Category Archives: flowers

Mar4

The clean up begins

Posted on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 by Dianne

I was outside raking on Monday. It was close to 60 here and a bit breezy. My circular iris garden was all overgrown with field grass (you’ll see the pear tree in the background which won’t be looking that green this year). I am confessing to you all that I will mulch that garden this year! It would probably save me a ton of work. I have little box hedges around the perimeter of this garden and two or three of them are missing. I think Bri cut them down with the mower! So they will have to be replaced eventually. I also got out most of the old sunflower, zinnia and cosmos stalks next to the irises. I have a big blister from my raking- I should wear work gloves!

Made little turkey meatloaves and oven fried red potatoes-inspired by Everyday Food magazine. Yep, I was thinking about my post below and handled the turkey gingerly. : )

I’m on a roll with ATCs. I made 9 of them in the last few days. Making some gifts helps. Cutting up new books and having pretty papers is also a bonus I received a giftie ATC from Tootie over at <—-Honey Girl Studios (see above). Tootie has lots of her St Paddy’s and Easter art for sale right now.

I watched the show on the Royals last night. I have to say that I just adore William and Harry. They turned out so nice, their mom would be proud. And I watched them grow up as they are only a few years older than Sean.

Mar2

Snaps around the house

Posted on Sunday, March 2, 2008 by Dianne

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I call this the candy cane Amaryllis. I received it for Christmas from Brian and it finally bloomed! It has two stalks and 6 flowers each, though only one stalk just started to bloom.

This is a cute little ceramic piece-birds sitting along a dish which looks vintage, but it’s not (Big Lots). I just but these pretty eggs in the dish part for the time being.

Brian gave me this cloche for Christmas plus the crystal egg underneath another time!

I was browsing some old photos online and loved this one. The phrase ‘don’t throw the baby out with the bath water‘ came to mind, so I used it! (most of the words)

An ATC I made for my friend’s dad featuring a Red-breasted Nuthatch. It’s from a 62 year old Audubon bird book.

I thank another friend for sending some awesome papers which have truly inspired me! (background below). Thanks J!

Jan30

Sunny roses

Posted on Wednesday, January 30, 2008 by Dianne

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On Tuesday I mentioned how nice it would have been to receive flowers from Bri the day before as I had been to the eye doctor and was a little bummed. Last night I got these (my favorite color too!)

And since I was on the floor next to this pile photographing the flowers, thought I’d share:

I better get busy going through these! I signed up for some garden catalogs and got all three yesterday. Honey Girl Studio used hers for Art Trading Cards and I may copy her idea, though there are a few things I want to make a note of.

Then for those of you who didn’t know, we have a mascot for the PA lottery-Gus the Groundhog. Some west coast friends sent for this calendar and never received it. So here he is:

The wind woke me up today-it’s wicked. Soon Mr. Cosmo the kitty came in and snuggled next to me. He’s my alarm clock too. Unfortunately my sinuses feel like they are full of cement-heavy though very dry. A friend suggested a vaporizer. I use to have one for Sean who suffered until he was 10 with winter respiratory illnesses (knock wood). So I may have to locate the old one or buy a new one. My above friend uses a warm mist one every night and it helps her and she has gorgeous skin!

Jan15

Summer in winter

Posted on Tuesday, January 15, 2008 by Dianne

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What you can’t see is that this isn’t straight up and down like it is suppose to be, but at about a 45 degree angle from starting to grow and bud while still in the box.

And an art card made of mainly dollar store stickers:

Jan10

Surprises

Posted on Thursday, January 10, 2008 by Dianne

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When I went out in the kitchen this morning I looked around to see what else needs to be put away. I received two amaryllis as gifts and I decided to peek at them and get them in dirt today. Look at what I found:

The poor thing had sprouted without a drop of water! I promptly and gingerly put the bulb in the pot with warm water as suggested. The other bulb only has a little green point coming out of it. I wish I could get these to bloom more than once, but i can’t.
Then I got this (as did the other attendees) from Carolyn for attending her birthday Oscar bash:

My friend Pea/Carole mentioned this is National de-lurking week from the 7th-13th. I personally love comments and me and a few of my blogging pals get a little peeved by those who stop by and don’t say a word. So please say ‘hi’. : )

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I purchased my ‘galaxy’ ring from Kohls.com and they sent me the $20 worth of coupons. Sean and I went in the late afternoon Wednesday to a store in Delaware and hit their 70% off sale! I bought a few more Christmas things (I really need to downsize 23 years worth of stuff and will this summer), some clothing (most summery, but for $2-$3 each, I couldn’t pass them up) and a few items of jewelry. We also got buy one, get one free bed pillows. I splurged on a $20 one and Sean got a $10 one, though he could have gotten the pricier one for free. It’s a marshmallow for my head and I thanked the Lord last night for it. ; )

I plan to go back to Kohl’s and check out a few other departments.

I mailed off things yesterday to Carole, Karin, Charlotte and Hazel. I need to mail a few more things, some are which are for Nancy. I am doing 4 mail art envelopes and they are almost ready to go and will share them. And of course there are the Make A Child Smile kids (link in sidebar). In August I will be in my 10th year of sending well wishes. I believe I’ve stitched at least 40 quilt squares for that many children since 1999. I am working on one that I just received the chart and material for. The charity group is making two quilts for sick twin boys. So sad. Each square has two baby animals in it-my is zebras.

Have an excellent Thursday-off to the food store-again!

Dec28

Longwood Gardens slideshow

Posted on Friday, December 28, 2007 by Dianne

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Dec27

Awesome Longwood Gardens

Posted on Thursday, December 27, 2007 by Dianne

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Boy oh boy was it crowded at Longwood Gardens today! We lasted almost 2 hours in the mob, but we mainly went to see the lights, the new children’s garden and the main Christmas display-which we did. My mom is out for a visit and joined us and both Sean and her tried out their new cameras. Here are a few of the 79 shots (wow, I know). I’ll do a slideshow probably tomorrow.

Mom and Sean in the new children’s garden:

Dianne outside children’s garden

The Conservatory decorated for Christmas

A fountain in the children’s garden

Sunshine stained glass window in children’s garden

Gorgeous tablescape with a wintery theme (for Zoey!)

Some of the magnificent lights outside

Nov14

Colors for a gloomy day

Posted on Wednesday, November 14, 2007 by Dianne

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I had to run down to the store. I really shouldn’t say ‘run’ as I’m still so achy, all in the area I strained while moving the books, my left side and in ‘that’ area. My purpose for the trip was to get Sean a Carvel ice cream cake (football shaped) for a belated birthday cake and the makings of stew. He is driving home on Friday with a friend in tow, so I figure stew can sit on the stove all day. He mentioned they may stop in Lancaster for lunch and shopping. Lucky guys! That trip down here isn’t terrible, except for maybe the first 40 or so miles through the mountains as there isn’t any place to pull over if you even have a flat! I told him to make sure he goes to the bathroom too-ha!

Here’s a Thanksgiving cactus that is blooming in my family room window:

And my $1.98 flower purchase from the reduced bucket:

These are Spider mums and I love the colors. Quite a few of them weren’t any good and a few of these are falling, but they have already given me $2 worth of pleasure.
I’m dedicating these photos to my friend Barbara’s Aunt Hattie who just passed on.

My tip for the day-Most times Altoids will open up a stuffed head. They use real peppermint oil too. I would say most of the times I eat one, I will sneeze!

Nov13

Mini card Moos

Posted on Tuesday, November 13, 2007 by Dianne

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When I signed up for my pro account at Flickr, I was offered some free mini-cards by Moo. Today they arrived from London, England! There are 10- 1″ x less than 3″ matte finished cards. I guess it’s all the rage over at Flickr to trade them! You have to be sure you use an image what will fit in that space. What a nice surprise for a somewhat blah day for me (super achy from all the stress).