Crocus Blooms (Finally!)

So far the Liquid Fence is working! I have two new sets of blooms and I'm thrilled! These ones came up yellow which I wasn't expecting at all since the package only had white and purple ones on it. They're still pretty so I'm happy either way. Here's a few pictures to make up for not having any in my last post.

Also, just in case you were wondering, if you want to order some of my photos as greeting cards but want to have words across the top or bottom, you can always email me at kimberlyapril@gmail.com and I can customize a photo for you. If there's something in particular you would like a photo of, I'm always open to requests :)





I love this picture. I held a bloom that Mya stepped on and broke up to the sky and took a picture of it. I love how the light filters through the petals and the clouds made a solid background so the sky doesn't distract from the flower. Please excuse my unmaincured nails.

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Let's be from Vermont...and let's have an emerging maple syrup conglomerate!

If you haven't watch Wedding Crashers a few times the title of this post will probably be more confusing than funny but that's ok. Yesterday, Derrick and I went on a tour of a Maple Syrup Farm! Do you know where your maple syrup comes from? Did you know that if you buy regular syrup in the grocery store it probably has more corn than maple in it? I never really thought about these things until yesterday. I was looking for something to do Saturday since Derrick and I had the day off together. I went to www.localharvest.org and clicked on "Events." Then, I typed in my zip code and one of the events listed was;

"From tree to table, come out and see the new technology in the collection of sap through tubing and learn maple syrup history and get a taste of the wonderful product from nature."

Well that sounded pretty awesome to me so I called up the contact number, talked with the farmers wife, Donna Divoky and arranged for a visit. The Divoky Family is one of the most friendly and welcoming families I have ever met. Donna met us up at the house and gave us a tour of the farm where they grow vegetables and raise chickens and sheep. It was a really cool experience for me because I just recently finished reading The Omnivore's Dilemma and this farm was like experiencing parts of the book in person. After she showed us the farm, Donna walked us across the street towards the Sugar House. We walked through more farmland and Donna pointed out where each crop grows. She also told us funny stories about their sheep. Quite different from the docile lambs I always imagined!

Once we made it to the Sugar House we met Donna's husband, Dave Divoky and their son, Nick. The Sugar House is a little wooden house at the end of the farmland near the beginning of the woods with tons of white smoke coming out of the top and once inside, it smells wonderful. It's a combination of burning wood and cooking sugar. The land has been in Dave's family for over 80 years and it was a pleasure to hear stories about Nick's grandfather and the old ways of collecting the maple tree sap. Dave and Donna took us on a hike through the woods and showed us the tubing that draws the sap out of the trees and then up to the Sugar House where they boil the moisture out of the sap which turns it into syrup. We even got to taste fresh sap! How cool is that? It looks and taste like sugar water. After they filtered a batch of syrup, we each were handed a cup of it to sip while we visited. The Divoky's made us feel like family even though we just met them.

After a few hours we decided to start our 1 hour drive back home. Donna gave us 1 dozen eggs from their farm (for free!) for visiting. I can't say enough good things about this family. If you're ever in Ohio I strongly recommend visiting the farm. They also offer CSA shares (more about CSAs in another post). If you don't plan on visiting Ohio anytime soon, check out www.localharvest.org and see if there are any fun events going on near you. You might be surprised. I know I was.



Before anyone asks, I did not take pictures at the farm. I didn't want to seem rude since it was my first visit. I plan on visiting again so next time I'll ask if I can bring my camera :)

Thief!

I finally had the first blooms of Spring in my garden. HAD is the key word. Yesterday, when I got home from work, I saw two beautiful Crocus blooms fully open. I was so excited, but in a hurry to go my photography club meeting, so I thought to myself, "I'll take some pictures tomorrow." Something made me change my mind and I ran outside really quick to take a few pictures before leaving. Thank goodness I did! This morning I went to leave for work and I noticed the flowers were missing. I looked around and it was as if the plants never existed. Rabbits!!! If you look close at the Crocus shoots that are left you can see the little nibbles. I've seen at least one rabbit who comes at night and eats the birdseed that falls on the ground. Apparently he's rounding out his diet with some greens.

So today, as soon as I got home from work, Derrick and I went to the garden store down the street to find out how I can humanely repel the nibblers. I bought this stuff called Liquid Fence. It smells terrible! It has garlic and rotten egg in it. So gross, but it's supposed to work. I sprayed all around my bulbs while holding my sweatshirt over my face. I really hope this works because my daffodils are sprouting and I'm going to be really sad if I never get to enjoy the blooms I have been anxiously waiting for.

Here's my best picture of the two first Crocus blooms. May they rest in peace (or give the rabbit indigestion).

Captain Planet Would Be Proud

I made my first Eco Friendly Handbag this past week. This one is a cute, boxy bag made from a pillow sham I had in my apartment. Huge improvement from my last bag. To make The Alyssa I used a pattern and my bag didn't look like the one on the package at all. I made this one without a pattern and just used what I learned from making The Alyssa and from this really cool blog www.u-handbag.typepad.com. Much easier! I'm actually going to leave Lisa from u-handbag a comment about how awesome her blog is since I used her "bag making for newbies" post to understand the world of interfacing. A few more practice bags and I'll start selling them! If you have any requests or comments let me know.

Alyssa Turns 15!

My cousin turned 15 on February 28th. She's the baby of the grandkids on my dad's side and it seems so crazy she's almost old enough to drive. I still remember when she was born and we were all at the hospital. lol. I sound so old. Next, I'll be calling her and telling her, "When I was your age we didn't have cars..."

So to celebrate her birthday, I made her a handbag with my birthday present, a sewing machine! My birthday was the 15th of February and I was pumped my parents gave me a sewing machine. This handbag was my 2nd sewing project. My goal is to have an Eco Friendly handbag business (in addition to photography). Not bad for my first one :)

My Familia is Awesome!

The grocery stores just recently started stocking California Oranges and they're 99¢ each! I called my family and whined that I wanted Oranges from Papi's tree so my wonderful Aunt Ester went to Papi and told him what I wanted. He climbed up into the tree (his 80th birthday is in June) and picked me his last two oranges. Then, my Aunt Ester shipped them out to me. I received them in 2 days! I was so excited I took them to work to brag before I ate them. They tasted even sweeter knowing all the trouble my family went through so I could eat them!

My Bulbs Have Sprouted!

A few of my Crocus’s had sprouted about a month ago but then stopped growing. With the warm weather the past few days they have finally decided to start growing again and they passed the message along to the other bulbs that it was time for them to grow too. Here’s a picture of them today that I took with my camera and an older picture of them poking through the snow that I took in the morning with my phone on my way to work. I planted over 100 bulbs (Crocus, Daffodil and Tulip) in 6ft x 10ft area. With a tree taking up the center of it. It’s my first time ever planting them so I’m hoping I did it right. So far so good!

Looking For Spring...

It seems that Spring is starting to make it’s appearance. As you can see, the animals are starting to come back out and the temperatures are getting warmer. As I write this I’m sitting in my apartment with the windows wide open and it feels great to have the cool breeze sweep out all of the stale winter air. It’s 60 degrees! Can you believe it? Yesterday it almost reached 70. The dogs are loving it too since now we go on longer walks and they can sit at the window and bark at all of the other dogs walking by in the evenings. Everyone is outside enjoying the change in weather. I even saw kids playing with water guns yesterday on my way home from work.

These are pictures of my latest bird feeder guest. No exactly what I was hoping for when I set it up but it was still pretty entertaining. As long as the rabbits and deer don’t eat my flowers when they bloom I won’t mind the extra visitors.