Gardening Day one!

I took the plunge in Gardening today. Well, more like I got my toes wet, fingers to be exact. I decided that I wanted to plant flowers and so I did it. Wish me luck on this endeavor! :)

I had wanted to plan out when to plant them so that they would all bloom at the same time, but my husband urged me to just plant them all since I got a big enough starter kit. This is just my tester year after all. What could hurt? So I will be posting up here each week to let you know how Gardening is going and what I have done in that area. If you have any advice or recommendation just post a comment.

Today: March 30, 2016

What I did?

Using a starter kit that has premeasured soil (good and healthy mineral rich stuff) I placed 2 or 3  seed about a quarter way down and covered them. Follow the directions on the starter kit you have for adding water. After planting and marking each row of flowers so I know what the heck they are I covered them and placed them inside my house where they will stay until little greens start showing.

What kind of Flowers:

Morning Glories Milky White and Heavenly Blue

Vines grow 10 to 20 feet in a season. Morning Glories have dark, heart-shaped leaves and produce breath-taking trumpet flowers up to 3 inches in diameter. Morning Glories don’t like to be well fed. If they are, they will grow huge and lush vines, but won’t flower. Is it past the Summer Solstice date of June 21st ? Morning Glories are “short day” plants, meaning that they will only set flowers when the days are shorter than 12 hours. As summer continues past the Solstice (the longest day of the year), the days shorten and nights lengthen, eventually triggering blooms. Depending on your geographical location, some gardeners will not see blooms until late July, August, or even early September in temperate areas.

http://www.wikihow.com/Grow-Morning-Glories

Zinnia (Giant Violet Queen)

https://myfolia.com/plants/373-common-zinnia-zinnia-elegans/varieties/8471-violet-queen

"Zinnias are very, very, very easy to grow, but they must have full sun which means at least 6 hours each day. Plant zinnias after the danger of frost is over.  Broadcast the seed over an area of freshly turned soil and then rake the seed into the soil or rake a small layer of soil over the seed. My favorite way to plant zinnia seed is to make little holes in the soil with my finger (no more than ½ inch deep) about 6 inches apart.  I drop a single seed in each hole and close the hole by pressing the soil around it.  I always water after I have planted my seed.  I find that 6-8 inches between the large zinnia plants produces strong healthy plants and large blossoms.  Sometimes this is enough distance so that air circulation around the individual plants keeps the powdery mildew at a minimum.  I am not aware of a zinnia variety that is not susceptible to powdery mildew.  A slow release fertilizer, 5-10-5, is all you need to feed zinnias well."

Quote from: https://www.landrethseeds.com/newsletters/Volume%202/Issue%20V%20-%20The%20Zinnia/

Blue Bachelor Button

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/grow-bachelors-button-blue-boys-43170.html

Also known as cornflower, bachelor's button "Blue Boy," (Centaurea cyanus "Blue Boy"), is a hardy, drought-tolerant wildflower, valued for its intense, sky-blue blooms. Bachelor's button "Blue Boy" requires little maintenance and thrives in poor, dry soil, including sand or clay. Plant seeds directly in the garden after the last frost in early spring. In frost-free climates, plant the seeds in autumn for spring blooming. Although the plant is an annual, it usually reseeds itself for a repeat appearance year after year.

http://www.planetnatural.com/growing-bachelor-buttons/

Sunflower (Mammoth Russian)

And last but not least is the beautiful Sunflower. I've always loved them for their brightness and size so of course it would be on my must grow list. And I'm not kidding I'm starting a "Must Grow" List.

Thank you for reading, again, if you have any tips or suggestions just post a comment. :)

-Happy Growing
-Bee

Halloween Spirit

The month of October has finally come and I have already begun to get into the Halloween spirit! My husband and I carved our first pumpkin together. I’m shocked we haven’t done this sooner. Amazingly enough we still have all of our fingers and toes. The first aid kit wasn't needed though I did have it standing by. You can never be too careful I say.

After carving a pumpkin--and yes it is so simple looking, but it's my first--I decided that the inside of a pumpkin is gross and that I can’t believe I will still eat pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread. And to all those that have never had pumpkin bread you have no idea what you are missing! I demand that you go out right this instant to buy it, bake, and eat it. Whenever we get some made I’ll take a picture and write more on it.

Now Halloween isn't the only thing to prepare for there is Thanksgiving the month after and so you don’t have to spend too much money you could always get items that are fall festive or do what I do. Keep the Halloween things out as long as you can before they get booted to the side by Christmas, but having a house of fall things can even stay up till Christmas depending on what it is, your home, and the people in it. Just shop smart.

But in the end the important thing is to have fun!

Brenda Franklin

Puzzle Addict

I’m a Puzzle Addict!

My sweet husband Shawn heads off to work between three and five in the morning depending on the what day of the week it is. I have been waking up a lot with him and staying up. i don't know what it is about the early morning hours that get the blood pumping but it feels great...most of the time.

If I’m not writing, catching up with friends, sorting through the endless amount of picture files I have on the computer, or working on organizing the house you can find me leaned over a thousand piece puzzle until my eyes pop.

My mother and I enjoy killing time working on puzzles and my little brother finds it amusing to give us seven days to complete it. Mind you we can do them a lot faster than seven days, but if I’m feeling bored it’s the perfect thing to do. Pour me a cup of tea and I’m set.

We try to work on colorful puzzles (like the one to my left which is the latest one at 1500 pieces). I myself really love sea life. It's not the easiest to work on because of the blend of blues and blacks, but I love it.

We work on any number of sizes from the simple 100 piece to the 1000 piece ones and recently we completed a 1500 piece one. I want to go bigger but that will have to wait. Mom has six knew puzzles awaiting our attention and I can't wait to start them.

What is it about puzzles I love?

The thing about a puzzle--or at least how I go in about it--is once you connect the first two pieces you're hooked. I have to finish it. I need to get to the end I tell myself and next thing I know I'm walking pass it to do something when I start to see the puzzle come together on the table. I know what the picture looks like, but I want to form it. I want to finish the whole thing then and there! I can't help but love that feeling you get after putting in the next piece. And then the next one. And so on! It's exhilarating.

Though, there are some puzzles like the one to my left here where the colors blend so well that at one point we sat in utter terror and frustration wanting nothing more but to tear what little we had done to pieces and hide the box. But we slowly pushed on for countless hours and many nights trying to find every piece. It’s worth it. Once you get it together. That last piece goes into place there is a rush of joy and accomplishment that burst within my chest. Something which had been slowly building the entire time we have been working on it and finally it came be released. It is this feeling that makes me consider starting another puzzle. The need of satisfaction and knowing that we had triumphed and all are hard work was a success.

And thus I am a Puzzle Addict and I will be such for many years. I don't see myself stopping anytime soon.

B. Franklin

chat with me on Twitter, follow me on Facebook, or enjoy my works on smashwords and again, thanks for reading.