Giveaway - Valentine Jewelry for You

Winter doldrums got you down? (What the heck is a doldrum?) Perk your self up with a pretty peony from my akaCINDERS shop.

Romantic Red and Ivory Peony and a Pretty Spring flower to remind you where we're going.

Entry is Easy! Tweet or Facebook Post Post any item from my shop akaCINDERS or just Tweet or Facebook My new Website akacinders.com.

Want extra entries? Post something Pretty on Pinterest for 2 additional entries.  Make sure you let me know what you did in the comments on this post.
Contest Ends January 31, 2012. That will give me enough time to get this to you by Valentines Day.

Please be sure that you leave a comment with a name I can use to contact, or check Back February 1 to see if you have won. No entry limits.

The Garden Visitor

Yesterday I did a lot more work in the Veggie Garden. I finished turning over the soil, left it fluffy to dry, and turned in some more humus. I also put in some planters around the yard. I found an old Sap bucket without a bottom and an old Fire Station bucket without a bottom. Those will be great for planting. I love to contain oregano, but it likes to be deep rooted, so I'll put it in the Red Fire Station Bucket and the old ammo box which is really weather resistant, will hold my potted cilantro and basil. I can't wait. I'm going to look for some more cute planters to line the garden with, because that is the sunniest part of the yard, and it will look much cuter.

I also took the sap bucket and planted it in the ground and found a piece of terracotta drain pipe that I placed next to it. I put some sedum in the pipe, but not sure what I will put in the bucket. Doesn't get much sun so maybe impatiens will be nice there. I love to use that little sedum in pots too. It comes back every year and looks cute draping over the sides. If you buy vinca for you planters, you can take it out at the end of the year, roll it up and bury it underground, at least 6 inches.Then pull it up again in the spring. You don't have to buy it every year.

I know some Italians who love fresh figs so much that they do this with their fig trees. They don't weather will in Cleveland, but they have to be uprooted and buried a little deeper. It works though.

Now for my visitor. After all my hard work, I looked out of the window and saw a cheap tacky scarecrow in the corner of the garden. The property owner found it at a flea market for $1and added it to the garden. He was being nice, but I thought it was kind of tacky. Well I went out today to take his picture and I guess I found him a little charming, because I wasn't so upset when I took his picture. Maybe he will bless the crops at the back of the garden, where he won't block sunlight. Yeah, that's it.

I also found a clump of almost blooming Daffodils. So pretty. I bought a rose bush to plant in the beds this weekend too. I've been having problems with them. Who would believe. You can't get rid of roses when they establish, but trying to get them started is a chore. I planted one last year, too close to the dog run and she decided to dig it up. Nothing else, just the rose bush.

Hope you had a nice weekend too. It's raining today, so no more planting, but I'm looking forward to it again tomorrow.

It's Daffodil Time

I finished turning more than half of the Garden, broke down the compost bin and moved it to a better location. I always leave it right in my garden, because the decomposing food and garden wastes work great to add nutrients to the soil. It's a great place to plant tomatoes around, but I think I'll plant them where the compost bin was last year.

Moving the bin was a little tricky, because I had to keep only the bottom, decomposed compost and had to move the fresher compost back to the bin. Our garden in on a hill, so I put the bin at the highest end, so nutrients will flow down in the rain. Smart huh? Last year was the first year, and I had to rush the garden, no time for real planning.

The garden is almost ready for planting, and if the clouds break, I plan on spending another lovely day out in it today. Maybe I will even get out my onion sets and plant my potatoes in the canvass bags. Lettuce and peas should be planted now too, but my beautiful big tomatoes and peppers will have to wait a few weeks.

We have crocus up and the daffodils are just about ready to pop. The lilac bush and Cherry tree have a long way to go though. Not like DC where the Cherry Blossom festival waits. Hope I get there some day.


I'm really excited about the flowers. We don't have a lot in the yard, but we have a few. I'm going to try to get a few more this year. There are a lot of perennials down at the lake and we are just a few yard walk away from it.

Hope you get a chance to work in the Garden today. It's a wonderful way to refresh and revitalize after the long dark Winter.

Obsessed with Gardening

“The kiss of sun for pardon, The song of the birds for mirth, One is nearer God's Heart in a garden Than anywhere else on earth” 
Dorothy Frances Gurney

Last week I was obsessed with Totes, OK I still am. Totes and clutches. But with the warming weather, I'm growing an obsession with gardening too.

I've planted my seedlings and my Tomatoes, Peppers, and Basil are doing great. I needed some cilantro, so instead of buying a bunch, for about the some price I got a plant. I thought I can put it out soon. The cat's aren't too happy about this plant thing, because my seedlings are sitting on the table in front of the window that they usually sit on to watch the birds.

Today, if I get the energy and the sun is out as promised, I'm going to go out and pull up all the ground cloth, and turn over the garden. It's time to plant the cool weather seeds, the peas and lettuces and I can even start onions and potatoes. I used to plant potatoes in a plastic garbage can, that I drilled with holes for drainage and light. It worked well, but didn't make it here from NY.

This year I got a fantastic Idea I bought some coffee sacks last summer, that turned out to be much coarser and not printed with nice patterns, than I expected them to be. Very disappointing, but the auction listing did say bags can vary. I thought that those might be really great to grow the potatoes in. I did a little research and I'm not the only one to get that idea. Here is a link on how to make potato planters at Sustainable Eats. I think the bags will look really cute too. Here is a great link with other planter ideas.

I think I might take another bag and grow carrots in it too. Our soil is not wonderful and I can fill them with soil and humus mix so it's nice and soft for the roots to grow. Our soil is OK for peppers, zucchini and tomatoes, and in time the beans I plant will add vital nitrogen.

I'm a Garden fanatic, actually. I could go on about how and why you have to rotate tomatoes and what you need to plant by the beans and why garlic and marigolds are beneficial. I love the black plastic mulch, because I hate to weed, I prefer to spend my time harvesting. For years we've enjoyed rabbits as pets, because they not only are sweet and cuddly, but their droppings don't have to be composted for fertilizer. Just put their cage cleanings right on the garden.

Hope you all get out to the garden this summer. 

The Robins Are Here

The robins are here and they are in my yard. I took a picture, they were very cooperative.

When I showed this picture to little Harper, he thought it was apples in the trees. No Harper, those are all male robins. Those are just the ones waiting, on the ground, eating berries off another tree, there are many many more.

I'm not sure what this means. This is my first year at this house, so maybe they come to that tree every year. But it seems like every robin from the entire county is here. It is spectacular. Click to enlarge.

I certainly hope it is a sign of early spring and good things to come, and not the Apocalypse.