Expanding Friendships Through Blotanical

Many of you have already discovered Blotanical, the relatively new website that is bringing garden bloggers' together all over the globe. If you love to see what's growing and blooming in other people's gardens then you'll find an endless supply of fascinating posts here.

Stuart Robinson is the young man responsible for putting it all together. He actually hatched the basic idea well over a year ago, and has been working to build and expand the site since then, until it has developed into a grand plan that seems to be working beautifully.

I'm so pleased to have recently 'met' lots of new gardening friends - some close by in my home state of New York, some half-way around the world in my native country, Australia, and others from Canada, the UK and Europe. There are also plenty of other gardeners in countries I've yet to explore - New Zealand, Africa, South America and Asia.

It's exciting to see the amount of people participating, and fun to read about the quirks and obsessions we have in common. I sit here smiling and nodding my head, and feeling "normal", knowing there are so many others out there who share the idiosyncrasies of a gardener's character.....but above all else, that irresistable urge to grow as much as we possibly can!

Stuart has written several helpful articles, posted under the "News" tab, which explain a few things about Blotanical and how to maneuver around the site. Under each of the tabs on the home page there are sub headings which give you lots of choices.

For instance under the "Search Blogs" tab you have a choice of doing a Google search for information under "Search Blogging Content", or skimming through a list of blogs under "Search Blogger's Location". And if you want to add a Blotanical button or widget to your blog, you can find that here as well under "Banners and Gadgets".

Under the "Picks" tab you'll find a list of the current 200 posts of all the members. I use it, in addition to my feed reader, to find the newest posts of my favorite blogging friends, and to meet new gardeners from all over.

You get your own little "plot" and can choose a list of your favorite bloggers. To encourage you to use the site, there's a point system which rewards you for logging in, picking posts, and a few other activities. You can also chat with other members via messages. Your blog doesn't have to be exclusively about gardening. Most of us post about our everyday lives, as well as our gardens.

The best way to learn to use the site is to just keep clicking your way around! And if you have a question there's a "Help" tab where Stuart is quick to provide you with answers. Or you can send a message to a fellow member to find plenty of helpful advise.

If you're 'just a little obsessed with gardening' then you're really going to enjoy yourself at Blotanical :)

Stuart once remarked to me in an e-mail, after starting a third blog (he has one about lawn care as well as his Gardening tips and ideas, and used to have a financial advisory blog) that he started the lawn care blog because he found he was getting far too much sleep! :)

I often wonder how he fits sleep into his busy schedule, especially these days. Yes, he does have a day job, a young family, and a garden of his own!

You're doing a great job Stuart, and we all very much appreciate it, but don't overdo, and do take a little time for yourself now and then. OK?

Easter lilies in church on Easter Sunday Jesus never fails

Meeting Blog Friends!

This was a fun day!
Ross and I had the great pleasure of meeting 2 blog friends on this muggy Saturday, which promised rain, and gave only a little.

I've corresponded with "Apple" of "The Apple Doesn't Fall Far from the Tree" (on the left), for over a year through our blogs, and have just recently "met" her sister, "Country Girl", who shares a blog with Apple called "My Sister's Garden".

A remarkable phenomenon about blogging is the feeling of friendship without having actually met.....so that when finally meeting face to face, we felt like old friends. The four of us had a nice lunch, with lots of good conversation, and plenty of laughter (if you want a good chuckle read Apple's post about bathroom follies encountered on her recent vacation), after which we took a tour of the gardens.
I've been wanting to thin some perennials, and the girls were happy to take some off my hands, so we set about digging, and loaded up Apple's car. It's such a pleasure to find a home for the plants so they don't end up on the compost heap.

Riley and Max kept us company and got under our feet. Max of course, got stepped on a few times :)
At one point I stuck the spading fork into the lawn and it fell over (because the soil is so dry), narrowly missing one of the twins lying a little to my right. Apple said "That must be Riley" (because he didn't get clobbered), and sure enough, it was :)
My dear husband likes to rib me about being such a chatterbox. He tells me I "overtalk"...and I have to admit (sheepishly), in this instance, he's right. Poor Apple and CG probably went home with sore ears (sorry girls!). However, we did enjoy each other's company, and hopefully we'll meet again in the not-too-distant future. They've invited us to see their homes and gardens and I'm sure we'll head their way one of these days.
Meanwhile they'll be busy planting for a day or two. We're supposed to get some decent rain tomorrow afternoon and that's something to look forward to. It's hard to establish new plants in such dry conditions.

Thanks so much for coming girls!! We thoroughly enjoyed the visit :)

The flowers behind us in the 2 top photos (which some of you remarked about in the "Bailey" post) are called Golden Glow (Rudbeckia Laciniata -"Hortensia"), AKA "Outhouse Plant". Isn't that a great name? :) Can't you just see them beside an old outhouse?

They began blooming in early August and are coming to the end of their bloom time now, which you can see in the top photos. They're perennials and are very easy care, except for the need to have a bit of support to keep from flopping over.

They've been gorgeous with the Gloriosa Daisies (Rudbeckia Hirta) in front. Here you can see our outdoor wood furnace and wood pile in the background.

The cats like to climb on the rustic fence that Ross built last year to keep them upright. This is pretty Miss Cleo.

Max likes to keep his feet on the ground, which is definitely a good stategy for him :) His leg has healed very well, by the way. The only way I can tell the twin brothers apart is to look at Max's leg where he still has faint signs of his 3 (yes, 3!) accidents.

The afternoon light makes the Golden Glow really live up to its name.

You can see particularly well how it glows in the late sunshine in this photo. Some of it always manages to escape the fence and flop, but that just adds to its charm.

I'm sneaking in a few more kitty pictures. Here's Max, or Riley (?) having an afternoon snack.

And just to break up all the yellow, here's young Miss Fiona, having a bit of fun.

Pretty Madelaine is Jasmine's sister, and shy Jasper is Fiona's brother.

I'll say goodnight with another picture of the afternoon light. I love this time of day when everything seems to glow. No wonder the Scots call it "The Gloaming" - an apt name indeed.
I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!

Spring Has Caught Cold! (Or something worse!)

And the "Thinking Blogger Award"

I'll tell you about that in a minute, but first I wanted to show you what we've been looking at outside for most of the week.

Our snowy front yard

There's a war going on here and Old Man Winter seems to be winning! I wish Spring would stop being a wimp and stand up and fight back!

While the snow hasn't been sticking around for long, we've woken up to a light covering most mornings this week. Yesterday we had heavy wet snow that stayed until early afternoon. These pictures were taken yesterday morning.

I'm feeling sorry for the school kids who've been on spring break all week. I hope they rugged up and got a little fresh air in spite of the cold temperatures and frigid winds. Our forecast is for another week of this same weather pattern. By the end of next week we'll probably be tearing out our hair!

I suppose because the cold weather didn't really begin until mid-January that "Old Man Winter" is determined to give us the full dose!

Old Man Winter go away!

A sad state of affairs - poor crocus!

Where's the sun?

These are the same purple and yellow crocus flowers I showed in the previous post. Sad to say, they're now looking a little worse for wear.

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Two of my very dear blog friends have nominated me for a “Thinking Blogger Award”.

Horizon of Message in a Bottle, and Cris of Country Patch are two young mothers who are indeed great thinkers. I love to visit their blogs to read their thoughts and see the wonderful pictures they post of their pretty corners of the world.
Horizon and Cris, I greatly appreciate your kind words and the nomination. Thank you! I learn so much from both of you, and I’m grateful to know you both through this wonderful world of blogging.

Edit: I received a comment this morning from Inland Empire Girl in Washington state and she informed me that she'd also nominated me for the award in her April 10th post. I wanted to say thanks for the honor, and for her lovely comments. We've only recently discovered each other's blogs and I'm enjoying glimpses of her beautiful state, her daily life, and the lovely poetry and recipes she shares.

I now have the difficult task of choosing 5 others to pass the award along to.

I consider each and every one of my blog friends to be excellent thinkers, but many of you have already been given the award, so I’ll try to choose friends who haven’t already been nominated.
I’ve purposely avoided nominating friends who I know are too busy to do this meme at the moment, with the exception of "Jelly". I know she’s very busy but I’m nominating her anyway! She may very well choose to ignore it for this very reason, and that’s perfectly fine. I just wanted her to know that I consider her among the most excellent of thinkers.

Claire, of “Claire’s Garden” in Scotland.
Claire has a wonderful appreciation of nature and inspires me with her beautiful photos of flowers, her cats, the horses she trains and the lovely Scottish countryside. She raises some unusual plants in her small greenhouse, and grows delicious fresh vegetables in raised beds alongside her flower gardens. In the warmer months she loves to go kayaking with friends. Claire writes with that wry Scottish humor that I find so appealing.

Jellyhead, of “Jellyhead Rambles” in sunny Australia.
Jelly is the doctor that everyone would love to have! In fact, if she were my doctor I’d probably make up illnesses just so that I could go and visit with her :) She’s also a busy young wife and the mother of two sweet children.
Jelly is compassionately wise, jotting down her thoughts with great charm, and just the right mix of seriousness and a cheeky sense of humor. I imagine her thinking never stops, even while she’s sleeping!

Stuart of “Gardening Tips and Ideas” in Western Australia.
I remember Stuart saying, “I’ve started another blog because I found I was getting way too much sleep”. Yes, he has a great sense of humor :) Stuart constantly and tirelessly strives to bring interesting information to his fellow gardeners, and has a keen desire to draw garden bloggers together. He has created a world map of garden bloggers, and is working on other innovative ideas to unveil in the future. You’ll find the link to his map in the top right corner of this blog.

Linda of "Dew on the Roses" in sunny Florida.
Linda finds beauty in everything around her, and shares her thoughts in a quiet and contemplative way. She has great affection for all God’s creatures, as well as a wonderful appreciation of flowers and plants. Linda is a sweet grandma who loves her family, and remembers fondly the house and barn in Maine that she and her husband spent many happy years in when their children were young. Visiting Linda always leaves me with a feeling of peacefulness.

Giddy of "The Giddy Garden Gnome" in Maine.
Giddy lives across the water from scenic Acadia National Park, which in my opinion is very close to Paradise. She posts breathtaking photos of some of the most glorious sunsets I’ve ever seen, and shares hiking trips in the park. She’s also a doting grandma and passionate gardener. She’s very creative and has just spent time this past winter learning to knit. I love her enthusiasm for life. Giddy always leaves me smiling :)

The procedure now is to copy the Award button to your post and side bar, link to the original source of the meme (the "Thinking Blogger Award" title is a link), and then pick 5 bloggers who you consider to be great thinkers (and whose blogs make you think) to pass the award along to.

Please know that I would pass the award to all my sidebar links if the rules allowed. Each and every one of you enrich my life in your own unique way, and I thank you for that.

Have a lovely weekend everyone, and those of you in warm places, please start huffing and puffing, and blow some of that warm air our way!!!

TGIF!

Yes, I'm very thankful that Friday is here! Weatherwise it's been a rough week, but there have been some bright spots too.

I'm daydreaming about a trip to my favorite nursery to buy this fuchsia

My good blogging buddy in Western Australia, Stuart, of Gardening Tips 'n Ideas, is off gallivanting in Tasmania for a few days (he says he'll be working....uh huh) and has asked Val of Val Has Her Say, Colleen of In the Garden Online, and myself to write a guest post to help fill the time he's away. I wrote about fuchsias and my post was featured on Thursday, March 8th. Pop over and have a look if you'd like.

Stuart shares a mine of information about all sorts of garden-related topics. He works hard to bring garden bloggers across the world together, and has recently introduced several new features, including a wonderful sitemap that features garden bloggers the world over. You may want to add your own blog to it. You'll find a link to the map in the top right corner of my blog.

Nasty weather

The beginning of the week brought us more wretched weather. In spite of a winter storm warning on Monday, our school was open. Like most schools in our area we had already used one more than our allotted snow days, making administrators reluctant to add yet another. This unfortunately turned out to be a huge mistake. The morning commute was fine, but as the day wore on the wind picked up and the snow squalls began. By dismissal time conditions had deteriorated badly, with 30mph winds and blowing snow creating dangerous whiteout conditions. Where snowbanks are high and the wind blows the snow across the road, visability can be zero. On my trip home I unfortunately drove into one of these spots and had an experience I never want to repeat!

We still have plenty of snow!

The only thing I could see in the mass of swirling white snow engulfing my car was a large vehicle a short distance ahead of me, which seemed to not be moving (it was hard to tell). At this point I became disoriented and drove into a snowbank. It's impossible not to feel terror as one sits there wondering if at any moment another vehicle is going to rear end your car. By backing up just a little and turning my wheels all the way to the left, I luckily was able to drive out of the snowbank (thank The Lord). Pulling up behind the large van I could see that it was a UPS truck, and it was stuck! Now what? There was no way I could drive around it, so I just sat there wondering what to do, and feeling scared to death, all the while waiting to be rear ended.

Finally the UPS guy walked back to me and offered to help guide me around him. He said it wasn't so bad once you got by the houses in that section of the road. I was afraid for him to be standing in the road and thought him a brave and gallant soul. Miraculously, there were no cars behind me, and none coming the other way, so off I went into the swirling snow, feeling my way like a blind person. A little way along I passed a line of 4 cars coming toward me. Thankfully, we were able to pass each other without mishap, and shortly afterward I reached my turn-off and was able to drive out of the bad spot. The rest of the trip home was comparatively easy. You can well imagine how glad I was to get home to my husband and a nice hot cup of coffee!
I told hubby that I was going to stay put until winter was over...or at least until the wind and snow stopped blowing! It didn't stop until Tuesday afternoon, and thankfully school was closed once again.

Poor Apple, who lives not too far away from us, had an experience even worse than mine on Monday when she was involved in an accident during a whiteout. You can read about it here. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

Tonight the forecast promised warmer temperatures for the next several days and that's definitely a blessing to look forward to.

I've got mail!

Last week a lovely surprise arrived in the mail....Lee-ann sent me an absolutely wonderful magazine from Australia, with a lovely note. While vacationing at the seaside on the breathtakingly beautiful south coast of Australia, she had an idea. As she sat on the beach with her hubby, soaking up the warm Aussie sunshine, she thought of her blog friends here in the freezing temps, surrounded by snow, and decided to share a bit of that sunshine with us. So she sent this magazine, filled with pictures of bright flowers, to a few of her blog friends here in the frozen northern US.

Thank you dear Lee-ann, for your sweet thoughtfulness and friendship. I'm constantly amazed at the warmth, care and concern that flows between blog friends.

Anita's heart

And while I'm thanking blog friends I must show you a couple of other sweet things that have come in the mail recently. Many or you have seen the gorgeous hearts that have been passed between blog friends lately during the Nostalgic Hearts Swap. Just before Valentine's Day a package arrived from Anita in Germany. In it I found not only the white marigold seeds she had most generously shared, but also this perfectly adorable pink embroidered tapestry heart. She's so talented and puts such fine detail into her creations.

See how well the card matches the Heart? Isn't that the prettiest?

Thank you so much dear Anita! You are such a sweet and thoughtful friend.

Wonderful Gifts from Marion and Anita

Another dear friend I'd like to thank while I'm at it is Marion, who lives in beautifully picturesque surroundings in Wales. At Christmas time she sent a package of Four O'Clock seeds, this very sweet little fabric covered green gingham heart (pictured above), and a lovely homemade Christmas card. Thank you so much dear Marion for that sweet, thoughtful surprise.

One last thing: A couple of blogger buddies had a happy meeting in Melbourne yesterday and there's a photo on Val's blog showing them in a cute schoolgirl pose :) There you'll find Frances ("Alice") of "A Growing Delight" and Val, happily disturbing the peace at the State Library of Victoria. I wish I could've been there with them!

I hope you all enjoy your weekend