♪ Patriotic Flowers ♪

Here are the flower magnets I made from the red white and blue crochet cotton  ->

They are about 1.75" wide, and come in two types of flowers. I like how the center colors match the petals. 

They remind me of 1976 (yes, I'm old). I was in high school then, and to celebrate the US bicentennial I made a red white and blue decoration from a clam shell and glossy fingernail polish.  I painted the inside to look like a flag, then put a bunch of clear nail polish over it. I thought it looked cool. 

Stop in to my etsy shop to see these magnets and a couple other styles I have on sale.

✈ 18,000 Bees ✈

It is official - the bees have arrived here at the farm !!

My husband has been building the hives all this past week, in preparation for today's bee package delivery. We explored YouTube last night to watch helpful movies of other people 'installing' their new bees. I was amazed at how little protection people wore while working with the bees - many wore no gloves and even short sleeve shirts !

We were worried that the bees would be stuck in the mountains and miss the planned delivery schedule. Colorado received a bunch of snow and rain these past few days, with major highways getting closed over the mountain passes. The bees were being brought to Northern Colorado from Utah, so weather could have slowed their progress. Luckily, the delivery man arrived where he was supposed to this morning, and we received two full boxes (or packages) of bees.

Each box has about 8000 bees and one queen. She rides in a small box separate from the other bees. Later when they are all in the hive, the bees free the queen from her tiny box by eating out a marshmellow that is stuck in the small portal hole. It looks like all our bees got to us safely !

The hives are pretty complex arrangements. The bottom two boxes (or supers) hold vertically hanging frames. They contain the wax where the bees will make honey combs. The middle box holds a bottle with sugar water. We need to feed the bees for awhile until they make honey to eat. The top 2 boxes hold more frames that we will take honey from. The bees get some, and we get some - perfect !! Here is a picture of one box, with some frames hanging in it:

I'll try to get more pictures of the bees and the queen over time, so check back for more about our first adventure with bees !!

♫ Sprout Update ♫

My sweet potato in the window is actually growing leaves !! Here is how the spud looks today:

It has some roots floating in the water, and a few sprouts of deep colored leaves. I hope they turn light green !! Isn't spring a wonderful and exciting time, with all the plants coming to life ??

Patriotic Colors

Recently a customer asked me if I had patriotic colored flower magnets available. I love it when someone gives me a great idea to try !! 

With just a little searching, I found these spools of crochet cotton thread. I think I'll add a strand of white in the center, then use this multi-color for the petals. Or maybe I will make them all from the red, white and blue. As with most things I make, a bit of experimenting will need to take place before I settle on one design.

Look for these patriotic flower magnets in my etsy shop in a few weeks. 

༺ Rose Giveaway ༻

Hello, and welcome to my Giveaway ! I'm celebrating one year since my first sale on etsy !! It has been a great year, full of meeting wonderful artists and learning lots more about online networking. I'm excited and want to share the fun with all of you. This giveaway is easy, and one winner will receive these two pretty pink rose stems, a $7.50 value.

To enter, follow these steps: (note: worldwide entries are welcome)

> Check out my etsy shop, then leave a comment on THIS post with the following:

..... The URL to your favorite item in my shop

..... A brief comment on why you like it

..... The best way to contact you if you win: your email address and/or etsy shop name

> Become a follower of this blog

On the evening of my etsy anniversary (April 6th, 2009) I will review all entries. If you have followed all the above steps, you will have a chance to win. 

I will use the random.org number generator to select the winning comment, then I will contact the winner to arrange shipment !!

Thanks, and GOOD LUCK !!

♫ Sprouting Sweet Potatoes ♫

Over the weekend I watched a few PBS garden shows. In one segment they talked about the lovely leaves of a sweet potato plant, and how easy it was to sprout in a window sill. This sounded like an easy project, so I got a sweet potato at the market on Monday, and now have a little sprout project at my house !

The idea is to hang a potato in a vase of water and give it sunshine on a window sill. I thought we had toothpicks at home, but when I went to find them, I discovered they were colorful, but pretty flimsy. Not deterred, I figured I would just add more and they would work anyway. Here's my sweet potato, all pierced up -->>

It should only take a week or two before I have sprouts and pretty light green leaves. I hope ! When I was a kid I tried to sprout avacado's (with very little success), but this is my first potato project.

I found a pretty picture online that shows what the leaves may look like if my experiment works out. If anything comes of this spud, I will post an update later in the season. Have you ever sprouted one of these ??

Daffodils Are Blooming !

Here are some new flowers, fresh and new in my shop this week.

~ Daffodils on stems ~

~ Daffodils on magnets ~

My lilac bush is getting little buds, so the growing season can't be too far off ! What is coming up in your yard this weekend?