This is my newest project.  It's a quilt kit, that came with 11 yards of fabric and the pattern.  Skill level:  intermediate;  I'm not scared!!!  Now all I have to do is  decipher the pattern directions, cut, piece, sew, and assemble.  

 

Seeing how we are back to winter and MUD, I should be able to get a lot done.  So far, I have 16 hours invested, and since it's warm upstairs (my sewing room) I think I'll get back to it now!!!

 

HAPPY QUILTING!!!

 

Long before the apples are ripe, we get blueberries!!  They start getting ripe on Father's day....every year, on Father's day we pick blueberries!

 

The bushes are really loaded with blossoms, and bees.    Last year we picked 12 gallons of blueberries.  We love to share, but you have to pick them yourself.  We start about 8 am and finish for the day by 9:30.  If you get here early, you can pick your own blueberries.  If you get here too late, well...you're too late.  

 

The bushes are on a hill, so wear your hiking and/or climbing shoes.  We go out early before the sun is in our eyes, but sunscreen is a good thing to wear too.  Hope to see you in June for some berry picking fun.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

We are going to have lots of apples!!  Our orchard is in bloom!!!  And the bees and butterflies are all over the trees.

 

They usually bloom for my birthday, but this year.....they are blooming for Roxanne's birthday.  I hope she gets back in time to see them.  They are SO pretty!

 

Now all we have to do is:  pray that the "BlackBerry frost" is mild and short-lived.  And pick the apples before the deer get them.  Last year we missed that opportunity by one day!!!  One day a couple of trees were full of golden delicious apples, still a bit unripe, and the next day THEY WERE ALL GONE!!!! 

We did get red apples, because we picked them soon after.  So... they didn't get the entire crop.

 

Hopefully, we can learn from our mistake and do better this year.  Gardening teaches some tough lessons.  But we are (somewhat) smarter than the deer, so we have a chance to get it right next time.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

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I know that clover is a weed, but.....

 

I don't pull it out, cause I love spotting a four leaf one!  My friend, Pat Bridges could be walking at a normal pace, stop, bend down and pluck a four leaf clover!!!  I am pretty good at seeing them too.

 

Yep!!!  I AM LUCKY!!!!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!!

 

Momma is still on the nest.  And yesterday we saw her feeding two tiny chicks!!!!

 

Go there NOW!!!!     https://wildbirds-1.click2stream     You'll be glad you did!!!!!

 

I just learned that Mr. Bluebird has a white eye-ring and is brighter than Mrs. Bluebird.  Now we can tell WHO is babysitting.  Still just two babies.  Hmmm.  Wonder what that means.  Keep watching!!!!.

 

LOVE THE BIRDS!!!!!

Hey!

Those of you still in Florida.. git ur self up here and watch this amazing transformation from winter to spring!

ahhhhhhhhh a sunset in the spring!

 

mark

 

Sandy Bradley sent me this picture today.  It's her entrance in Port St. Lucie, FL. 

 

Just outside the door are Black-eyed Susies.  Her dad grew them in Pittsburgh years ago, and she keeps his memory alive by growing them.  I think of her dad when mine bloom too!!!!

 

In the foreground are Cosmos.  Maybe you've see them growing on the highway, and in the medians.  I know that these seeds came from Patty Mondl's butterfly garden.  It's been a few years ago, but we collected a handful of the seeds.  Sandy planted them in her front yard, and HERE THEY ARE!!!!!

 

Cosmos are sun-loving, drought tolerant annuals that attract butterflies.  They are easily grown from seed; and they SELF seed, meaning that they just keep coming back, year after year.  A pack of seeds is less than $3.  Give them a try.

 

SO BEAUTIFUL!!!  Thanks Sandy for sharing.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Do you know this plant?  Hilda gave it to me years ago.  It's rhubarb!!  And that protrusion at the top is its flower bud.  Rhubarb is valued for the succulent stems, not the blossoms, but I just love seeing plants bloom!

 

Rhubarb is a northern perennial.  It likes cool weather, and suffers a little during our hot summers.  But these have been doing fine since I planted them.  It's about time to divide the plants, so let me know if you'd like some.

 

Jon likes to make a sauce with the stems.  Tear off the leaves, they are NOT edible.  They are beyond inedible, the leaves are TOXIC.  Wash and cut the red stems into one inch pieces.  Then cook them for about 20 minutes in a little bit of orange juice.  By a little bit, I mean a couple tablespoons.  When it is the consistency of apple sauce, add a dollop of orange marmalade.  Some people add sugar, but we don't like it too sweet.  It's good as a side dish, just like apple or cranberry sauce.  Oh yeah!!!  Sometimes he adds cranberries into the pot for a tart blend.  I don't eat ice cream, but I bet it would be good on top of vanilla.

 

Don't you love Spring things?  Keep looking, there are signs of spring everywhere!

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you're still checking on the bluebird nestbox at  https://wildbirds-1.click2stream.com/

 

I looked yesterday and saw 5 pretty blue eggs.  They should be hatching any day now.....Go look!!

 

FASCINATING!!!!

I tend to be a music ambiguity. Growing up in Cleveland OH for much of my younger life I rooted rock and roll genes in me that you will often hear flowing out of my shop. At the same, time jazz is ingrained in my soul growing up around my parents. My dad even had a Dixieland band called Conde's Cops.. But when Im here in the hills or on a stream fishing Bluegrass is the music I appreciate most.

 

The way I was introduced to this was sitting around in the back of an old grocery in rest haven SC with a friend who grew up in that area and listening to a bunch of amazing folks who came together to just play. The skill and ability always blew me away. Over the years fishing in that area we even watched one lad who could first barely get up on the stool with his banjo build his skills and become a man over time where he would come back from college and join the group. It was all about family... and that's the main point for this posting.. I want to introduce you to a really fun family in TN.

 

Meet Daniel and Sandy. https://www.facebook.com/DanielSandy-Norton-133162140833527/ 

 

Now Facebook can be an abomination at times but it also allows me to meet really cool people. Daniel and Sandy host a Bluegrass music video stream out of their home in TN and the whole family gets in on it. What strikes me is how skilled these folks are and how much fun it is to just join them (virtually of course) and listen to their songs.

 

So take sometime and catch some of their prerecorded videos or jump into their living room for a live stream one of these evenings. Catch some of those videos here: https://www.facebook.com/pg/DanielSandy-Norton-133162140833527/videos/?ref=page_internal

 

mark