Our Ginkgo Tree is Blooming!

 

The gingko biloba's uniquely fan-shaped leaves start out green but change to golden-yellow in the fall before dropping like brilliant golden snowflakes, carpeting the ground underneath. 

It's a beautiful sight to see!

The Woodland Floor

The Wild Violets  are tiny flowers hidden amongst the foliage on the forest floor. 

 

 

 

 

 

An appropriate passage I read from today’s "A Cherokee Feast of Days"...

“April is the color of jonquils, the fragrance of hyacinths, and the dewiness of violets. The sunlit meadows are carpeted with tiny blue flowers, and along the ravines wild strawberries are as sweet and tart as April air. We forget that while the earth sleeps, life goes on, growing, developing, spreading, until at the right moment it reveals itself in glorious colors and shapes. A few short weeks ago everything was brown and somber. Now the colors are radiant and the very air is tinted the color of new leaves. A new aura outlines the distant hills and only human beings have to see and taste and stir themselves to new life.”

                                                                 

Another delightful surprise I came across on my walk this morning was this sweet little box turtle.




 

More Treasures From The Garden Center !

 

Visit To The Garden Center

 

 

 

 

 

Among the treasures I brought home were Geraniums, Superbells, Cyclamen, Petunias, Verbena, Lobella, Begonias and gorgeous Sunrise Dahlias!

Shades of Green

Trees are filling in with beautiful shades of green. This time of year everything looks so fresh and bright ! Very spring green ! Springtime in the woodlands.

 

Spring! Glorious Spring!

Lovely time of year when everything is blooming, birds are chirping and new growth is emerging in these lush green colors!
 

Free Motion Sewing Note Cards

A few years ago I tried my hand at a technique called Free Motion Sewing using my regular sewing machine and created these simple note cards.

Use your sewing needle  as your 'pen'. The needle remains stationary and you move your fabric around in any direction to 'draw' your design. 

Drop your feed dogs! Dropping them gives you full control of the movement of the fabric. Sewing machine feed dogs are metal teeth-like ridges that emerge from a hole in the throat plate of a sewing machine. They move as you sew, gently gripping the bottom fabric to help it pass through the sewing machine.

 I've also read that leaving the feed dogs up works  just as well when Free Motion Sewing. You'll have to test for yourself to see what works for you. Plenty free tutorials online.

 ( old photos, excuse the poor image resolution )