Friday, April 25, 2008

Bling for a Good Cause & Just Becasue it's Fun!

As I mentioned before, I am taking part in a very special launch for my design group mate Renee of Cricket Cottage. Please consider bidding on ANY of the items listed as ALL money will be donated to Renee and her family.
Take a moment to read one of the participating auctions to learn about Renee's story.

Here are my listings for Renee
OBOG Auctions
Both Team Renee items are Starting at .99
I Love Lucy Bling Tee


Wizard of Oz Blue Gingham Button Pony O's


Here is a Link to All participating auctions
or Search Team Renee on eBay

My Last Listing for the
Blossom Leigh Boutique and On The Ave
Shopping Inspired Launch

For this one I teamed up with my good friend Jamie of RMX Designs
I’m offering a Funky Rooster Bling Tee



and RMX Designs is offering a choice of Twirl Skirt, Shorts or Capri's to match!



Search BLB TheAve Boutique To see all our Shopping Inspired Creations :)

~Patricia

Saturday, April 19, 2008

1 Week Garden Update

It's only been a week and little sprouts are beginning to pop through the soil!
Bella checks on the garden every morning!
Within days of planting the seeds, she was happy to report on Wednesday the first signs of lettuce (bottom left).
Everything has sprouted except for the Carrots...her favorite :(
I think by next weekend they will make an appearance.


First Signs of Broccoli


Even the Corn has sprouted!


Since we are not planting in rows we dropped a few seeds in each hole.
After they grow a little more we'll cut back all but one plant per hole.

This type of gardening is a new process for us but so far so good!

Bella has also been busy planting Sunflower seeds all over the yard and in any cup or planter she can find space in, lol
Here are a few of her prized plants


To ensure that a few grow to a majestic 12 feet we planted about 40 seeds along the fence.
Bella still has another packet so she'll be back at it tomorrow.





She can't wait for them to grow!

~Patricia

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Benefit for Renee of Cricket*Cottage



There are currently over 40 Designers that will be taking part in this charity event for Renee.
100% of all the proceeds will go to Renee and her Family
Donations are also being accepted
If you would like more information on how you can help
Please contact Angie (angie@simply-sophia DOT com)

Starting April 22nd
Search Team Renee on eBay
Every little bit helps so Bid what you can :)
Thank You for your Support!
~Patricia

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Bling is Back...on eBay



Blossom Leigh Boutique and TheAve
Have joined together for a Fabulous Shopping Inspired Launch

Search
BLB TheAve Boutique
To see all the goodies!

New 2008 Design from One Boy One Girl Boutique
Labrador Bling Tee
starting at .99

Stop by this Listing to see the antics of Bella & Onyx-pup during the photo shoot, LOL




Bling Cherries Tee



More New 2008 Designs Starting Next Week!

OBOG Auctions
~Patricia

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Could Gardening be any Easier!

This past weekend we setup our first vegetable garden at our new home.

In the past we have gardened the traditional single row way.
Spending a day tilling a large plot of land and the next couple days adding compost to Florida's sandy soil.
It was back breaking work!
But who doesn't love to watch a garden grow and relish the joy of picking your first vegetable.

That's all well and good until the garden becomes over grown and filled with weeds!
By summers end no one wants to walk in the garden and it sits in the yard as an unsightly mess!

Even though we have more than enough land here, I wanted to find an easier, more enjoyable way to garden with the kids.

With a little research I came across a book about Square Foot Gardening

I have gardened in a raised bed before but the concept of this book was to start with the Perfect Soil (the exact recipe for that is in the book) and to break up your raised bed into square feet to better utilize the small space. The book goes over exactly how many plants of each vegetable can be planted in one square foot.

The basic box is 4x4ft using 2x6inch boards.
Because I am a rule breaker by nature I chose to use 2x8's ;)
You can get the wood cut to size at the lumber yard - Gotta Love That!

Here's David, Bella & Trenton putting the box together - Which took only minutes!


The book suggests adding a bottom to the box to keep weeds & grass form growing. You can use weed tarp or a flattened card board box. If you use wood make sure to drill holes for the water to properly drain.
We used weed tarp and added chicken wire to keep moles out. We stapled the weed tarp and chicken wire to the box but that isn't necessary.

Once the box is finished move it to where you want your garden...it would be smart to build it where you want it...we built ours on the porch to avoid the hot sun.

Now your ready to add your Perfect Soil...if you don't have the book you can get basic direction's on the SFG website

The book has some crazy math to figure out exactly how much of each ingredient to use.
Math is not my strong suit
We used 1 44lb bag of Peat Moss, 2 different types of 40+lb bags of Compost and 1/2 a 4 cu ft bag of Vermiculite.
I was able to find all those items at Home Depot.
The mix was just enough to fill our 4x4ft 8inch high box.

We mixed all the ingredients on a tarp that Onyx-pup helped spread out for us ;)


Have two people hold opposite sides of the tarp and roll the ingredients to mix.
After it was mixed we shoveled a little into the box until we were able to lift the tarp and dump the rest.

Once filled we added a grid to plot out our 1 foot spaces and added our plants and seeds.

What we planted:
8 corn plants, 2 tomato, 1 green pepper, 1 red pepper, 1 hot pepper, 1 strawberry plant, 2 broccoli, oregano, basil, 8 heads of lettuce and 24 carrots

The project was fun and took a short time to put together...we are already planning another box!


Later we sent Onyx-pup to sniff out some pesky moles!
She did a great job digging up an abandoned hole to find a little glass snake
Awww, Good Puppy!

~Patricia