Haven of Creativity

These photos are of the Farmers Market in Lititz Springs Park from last week. I know the weather is iffy for this week, but who knows, maybe we’ll get lucky! I’m excited to be sharing a stand with Lisa of Sweet Charlotte’s Boutique! I will offer herb plants, veggie plants & flowers, linen/room sprays, lavender sleep pillows & sachets, and as the season goes on, fresh cut herbs and my own blends of potpourri! I’ll be praying for good weather on Thursday evenings, for sure. The Market is open from 4:30 pm to dusk. Please stop out and see what the other vendors have , as well as what the featured food truck is offering.

I hope to see some familiar faces each week as well as meeting new people. This is a new venture, and with that comes a little anxiety, but once we plunge in it’ll be wonderful. We have a lot of prepping to do, so expect new things each week as we keep learning and expanding. Lovin’ Lititz every Thursday!

 

This past weekend I had some down time since it was raining and I also started with a sore throat and cough. I thought I’d work on a needle felting project. I made a flamingo for my granddaughter, for her pre-K graduation, but I forgot to take it with me to the graduation! Of course I remembered it as I was parking. I will give it to her soon!  I worked on a llama and I’m pleased with how it turned out! I’m still learning the craft, so I am enjoying kits and YouTube videos to work on my skills. Here are the finished products! Here are the kits if you’re interested in trying them! Click for the , click for the .

I have also again started making roses out of coffee filters. I made a lot of them about 10 years ago, and have been wanting more roses around the house and to give as gifts, so I started working on them again. I’ll post pictures as I complete them.

Sometimes you make plans, and then things happen–like getting sick. Yesterday was so beautiful, finally, and I was laying on the bed or couch all day. Today I’m feeling a little better and hopefully tomorrow even better. The weather looks good for tomorrow so I hope to get out and plant some things after work. I have a lot of flowers, herbs and veggies in the greenhouse just waiting to get planted! I can’t want to taste the cucumbers and salsa I’ll make and see all the flowers in bloom.

 

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This weekend there are so many plant sales locally, and one of my favorites is the Master Gardner plant sale in Lebanon.  Years ago I was a part of the Amateur Herbalists group that meets there monthly. I hope to return soon, as I’ve really missed it! It is always fun and informative, you meet like-interest people and leave with a project, instructions or information on something you wanted to know more about. The plant sale includes milkweed, which is THE food for monarch butterflies. I am excited to provide them this tasty treat to encourage the caterpillars to eat, cocoon and emerge in my backyard.

Mothers day is the rule of thumb when it comes to planting, but looking ahead this week, we look safe with nighttime temperatures, so I think I’ll live on the wild side and put some of my herbs and flowers in the ground this weekend. I bought an when I was impatient this winter and wanted herbs. It was the best purchase!  The grow light throws off so much light, that I started some plants on a table in front of it and rotated them to get adequate light. The plants in the grew so fast, and in time at all I was pinching off basil leaves, arugula leaves and parsley. Even though I have all of my plants in the greenhouse now, I still use my in the kitchen.

If you have bleeding hearts planted, I’m sure you are enjoying them, because if they are like mine, they are beautiful! With the cool, wet spring so far, they are really putting on a show. The rhododendron and azaleas are also very beautiful and colorful this year. Potted plants are a wonderful solution to a small outdoor space and make a nice, easy herb garden right out your back door. I like the portability of pots because I can move them around and create different focal points as they get bigger.

I hope you are looking forward to something fun this weekend that may include some garden time. It’s time now (before it’s too hot) to weed, plant and mulch. then with continued, regular weeding you can soon be enjoying your veggies and herbs and flowers. I love this time of year!

It was a bit breezy here in PA today, but the sun was finally shining and it felt wonderful! I went to a local farm market, Hoover’s, and picked up some apples,lemons, kiwi, lettuce, potatoes, strawberries, spring onions, tomatoes and shortcake for the strawberries. I made some burgers on the grill and enjoyed a wonderful dinner. Here is a picture of the chicken pen across the road at Hoover’s. My granddaughter loves to walk across the road and see the chickens after we shop. She wasn’t with me today, but she’ll be going soon, I’m sure!

One of the wonderful things about going to Hoover’s, especially on a beautiful sunny day, is the covered bridge you cross over right before you get there. I took some pictures as I was approaching it after I left Hoover’s and here are a couple.

Everything in the greenhouse is looking good. The cucumbers I started are coming up nicely along with some cuttings I started from my lemon verbena plant. I love taking cuttings from existing plants and starting new ones. Some plants have to be started like that, but with others it is just a quicker way rather than with seeds.

Well, it is time to get back to “The Voice” for me, so bye for now!

 

I’m so happy to be spending time in the greenhouse! It’s been a true labor of love getting ready, but it’s worth it! I have tomatoes started, along with cucumbers, green peppers, red peppers, and jalapeños. I started rosemary and lemon verbena from cuttings and have a nice assortment of flowers and herbs started as well.

I am so ready for this cold, damp, rainy weather to pass and for the sun to shine! Here are some more pictures of my early plants!

People have asked me about getting started in Needle Felting. I always suggest to take a class because a lot of people learn better by watching someone do something and it makes it easier to pick up. I like to watch YouTube videos when I can’t take a class.  Here is a that is exactly what I have that will get you started It is less than $10 and comes with plenty of needles in case one breaks. I like to purchase the wool from local shops so that I can see the colors, but I have been just as pleased ordering online. I have found a nice assortment of to get you going, and I love that they are under $15!

I am going to try to find time to make some felted birds this weekend, in between preparing my greenhouse for my herbs and flowers to move out of my dining room and sun room! It looks like a couple of beautiful days are headed our way tomorrow and Saturday, so while I may be stiff as a board on Sunday, I’m going to enjoy being outside as much as possible and beautifying my yard and getting my garden area and beds ready! I never accomplish as much as I hope and plan to, but that’s ok…like everything in life, it’s a process and not always about the destination, but the journey. I can really lose myself when I’m in my greenhouse. I love watching things grow, potting up larger plants and finding them new homes.

I just wanted to share the little mouse I made! Needle felting is a lot of fun, and a very relaxing hobby. I’m excited to show more of what I’m working on…stay tuned!

We are still having dreary, rainy, chilly days here in PA and I think everyone is feeling the ill effects of it all. At work, at home, everyone seems a little off their game and I’m sure it’s the weather. I know that sunshine is a requirement for my optimum mental health! I’ve joked at times that I need to wear one of those SAD (Seasonal Affect Disorder) lamps on my head and I’m not joking anymore so if you see a strange woman with a light bulb on her head, it may be me!

I started my herbs, flowers and veggies inside, waiting to transfer them to the greenhouse, but that hasn’t happened yet. We had a windstorm and I lost a couple of panels, but I replaced them and am now just waiting for the next several really cold nights to pass. I think when the weather finally clears and sunny days are here, I’m going to be outside as much as possible!

A hobby I’ve been enjoying lately is needle felting. I took a class that was a lot of fun and has really inspired me to keep doing it! I’ll post some pictures soon of my mouse and nests I’ve made. I gave a nest to each of my granddaughters for Easter, and made one also for my grandson’s room since he has a woodland themed nursery. More will be definitely be made and onto some birds too!

Here’s to April showers leading to May flowers and a lot of sunshine!

 

It is so fun and exciting to watch things grow from a tiny seed! I love checking my plants in the morning and when I get home from work to see how much they’ve grown while I was away. Here is a picture of my temporary set up, while I prepare to move them to my greenhouse. 

We have had a lot of rainy, dreary days here in Pa, so while it’s been warmer, it’s not been nice enough to be outside for long. I have a lot of leaves to clean up, because my house is on a corner, and they all get stuck at my forsythia bushes. Speaking of the forsythias, they need trimmed a lot since that didn’t happen in the fall. I have all of the tools I need so I’m ready to get to work when the weather cooperates.

winter isn’t my favorite season, but I’m learning to embrace the slower pace and the time to work on indoor projects and crafting, and also planning for the improvements in my yard. Just like paint can transform a room without a lot of expense, the same can be achieved outdoors with shrubs, plants and trees.

It’s raining again to day

I know winter isn’t over yet, but I’m trying my best to ignore the gray, cold days by dreaming of my garden this spring! I have begun to get my seeds started indoors. They will eventually be moved to the greenhouse when it warms up and they don’t need a grow light. I am growing herbs, flowers and vegetables which will be planted in my yard and garden, and some will be offered for sale. I always plant too many, so they will need homes!

I love herbs, first and foremost, and always grow parsley, dill, thyme, chives, rosemary, lemon verbena, oregano, mint and basil. I also grow cilantro, but for the seeds, known as coriander. It’s amazing that a seed can taste so different from the leaves of the same plant. That is definitely the case with cilantro and coriander. I love the sweet flavor of the seed and it adds a wonderful flavor to salsa and sauce. I am looking forward to establishing an asparagus bed as well. I will start some from seed, but will also purchase some crowns which will enable a harvest in 2 years. By starting them from seeds, it will be 3 years before they can be harvested, so I look forward to that time when the hopeful waiting will pay off.

I also will be adding more of a cutting garden this year. Zinnias, dahlias, bachelor buttons, straw flowers, sunflowers, in addition to the shasta daisies, carnations and coneflowers already in my flower beds. It’s been quite awhile since I’ve been able to do what I have wanted to with my garden, yard and greenhouse, but this year will be better. I’m working through some health challenges and have more energy and I also have less stress than I have had the last several years. We never know what’s around the corner, but I feel prepared to handle whatever comes my way.

Having faith in God is really key to everything for me. Whenever I begin to worry too much, or feel down and not sure what to do, I can pray and feel so much better. He truly does help us find solutions and bear our burdens. Being hopeful about the future is the beginning of making changes and plans. Getting out of your comfort zone and proving to yourself that you can achieve what you keep dreaming about. No one said it would be easy, but if we keep trying who knows what we can accomplish.