New Dawn Roses and Laurie's Lovely Art

Good Day Everyone from steamy and very warm Michigan. A few weeks ago I discovered a truly artistic blog called "Laurie's Charming Designs". Laurie is a very talented watercolor artist. I instantly fell in love with her delightful magnets. I emailed Laurie and ask if she could create Hearts, Roses, Pineapple and Snowman magnets for me. Of course Laurie said, she would be very happy to do so. Yesterday I received my package and the wrapping had "Pink Roses" swirling around my address in water colors. The mail lady was very impressed. And I was so thrilled to received a package where the outside looked like a piece of art. Lucky Me. Of course I loved all the Hearts and Rose magnets/pushpins. Now stay tune for what I plan to do with all these push pins and magnets!!! vbg Laurie also created a magnet "Bird Nest with Roses" surrounding it as a surprise gift for me. Thank you Laurie, I love it. I also ordered the wee birdie with wool felted bird nest too. It is truly adorable. Please have a look at Laurie's lovely blog.

I planted my New Dawn Rose bush three summers ago. Last year I had a few wee lovely pale pink blooms. I have been fertilizing all my roses with coffee grounds and over ripped banana peels since early April. This tip was given to me by a fellow gardener. I have never tried this method before so I decided to give it a go. I could not believe how well my roses bushes responded to this simple and inexpensive way of fertilizing them. The greenery went from a few spikes last year to a lush canopy this year. I was hoping to see heaps of lovely pale pinks blooms and you can see I was not disappointed. These truly lovely blooms started at the end of last week and they keep blooming. Spectacular indeed.

On the opposite of my New Dawn Rose I have these lovely clematis purplish pink blooms climbing to me it. Glorious. I am so very please with my gardens this year.

Last year I never saw my Day Lily and many other bushes and flowers bloom thanks to the pesty deer devouring them every night. My Sweetie, has worked from early Spring trying to keep the deer at bay. We have motion water senors, awful smelling stuff we spray around just about every evening which has helped allot. But the best tip came from my sweetie's co-worker. He told us to buy fish line and string it around our gardens. So my dear sweetie went to the hardware store straight away and purchased fish line and fiberglass poles. Then my sweetie drilled holes at three different heights on the poles and spray painted them green to blend in with the grass. Since installing this simply solution around my gardens we've not had one bloom eaten. I can now see my Day Lillies blooming their hearts out along with many other treasured blooms I did not see bloom at all last summer. Can you tell I am a very happy gardener at the moment. vbg

I never saw my Delphinium bloom last year and look at it now. Glorious.

My Princess Spirea is now in full bloom. I am a passionate gardener and I truly enjoy seeing my plants and bushes blooming. But if it was not for my dedicated sweetie we would have nothing to see in our gardens. I give My Sweetie all the credit for finally seeing our summer flowers and bushes bloom!! Thank you my dear. I love you.

I hope you all enjoyed the tour of my gardens and Laurie's art. Have a great weekend everyone. We are off on a wee vacation and will chat again with you all soon.

Hugs,

Mug Monday and More Lovely Flowers

Valerie Greeley from "Acornmoon" is celebrating Mug Monday and I signed up to show off my Favorite Mugs along with many others. Valarie creates the most beautiful Mugs. Valarie's artwork is incredibly stunning. Sorry I am a bit behind in posting but it is still AM here in the "Good Ole USA"!!


I have several mugs I use often but I selected these because they are unique. Starting from the left the first and second one I bought while visiting the England several years ago. I bought them in Bournemouth in southern England. They are fine porcelain mugs designed in England from Pimpernel. I thought they were very lovely. I have a country kitchen with the theme of roasters and sunflowers so these mugs fit into my kitchen very well. The third one I bought in Oregon many years ago. The fourth one I bought while visiting Poland. It is a large Polish Pottery Mug with the theme also of sunflowers.


On the top shelve is some of my wool felting and embroidery work. The wee house is also polish pottery and I burn wee candles inside it. Now I will have to go and have a look around the world and see what other lovely "Mugs" I can fine. Please visit "Acorn" to find the list of other ladies displaying there Mugs today.

My Princess Spirea just about in full bloom. Oh, How I love this lovely bush.

More roses and peonies. I hope you all enjoyed looking at my favorite mugs and visiting my gardens again. Hugs Judy

Hugs,

Royal Mail and Truly Lovely Roses and Peonies

This week my much anticipated package from the UK Royal Mail arrived. I was so very excited to open it. When opening the brown paper package I found the items I bought were wrapped so beautifully. A few weeks ago I discovered Karen Ruane blog, called Contemporary Embroidery. Karen creates amazing lovely embroidery buttons, brooches and Prairie Dolls along with many other creations. I lived in Oregon for sometime and always admired the Prairie Dolls I saw in the Mission Mill Museum in Salem. I bought the pattern many years ago but never took the time to make it up. But the pattern I have is nothing like the truly beautiful "Prairie Doll" I bought from Karen. I reckon I need to create a Prairie Doll for my grand daughter, I think she would love it.

Here is a photo of "My Prairie Doll" along with the brooch and two buttons I bought. The embroidery and cross stitch work on everything is truly beautiful. Karen also sent along several of her very creative business card which were very impressive and creative too. Thank you Karen I am very pleased with all my lovely creations I have bought from you.

This photo shows an up close of the wee cross stitched hat on the Prairie Doll.

This photo shows an up close photo of the two embroidery buttons and brooch. They are very unique and I love them.

This photo shows an up close of the stunning stitching on the skirt part of the Prairie Doll's dress.

I am so happy I took some photos of my garden yesterday because last night we had thunderstorms rumble through our area and today they look a bit battered. This photo is of my Peony Bush in my front garden. Truly Truly lovely.

Oh, how I love Peonies. This is an up close of my Peony, you could just drink up the lovely aroma of this gorgeous flower.

And these are the first photos of my Prairie Princess Roses this year. Aren't they truly beautiful. I have to give my sweetie full credit for all his diligent work everyday trying to keep the pesty deer away so my lovely roses would bloom this year. I love and appreciate all the wonderful things he does for me everyday. Thank you "My Dear Hubby"!!!

Here is a wonderful photo of a single bud of my Prairie Princess Rose, This rose is a Dr. Griffith Buck Rose I ordered three summer ago from Chamblee's Rose Nursery.

Oh, how truly beautiful is this single Prairie Princess Rose. Perfect in every way. My New Dawn Climbing Rose who is so glorious at the moment it is reaching way above the trellis toward the heavens. It is full of countless blooms and they will be blooming soon. There is NO way the pesty deer will eat these buds. Yipppppeeeeeeeeee I hope you all enjoyed another walk in my June Front Gardens. I have truly enjoyed chatting with you all. I would enjoy reading any comments you may have. Have a great weekend to all my visitors around the world. And Happy Father's Day to all the gread dads out there.

Hugs,

Jamima Puddle Ducks and A Morning Walk In My Gardens

Today is a lovely sunny day here in Michigan after many days of coolish rainy days. The rain has given my gardens, and lawn a lovely start this year. Everything is very green and blooming. I had a wee surprise this morning when I look out on my gardens. "Jamima Puddle Ducks" as Miss Potter would say, was waddling across my front lawn. They certainly brought a smile to my face.

This is my Hosta Garden. The tub and milk can I brought home with me from an antique place in Germany. I think they look very nice in my Hosta Garden.

This is the third summer for my New Dawn Rose. It has grown and climbed its trellis and it filling out in a grand manner. I can hardly wait to see its first blooms this year.

The Irises in my back garden is just about done but still lovely.

This is a full picture of a special plant I bought from Annie's in Washington state called, Oysterleaf. The photo below shows a close up of its wee lovely flowers.

I should know this flower but I have forgotten its name, but it is blooming and very lovely.

The Siberian Irises are very lovely this year.

This photo is the beginning of the blooms of my Clematis. Soon it will be full of blooms. I really love this flower it is so grand and beautiful.

Another beautiful flower called, Baptisia Australis. It gets bigger and more gorgeous every year.

Miss Cora Belle is looking very pretty this year too.

My Geranium is just starting to bloom.

My Lambs Ear is doing well this year.

Despite the fact that the deer ate my Wiegalia down to practically nothing it has come back and even bloomed for me this year. I truly love going for a walk every morning in my gardens to see what is newly blooming everyday. All the blooms make me smile and my heart Happy. I hope you all enjoyed touring my garden with me today. Lots more pics to come this summer.

Hugs,

Lovely Grand Children and Mosaic Clay Pot

Monday evening our grand daughter Chelsea graduated from Holland High School. Chelsea has work very had to get excellent grades and she has achieved being a Senior Gold Cord Honor Student. She will be going to Grand Valley State University in the Fall. WE are very proud of you Chelsea. Hugs Grandpa and Grandma

We attended our grand daughter Chloe's birthday party this past weekend. Chloe is getting to be a big girl and she is now 3 years old. Here Chloe is at the end of her party day riding in her red wagon that grandpa and grandma gave her for a pressie.

Here is Chloe after picking grandma's Daisies. She is so very sweet.

This photo is of Chloe's Birthday cake with a Mermaid theme. It was truly a very creative cake.

This is our grandson Ethan running and playing enjoying the day. He is also a very sweet big boy too. Ethan just turned 4 years old.

Sometime ago I discovered a blog called, Lavender Hill Studio, Mosaic-Art-Vintage Lighting. Penny creates very lovely creations of all kinds. The theme of my blog is Hearts and Roses and I knew I just needed to have one of these lovely clay pots. I asked Penny if she would create a Hearts and Roses Clay Pot for me and she kindly said, yes. After my long day at work yesterday I came home and a package was waiting for me to open. It was my "Hearts and Roses Clay Pot. The pot is surrounded by 4 Hearts and Roses. The top photo also shows a wee butterfly that Penny puts on all her Mosaic Art with her initials.

In this photo you see another side of this lovely Hearts and Roses Clay Pot. I was very inspired with all of Penny's lovely mosaics that I decided to buy her E-Book called, How To Mosaic A Tray. It is an excellent book with color photos. You can buy this book on Penny's Lavender Hill Studio website. So in the future you all may see some Mosaic Art from me too.

Have a wonderful week everyone. Hold your love ones close, tell them you love them, for if tomorrow never comes, you'll have no regrets about today!

Hugs,