Spring is Coming, Snow Melts

 This April I have made the new video:

 

The rays are blinding  

And the ice melts 

Even a stump on an April day, 

it dreams of becoming a birch tree again.  

Cheerful bumblebee buzzes  

Perky cheerful starlings shout: "Spring is coming! Make way for spring!

 

 

My First 'Crazy' Patchwork

Patchwork is the art of sewing from scraps. The most prosaic idea is to use waste fabrics. When I decided to take up this craft, I learned that patchwork is a great way to add bright colors and coziness to the interior. Typically these products include rugs, blankets, bedspreads and pillowcases, coasters for plates and cups, tea warmers, soft toys, chair covers and much more.

 

 

I collected fabric scraps that had been lying in the chest of drawers for a long time. The main thing is that these fabrics are new. Of course, you can buy pieces of fabric for creativity in the store. But my idea was to use fabric scraps from my storage. I found a piece of embroidery done with dark blue and gray threads on blue fabric. Unexpectedly for myself, I found embroidery made with dark blue and gray threads on blue fabric.

 

 

 

I immediately decided that this would be the center of my future cushion. Then I dug up more pieces of fabric left over from sewing clothes (a long time ago!). Here are the stages of my “Crazy Patchwork”:

When the work was ready and its size matched the preselected cushion, I sewed the trim along the edges and then the back of the pillowcase. I dressed the cushion in patchwork and sewed on buttons to fasten it.

 

 

 

 

Now this 'crazy' cushion decorates my bedroom.

Do you like this kind of handicraft? Do you have patchwork style items in your home? 

  

Asparagus

 I am growing an indoor variety called Asparagus aethiopicus, which is usually grown as a houseplant. This is a plant with bright green feathery foliage. 

 

Asparagus is a heat-loving perennial plant closely related to the common edible garden asparagus. In hot climates, the plants are hardy outdoors, but are often grown as houseplants, in containers or hanging baskets. 

 

I always water the plant well to keep it bushy and I love the lacy foliage. Asparagus does well in dappled shade, although it can be adapted to more light, away from direct sunlight. To do this, I shade the plant from the sun with a thin curtain. 

 

   

At any time of year, asparagus may produce small flowers followed by mildly toxic berries. The flowers are faintly scented and have yellow stamens. The shape of the flowers is beautiful.  

Do you grow asparagus inside or outside? Is your plant blooming?

source

Canna

 

I have two varieties of cannas growing in my garden. Canna is a very showy, powerful plant with lush leaves and beautiful brightly colored flowers. Canna leaves come in red with bronze hues and striped leaves. In my garden, the cannas begin to bloom in the greenhouse, then I plant them in large tubs. After frost, I move the canna tubs from the greenhouse to the pond. They usually bloom from July until frost.

 

 

 

For the winter, I remove the canna roots with a clod of earth. I keep them in a dry place, lightly layering them with earth or sand. The temperature during storage of canna roots is maintained within 10 -15 C. They need to be examined and watered a little.

 

 

 

 

Now in March I took out the canna roots from storage and there are small sprouts. I placed the bucket with sprouted cannas in a bright place. This is how I prepare them for flowering in the summer. 

 

 

Happy Women Day!

Birds In February

Several species of birds winter in my garden. They are frost-resistant and have learned to get food when there is a lot of snow and in severe frosts. They are saved from low temperatures by dense layers of fat and fluffy plumage that retains heat. They suffer not so much from frost as from a lack of food to generate heat.

 

great tit

 

 magpies

 

In the garden and adjacent forest, I photographed siskins, redpoll bullfinches, tits, nuthatches, and waxwings. They love sunflower seeds, watermelon and melon seeds and pieces of unsalted lard.

 

jay

  waxwings

 

jay

When I put sunflower seeds in the feeder, I try to crush it slightly, then the great tits and little tits eat it well. Watermelon seeds are too hard for great tits in severe frosts. What bird species live in your garden or near you?

 

 

My video about the garden bird feeder.

Winter Poem

 

The short midwinter days are here,
The nights are frosty now and chill—
The solemn midnight of the year—
The snow lies deep on vale and hill.
No longer runs the stream let nigh,
The ice has bound its waters fast;
An Arctic wind is sweeping by,
The bare trees shiver in the blast.

 

The icy northern blast sweeps by,
From wild wastes of the Arctic snow;
Above us drops a wintry sky,
A bleak white landscape lies below.

But, 'neath the chilly Polar blast,
A low, sweet undertone I hear:
"The wintry storms will soon be past,
And pleasant Spring-time days are near." 

By Ellwood Roberts (January 22, 1846 - January 30, 1921), he was an American poet and genealogist.

Winter Forest

 

Beautiful winter landscapes in the forest. 

My new video was filmed on one very cold January day.

Today is my birthday. Another year, the years fly by...

 

 

Take care, my friends. Thank you for your comments.

January, 2024

 Happy New Year, fellow bloggers! May it bring you good luck, happiness and the fulfillment of your desires: new travels, new plants, beauty in the garden and everywhere around you.

  As always I went to the garden, to look at nature and how things were going in the garden. The days were not frosty, there was no wind and I had a good time on a January day. On the way to the garden, I noticed that the dark bare branches of the trees look graphic against the background of white snow. Some bushes were heavily snow-covered and their branches bent towards the ground.

In the garden, the paths had to be cleaned first; it was not convenient to walk in the snow. Not far from my garden I usually feed the birds. To do this, I brought pork lard from the city, with skin and without salt. Birds peck it with pleasure on frosty days.

Of course, I wanted to see how my plants overwinter in the greenhouse. But getting there was also not easy. The path and greenhouse were covered with snow and there was also snow on its roof.

I cleared all the snow and hardly opened the door - it was frozen to the threshold. It was warmer inside than outside, the plants had leaves, the buds had withered. This is a "Sea Foam" rose, it blooms with numerous white buds.

 

In January the days are longer but the sun is still low on the horizon. Soon I had to get ready to go home to the city. 

What are you doing in the garden in January? Is there snow or has it already melted?

My new video 'summer - 23'