Outdoors day

I watched the weather forecast today...rain and snow predicts for the next few days...booooo
Biked 20 minutes....walked 17 minutes....raked the lawn 80 minutes....even cleaned out the front flower bed a little...dying to buy pansies to brighten up the front garden but will hold off till after snow is gone....crazy cool spring....

Spring 2013

So far, to date, Spring has been cold....I have been biking every day I can, sometimes twice a day, but, only for between 10 and 20 minutes at a time as it gets too cold and windy for me.
Today, I planted seeds in little pots in my greenhouse....onions, peppers, yellow tomatoes, red tomatoes, impatiens, nasturtiums.....they have been watered and hopefully they will burst thru the soil soon.   I am a little late in planting, so hope we get a lot of sunshine in the next few weeks.
I also did some tidying in the greenhouse today and washed some plants that were getting dusty.
I have lots of geraniums blooms, the orchid has nice buds now, plants are thriving.
My greenhouse makes me feel happy - specially when it is cold and windy and dark and cloudy outdoors.

New Greenhouse Shade March 2013

We now have a beautiful new greenhouse shade....the shade filters the sunlight by 50% so the plants in the greenhouse do not get burnt by the sun....days are getting longer and the greenhouse is getting hotter.....our shade that came with our greenhouse was 28 years old and has been hanging on (literally) by a thread for the past five years or so....we take in down in winter and that is the reason it has lasted 28 years.
Hubby and I bought the shade material from Lee Valley in Ottawa last year and the greenhouse needs a shade sized 16' wide and 7 l/2' long......we had to buy 3 lots of fabric and I sewed them together....we bought UV tape that is supposed to patch greenhouse fabric and hold it together, but guess what-----it didn't work----so I sewed the first 2 panels together by hand - then by machine -  we had to bunch up the fabric and pull it through the sewing machine while I was sewing on it...I sewed and hubby pulled......when it came to putting the third panel together....I found out that duck tape will stick to the shade material, so we held it tog
The next day, we wrapped the length of the material around the metal pipe and hubby tied it on with multipurpose cable ties..pulleys were added...then we hung it up in the garage and said good-night to it.
Yesterday, we rolled the fabric onto the bottom metal pipe and used clips from Lee Valley to hold the fabric on....in future, we will replace the clips with the cable ties.  The cording was added and the shade was ready to put up on the greenhouse window.....oh happy day......it was a big job but by doing it ourselves, we saved over a thousand dollars.....will post a photo soon......
The plants are loving the filtered light and it looks really nice inside and out......

I am loving March 2013

This week, the weather has been so nice that Monday and Tuesday, I walked....today, I rode my bike, to the grocery store and home, to Shopper's and home, to a friend's house and home....it felt so good to ride my bike....even tho I wore winter coat, hat and gloves....I was exhilarated....have been waiting for such a long time....surprise....I didn't have to put air in my tires....they were ok!!
Today, I made raisin bread....for my sweet friend, Rose, who is recovering from flu....I phoned her yesterday, asked her if she would like a loaf and she said she would love some as she has been just having Ensure to keep her strength up.....so the bread was delivered by bicycle this afternoon.
I made a different potato recipe today.....slice potatoes and stand them in a pan-grease the pan with 1 tblsp. olive oil....in between the slices add some chopped green onions....brush the tops of the potatoes with another tblsp. olive oil....sprinkle with a little salt and pepper....bake for about 45 mins. in 350 deg. Fahr. oven....turn oven down to 300 deg. Fahr....sprinkle potatoes with dried or fresh thyme...bake another 20-30 mins.  till crispy....they were deliciouis with ground chicken patties and cooked carrots.
I also had a chance to do a little cleanup in my greenhouse today....I think I have a vining beetle eating a couple of my plants....saw some chomps out of the leaves...will have to go out with my flashlight tonight and look for them......they come out at night  and bury themselves in the soil or under the pots in the daytime....boo on those buggies...
Moved all my African violets into the greenhouse....will see how they do out there...they all need repotting.
March is marching on... and not so depressing....this weekend the time changes and we will have a longer day.
Tomorrow, we will tackle our greenhouse shade...replacing the fabric after nearly 30 years of wear....

March 1 2013---Finally, you are here!

Dear March 1, 2013....where have you been?  I have been waiting and waiting for you to arrive...thru all the rain and sleet and ice and snow and wind and the long month of February.  Hope you will come in like a lamb as I am sure hoping for a gentler month than your friend who arrived at my home last month-name of February.
Plans for March

Plant some seeds
Buy more seeds
Spend more time in greenhouse
Walk outdoors more
Wait for time change and longer days
Sewing for spring
Crafting for bazaar
and on and on and on

Last Friday in February 2013

Fantastic date today....the last Friday in February 2013....the month is sailing by fast.....
Today:
Vacuumed living room
Washed kitchen floor and hallway entrance
Brushed dirt off souls of shoes (wearing good shoes outdoors is not smart)
Watered some greenhouse plants and picked off dead leaves
Finished two crafts....a knitted snowman-added his eyes, nose and mitts with glue (didn't burn my fingers on the hot glue)....added cape, eyes, mitts, music sheet, nose and holly and ivy to knitted caroller....these crafts are for our church bazaar in November....
Phoned a couple of friends....
Tidied craft box - again
Must send ecard to little grand niece who is one year old today
Must send ecard to friend who is 65 today
This afternoon, we must go to appt. downtown for hubby...yuck!!
So far, not boring at all....
Have a great day!!!!!

Boring February

Winter and February are getting boring....cold weather....snow every day....sun is good when it appears....
Most boring time yesterday was spent at local Kingston shopping mall selling tickets for a well known charity....mostly people watching.....funniest thing during boring time....

watched a man who was wearing socks, sandles and "yak trax" on his sandals.....unbelievable!!!

Unboring ---- today when I shopped at the $ store, I bought 9 pks of seeds for my garden this spring....yeaaaaaa

More unboring.....got a haircut....nice and spikey now.....love having a shampoo after my haircut!!  Thanks to Sue at 1st Choice!!!  She does a great job!!!  And I found out today....she is a gardener!!!!

Denny's for lunch....had a skillet lunch....wow....very hot......new dark roast coffee there is very good!!

That's all, folks!!