Merry Christmas!

Tree hunting 2013

Crabapple Jelly!

Pennsylvania crabapple season is here

During one of our afternoon nature walks, my kids spotted a crabapple tree that was just filled with fruit. They begged, "Can we pick some to make crabapple jelly?!?"  

Hmmm.... ok.

Fall leaves!

Fun in the leaves

So, have you jump in the leaves yet this fall? I hope so!  If not, perhaps you might live vicariously for a moment?

Painting Autumn Flowers and Fruit

My watercolor inspired by the flowers of fall: purple and white Asters, bright yellow wild Helenium, blue Lobelia, toad flax (Linaria vulgaris or "Dear little bunny nose", as my girls prefer), Persicaria, and a fluffy Pennisetum.

My girls and I have been doing some paintings this week that are partly inspired by the flowers and fruits of autumn... but mostly inspired by the beautiful work of our friend Melissa Ellen. She has been posting some process photos of her watercolor paintings lately. We could not resist giving it a try ourselves!

The Secret Garden Coloring Book by Johanna Basford

Our new favorite book by Scottish artist Johanna Basford

My girls love to color and it is an activity that I like to encourage. Coloring is great for working on hand-eye coordination, detail work and even color theory. And kids gain all this practice while completely enjoying themselves. When I purchased this book on Amazon last week, I knew that it would be a winner. At least, I hoped so.

The Secret Garden: An Inky Treasure Hunt and Coloring Book by Johanna Basford is more than a winner: it is captivating. I was totally blown away by the intricate styling of this book. Every detail is sublime and every page opens up more discovery. It is part treasure hunt, part coloring book, part drawing class and altogether beautiful. And I wanted you all to see it for yourselves...

A munching bunny story...

I am pleased to feature a story on WMG today written by my hubby, James! You will soon see where he got his inspiration when you read the introduction. Read the rest over at the parenting site that he writes for regularly, the Story Warren.

In a cozy hole in a big old garden behind a big old house lived the most excited young rabbit in the world. His name was Smudge, and he was not born in the big old garden, which is why he was so excited to live there now.

Smudge was born several doors up the street, where the lawn was specially treated to be sure nothing grew but grass. There was little to eat there, and Smudge and all his brothers and sisters were sent away as soon as they could hop, to find places for themselves in the wide world.

Read more here >>

Have a great weekend!
~Julie

Visit to Phipps Conservatory's Summer Show 2013

Glass passion flower at Phipps Conservatory

We were visiting at Phipps Conservatory after my RHS test in June, and were wowed by some of their pretty glass flower sculptures for the summer show.

I posted the enormous glass waterlilies last week. Here are a few more highlights from our visit.

My Garden Fairies

My garden fairies flew by the other day. They played under the weeping cherry, made flower crowns for their heads from my clippings, and flitted about pretending to be princesses having a tea party...

Camping & Creeking with the kids

The wooded area just to the right of our camping sight.

Here are a few wild scenes from my family's first official camping trip! It took a bit of courage to pack up five people for a weekend in the woods, tent and all, but I am so glad that we did it. And it went really well! Not too many bug bites, not a drop of rain, and just enough clean clothes to make it home.

We stayed in a truly beautiful spot - the side of a Pennsylvania mountain near a spring creek and a shallow river....

Mulching fun with the kids!

Mulching season, Spring 2013

Do you have this much fun with your mulching?!?

I think it is the *GIANT* pile of compost that really gets them excited. Spring is here and here is something they can finally just dig in to - any way, any how. And, boy, it does seems limitless... especially to the kids. :)

Phipps Conservatory Orchid & Bonsai Show 2013

My family's visit to Phipps' winter Orchid Show.

Hi all! I fell off the blogging band wagon last week (mostly due to my migraine issues), but I am back again with the more orchid and bonsai photos from our trip to Phipps Conservatory.

If you are ever near the Pittsburgh, PA area during the bleak months of January or February, the Orchid & Bonsai Show at Phipps is definitely worth a stop! This year it is showcased from January 12 - February 24, 2013. It has been my favorite of their flowers shows over the past three years, with their Spring Show as a close second. And as my friend from Florida pointed out, it is the cheapest way to soak up some Floridian heat and humidity in the midst of our cold, dry Pennsylvania winter!

Snow fort!

A snow fort tucked in under the slide on our climbing tree.

Three happy rabbits in their snowy burrow.

We finally have our snow. We were fairly well snowed in for most of our Christmas vacation! But home was a cozy place to be stuck in a snow storm. :)

The last remnants of autumn...

My kids tramping through the hay and corn maze this autumn.

The last bulbs and Hellebores are in the ground, the kitchen is full of squash from the farm market, and there is a turkey taking up most of the space in my refrigerator. Our annual "Christmas tree cutting" is quickly approaching on our calender.  The end of November is truly here.

And yet... I remember a sunny day walking through the corn maze following two confident little girl leaders, who needed some help getting back to the car. :)

Fall Outing at the Park

Most of the colorful leaves of autumn have now fallen for the year, which is necessary of course in order for the earth to add all their nutrients to the soil once more. We were not hit hard in our area by hurricane Sandy, but we have had a constant rain. These photos are from a few weeks ago, when everything was still warmer and brighter.

Photos of Kids, Leaves & a Hay Bale

We took a few photos the other day when we came home with a new bale of hay for our bunny. In addition to providing her with bedding and something to nibble in the winter months, it is an affordable photo prop at five dollars. And they loved playing with it too, which makes for an enjoyable photo shoot.

Kids' trip to Phipps Conservatory

Kids at Phipps Conservatory

We had a really fun trip to Phipps Conservatory with the kids last week. I called my friend and her three little ones to see if they would like to come play for the day with us, and they agreed. This was the first time we had been at Phipps together since the Spring Show years ago. Another friend was kind enough to come along to help us out.

Phipps has added on to their outdoor children's garden this year, making it easier for the kids to run and get their hands into real play. They were all excited to get to pot their own herb (yeah for more basil!), play with the log pieces and get wet, wet, wet! They were quite drippy by the end of the day. Bringing a change of clothing is advisable. And bringing it in with you makes it even easier because there are changing bathrooms outside by the kids garden.

Visiting Norfolk Botanical Gardens in Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk Botanical Gardens in Norfolk, Virginia, USA

My family was able to visit a couple of new gardens this summer when we were traveling for our family reunion/vacation. The first was Glen Bernie in Winchester, VA and the second, and more impressive of the two, was the Norfolk Botanical Gardens in Norfolk, Virginia, USA.

Norfolk Botanical Gardens is truly an impressive garden with great attention to detail.  I highly recommend it for anyone in the area visiting Colonial Williamsburg or Virginia Beach. It has something for everyone: grand fountains and vistas, a substantial collection of hydrangeas, acres of native nature walks, an enormous children's garden and play area, a large rose garden, an eagle lookout tower, a butterfly hut and a tram to show you about the place. And the authentic Greek food in the cafe smelled wonderful! We had, however, already eaten our packed picnic lunch sitting in a shady grove. Delightful either way.

Long view from the visitor's center across the canal to one the main fountains.

Garden Party at Gilmore Gardens

Our annual garden party in Pennsylvania is in the beautiful month of June!

I wanted to post a few photos of our 3rd annual Gilmore Garden Party that was held the first Saturday in June this year. June is such a beautiful time of year in our gardens, which I am especially appreciating now that the garden is a bit ratty from our dry summer.

I set up the food in the kitchen, since I am shy of being caught in the rain like we were for our first party! We were, however, able to eat outside this year thankfully. The little girls so look forward to dressing up in all their finery. It was a fun, relaxed time of yummy food, walking through the garden and the ever popular hunt for little garden trinkets amongst the flowers. My girls could not wait to find their birdies! In past years, we have had a flower identification hunt with an illustrated guide. It was so nice just to share being in the garden with so many friends.

A garden party needs a yummy cake: Almond cake topped layered with fresh whipped cream and the most scrumptious strawberry icing!!

Picking Blueberries in July

July is the month for pick-your-own blueberries in PA, zone 5.

Picking blueberries in July is a summer tradition at our house. Usually just after Independence Day (July 4th) we make our first trip out to the local blueberry fields with more trips to follow; once a week for three to four consecutive weeks. This year, all of the berries were ripe nearly at the same time and we made two trips in one week, bringing home over 18 quarts of blueberries! Hint: Picking goes much faster with two milk jug buckets tied on your waist at the same time.

Kid play in our garden

My three playing under the tree slide in our backyard. A pruned branch from another garden task adds to the magic.

My kids love to be outside. Give them a few sticks or an unwanted branch (that I finally pruned) and they are happy for hours. When our old tree had to come down (tears) I horded away logs and chips from it for the kids to play with later. Every little thing outdoors is an invitation to explore the world and imagine what they might like to create. Make a place for them to hide and/or climb, add some loose objects - like wood ships, stones, shells or sand - and see what happens!

Grace sniffy those smelly allium! They are from the onion family after all.