In the Garden: Go Ahead, Laugh

It is that time of year again. Time for me to fight off the invading hordes of mosquitoes, no-see-um's, midges, blackflies and more. Time for gardeners everywhere to get back into the garden and restart the war on weeds. The crocuses are gone, so are most tulips and daffodils. The weather is more consistently nice, mild, and when it is breezy, the bugs don't make you want to run yourself off of a cliff.

I was going to post this photo first, but the Poet's Daffodils, top photo, are so pretty (they date from the 1500's originally), and so much less scary than me in all my bug-fighting glory. You see, I taste like Skittles to bugs. I am a gourmet feast. While others may be standing about, enjoying the weather and remarking how nice it is to be drinking and eating outside finally, how nice the weather is and lack of bugs are great, I am the one being feasted upon by every flying, biting insect out there, and then swelling up afterwards (and NO! I don't scratch them either, they just swell, it is SO unfair *stomps foot*). So I take precautions, frightened dogs and good looks be damned.

I end up having to wear a t shirt, sweater, bug jacket, light colored pants (my fat legs love that, ew), plenty of bug spray, shoes, and long gloves that can be unrolled up to my elbows if thorns threaten to tear my precious bug jacket. Still, I get bitten. Anywhere the mesh rests on my skin, they bite through. Heck, they even bite through my pants, and occasionally my sweater as well. So I dress like it is below freezing, even though it is short-shorts weather. And I WIN! Mwahahahaha! I only got about 3 bites in 45 minutes on Saturday when FINALLY getting into my gardens for the first time all year. I saw that my bleeding hearts (or dancing ladies, I really like that name much more) are doing very well (see above photo), and I even had a hummingbird around them (didn't have my camera for that one, and I'm still kicking my self for that!).

The weather has been warm, but totally rainy so it has been impossible to get into the yard for anything more than untangling doggies who insist on getting their leashes caught on things in the middle of the yard. In 45 minutes on Saturday I managed to get the dead branches out of one of the front gardens, and start the war on the weeds and grasses that insist on lodging in my gardens. The wheelbarrow was full, the deadwood gone, and I knew that was all I'd be able to manage for that day. I know it looks terrible to leave the dead stalks all winter, but the birds really enjoy the seed heads over the winter, in fact, you can often see them hiding behind the stalks during snowstorms, or eating the seeds all throughout the winter, so I leave the deadwood for them and remove it during spring, though I am sure it would be easier in the fall.

Here's the garden, beside the wheelbarrow. Yeah, I know, the garden still looks awful, but that is because the crocuses, tulips and yellow daffodils have all come and gone, and I'm still waiting for the balloon flowers, veronica, bee-balm and lilys to bloom yet. I think I need some more late-spring flowers to hold the garden over until the next flowering. I'm still learning all of this stuff, so if you have suggestions, I'd be more than happy to hear them! I also need to put down more soil and more mulch. And on that vein, what do I do with the old mulch? Do I mix it in with the new soil? Throw it in the compost pile? Mix it in with the new mulch? So many things to learn, and I'm researching SEO and Analytics, and so much more, all at the same time, oh my!

Soulful Sunday: Happy Stats

Inspired by The House of Mouse blog (http://lifecraftinessandeverythingelse.blogspot.com/) I thought that maybe each Sunday I should relate some happy things that went on in my life, to bring the happy back into a world that is sometimes not-so-happy. Between news reports of natural disasters, political instability and environmental disasters, it's easy to forget the little things that make each day worth living. So here goes my first attempt:
Happy stats:
-Finding an organic veggie garden a 10 minute walk from my house, full of the most delicious (and affordable) produce I've ever had (aside from home grown, of course), and run by very friendly people.
-Discovering that I do, in fact have one tiny pumpkin starting to grow after being worried that all the blooms I had previously found were male (ie, not pumpkin-producing). Now, if hte weather holds out, I'll have at least one pumpkin to bake with, mmmmmm pumpkin :)
-Making progress on the wedding gift front. I can't show you yet, but I will, and I hope it will be worth the wait.
-Using Arwen's shedding brush on her every other day, and thinking that she must be part sheep, not sheep-herding-dog, after all of the fur I got out of her. It's amazing she has any fur left!
That is all for now, I'll see you all soon. Arwen send you her little kisses (she has good breath I promise, I brush her teeth regularly!), and I send you all happy thoughts and prayers for a great week,
and Arwen

Tuesday's Treasures: Arwen's High 5's

Arwen loves to play Cheshire Cat, er, Dog, by sitting in the living room window to keep an eye out on things. Any time anyone tries to come onto her territory, she'll let everyone know with a little bark, a little growl, or a shake of her fluffy tail. A few days ago she spotted something lovely in the garden:
Raspberries! I had only planted the bush this year and had thought that I might have to wait a year or two, but here they are! I had 3 of the most delicious raspberries I'd ever tasted, and there are more on the little plant trying to grow! How spectacular!
Arwen was so happy she wanted to give me a high 5 to celebrate - with her lasers of course!

I haven't done much jewellery lately, but I crocheted myself a scarf and hat (the hat is a little small, but maybe I'll give it to someone with a smaller head and make another one) and I have plans to do some hand warmers and a few other things, as well as jewelry tutorials and a couple of pieces I'm really excited about. Stay tuned, there's always something happening here!

and Arwen

Thankful Thursday: A Strawberry and Bunnies

~The First Strawberry in My Gardens~

~Bunnies from Scotland!~

I have to say that, despite being very sick all summer and having the rainiest summer on record, I was absolutely delighted when I found a tiny strawberry in my gardens yesterday - the first strawberry of the year here and the first strawberry I've grown in my gardens! I gave it to Brennan, who devoured it and said it was yummy.

I was also dancing with joy when I received a package from Annette at DragonHouseofYuen with my newest baby hare, Phillip (left). What a surprise when out bounced a baby bunny Bouncer! I love them so much, I put them on my bedside table to see them as I fall asleep. I now have 3, including baby hare Sally, and I am so happy with them. They are so well made, and truly delight in bouncing around the house at night when they think I'm sleeping. I may just have to get a few more to add to my growing bunny family....I might have to wait a bit though...Brennan may look askance if I start getting them and hiding them all over the house!

My Back to School Sale is still going strong in my Etsy store, but it only lasts until the 31! Get your favorite jewelry and photography items now at 20% off while they last!!

Tuesday's Treasures - A Wee Garden Visit

I know I promised you a new bracelet inspired by Queen Victoria and I am working on it, I promise, but it is a new stitch and is taking a very long time to finish as I want to get it perfect the first time.
However, never wanting to disappoint, I bring you photos of my cotton candy colored lilies. They went from tiny buds to full-fledged open blooms in the space of about 24 hours and I love it! They also have very little smell, which is great if you have allergies. The bottom photo shows Arwen smelling the flowers before we took our walk :)
I will try to have the new bracelet up next Tuesday so please check back for that. Also, see tomorrow's post for a new segment I am doing, with the help of my wonderful grown-up puppy Arwen, called Wednesday's Walks with Arwen.

Remember to enter my monthly contest by adding your name and email to my monthly newsletter (You have to sign up for the newsletter first to be eligible to win!!), see the full contest details here.

Happy Saturday!

My "little BIG thing" today: I took some photos in my yard, and had a blast!
I'm sore (as always) but this "little BIG thing" is actually quite a bit of fun - I'm trying to do one thing each day that (though it may seem small to some people) makes a difference in my happiness. I'll try to post here more regularly, but if I'm absent from here, please do check out my Little Studio Photography and Jewellery Blog
Thanks for visiting, I hope you have a great day!

New Window!...No Wait, Not Yet

~My Laughing Dog - A Sense of Humour in Our House is a Must~

Here's the back story for you: Last fall, Brennan was cutting the grass when he accidentally went over part of our gravel driveway with the lawn mower. It was over in a whiz-ping-tinkle kind of sound and the huge window in our living room had a crack in it. Not a huge crack, not terribly noticeable, but a crack nonetheless. In a low-E argon window, that spells certain doom and needs to be replaced. Well, we didn't because we couldn't afford it, and paid for it with more heating costs and a colder living room in the winter.
Enter this fall and we decided that we couldn't afford not to have the window replaced so we called the local window people (who shall remain nameless). They came out and measured the window and said that it would be about 10 days to have it manufactured and installed, with a cost of about $500 plus tax. We said okay (like we had a choice, lol). They called us at the beginning of the week and made an appointment to come out yesterday to replace it and we were happy.
Until the poor guy came to install the darn thing.
Turns out that it was just one guy to take out this giant window himself (though he seemed quite capable) and the giant window in question, being only 7 years old, gave him one heck of a hard time to come out. After much cutting and scraping, pulling and heaving (from the inside of the house and a precariously perched ladder in my front garden) it came out. Then the very nice man brought the new window in and started to install it. (Now, I should mention at this point that it was under ten degrees with a slight breeze that just happened to be coming directly in my windowless living room, so in addition to being exhausted from not having my morning nap, I was now very sore from being in a cold, draughty living room). I was sitting in my dining room, trying to stay out of the way and maybe even get my months-ignored accounting up to date, and the next thing I know, I hear very quiet muttering from the guy. Something like, "Come on, let's go, get in there!", "Why aren't you going in?", "No.", "You've got to be kidding me!" and finally, a comment that I won't write down, because if kids read it, their parents won't like it. I was trying not to smile at this point, because I should also mention that very early that morning, before the innocent installer came, I thought, "You know, I have a bad feeling that the window is going to be the wrong size," and sure enough, the window ordered was THE WRONG SIZE. The guy that came to measure (who was the BOSS) had taken 4 sets of measurements, 4 different times, and had done them WRONG. The poor installer, who seems like a really nice guy, had fought with the old window to take it out, bring it all the way down the slippery hardwood stairs of our high ranch house, take it outside the front door, and do the opposite maneuver with the new window, and all to find out it was 1/2 inch too wide. You really have to feel for this guy.
Now you are asking the point of this narrative, right? Well, other than saying that you have to stay positive, because any given situation could always be worse, I thought that one thing he did was hilarious. After all this fighting with the window, he goes outside to make a rather frustrated phone call to the office. What is hilarious is that he goes all the way outside, presumably so I don't have to hear him ream out the person at the other end of the phone, when there is no living room window and I can hear every single word he says! I had to laugh. After about 5 minutes of his furious tirade, he comes in and apologizes most profusely and says that he has to put the old window back in while they put a rush on the new one. What is sad is that he goes on to tell me that of the last 20 jobs he has had to install, the guy measuring has gotten all of them wrong, so he has had to un-install the original glass, try to install the new glass, and only to put the old one back in, or worse, in a house needing all new windows, it has to go another week or so with the elements coming in. You really have to feel for this guy.
On the positive, at least the window isn't smashed, so it is back in place (though I'm not sure how securely, as it isn't caulked in there). We have had it like this for a year, so obviously the sky won't fall if we have to wait another week. Plus, we have an extra week to try to come with the money for it so we don't have to put it on credit (not that we will necessarily, but we can try lol - buy my jewellery!!).
That's my story. I've been in a really bad flare the last week, so maybe it isn't as funny to you, but I did really think it was hilarious.
And I got my accounting up to date!
Meghann

Too Good to Last, But the Ride Was Fun

~A New Bracelet For Sale on My Etsy Store~

Well, I woke up this morning and what did I notice? The last few days of insomnia surely were a sign that I was beginning a new flare up in my Fibromyalgia. It tends to start the same way: I can't sleep, I'm even more tired than usual, I am dizzy, weak, and I get spasms in my hips, more pain in my shoulders and lower back, then it's all downhill from there.
I knew it wouldn't last. I tend to have a few really good weeks in the last hurrah of summer. Usually the end of August to mid September the weather is not too hot, not too cold, and I'm less sore, have more energy (which inevitably causes me to push myself more than I probably should), and am better able to concentrate on just about everything. Then, the weather cools, usually quickly, and I'm right back to square one.
But, I'm staying positive: at least I had a few weeks where my good days almost equalled my bad; I got out into my garden a couple of times and started pulling the long-overdue weeds and finished veggie husks from my gardens; I took my dog for some truly wonderful and inspirational walks, where we both really enjoyed the fresh air, lessened bugs, and forest is all its glory. I even got housework done on a pretty regular basis, not to mention all of the jewellery and marketing on Etsy I've been able to do.
Not bad, really. I'm focusing on the positive now, and praying a lot. I have my 20% off sale in my Etsy store until the end of the month, promoting the Etsy for Animals Charitable team, I'm still really inspired to create more jewellery (even if I'm running out of supplies and can't afford to get new ones :-s), Brennan is really, really happy in his new job, I'm still alive - hey, things can always be worse right?
I'm glad they aren't. It was too good to last, I knew that, but at least I enjoyed it!
Take care,
Meghann

I Made Beads!

~A Few of the Beads~

Today being Sunday, I normally take time to rest and do something fun, like gardening or reading. Today, I was sore and thought that the best way to deal with it was to learn something that I'd wanted to try for a while: making polymer clay beads. I ended up making a bunch of cool beads with blue and white polymer clay in a few designs. I made some spiraled corkscrew beads, some round beads and 2 that are going to remain a (birthday) surprise in case certain people are reading my blog. I have glazed them and I'm waiting for them to dry so i can make cool stuff with them tomorrow - I can't wait! I'm sore and exhausted, but I don't care, because I made beads! How cool is that?
That's all for now,
Meghann

Bad Week, But Hope Still Reigns

~Front of My House in Blooms~

It's been a hard week. I thought that Sunday was going to be a good day so I did two and a half hours of gardening, and boy did I pay for it. Sure, the weeds are gone (mostly), and I love that the flowers are finally reaching their mature sizes and bloom states - the smell is heavenly - but this has been one of the worst weeks all summer. I've been so sore, dizzy, tired and crappy-feeling that even exercise is getting to be a painful chore. I normally love to exercise, and try to get about an hour everyday, but it is getting harder and harder to do even 1/2 hour of light exercise.
That being said, I know that it will pass. I'm trying to continue to plan my wedding and stay positive. This too shall pass!
I'm off to bake my 'Make You Melt Ginger Cookies' - as predicted, they are a HUGE hit with everyone!
Stay healthy,
Meghann

Rain, Rain Go Away! (And in Other News)

~An Iris From My Garden~

It's been a while since I last posted as I've been really sick and sore, but I have finally linked my web site's FibroPage to this blog so that everyone gets the same posts.
It's been raining cats and dogs the last few weeks (well we had a few really sunny, hot and humid days over the weekend where I tried to recover and get some weeding done, but now it's back to raining) and that really seems to put me under the weather. At least I sleep well during the rain, I'm just really sore before each storm rolls in. And although I'm happy not to be lugging watering cans around my yard, I would really like a break from all the storms and downpours!
It also got me thinking. As a sufferer of Fibromyalgia and as an artist, it is about darn time for me to make some Fibromyalgia Awareness jewellery and have the profits go to the Canadian Arthritis Society and other Fibromyalgia charities. I'm working on some designs and I'll get back to you all on my progress - and soon!
That's all for now, I'm really sore - and nauseous!
Take care, gentle hugs to all my fibro-people!
Meghann

Colds are the Pits!

I never get sick, NEVER. So when I woke up this morning with that scratchy tickle in the back of my throat, ears feeling like they were in a vise, nose tickled and stuffed, I knew I was in for it. My fiance came home from a work conference last week with a cold courtesy of his co-worker who had driven with him the whole 4 hours there and back, and had the heart to give it to me now. Oddly, I don't really get sick since becoming ill with Fibromyalgia. It must be the whole imune system in overdrive thing, because before that, I got sick allllll the time. Every cold, bronchitis, flu, everything came crashing down on me and kicked me right to my behind. Now, I may feel a little "blah" for a few days, but I don't really seem to get sick. Until now - it figures. I had an afternoon planned where a silversmith friend of mine was supposed to come over and we were going to make wire-wrapped rings and now I had to cancel. My mom is suposed to come over on Thursday to help me with things while my husband goes away for a few days to deal with a contractor's move, and now that is in jeopardy. Plus, I have a mountain of weeds to pull in the garden, my dog needs walking and my house needs cleaning.
This, I know, is where I see God telling me to slow down, relax, trust in Him. All will be well, I just have to have faith. Sit, rest, relax, everything will happen as it is meant to. Nothing will go terribly wrong if I can't dust the house twice this week, or sweep the floors every day. No one will blame me if I can't make 20 pieces of fabulous jewellery.
I am who I am, if I can't do everything, it's not the end of the world. Amen to that!
Take care, God bless, I'm off to REST! :)
Meghann

Summer Lovin'

Well, it's not quite summer, but the weather here has been so nice the last 2 days that despite being in one of the worst flare-ups I've had ever, and barely being able to walk at times, I actually made a new garden! Well, if truth be told, I only extended out South-facing garden. However, it still required the digging up of some 30 square feet of well-established (though weedy) grass, dumping more topsoil, and planting the sorry plants that have been sitting on my kitchen counter for the last 2 weeks! It was painful, it was arduous, but I DID IT!! And I am so proud that I did it myself - my fiance is currently down for the count with a vicious cold, so I didn't want to make him worse by inflicting forced labour on him! I only planted 2 delphiniums and a dwarf burning bush, but I will plant some tomatoes and hopefully some nice perennials also. When it is finished, I'll take some pictures for you to see it.
I know it was great exercise, but for now, I am going to SLEEP!!
Take care, happy gardening,
Meghann