Not much is happening in my garden these days, so I thought I’d share some interesting photos I came across at the Free photo sharing site, Pixabay.
These fairytale places contain elements I would require to be truly happy and at peace.
1. I would need a beautiful view, preferably with mountains and / or water. 2. Lots of land, with room to roam and explore.
That’s about it, except maybe fertile land with room for a nice vegetable and flower garden. With room for animals, I’d probably have a lot of those too.
I prefer a small house, but maybe not quite as small as this little red house in the Alps. I wonder where those outdoor steps are leading? And quite honestly, I’d like to have a window or two in my house!
Alpine Home in Switzerland, Photo shared at Pixabay by Fotoworkshop4You
I like the idea of having to cross a cool bridge to get to my house. I’m not sure that little building is a house or a barn, but this bridge is awesome, and the river looks interesting. Okay, in this shot you can’t see my home (haha) but this is the view out my front window. I can watch my sheep graze in the meadow.
England, landscape – contributed to Pixabay by tpsdave
Now this little wood home, or cabin, is right up my ally. Looks to be the perfect size, with a porch and mountain view. Could those be fruit trees of some kind in the backyard?
Wood Cabin, contributed to Pixabay by Tappancs
And below, a picture of my horse!
Hope you enjoyed my journey through dreamland. I did get some work done today too. This was just a quick escape … which we all need now and then.
Aside from the fact that the raccoons are helping themselves to all my tomatoes… red and green… I am still attempting to grow a garden. The raised bed is filling slowly with dirt and compost, and right now I have cucumbers, tomatoes, summer squash, bell peppers, and eggplant growing.
So far I am eating tomatoes and cukes. Still waiting for the peppers, squash and eggplant.
New Plants in My Raised Bed Garden
None of my vegetable plants were doing very well. They had plenty of sun and water. The problem was the soil. I have been buying bags of organic dirt, but I don’t think it had any type of compost in it. So I bought a few bags of compost, and that has helped. I had started my own compost in a pail on my porch and I added that to the raised bed. What I really need is a composter.
Now my older eggplant is flowering again. I have some green peppers and can see little cucumbers beginning to grow. But I need more dirt and compost.
Maybe I’ll Get an Eggplant
Tiny Cuke
The Rose bush is blooming, with small, but beautiful roses.
I must go outside and check them every day, because the flowers don’t last. Just the other day I got a pure white rose on this bush! But I waited too long and lost the opportunity to get a photo. Roses are difficult to grow and with the humidity here, I’m afraid of black spot – or whatever they get.
Pink Rose with Peach Center
Down toward the back of my house the watermelon vine is getting longer, and baby watermelons are popping out along the stem.
Baby Watermelon
Since I’ve amended the soil with compost, the peppers are doing better. The bells are not very large yet, but I’m afraid the raccoons will pick them before I get to.
Finally, my peppers are growing!
It’s been so dry here in Florida for months. This tropical location is in need of rain. We’ve had very few rainy days, and there have been fires all over the place.
Because of this, I decided to add a cheap bird bath to the corner of my garden. Using a big plastic pot saucer, I added some broken bricks left over from the building of our patio, and filled it with water. It sits on the corner of the raised bed. Each day I spray it out and refill while I’m watering the garden.
I do get birds who drink and bathe in the thing. A female cardinal especially seems to like it, and a Cowbird (I think) had a nice long bath the other day. Of course my cats drink from it as well!
My Cheap Bird Bath
I know that if I was still living in New Hampshire, gardening would hopefully begin this Memorial Day weekend. Their garden veggies won’t be coming in for a couple more months.
Taking garden photos to share on a peaceful Sunday morning.
Is there anything better than a quiet, peaceful (and fairly cool) Florida morning? Sure, lots of things, but today I enjoyed the cloud cover as I checked on my gardens this morning and took some photos with my iPhone.
Hibiscus Colors
The hibiscus is blooming profusely and I noticed today that some of the flowers are a lighter color than others. They look pink here, for some reason, but they are really light orange. I was too lazy to use my graphics program to fix the color – look at the photo below to see a more true version. …….Still, the beauty is apparent.
The Sunflower is Growing Tall
In New Hampshire I always had sunflowers growing in my garden during the summer. They sprang up on their own, known as “volunteers”. I just let them grow where they were and planted my vegetables around them. In the Fall, little goldfinches and chickadees would land on the big heads and eat the seeds.
Because I don’t feed the birds in Florida, no sunflower seeds will voluntarily grow after being buried under the winter snow, so this one I had to plant. In fact I planted a lot of seeds, but this one the only one growing. Animals (squirrels) probably ate the other seeds.
Big “volunteer” sunflower in my northern garden
Open Rose
My rose bush is doing fine so far. I am seeing roses bloom continuously. Their color is stunning, but the flowers don’t last long.
Watermelon Vine
I’ve never been able to grow my own watermelon, but I am trying again. This one seems to be doing well enough.
Desert Rose is Flowering
The Desert Rose, which at first was thought to be a Plumeria, is planted in the ground and doing well. Lots of bright pink flowers have bloomed and I am seldom watering it, as required.
Little limes growing on the Persian Lime tree
The Persian Lime tree is blooming like mad and little limes have formed. Many of them will end up falling off, I assume, but I’m hopeful that some will grow to be edible size.
Other happenings in my small yard: I saw two black snakes (black racers) yesterday within the span of about 3 minutes. They are “good” snakes and not poisonous, but still creep me out as I watch them slither through the grass. Now I’m back to watching where I walk.
Later today I will pick the one zucchini growing on my single zucchini plant. The potatoes have been dug, and the carrots pulled. Time to plant some new things that may, or may not, be able to take the Florida summer heat. At this point, it’s all an experiment.
Every now and then I look back at my life in New Hampshire through the many photos I took while living there.
Since Spring is upon us (in Florida it’s hard to tell) I decided to share some April photography and memories.
Forsythia
In April the forsythia begins to bloom and the bright yellow flowers are a wonderful sight after a dull and colorless winter. I had planted a forsythia bush up near the road in my front yard in New Hampshire. I thought it was far enough back from the road to survive the snow-plowing in winter, but I was wrong. This big branch was broken off so I cut it and brought it inside to enjoy the flowers.
Skittle, being Skittle
Skittle, the cat enjoys drinking water from all sorts of places. And once she discovered the vase of water holding the branch, she just had to partake!
The Lenton Rose will be full of flowers by April. It blooms before the snow is gone. I really enjoyed this little flowering bush.
Lenton Rose
The coreopsis is popping through the ground and so are the thick red stems of the peony. I love peonies. They remind me of my grandmother, so I had a lot of them planted in my yard in the north. I had white, red, and pink. One of the reds was more like an open flower, but I can’t recall the name of it.
Peony
And of course the hydrangeas were coming to life. It’s always thrilling to check out the gardens in Spring. Each day more green is showing and it was always fun to watch the progress as the perennials came back to their beautiful showy state.
Hydrangea in Spring
The first photo is my house taken about three months before I moved. I couldn’t afford to live in New England, but it’s where my heart is.
I miss it and always will.
It’s Easter 2017 and I have worked online most of the day. We have no special food to eat, just leftover chicken from yesterday. It’s not a big deal here. I know what Easter is all about and I used to spend the morning at church, the afternoon eating, and the evening cleaning up. I hid Easter baskets, and worked hard leading up to this day. I know that Jesus rose from the dead and it’s a wonderful thing, but I just don’t celebrate as I used to.
March has consistently been a good month for increasing sales on my Zazzle sites, and this March has been no different. (If you are curious about my qualifications on advising you about selling on Zazzle, I’ll just say that I am a Platinum ProSeller and have been with Zazzle for nearly 10 years.)
I create a lot of wedding invitations and items to match, in a variety of themes. Beach weddings are my big focus, with floral (hydrangeas) designs at BlueHyd running a close second. March may be the time when brides begin to focus on an upcoming wedding and need stationery. I stay busy right into summer, usually, although the past few years have been a bit slower.
So, what is selling now? Zazzlers may be curious about what I am selling and what customers are asking for. Customers do reach out through e-mail, and strange enough, the contact seems to come in spurts. Just the other day I had 6 people contact me about various things they needed. Then, sometimes weeks will go buy without a single contact.
Not every question / request brings a sale, but I did create an RSVP for someone which earned me a nice royalty and also referral money, thanks to the link I included in my e-mail.
How to Get E-Mail Referral Money
Whenever a customer requests an item to be made, be sure to set the item to “direct only” when posting, and send that link to the customer. Usually it will get you some referral money. It’s not always true, because the customer may not follow your link, or the “cookie” may get dropped if they do something else before buying the product. I surely don’t know all the technical gibberish, but sending the “direct only” link is the only way to possibly get that extra money through e-mail contact and sales.
People Have Recovered From the Holidays
Even if you don’t design wedding stationery, and believe me, it’s a very competative field, I think people have sufficiently recovered from Christmas to feel like they have money to spend. Also it’s tax season, and many people have a nice refund which helps with their purchasing power.
Here’s a list of some things I’ve sold this March:
Cloth tote bags with personal customization
Personalized Key rings
RSVP cards
Wedding shower invitations
Beach wedding invitation sets
Blue hydrangea wedding stationery
Bridal shower invitations
Thank you cards
Stickers and address labels
This “Under the Sea” invitation was a big hit this year. I made the design long ago, but sometimes it takes years for a design to catch on.
“Under the Sea” wedding invitation
So most of my sales have been wedding related. I promote wedding items year round, and have a good selection of various themes available. I tend to sell what I promote most.
But the key is to create and promote what you like to make best. And make every item customizable in some way… that is Zazzle’s thing… the ability to customize. And remember that the items that are promoted, are the items that usually sell, or they bring the customer who tends to buy something.
I also sell birthday party and beach related party (such as Luau) invitations. The designs are uniquely my own. In other words, I don’t just grab a free image and slap it on some stationery. Even when I use something from online, I add my own touch to it.
I don’t want my products to resemble any one else’s designs, and I strive to be as original as possible.
So March is over, and now we’ll see what April brings. I am hoping for more nice sales.
Hydrangeas Blue 