NANA NOTES

2012 "Furniture Styles" Flower Show

Pine Burr Garden Club had its annual flower show yesterday at the historic building that housed the Franklin Furniture Store for as long as I've lived here.  The girls did an amazing job on getting the building ready.  Since I haven't been able to attend any of the meetings this year I felt a little bit like a fish out of water for a little bit. After a while at the desk, it all came back!!  Wilma Holland wrote the schedule and was chairman of the show. She did an wonderful job!!  She gave us a challenging show to do and as usual the girls rose to the occasion!!  Class 1: Cottage Style-- The blue ribbon winner which happens to be mine. I really lucked out with this one!!  As you can see I had some serious competition!  The other ladies did a great job!!

Class 2: A Collage featuring Modern Styles

Beverly Gabbert's collage won the blue and Dorothy McGehee Award. 

Class 3: Retro-- A very proud moment for our Chairman and Schedule writer!!  Not her first blue ribbon but her first "big" award.  She won the Designer's Choice Award and the Barbara Herring Design Award.  A very happy lady!!  She did a great job on her very first schedule writing and was highly complimented by the judges.  Congratulations, Wilma.

We had 91 pieces of horticulture.  That was nice since we'd had a big rain a few days before.  Carole May won the very first Grower's Choice Award given by our club with her lovely begonia. Congrats to Carole for that award. 

 

Awards of Merit went to Carole May and me

 

And the winners are!!  Great day for these four ladies and all the rest too!  Congratulations to all on the beautiful flower show.

SPRING ARRIVING

This time of year is one of my favorite times. The flowers begin to bloom and I get very enthused about gardening.  I usually "overbuy" and have to spend a lot of time planting.  I love container plants but not necessarily the watering process they require. Sunday morning I was ready early for church and I walked around snapping some pictures of the things blooming in our yard. Love the colors!!

 

 

 

 

 

 















 

 















Hope things are this pretty when it's time for the wedding!!

 

 

 

    

 

 

A VERY NICE DAY!!

Melody invited me to attend a meeting of the Garden Club of Jackson to see Sharon McGukin of Carrollton,GA.  She was doing a design program based on her book Flowers of the Heart (a bride's guide to choosing flowers for her wedding). Since we're having a wedding this summer and I love flower design I was delighted to be invited.  I saw several garden club friends and others that I knew.  We enjoyed a delightful lunch and then went to Fresh Market for a few purchases. Here are some pictures of the program.

 

 Lovely yellow lilies, orange roses and pussy willow in a silver container.

 

 

 

  

Roses and orchids with fern.

 

 This arrangement was done on the OUTSIDE of the container. Just a few pieces of greenery were inside.  Very interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The yellow roses, purple iris, English dogwood and phlox are in a simple container and were picked from the "yard"--very simple and beautiful. 

This is the finished product with the orange roses and pussy willow. She used bells of Ireland, pink stock and white orchids.  The pussy willow formed a cage of sorts in the middle.

 

 









Limbs with yellow lilies, roses and ealyagnus--simple yet pretty.

























White lilies, orange gerbers, flowered branches in the coolest container.  A little "messy" for me but I love the container!

                                                                                                      

This is the finished design using the pussy willow and orange roses. She added yellow lilies and protea. 

The flower show judge came out in me because I thought some of her designs were too large for her containers--but I had to remember that I was there as an observer and it was for entertainment and for home use!!

The program was delightful and I thank Melody for inviting me.  You can never get too much of God's beauty!!

 





 

OH MY, OH ME!

Where this you see there used to be, a beautiful big green oak tree!  I'm not a "tree hugger", I'm just not a fan of cutting trees. This big old oak tree has been here for longer than most of us.  It should have been cut when we built the house but no one wanted to do it.  Then, along came the garden and the orchard and they began to flourish.  The poor blueberries were leaning to the north for sun because the tree was shading them out.  I finally caved--my head knew it had to go but my heart was fighting it.

This is the view from the upstairs window this morning.   
 
The sun can now get to the garden and the blueberries and raspberries will be happy and all is well on Cotton Branch!!
 
 

ANNUAL FRANKLIN COUNTY FAIR (Pine Burr Garden Club Booth)

It seems like we just put the Christmas tree up and here it is fair time again.  After many years of "doing the fair booth" I put out a call to members for help. Evelyn mentioned using our "hypertufa pots" that we made in May at our meeting. A quick project board with scrapbooking supplies, a few "how to" handouts, a call for member's pots and this was the result.  Jennifer called a little while ago to say we got a blue ribbon (and $30.00 in our bank account!).

 

Thanks to everyone who showed up to help and brought their pots.
 

NATCHEZ TRACE DISTRICT MEETING 2010

The spring Natchez Trace District Workshop meeting was held in Brandon on Wednesday of this week.  Carol May and I went together. The Brandon Garden Club did an excellent job of putting on the meeting.  The church was decorated beautifully and everything went smoothly.

These are the beautiful ladies of Brandon Garden Club. Many of them have become friends over the years and I hope they are friends for many years to come.

I loved the center pieces! They were silver paint cans with "bling" and black furry stuff  attached and fresh ferns with daisies in all colors. This was sitting on a square of black and white animal fabric.

When we returned to our tables after the workshops these lovely boxes were sitting at our places.  Lunch!  Cute, huh?

 

There were door prizes for EVERYONE!!  I got a gardening/cookbook. I can't remember what Carol got.  We sat with a friend from Vicksburg and two ladies from Fayette.  The Brandon members were supposed to "fill in" and my friend of over forty years sat with us. Karen retired several years ago and has become an avid garden club member.  She would make an awesome Board member!!

 

Carol and I had a fun day. I especially enjoyed hearing her tell stories of all the places she has lived and things she has done.  We're lucky to have her in the garden club. She is a talented lady.  Thanks, Carol for going with me.
 
 
 

PBGC LUNCHEON MEETING 2010 and BEN'S BALLGAME

Today was the last meeting of the garden club for the year. We met at Wilma's and made 'hypertufa' pots. That makes you wonder, doesn't it? It's a strange mixture of peat moss, concrete, perlite and water-kind of like making mudpies.  After we made the pots we had a wonderful salad potluck lunch and enjoyed fellowship with each other.  It will take a couple of weeks for the pots to cure but I'll show you pics of us having a great time.  Two friends from Brandon came to teach us the technique for making the pots. That's Joan on the left.   Wilma and I enjoyed our pot making time. I even made one for Libby! My friend Karen [also from Brandon] worked really hard!

We all finished up about the same time and cleaned up the lovely work area under the trees. Wilma's home is so inviting. Her kitchen is her "domain" and it's beautiful!

 

 

We had a wonderful lunch and finished with a brief meeting. Thanks,Wilma for hosting our meeting. We had a wonderful time! Thanks Joan and Karen for teaching us a new idea!

BEN'S BALLGAME

My day was hectic. The boys came after school because Jennifer was working graduation. I had to get Ben to his ballgame at 4:00 so we all went.  It was tense until the 5th inning and it blew up. Ben's team lost but they tried hard. He made some good throws from third to first for outs but his hitting was off. There will be other games to win!!

 All in all--a very good day!  Blessings abound.

   

THE FOUNTAIN FROM HEAVEN!!

The fountain from @#$% is now distributed to several parts of the garden being used as "yard art" and the wonderful new fountain is in place and running. The new flower bed is finished with the exception of the breaker for the lights on the fountain.  I absolutely love it. Nothing soothes me like the sound of running water and this is certainly peaceful. It's so much fun to watch the birds dip into the water.  The fountain is now an "integrated" part of the garden instead of a stand alone object. Thanks to Ed for letting me have this done.  The fountain is now surrounded by a rock garden with roses, gardenias, gold mound spirea and day lilies. 

There's a blue stone path way from one sidewalk to the other and I hung baskets with "blue daze". There are hydrangeas under the crape myrtle trees.  I have a little meditation bench that I'm going to put at the center of the walk by the fountain.    I'm excited to watch this project grow. Now to the watering. I'll have to watch the sprinkler system to make sure it's doing its job!! 

 
 

I CAN DO IT TOO!

Of course the Flower Show is over and I just walked outside for the first time today. Guess what I found?!!  I'd been watching these for days hoping they would bloom.  Now three days after the show----

I rooted this rose from Quent and Jean's rose at their home. Never would I have believed that I could do that. It's full of buds and blooms.

Tiffany brought me a clematis bloom from a plant that I'd planted at the old house. Look Tiffany, mine is blooming too!

 

 

 

My "Fourth of July" rose always is a winner; but not this year. There wasn't a bloom in sight on Friday. Tonight it is full of beautiful blooms.

Does this statement fit? That's why they call it fishing, not catching!!

GIVE MY REGARDS TO BROADWAY-PINE BURR GARDEN CLUB FLOWER SHOW

The Pine Burr Garden Club members proved they were "grace under fire" on Friday as they exhibited their annual Standard Flower Show. Due to unforseen circumstances we had to dismantle an hour early but the show was beautiful and those that came were truly appreciated.  The hard work and effort that was put in by the members was never more evident.  There were 24 designs and probably due to our unseasonably cold weather "only" 85 pieces of horticulture. The blue ribbon and big award winners are show here minus Melody Maxey. Go to the photo album entitled "Give My Regards to Broadway" to see pictures from the show.  Thanks to all who participated. 

 
Shown left to right are Paulette Jones, Barbara Herring, Wilma Holland, Beverly Gabbert, Evelyn Lee and Becky Nix.

 

GOOD FRIDAY GARDEN!!

Every good country gardener knows that Good Friday is the day to plant the garden. Ed had this uncontrollable urge to "get it done" yesterday. He got the raised beds cleaned out and prepared. I helped him tack down the "garden paper" and he was off. Exal helped him plant and they somehow had more space than plants.  This morning he got me up to go get more plants.  We now have tomatoes, squash, peppers, eggplant and cucumbers standing upright and healthy in our raised beds. We even said a prayer over our garden knowing that God would bless our efforts.  We only lost a couple of fruit trees during the very cold weather this year. Ed's already replaced those.  They are blooming and smelling so good.

Tomatoes and cucumbers. I love the wire fence for the cucumbers--I'm hoping they will be easier to pick--less hidden cukes!!

 
Eggplant, peppers and squash.

 

 
 Eggplant and squash.  We should have lots of good veggies in the summer.

We keep thinking we've forgotten something!  What would that be???

Maybe more eggplant!!!

 

Ed's orange tree looks great and smells soooo good!  Hope it produces lots of oranges!

NOVEMBER GARDEN CLUB

I was lucky enough to get invited to Brandon Garden Club's Tablescapes Luncheon this year.  It was so fantastic that I wanted to share it with my club members. My longtime friend Karen is in the club and I asked her if one of their members would do a program for us. Charla, her mother and Karen came down and not only did the program but had lunch with Ed and me and toured the farm.  We had a wonderful day!  [I shared the Tablescapes pictures with you back in February.]   

 

BAZAAR ITEMS BY NANA

It's almost Saturday and the Meadville UMC Bazaar is going to be a good one.  Here are some of my items and I can't wait to see everyone elses.

 Tacky Yard Art Flowers made from cooking utensils!  They are adorable. Limited quantity--early bird gets the worm!!

Monogrammed towels--have lots of these in lots of colors and patterns and initials. They are adorable and wrapped already!!

Peppermint Mocha Hot Chocolate Mix--so good on a cold night. Makes a perfect Teacher Gift!!

Very limited number of pendant necklaces--another good Teacher Gift.

The Bazaar will also have baked goods (homemade bread, cakes, pies, candy, casseroles)

Breakfast--sausage and biscuits

Lunch-Mr. Mark's hamburgers

Woodworking, Candles, Pot scrubbers, Grandma's Attic and much more.

Saturday, November 7 from 8 until 2 in the Meadville UMC Fellowship Hall.
 

 

TREE PLANTING ON COTTON BRANCH

How does it happen? Or why? Who knows but it's always a fun experience!  Ed read about eucalyptus trees being good for bees and this could turn into a long drawn out story but the short version is that a group of people from the University of Florida have come to CB for four days and we've had a blast.  In this picture (l to r) Paul, Ed, Donnie, Sam, Dr. "Rock", Ryan and Exal.  

Even Sandy got into the job. Copper watched over a field they planted yesterday.  They've worked hard and eaten a little bit and we now have 1500 + two eucalyptus trees that will hopefully grow and flourish into a beautiful forest.  Papa cooked a beautiful whole ribeye on Friday and there was enough left for Copper! 

 Ben, Sam and Ryan along with Exal and Papa have been working right along side of Dr. Rockwood, Gail, Donnie and Paul--the official eucalyptus tree planting crew.  They arrived on Thursday and met the Cotton Branch crew. We started out with shrimp, potatoes and slaw with brownies and homemade ice cream.  After a good night's sleep, we got up (way before I'm used to!!) and they had breakfast and went to the field.  Sam and Ben fell right in and worked.  We had a houseful for dinner and got up early on Saturday.  Today turned out to be a little cooler, at least for the early morning, and they finished by noon.  

    I got two trees planted in the yard--one of each species--just so I can watch them grow.  Tonight we're all going to the Mexican restaurant and enjoy being finished. Tomorrow they will travel back to Florida and finish up some other projects. 

Meeting new friends, learning new things--always a fun time at Cotton Branch!  Sam was a "tree totin" dude!

Gail as she leaves the last field! Finished at last!!

A BLUEBERRY DAY!

I decided last night that I wanted to pick blueberries this morning.  I invited Haleigh to go with me but she opted not to go so Ya Ya went and we had a really fun time and spent a couple of hours picking the most awesome blueberries.  The sign directed us where to go even though we'd been there before. 

 

 

The bushes were loaded and we found our favorite spot.

 

You can see that the berries are huge and it didn't take long to pick all we could use. I'm sure we weighed more when we left cause you have to taste every bush!!

 

We did the right thing and put our money in the box for the berries and the grounds keeper who does a great job of making the area a clean place to pick. We told him that too!

I didn't want my picture made because I was very dirty. YaYa had changed clothes.  Aren't our berries beautiful?  We are blessed to have such a wonderful place to go (Thanks, Barry!) and I'm blessed to have YaYa who loves to go with me to pick anything that's fun!!

GARDENING IS ADDICTIVE [and other sweet things]

We planted our raised bed garden this year and are having some good luck with it.  My good luck is because of Ed and the long hours of weeding, fertilizing and trimming he is doing.  He "Tom Sawyers" me into working out there--I just enjoy the "gathering" part but lately because he has taken an interest I have enjoyed it more.  It's more fun when there's two of you doing the work.  Our orchard has never been a very good one so we're trying to improve it.  We're even thinking about planting our citrus trees in the ground instead of big pots.  He worked out there all day Saturday and the entire orchard side of the yard looks great.  He did get "clipper happy" and I may have to call his cousin's wife for moral support. 

You can see the new trees that I gave Ed. They are already growing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are our raised bed gardens. The first one you see has cucumbers, peppers, eggplant and a couple of tomatoes.  The second one is full of different kinds of squash.  The third one is full of tomatoes.  So far all is well.   All kinds of fruit trees surround the boxes.  The blueberries have been doing well.  We've put some of them in the freezer and eaten some.

Ed had to taste them while we checked the bushes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Vitex isn't a fruit or vegetable but it does bring bees to the garden to pollinate. I think this is a gorgeous plant.

Welcome to our garden!

Thank you Papa for making it so beautiful!

WHAT WE'D ALL LIKE TO BE DOING!

I guess things around here will never slow down. We keep waiting and it never happens.  Someone asked me today if I ever stopped--I replied that if I stopped I guess I would mold. I am in constant motion-if not moving at least thinking of something to be doing.  I was walking from the kitchen to the bedroom one day and saw something in the swing. I investigated and this is what I saw.  That's Dufus with his feet propped up on the slats of the swing.  Magic is the one in the far right. They never moved when I eased the blinds open and snapped the shot.

Bandit was curled up in his very own rocking chair.  He very seldom lets us see him but lately he's been "out" more.  Copper chased him yesterday so he may go back into seclusion. He's my favorite, you know!! :)

I guess they had sent Smoky out on his own and he was sleeping on the driveway.  He didn't seem to mind.

 

Barney stays at his palace in the barn and Lana lives in the back barn.  She comes down to visit when Josh comes home.

But--the point is--don't they look peaceful? No cares, no worries, no "busyness"!!  Just lying there on the porch sleeping in MY "happy place"! I'm going to have to remember that last year I was the one in the happy place napping and go back out there.  It was FUN!!!

A NOTE ABOUT YESTERDAY: Graham appears to have no broken bones. He is sore and very lucky that the horse didn't break his ankle or leg. He will be xrayed again on Monday.  Jennifer's foot is still swollen and will be every color in the rainbow before it heals. She is walking on it but she probably won't be jumping any more fences any time soon.  Thanks to everyone who called and checked on them.

FRUITS OF THE "SPIRIT" [GARDEN]

Walking around in the garden with my camera often gives me ideas.  [Wish I'd had it today when we went to Natchez to eat with friends!! Long story there--will save it for later!]  I started snapping pictures of all the "edibles" in our garden-mostly fruit-that honestly just grow. I'm not a good fruit grower. I should be; I've had classes on it. I just don't do what I've been taught.  Here are a few of the things we'll be enjoying later this summer. 

Meyer Lemons that will make great lemonade!

Satsumas that are Ed's favorite!

 

 

 

Figs on a tree that Ed said would never make it!  Maybe this year we'll have more than enough to snack on.

Apples-I guess it's time to make more apple jelly. It's been a few years since I did that.

 

Blueberries-if the birds don't get to them first.  Every year we have more and more.

 

 

I love peaches more than I love strawberries and I can't grow strawberries. I wish my peaches would grow better-I should do more for them.

 

We have an abundance of pears and always share them with the deer.  The tree got trimmed this year and it looks much better.

 

There are two types of persimmons--I wish I had some good recipes to use them. They are so beautiful in the fall. I love the orange color.

The veggies are doing ok.  Ed has helped push me to keep the grass out of the beds.  Tomatoes, peppers, squash, eggplant (his favorite :) and cucumbers.

 

 

Our tomatoes compared to Jennifer's aren't too good. Maybe soon!

Squash are in abundance. We have three kinds-yellow, zuchinni and butternut.  We've even put some in the freezer. 

After the rain we had on Friday it will be "pull more grass" but it will be worth it.

I can remember my grandmothers gardening. I guess that's where I get my love for it.  They saved seeds and planted and preserved.  My mother canned and put things in the freezer. I am grateful for those lessons learned.

 

SOMETHING I'VE ALWAYS WANTED!

Who else do you know that would phone someone who is driving down the highway with an old satellite dish on a trailer hauling it to the dump and ask them for it?  A friend and I were on our way to Jackson one day when we spotted someone with a trailer and I began to say how I had always wanted one of those old satellite dishes--well, we got up close enough to know that I knew the people who were driving and I called them.  They were taking it to the scrap metal place and I just plain out asked for it.  Bless Joddie's heart, they hauled it back to their house and I got someone to pick it up that afternoon.  Since moving to "the country" we've wanted martins to come to the farm.  We put up a fancy house for them and no luck.  I had seen how people used the satellites to hold gourds for martins to build their nests.  We are now "up town" with our martin houses [and we for the first time!!!, have martins in our fancy house that is almost worn out].

Ben is adding the water to the concrete hole while Ed holds the pole still.  Exal is stirring the concrete.  Together they all made a great team.  Ben and I tied the gourds on the frame.

 Here you can see the "fancy house" and the new house.  Ed said he thought there were five pair in the old house.  I just hope they come back and bring more with them like the children do!!

This is my birdhouse building crew! Didn't they do a great job?  Thanks, Joddie for giving me your leftovers.  I've always wanted martin houses!!

GCM Design and Awards Luncheon

As State Flower Show Awards Chairman I get to see some wonderful designers do their work and have a good time at the same time.  Yesterday was one of those times.  After my awards presentation at State Convention Mr. Tony Todesco from Massachusettes designed and bantered with the audience for an hour and a half.  I had a wonderful time.  Here are some of his designs.  I loved this design with white calla lilies, varigated aspidistra and curly willow.  It blended well with the green container.

 

This container is made of a plastic cylinder and pieces of river birch and corrugated plastic. Worth the price I paid for it--only to me--but I loved it!  Before he added the fern to it the design was a mono-botanic design. [Sorry about the speaker but they didn't have backgrounds.]

I really liked this container too but it was a plastic cylinder with a plastic grid wired to it.  I figured I could make that.  The plant material was bear grass, liatris and lavender carnations massed together. It also had fatsia leaves and something else that escapes me right now.

Loved this one. Mr. Tony had wired the palm leaves and trimmed them. He had woven tiny bamboo together to make panels and they were a reddish color. The containers were black and there were two of them.  He used pink protea and red leaves that I can't remember the name of. This was gorgeous!!

This arrangement was prettier than it photographed.  It was lite from the back and you could see the orangey red leaves that were glued to the white corrugated board. The rolled bird of paradise [I think] leaves were very interesting.  I am thinking this is a tapestry design.

The sunflower and placemat design is one of my favorites. And we really got into a discussion over this one.  Mr. Tony asked if you used this in TriColor and the judges mentioned that the placemats were treated material what would you call them. The answer:  placemats.  If it's made into something other than what it is, it's ok. [My understanding.]  He also stapled the varigated leaves into the shape he wanted.  I said, "you didn't just staple that?" He said, "yes, I did."  My reply was, "won't the judges be able to see it?" He told me to look around the room and pulled out his glasses.  The room cracked up with laughter.  Sad but true, our judges are getting older.

Mr. Tony is the creator of the "Tapestry" design so he did several. This one is very pretty and makes me want to try it.  He wove horses' tail to make the green panel and mentioned something about the brown thing being a flower bed border material.  It looked like wicker or rattan. The varigated material was beautiful and the green flowers were hydrangeas and green carnations.

This was his last one--something most anyone could do. Apples, red square containers, roses, copper tubing and budding branches.  It would be beautiful down the center of a dinner table or on a buffet.

 

I thought you might want to know what Mr. Tony looked like. He was a typical Northener with an accent but he did a great job.  If you didn't get a chance to go you missed a treat and if you aren't a flower person, I guess you should have moved on to another blog!