Beginner Gardner meets a Pro

Call it what you will, luck or a gift from above, but days after I started my flower seedlings I decided that I wanted to go to Lowes and look for some more flowers along with ideas for the future and I met the nicest lady. She was an older woman in her 60s (who has been ding this for 40 plus years) and she took me around Lowes feeding me so much information I thought my head was going to explode. Lucky for me my head stayed exactly where it was and I walked away with so much more knowledge then I had half an hour before and on top of that a new friend.

The woman kindly gave me her number and offered me cuttings she had of several different plants. I thanked her and two days later, after making four planter boxes filled with fertilizer and top soil I called her and scheduled a day to go and see her. We talked for an hour over the phone like we were best friends. It was refreshing.

Quote: “Gardeners help each other out.”

Going over to her house was amazing. There were so many hidden surprises all across the yard and it wasn’t a large yard it was just tightly packed. I mean, she used anything and everything to put plants in. From wheel burrows to a swimming pool, and a dead tree to a satellite dish! It was pretty impressive and inspiring for any Gardener in the making but a little intimidating. I could see where it could get out of hand or take over someone’s life. So once we left I did have to do a little soul searching, which I am still in the process of. How much of my life do I want to dedicate to being a gardener alongside all of the other works? What should I do so that I don’t get overwhelmed? These issues are things everyone has to deal with and that’s where I am.

But getting back to her house! Ivies, roses, some trees, wildflowers, lilies, Aloe plants and a cousin plant I can’t remember, along with so many more. My head was sky high and dizzy. Thankfully my husband was with me writing down a lot of names to these plants so that I could look them up later, which I have started since I finished planting them all.

When we left there Monday, April 4th, I knew I would have a lot of work ahead of me and I would be extremely sore. And I was right. With over two dozen rose cuttings, a dozen trumpet flower cuttings, endless amount of ivies (4 different kinds), a Cannon Flower, Four O’Clocks, Purple Jews, four mystery plants (forgot what she called them), and a few other plants I have been very VERY busy. And I am Really sore. :D But super happy about what I have done.

I have also planted all of the Morning Glories against my porch because the seedlings had grown to almost 4 inches in height. When they started to come up I opened the container they were in and placed them in the shade, bringing them in at night. I did this until the sprouts were nearly four inches and then I planted them in a row about three to four inches apart. I wasn’t sure about the spacing, but this is a trial run.

Quote from my husband: “Gardening (as with life) is all about making mistakes and finding out what works best for you.”

So after two long days I got everything planted in pots and planter boxes since we are surrounded by clay. I am a little nervous but very excited. For the next several days I will be doing research about each of the plants and try to learn as much as I can about the proper way to care for them. Every plant is different. Some like full sunlight or partial sunlight, a lot of water or just enough to moisten the soil. So much to learn. . .

But I’m very happy to have met my new found Gardening friend and hope that something grows. After all of our (mum, husband, and I) hard work it would be sad to not have anything survive. So here’s to my first month of growing (raises a can of Root beer). Cheers.

I will post more about the amazing array of plants I was given in a different post.

-Bee (I am feeling very blessed)

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

Thinking about Gardening

I want to start gardening! But I'm a little lost where to start. I have these seeds packets for flowers that were given to me and the weather is finally starting to get lovely outside.

Burst into song “Spring is in the air. Everywhere I look around.”

So I am thinking about pulling out my little planner and taking lots of notes. The kind that say What was planted and when and don't forget to water them or else. Yeah. That sounds like a descent plan to me. Something to keep one on track. Not that I plan on planting 100 things, this isn't Story of Seasons or anything, but I still need a little reminder on what the heck I planted.

Monday: planted little flowers.

Tuesday: Watered non existent flowers

Thursday: Violently waters plants again because I was worried I forgot.

Friday: It pours (I never check the weather)

Saturday: Why water when it rained?

Sunday:...

Monday again:....

Tuesday: Oh crap! Waters the A LOT

3 weeks later....There's still nothing.

“Why!” Begins having a mental break down and points the blame to hubby. Gives up on life. Refuses to plant again. Curses all of hubby's attempts. Gets angry and starts talking to flowers that hubby brings home. Everything beautiful suddenly brings about bad memories. The I decide that if I kill hubby I won't get any more flowers; no more flowers mean no more bad memories......

Yeah. I mean, I really love my husband so for his safety I need a planner for planting. His very life depends upon it!! :)

With all that being said wish me luck. :) I am going to plant sunflowers. I'll let you know if my husband survives—if I am successful I mean.

-Bee

Taxes :(

Taxes, not my favorite thing to do I will say that, but something you can't avoid. This year my husband and I decided to try our hand at using TurboTax. After two days of starring at a screen and asking a hundred questions I have finally finished!! I am so happy about it.

I have to be honest I thought I was going to disappear in a hole, throw the screen, or even bow down and call our Tax guy to schedule an appointment, but no! We prevailed!!!

To be fair, the site was very helpful and explained so much. But like all loads of paperwork it is a scary creature that takes time and a lot of reading. that's where I was growing weak. For the most part Turobox tax took me through a step by step, easy to follow, process with explanations around every corner. A few things I didn't know and turned to the forums, but I still found the answers easily enough. Those were only made hard because I was filing all of my online royalties and such. I made it more complicated, but I will know for next time.

And if any of you were wondering, yes, there will be a next time. Granted I will probably have forgotten half of what I know now, but that's okay, because I know the answers are there and I can do it.

Okay, I just wanted to rant about Taxes and pat my back a little. :)

Have a great Tax season!

-Bee

Power Yoga Rant

Power Yoga, whoever invented this monster was certifiably insane. :) And Thank You. The routine I follow are advanced moves in which have been really helping me on my lower abdomen and core muscles, a location that helps with my lower back.

When I went from Beginners (Yes, I have been doing the beginners for a while) to the Power Yoga I was like, I got this! Ha! Too funny Brenda, I think someone slipped you something. Which just for future reference I do drink occasionally but it is rare and far between and not much at all. I am not opposed to drinking I just don't do it often.

Anyway, a new pose I have learned that kicks my butt is Warrior III.

http://www.yogabasics.com/asana/warrior-iii/

Helps balance, memory and concentration, and tones the body. :)

Getting into this pose after the stretching and the workout they put you through is hard. I mean, it's tough enough for me to maintain my balance with my leg back, staring at the floor with my fingertips barely touching, let alone dare try lifting my hands! Talk about a life threatening moment as I swayed towards my yoga buddy. Granted, it is funny as heck, but AHHHHH, that's what I want to say about that.

UPDATE: Amazingly enough, I have been doing this for longer then five days and I must say I have noticed improvements. My leg muscle are tightening up and I feel more control over my stance and more confident to raise my hands out. Keeping my leg high is hard and I still feel the want to shake and lean my body, but slowly I am getting there.

To everyone that does yoga, y'all are amazing and I give you props. Keep it up. Yoga is hard than it looks but very rewarding.

I would also like to say that doing it with a buddy can be, not only, challenging (especially if the two of you keep giggling) but so much fun. It really helps having that support when you want to drop out of pose. They are a cheering squad and a motivation that I know I need and I am grateful to have. Cross your fingers we continue to do this.

-Brenda

5 days in January

I hope you have had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. We are officially five days into 2016 and already so much fun and so busy. Between reading and writing, which I talk about on my other Blog “Into My World. . .” My life stays pretty busy. And I really don’t know how! What’s so hard and time consuming about sleeping in, hours of peace from your husband while he’s at work, lots of free time to write? You can eat and nap whenever you want. I think I am part cat.

Seriously though, life is pretty busy. I spend a few hours a day at the computer typing away for a book, even when I don’t feel like it. You always want to stay on some sort of writing schedule, it’s much like working out, and once you skip a day it’s a heck of a fight to get back in working order.

I also read at least a chapter (which leads to at least three when I’m done) a day. Working on reading the first ten Nancy Drew books this month. Yeah! I haven’t ready them in a long time, but I drift. Then 1-3 times a week I am spending time at my grandparents, where I have started to master the art of the Bobby Pin for doing my grandma’s hair.

Oh, then there is eating. Haha And I know they say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but I can’t help it, I tend to skip it and grab something about ten or eleven in the morning. Does that count as breakfast still? No, darn. I also have a bad habit of writing for too long and forgetting to eat. That is a no, no. Plenty times Shawn, my husband, has reminded me that there is such a thing and that I can’t survive off of air. I’d be long since dead without those sweet, annoying, little reminders.

Also the extra little things that fill up the day, like watching a show, spending time with family, remembering that working out is still required at some point. Darn you laziness you are so mean, and I love you.

Writing all this down it doesn’t seem to crazy. Now that I am really looking at it I think it’s just a matter of time management for completely all these in a timely manner. The day will still go by but perhaps I won’t feel as worn by the end of it.

Okay, add that to my New Year’s resolution: Time management, or clone yourself and have them do everything. I don't know if I could stand another me wandering around, so I might have to skip that one. Darn.

Now, speaking of busy, time for a run. :) Y'all have a wonderful day.

-Brenda

New Year's Resolution 2016

My first goal of the year is to get over my cough. Okay, that’s not really a true New Year’s goal, but I would like to put it in the category of being healthy, so I think it counts.

Speaking of being healthy, I know it is among the most promised act of people starting the New Year, as well as the most broken one, but I would like to try my hand at it. . . Again. But I’m going to be a little more reasonable. I would love to loose five pounds by May, because I am going to be a Bridesmaid. So five pounds would be great and maybe gain a little more arm muscle. Yeah. Then, by the end of October, I would love to loose five more pounds. Then, I won’t feel bad when I gain ten pounds in November and December. I think that is a very reasonable goal, don’t you?

Now, everyone knows how I love to read and this year is the same as the last. I want to read A LOT! My Goal this time is 50 books, starting with the wonderful Nancy Drew books which I haven’t read since I was a teen. I own just about 20 of them and haven’t had the time in 2015 to sit down and really enjoy them, so I am going to do that this year. I mean, who doesn’t like a little mystery from time to time?

Staying with the bookish theme I hope to publish two more books this year and have them available as paperback before Christmas.

Now, a New Year resolution is not just about setting up goals for the New Year it’s about challenging yourself, trying something new, and being a better person. Just because you break the healthy streak you are going for, only read 49 out of 50 books, lose 4 pounds instead of 5, doesn’t mean you failed. Yeah, you didn’t reach your goal, but heck! You tried! That is the point of the New Year resolution to me. It is that you tried, experienced, and had fun. If it wasn’t for little or big goals sought after then we wouldn’t accomplish or appreciate things as much as we do already. You wouldn’t have gone to that gym where you found a best friend, read the book that changed your views, ate the food that was horrible but gave you great laughs, or failed at yoga only to discover you prefer jogging since you have the cute outfit. I think you get my point.

Failure or not, I hope that your 2016 is filled with lots of resolutions, friends, good times, laughs, adventures, failures, and triumph!

--Brenda Franklin