Hello and welcome. It’s been pretty quiet here on the blog lately so it’s time to do a bit of catching up.
Sewing Projects
I spent a lot of February and March sewing for Jackson and Addie. The first three photos are things I made for Jackson. (I apologize it some of the photos are a bit blurry. Sometimes my hands are not as steady as I’d like them to be.)
Jackson loves Spiderman. My sister had sent me some Spiderman fabrics that she wasn’t going to use, since her grandkids have outgrown the Spiderman phase.
On Easter, when I gave Jackson and Addie their outfits, Jackson looked at the things I made for him, then looked at me and said, “You are the girl!” I construed this to mean, “Thank you Grandma. I love them!” 🙂
My sister also had some extra cat fabrics. Addie loves cats!
The patterns on the fabric are difficult to make out in the photos, so I added close-ups of the fabric.
I also made myself a summer turtleneck.
I love the way it turned out, and my husband complimented it several times when I was wearing it.
Farm Views
We’ve had a lot of rain this month and much of it came last week but on the nice days I’ve been getting out to enjoy the weather. I love watching the world come alive in spring and each day we’re seeing more and more – flowers opening, plants sprouting, leaves unfurling.
These photos were taken early last week.
Since then, we have a hen or two that are sitting on eggs, so, you’ll likely be seeing chick photos in a couple weeks. Also, dandelions are blossoming and the fruit trees are beginning to flower, so the bees have plenty to forage.
Plantings
Each year since 2019 I have potted up pansies to display in the bed alongside our deck. In past years my husband was able to get them from the greenhouse where he worked in 2019. They are a wholesale business but allowed him to come and purchase a couple of flats.
This year, in March, when he tried to call them, he was only able to leave a message, and he never got a return call. I was disappointed but ready to accept that we would not have pansies this year. My husband didn’t give up so easy. He began calling around to other local greenhouses to see if they had pansies. Mostly they were not open yet for the season. Eventually he got a message back from one of the greenhouse owners that they thought they could help him. Several phone calls and about three weeks later he picked up a flat of pansies.
I couldn’t be happier!
My husband also picked up a package of pansy seeds so we can start our own plants next year.
I did have them set out along the deck but brought them in for a couple of nights when we had the temperature dipped down below freezing. Hopefully we are past that now.
My husband started some cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower plants in March. They are now big enough to be planted in the garden, and we are hoping things dry up enough this week that we can get them planted. We also have some potato seedlings that we will plant as soon as the soil is ready.
Other News
This is so exciting!
It was the last week in March when I received my preview copies of the book my story in being published in, Chicken Soup for the Soul, I Can’t Stop Laughing. The book goes on sale next week, on 4-27-26, and I will be doing a separate post about the book and about the process of being published in this book.
One of the benefits of having a story in the book was that I received 10 free preview copies. When I told my family that I would be getting them and that I would be giving them out, they decided they need to hold a book signing event. I was honored.
On April 4th we met at a local coffee shop for lunch, and I signed and passed out copies of the book. (That’s me at the far end of the table.)
As a congratulations gift my family gave me this beautiful garden statue. It says, “The Garden is my Happy Place.” 🙂 You all know that is true.
Thanks for visiting and Happy Spring!!!
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Ruth, Your spring flowers are so pretty. I have pansies, too. They are one of the few flowers that I have luck with lately even with the sometimes freezing night temperatures and the extra warm daytime temps. (On Monday the low was 31 and the high was 89.) Years ago when I lived in Troy I even had pansies coming up under bushes covered in snow. They brighten my day.
It looks like you must have received a lot of rain, your pond looks extra full right now. Is there any flooding in your area?
I am sure that Addie and Jackson loved what you made for them. They can brag that it was made just for them. I bet they are getting very big.
Thanks for the updates. Sending hugs.
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Yes, we have had a lot of rain. The day before Easter alone we had about 4 inches. The pond is high, but it usually is in the spring, and as low as it was by the end of last summer, we are happy that it is full again.
Hugs to you too.
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Wow, this post was chockfull of good happenings Ruth! How fun to celebrate your published story at a book signing – congratulations again! That’s nice they gave you the copies to share. I like the clothing you made and “you are the girl!” made me smile. I know you like the pansies and that’s great your husband could get some and lucky they were in pots and you could easily cover them for that heavy frost Sunday into Monday. I hope we are past that too, but with the heat spikes causing the severe weather last week, I was happy for cooler weather. Did you know an EF-1 tornado came through my city? I was on the other side of where the tornado roared through and was unscathed, but a former co-worker/friend lives closer to Melvindale and Allen Park and she had damage as did her neighbors – one lost three big trees and another had a tree fall on the roof. I liked the weather today and yesterday – they were perfect weather days! Your garden is looking good and cheery. I went out with the camera in the neighborhood on Sunday to take photos of the flowers in case they didn’t make it after the frost. I see the cold water doesn’t both Ruby and Ranger at all – brrrr!
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I didn’t realize that you had a tornado in your city. Did you know when it was happening. Thank God it missed your neighborhood. The weather today was perfect. I started cutting grass. “Tis the season. 🙂
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Yes, it was Wednesday morning, April 15th. I had warnings in advance as I was following Paul Gross and Michigan Storm Chasers on social media. I never went to bed as they predicted severe weather with hail and tornadic activity to hit between midnight and 2:00 a.m. My weather alarm went off for a severe storm at 1:45 a.m., then a few minutes later for tornado warning and to seek shelter ASAP as it would be here at 2:12 a.m., so I put on my bike helmet and stayed in the basement until it passed. The City had two sets of sirens going on and it was constant and oud which made it scarier. I came upstairs at 2:45 a.m. and I feel very blessed because they clocked the winds at 95 mph. All the rain helped your pond, your flowers and the grass and dandelions!
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