my friends (not telling who). I'm going down to garage after I post this to repair Terry's stool, it needs new foam. Terry wants to go down to the lake after work. Fish from the shore for the first time this season if the ice is far enough out and roast hotdogs on the campfire! So I might have some campfire stories for tomorrow. Happy Spring! :D

Chocolate Moose

The other day I was at IKEA and got some fantastic cookie cutters. I as particularly interested in the MOOSE! So I started looking for a recipe for brown cookies (other than gingerbread) that I could roll & cut. I found an amazing recipe for Chocolate Sugar Cookies on Christmas-cookies.com. Terry and I made them on Friday night, how romantic!? They are oh so delicious and the dough was really nice to work with.



As you can see we made quite a few different shapes. Including the cute little porcupine! :) TRY THEM!!!

NEW Blog

Hi there Friends! I was inspired by my sister-in-law's blog and thought I'd start my own! :) So this is the first entry. I'm going to check this all out and see what creativity I can come up with.
~ Nancy