Too Bad, Too Hot Too Early

Nearly 80F on March 15, in the Midwest, is all wrong.

And then? Flora and Fauna....

So yes, one can flounder after a life changing event, like losing a parent, a sibling, a loved one. Dad passed about 4 weeks ago. I just haven't had too much to say and so, poor blog, sits here on a long pause. I think it's the first "blog pause" I've had for such a long time. I'm sorry if you missed me, ha ha!
I don't have much to say, but I do have some interesting photos to share. Images of Spring in the Midwest, starting with the return of the Sandhill Cranes, which are easier to hear than to see around here. But I did catch a flock resting in a nearby field when they began to move in this Spring.

Rite of Spring - Mariah climbs a tree.

Other signs of Spring including flowers trying to grow, and getting smacked down by late snowfalls and frosts.

I channeled my dad the first week of April and planted onion sets, some cool weather seeds, pea pods, radishes. My dad and mom raised us all to work in their gardens and I do have very early memories of different tasks. So it felt good to dig in the dirt when the weather was friendly...lately, it's not friendly. Very cold and wet....

That's OK. I'm finally catching up on indoor studio work: back orders, commitments, creativity. It's all in there, somewhere, I just have to dig for it a bit. Campground will reopen in just about a week....Happy Easter Weekend to all.

April Showers, April Flowers, Part Two

Didn't what to be overwhelming by putting all this pretty plant stuff into one post yesterday, so here's another batch of things that are looking really good to me in the gardens here right now. Lots of pink, which is just wonderful...plus this blue and white medley that I just love. And I'm so happy to say that it has been raining now for a couple of days, which will be like a shot in the arm for plants that were getting pretty droopy from becoming too dry. Of course, this will give the weeds a good shot, too....but at least the soil will be soft enough to pull them.

I was surprised to discover Dakota and Mariah got into this last shot (I was too busy focusing on the plant arrangements!) It's a wonderful time for the garden as there is a combination of flowering shrubs and trees, some later bulbs, and perennials all peaking together.

Best wishes for a beautiful Sunday and hope yours is full of flowers, too!

April Showers, April Flowers

Little pocket gardens, under spreading trees, are mostly fresh shades of green and white in the Spring weather. Welcome showers began Friday. I think these photos sum up the feeling of the area and the season just perfectly.

Beautiful Spring Day at WillOaks Farm, Part 2

The crazy weather isn't making this easy this year, but I tried to capture the gardens in their full Spring glory here....This collection is mostly daffodils of all different kinds, including white ones, named "Thalia" which are among my favorites.

It still amazes me to realize that about 6 years ago, what are now clumps were single bulbs. I really enjoy these flowers but I realize it would be very smart to dig and divide them for replanting as they really are becoming a tad crowded in some spots....ugh, that is just a huge job so no doubt, I'll figure out how to postpone it, just for now...

Have a wonderful weekend, either in or out of the gardens!!

Beautiful Spring Day at WillOaks Farm

I was hoping for an overcast day but it stayed bright and sunny. But late afternoon as dusk began, I decided to see what I could do with that wonderful pink dusk light. It was a huge challenge to shoot because it was very windy and out of a hundred photos...a small collection today and another for tomorrow are what I could salvage.

A lot is blooming now, especially as it was over 80 F today. But it's going to cool down over the weekend, which will slow down this amazing show. Crazy to wait all year for Spring gardens, then have it shoot past in a couple of weeks with all this early hot weather.

Happy Friday everyone!

Some Shades of Pink

My potted hyacinths aren't pink but the fragrance has been just so beautiful and soothing. But more and more pinks will be appearing in the gardens as the season progresses....because I just love pink (well, and just about every other color, lol!)

Right now, it's raining like crazy so there's a good chance that all those pretty flowers now in bloom will be fairly battered tomorrow....I'll be sure to post photos so we can weep together!!

Have a totally terrific Tuesday!!

Easter Bouquets, A New Treasury and the Etsy Front Page

Best wishes for a very Happy Easter to all my blogger friends!

Here's a fresh bouquet FOR YOU!

Thanks to the heat wave, my row of bright yellow, Dutch Master daffodils, planted for cutting some years ago, has all bloomed at the same time. Fresh bouquets will be delivered to one and all at the Easter celebration and dinner that I'm going to attend.

In fact, it all bloomed so darn fast that a day after I took these photos, winds and rain knocked many of them over. Oh well, I'm still blessed with the bounty to share!

{my} English Garden

It's no secret that I'm a complete and total gardening fool, a flower addict, a botany freak...so to learn that I was in this Etsy treasury today was a lovely treat! {my} English Garden was curated by Jen who has the Ety shop Jenaissance which features vintage inspired, and often botanical, creations including necklaces and earrings--Please visit her shop and take a closer look at this garden inspired treasury. She's got a really nice blog, too, which is here.


And finally, saving the best for last, for the first time that I am aware of, a treasury that included my work was used on the Front Page of Etsy. It was the white treasury that I showed here yesterday and I learned that it was up about 5 p.m. EST on Saturday for about one hour. I missed it!

What floored me was seeing over 30 new hearts added to my shop during that hour, whoa!! It did not lead to any sales, however, which was a fallacy I had held dear...that "all I had to do was get on the "Front Page" and I'd sell like crazy." Ummmm, I guess we can now dispel THAT delusion!!

Ahhhh, no big deal....you all have a very lovely Easter with friends and family...and Happy Spring!!

Spring Equinox - The Balance

I have been working at a pretty intense pace here, but I did at least take a few moments to acknowledge the start of Spring, the Equinox. I love this season best of all, even if we had more new snow that just about finished melting today. I love that the days are getting steadily longer and are now just a *touch* longer than the night. This image shows just how beautiful the sunset can be.

I punted and moved my big patio planters out of the garage today. Some of them had that look of things grown in the dark--pale green and stretching towards the light of one small window. All these planters have small shrubs and/or perennials growing in them. Should these various plants get a bit "pruned" by late frosts, I won't mind as they could use a little shaping. They spent the winter cold, but sheltered from the worst of the weather in a corner of the garage, and I think it's time they return to being outdoor plants. I'd love to move my various cacti, my huge rosemary bush and other overgrown things out to the deck here, and just may do it tomorrow while keeping a stack of sheets and blankets handy just in case a hard frost moves through. The light is better and some of these the plants grow better outside and are just kept alive indoors through the winter.

I've got a backlog of orders to fill here...the worst (I mean the best!) it has ever been. I'm just not used to having such a long lead time between when the order is placed and when it's filled...so I've been a bit neglectful of all things related to the blog, dropping, and most computer stuff. And I'm guessing the rest of this week will be fairly consuming in that my sister and her husband will be here on Wednesday. I'll try to keep an eye on things here as my time permits, but meanwhile, have a great week!!

The Promise of Spring

It sort of snuck up on me. I knew that snow has been melting (and we're in the mud season-just ask the dog!) but I forgot to check the earliest bloomers. A beautiful sunny afternoon in these parts and sure enough, there they were!

Pushing valiantly up through the sticky autumn leaves. Still closed on the north side and open on the sunny south side. Such pretty little Snowdrops given to me by a friend a couple of years ago, and doing very well under my crab apple tree. The very first flowers of the season in my gardens and ohhhhh so welcome after a long hard winter!!


Other early bulbs are pushing up, but I'm not quite sure what is what yet. And the moss and lichens on the Northwest side of the Basswood are such a lovely shade of green.


Finally, the big magnolia tree here is truly just loaded with velvety flower buds. If the weather cooperates to let it bloom properly (and this is a touch and go situation, year to year, at best) it will be a magnificent site. I recall that I marveled last fall that these little bits would survive the winter, all the freezing and extremes, but would burst into bloom again come Spring, when conditions were right. Can you imagine--each of these plump little buds will bit a nice big white flower?!! It's one of my favorite things!


OK, now for a bit of business. I need your vote!! Really! There's a "Best in Show" contest going on over at the new "I Heart Handmade" show, and I really am proud of my little "Booth" here, so I need you to pop over, scroll down to "WillOaks Studio" (at the bottom of the alphabet, of course!) and "pull the lever!" Here's a direct link to the page for voting:
Poll: Who is your favorite shop in the Spring I Heart Handmade market?

And after a couple of good nights of sleep, I'm settling back into my Entrecard mode, such as it was prior to that debacle of being deleted. Yep, I'm sticking it out and was the grateful recipient (such a nice surprise!) of left over EC credits from Lin over at Duck and Wheel with String and Jude over at Mature not Senile as they have both left Entrecard. Plus Shelia at The Ad Master put an image for my blog over on her blog. I had lost my place in line for an EC ad on her blog, which I'd waited nearly 2 weeks for, when my reservations were all "erased" by Entrecard. Don't worry, I've also bought a legit ad over on her blog with my returned credits, as I work to get my EC reservations/widget spots back up to snuff!!

Thanks to all, each and every one, for your support through all this...you all really helped me with a tricky time and I'm so glad to have all you great readers/bloggers/and blogger buddies in my life! XXX♥♥♥000 Enjoy my first peeks at SPRING!