Happy New Year - New 31 Days challenges!

 Happy New Year 

to You and your family!!!. 

I hope that your dreams and desires for this year are realized.  As you break all the tasks down and take small steps every day before you know it you will have achieved what ever it is you are striving for.

This month I will be working on a new YouTube channel called - The Creative Gardener, which looks at all the plants that I love growing in my garden and the tropical environment (which means that everything grows so much bigger).  

I want to share my journey of starting from scratch in the garden to developing a tropical paradise, and I am also keen to learn about the medicinal and nutritional properties of plants.  The artist in me has to come out as well and I will and will also be sharing a few outdoor creative projects.

The other thing I will be doing for this month is sharing with you my 31 Art Studio Essentials for creativity.  

It can be hard to find time for some creative play and over the next 31 days I will be sharing with you some of the ways in which I manage to find time, and they are very easy things that you can incorporate into your day as well.

Look forward to seeing you on this journey.  I will be sharing the first posts later on today!

Blessings await for 2018!!

Gratitude's and Celebration - Week 58 - Seeds

You can count the amount of seeds in an apple, but you can't count the amount of apples in a seed...Anonymous 

I love getting out into the garden and working with the soil, clipping back plants, perhaps moving a plant to a new location.  I find spending time outdoors a really relaxing activity.  Even when I didn't have access to a garden I had a lot of houseplants and would regularly nurture them with a song or two - there are studies that show that plants respond to touch and sound.....

The thing I enjoy most with gardening is finding a new plant the seeds of which find a good location depending on where the bird has managed to drop it as it has flown past.  These little surprises brings with it a new variety of plant.  But the key is where the seed falls which will determine it's success.

We also have to be mindful about where we plant our seeds - the words we speak to others, the gifts and talents that we have within us.  We have to not only be encouraging but make the most of each and every opportunity, building up the lives of others rather than tearing down. Are we sowing on good ground, nurturing and watering to ensure growth?

I am grateful and celebrate the gifts that I have been given to share, and I am thankful for the growing confidence to step out each and every day so that I can be an encouraging light for someone else.  

What type of seeds do you have within you and what type of soil are you sowing in?

I look forward to the journey and hope you come along and join me. Why not start your own journal, keep it as simple or complex as you wish, but do something!

Gratitude and Celebration Journal

Garden - Memories of Home

Well, it is the first day of the year and I wish you a very Happy New Year. I hope you enjoyed your celebrations seeing the new year in and where ever you are.

Welcome to Memories of Home, if you would like to find out more information about the series, Click here

Being in a supportive environment is important to our growth as individuals, not everyone has had that opportunity and as adults we try and create an environment that will nurture and bless our children and indeed ourselves.

Garden

With the new year brings exciting changes for all. I took time yesterday morning to spend it in the garden seeing what needed to be cut back in preparation for the spring, what needed to be cleared. I really enjoy this time as what you do now can impact the development of the plant and prepares it for the next stage of development.

When we were smaller we lived in a flat (apartment). We had a balcony which was small, but no garden space. My mother loved plants and had a wide array of houseplants dotted around the home. She would take her time walking round to each tending to them applying water and removing the dead leaves. She seemed in her own world and would often be humming or singing a song. Watching her and spending time in my own garden I realise the therapeutic benefits that she enjoyed as she spent time with the plants. 

I too find it relaxing, regardless of what I am doing even if it is getting rid of fallen branches. It is a lovely feeling to know what will be coming and how the plants will take shape as the weather gets milder. I have a plant that produced bright yellow flowers in the spring and yesterday noticed that one of them had decided to come out early and give me a visual taster.

This is the plant in its full glory and the flowers will last until the summer.  It truly is lovely to feast your eyes on it. Whether big or small do you have a space to grow plants, what is your favorite plant you have grown?

I would love to hear what type of plants you have in your own home environment that allows you to be comfortable. I hope you continue to join me on my journey over the weeks, as I share my mixed media houses and look back to the memories of home. I look forward to hearing about some some of your own memories. Blessings and peace to you!

Tuesday Feeling - to be or not to be

We ended last week with some sunshine amidst the downpour which for July seems to be a common occurance.  Our summers have changed over the years, and we see the changes in the climate in other countries and the unusual weather they have been happening.  I have been spending more time in the garden, pottering around 'weather permitting' and decided to grow some cherries,  it would seem as if I have 3 growing strong, I'll do my best to protect them from the slugs and snails that frequent the garden.

After some lovely scented flowers, my young Honeysuckle plant seems a bit poorly, have to keep an eye on it, be grateful for any advice for the yellowing and, dropping leaves.

Every time I open a fruit or vegetable I have been saving the seeds to plant to see what will grow,  this is my latest - squash, I think this was meant to be...!

I've also tried to grow some, apples and pears - not sure that the weather is warm enough for these but worth a try, alongside some pulses that I sprouted - the black beans seem to be coming up quite well and I will transfer them in a few weeks.

I have made an effort to improve my diet and have been eating more pulses and salads.  I will be sharing some of the recipes   I did a butterbean casserole  and today I will be doing a recipe that uses aduke beans.  I have also brought some split peas, lentils, and a whole range of other beans to try.  If you make enough you can freeze them and be able to have a readymade snack as and when you want.  Let me know what your favourite recipe is.

My son went to his prom and here he is all done up in his suit and his patent leather black shoes!  He had a great time, there were all dressed up and polished as they danced the evening away.

Last but not least I forgot to share the biggest news, which actually happened on the 5^th May.

I became a Grandmother!  Say hello to Malakai Dominic William Springer.  I was initially not wanting to be called grandmother and searched for examples of words used in other cultures – maw maw, numa, nana, and the rest, feeling that the term was mostly associated with old people.  I felt I didn’t qualify!.....and so couldn’t embrace the word...... but with maturity comes understanding.  Grandparents should be elevated as there is so much wisdom that they have, many of the lessons that my mother taught me now have stood me in good stead as an adult, and I pass the wisdom down to my son.

 Malikai is definitely a bundle of joy!