Every Blog Needs some Bling!

Many, many thanks to Savvy Working Girl for passing along the Every Blog Needs a Little Bling! award. It was most unexpected and came in a week that needed some bling. You know. You all have them.


This is an award that I need to pass along, with thanks to these bloggers whose writing I enjoy, and who give me something. I've learned from you and laughed with you; I've been in awe of your writing and sometimes your guts. It's a chance to say a huge thank you to my heroines in the blog world. So, I hope you will check out some of these blogs.


To Denise at Little Pheasant and to "Flower Jane" at Small But Charming. These two intrepid florists do gorgeous work. Denise will show you something special she created today and tell you about it, and Jane could tell you ... well, anything. She and I have discovered that we grow doppleganger gardens about 100 miles apart, so we are frequently caught comparing what bloomed today?

To Anneka at Living a Dream and Deb at Sand Creek Almanac. Anneka and her guy have moved to Arizona and are living on a farm, complete with horses, veggie gardens and beautiful vistas. She will take you on a ride in the hills with photos that will leave you breathless. Deb lives in the wilds of Minnesota with her family. She plays the flute, mandolin and banjo and writes wonderful posts from - what is to me! - the frozen north. And, she makes a mean dandelion wine.

To Charlene at The Balance Beam and Vivianne at Vivianne's Vista. Charlene is an expert on bringing balance to one's life and has great advice, written in a witty, fun way. She needs a little extra love right now, so go visit her and send some her way. Vivianne is a survivor, with a capital S. Share her success story and you'll be uplifted.

To Jill at Third Age Musings and Pink Fairy Gran at The Three R's. These are my English bloggers. Jill is a retired teacher who takes wonderful photos and does perfectly gorgeous handwork of several kinds. You will be inspired to do something when you read her! Pink Fairy has been silent for a while, so I hope she is well. She writes about life in a small village in the English countryside. Perhaps more interesting to those of us "of a certain age", but well written.

To Appalachian Lady at Appalachian Journal and Barefoot Gardner at Barefoot in the Garden. Appalachian Lady is a retired college professor who lives in the mountains of Virginia where she writes about birds, bees, flowers, and life. Excellent photos. Barefoot Gardener is a relatively young gardener who is building her first "real" garden with help from her two small children. It's nice to follow a budding gardener as she works it out the way she wants it to be.

And, finally, to Marie at 66 Square Feet and Miss Caroline Bender at Drawing In. Marie is a South African expat, professional garden designer and cook par excellence. She posts little bits several times a day about the flora of NYC and the wonderful things she has cooked. She also gardens on a rooftop terrace that is only 66 square feet. You will be entranced! And Miss Caroline Bender is my muse. It was her blog that got me started. She always has a different insight into life and tells it imaginatively. Always many thanks to her.

So, I hope you will find a new blog somewhere in this list to add to your list. Read and enjoy! And, thanks again, Savvy!

What a Difference A Year Makes

Tomorrow is the first anniversary of my xeri-garden, and wow! Building it was hard work, but I enjoyed every minute and like anything that's difficult, the pleasure is directly proportional to the hard work!

The best part, tho, is that it does appear to be self-sustaining. I watered for the first month or two (June and July last summer) when it was particularly dry - to be sure that the plants got off to a good start. But since last fall I have not provided an extra drop. We had a wet winter and so far it continues to be a wet spring, so it has gotten plenty of water, but it's looking great. It still needs to fill in a lot, but that will come with time.

Almost wish I had another big project for this summer, but am feeling lazy so far, so will just see what develops!

This photo is for Cherise at The Money Pit. She has recently put in some raised beds, but is having critter difficulties. Mitchell built raised beds several summers ago for our veggies, and made these nice chicken-wire "covers" for them. The one on the left also has a frame with a lattice to support the tomatoes as they grow.

The covers have a 1 x 2" frame with chicken-wire stapled to it - one in each direction and then we used plastic tie-wraps to hold the two layers of chicken-wire togethers and keep the corners tight. They keep the rabbits and other small critters out.

We have big problems with the rabbits every other year. There is a small farm at the end of our street where the farmer alternates corn with soybeans. In the soybean years the rabbits dine there. But they are too short to reach the corn, so we have lots more rabbits in the corn years. Unfortunately, this is one!