A New year is coming ....

Like so many others that I talk to, this past year has been hard on so many families. We are amongst those ranks, just when we think nothing else could possibly go wrong it does, and usually in a big way. And its those continual problems in life that tend to bring you down and question your faith. As the new year approaches I look forward with hope that things will settle down financially not just for our own family but for everyones. I try to always find the positive in everything and believe that everything happens for a reason and has a greater purpose, that we don't always see right away, but we have been tried sorely this year and I keep wondering if I am missing something and not seeing the signs that we need to follow to find a better way for our family, so that we don't have to struggle so much. So as the new year approaches I am hopeful that things can only get better and I will try to look for the bright spots and thank god for what I do have and be blessed with my family that I truly Love and try not to dwell on the hardships or be fearful of new struggles. So OUT with the OLD year and in with the NEW and I will be praying for all of us to have a better 2009. So join me as I continue to find the flowers amongst the thorns of life......

The meaning of Love....

Like so many other families the economy's hardships has put a strain on our budget this year and Christmas funds were very limited. My fiance and I had agreed to not get each other anything and make sure we at least got gifts for the 2 grand babies. It was hard explaining to my 3 girls and stepson that for the first time ever we were short on cash for Christmas and that family togetherness and special meals was going to be a huge part of our Christmas time this year. They have all been very understanding and are all of an age to understand that the whole world is struggling financially this year. My fiance though, bless his heart sold his scuba gear to get me a gift anyway. He didn't use the scuba gear much and had talked about selling it but had never been able to do anything with it. So he decided that this was the time and he wanted to give me a Christmas present even though he didn't have the spare cash this year. So he sold something that he really didn't need to have, to be able to give me a gift. His gift, ( which I absolutely love) isn't as important as the special meaning of what he did to make sure he could bring a smile to my face for Christmas. Was your Christmas special too???

The Ice is Melting......

Last night my daughter and my fiance went out and chipped away at the large amounts of ice that had build up on our sidewalk. They were out there for hours chipping away. We wanted to at least get the sidewalk cleared off so that we didn't have any of our company falling down on the ice when they arrived this morning. I cant believe how much ice we have had this year all ready and winter really has just begun. What is January and February to bring us?? Today has been a totally different story, the ice and snow started melting rapidly this afternoon due to the almost 60 degree temps, who can figure this crazy weather out??? As soon as New Years is over my heart will start yearning for Spring in a big way. a winter person I am not and this year has been very hard all ready.

Christmas get togethers...

Our final Christmas get together was today. My parents and my brother and his wife and my nephew came over today, from Ohio. I made the traditional roast turkey and ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, sweet corn, green beans with bacon and onions, rolls, relish plates, cheese ball and pies and cookies and on and on, OH My! We all ate too much and had fun catching up with each other. Now everyone is just wanting to lay around and watch tv and feel miserable in a good way! We have lots of leftovers for the next few days and put alot of meat in the freezer for future use. The holidays are just about over, one last final hurrah for New Years and the holidays will be over. I always regret the holidays coming to an end and having to take down all of the decorations. It is so nice to see family and friends that you just don't see often enough thru out the year. How about you?

Christmas Eve!!

Christmas eve will be just me, my fiance and 2 of my 3 girls. My oldest daughter lives in Ca. So I only get to see her about once a year. So I am missing her alot especially at this time of year. So it will be a family night with a nice pork chop dinner and family time. The girls have asked to make it board game night as well, so I am sure we will have some fun playing games. Tomorrow we will open our gifts to each other here at home and then head to my finace's sons home to see our 2 grandbabies and spend the day with them. They are planning on having a nice turkey dinner and we will bring the desserts and plates of cookies and candies. So we are all looking forward to the next few days and the time spent with family. I hope you enjoy your holidays and time with your families as well. Merry Christmas!

Seed catalogs!!!

This time of the year not a whole lot happens in the greenhouses except dreaming for warm weather again! Its a little depressing to see 4 empty greenhouses covered in a blanket of snow and ice. I miss the colors and scents of all of the vivid flowers and the constant commotion that a greenhouse business brings. This time of the year about all we can do is make plans for the layout of of the plants on the benches and go over inventory lists and go thru the piles and piles of see and plug catalogs that come in this time of year. Its lots of fun to go thru all of the books and see all of the colors and plant options. It can almost be overwhelming at first when all of these catalogs start coming as they are just so many!! We look thru all of them and then sort them out by price, quality and selection and start weeding them out from there. Normally we buy plugs for all of our flowers and only plant seeds for vegetable plants, but this year we are going to be planting more from seed. It will be more work but the cost will save us alot in the long run. With the economy the way it is this year we, like all growers are having to re-review all aspects of our business. So this will be another learning year.

Totally Tuesday!

Hey! Today has been a day that has totally included a little bit of everything. Last minute madness before the holidays and also trying to get everything done before the next round of bad weather strikes. My middle daughter is home from College, so its a fuller house for awhile, which is great!! But while she is home we are squeezing in Doctor checkups today and final Christmas shopping. The shopping is officially done, yeah!!! We didnt have anywhere near as much to do this year as like everyone else, the economy is cutting our budgets way back, but thats ok as Christmas is about family and we are definitely blessed this year with our kids and grandkids. My stepson gave us a new bundle of joy just 10 days ago! So we have much to be thankful for this year, even though the economy has hurt so many of us. While this is a new blog I ask you to bear with me while I get this up and running and please know it will grow and change as I adjust it, to get it going in the direction that I want. When the holiday season is over I will concentrate more on our nursery/greenhouse.

Seasons Greetings

Hi and welcome to my new blog! Hopefully you'll enjoy what you read and maybe even learn a thing or two about gardening or life in general. I also dabble in arts and crafts so I'll be adding pictures and links to my etsy shop later on.