From dreams to action

I was so inspired by my summer dreaming that I took the next step and started planning the garden! Days of reading up on organic gardening, crop rotation, companion planting, soil pH, plant varieties, seedlings etc etc via google and pinterest... I spent an entire evening on seed websites searching for the perfect varieties for our garden and could have spent SO MUCH money. Thankfully, I kept in mind the limited space we have and only bought probably a little too much. ;) 

But when you look out the window and see this, can you blame me for immersing myself in summer plans? Lol!

Actually, in defense of the weather, it has been cold but sunny (except for this weekend) and absolutely gorgeous with the crisp white snow.

But back to the garden!

I spent another evening reading old gardening magazines from my mom. Super inspirational and quite educational!

The cover of the one on top makes me swoon. Roses ♥

And I've been taking notes. Of everything. And very roughly sketching the first draft of my plan.

So what seeds did I buy? What are we growing? Here is the list with links to Finnish descriptions and a picture:

Edibles:

Sweet corn 'Early King'

Watermelon 'Sugar Baby'

Green onion 'White Lisbon'

Sugar snap pea 'De Grace' 

Pea 'Onward'

Snap bean 'Prelude' (a kind of green bean)

Pumpkin 'Baby Bear'

Decorative gourd mix

Lettuce 'Red Salad Bowl' 

 Lettuce 'All Year Round'

Cucumber 'Rhensk Druv'

Dill

Brussels sprouts 'Groninger' (from last year)

Flowers:

Zinnia 'Sunbow mixed'

Asters 'Princess mix'

Snapdragon, color variety

 Sweet William, color variety

Cornflower, color variety

 Sunflower 'Sungold Dwarf Double' (picture below!)

Peony poppy, color variety
 

Those are just the purchased seeds... In addition, I still want to get:

Calendula 'Pink surprise' (we grew this last year)

Marigolds (for their pest control properties, not their beauty - yuck)

Sweet peas (duh)

And from the outdoor market:

Zucchini starts

Squash starts

And I want to try growing celery from scraps like on pinterest here.

 And you know, we have quite a few perennials out there. 

Raspberries

Currants

Rhubarb

Mint

Chives

Strawberries

Roses

AND ON AND ON.

I'm hoping to make an incredibly detailed plan of the garden and plant accordingly!

Also, hoping to grow as much as possible indoors seedling and starts wise.

(friends, start saving me yogurt cups in April!)

I hope I can do as much as I have done in past years, although I know it might be harder in my condition :D

Another inspiring thought: the balcony in the next place!

Uuuh, all the things I can plant out there... 

Hope you've had a wonderful weekend!

Next week I start work in my beloved home care. 

I will be working until the end of April, just in time almost for my maternity leave to start! :)

Yay! Things do work out the way they are meant to! Stress and worry are pointless!

Summer dreaming...

Oh how I wish it were May/June...! 

Not only then will I start my maternity leave, but I'll be waiting to meet my baby girl (who is active and kicking these days) for the first time!

 

All of the flowers in this post were taken during May/June last year... I can wait to make bouquets and posies and put them all over the new apartment. (Hopefully, and very likely, we will have moved by then!)

 

I know for me the gardening season may be too much/too hard considering what this body is going to endure... but I can't help but hope I'll be able to pitch in at the garden and do my favorite things (planting, weeding, and planning!). 

Well, the planning bit I've already started in my mind... ;) And on my pinterest gardening board.

And I will definitely be able to help grow the seedlings. Oh my...all the possibilities!!

 

 

She will be born during a most fragrant time of the year... lilies of the valley, lilacs...

Oooh and all the pansies to come next year! ♥♥♥

Our next apartment will have a balcony, so you can only imagine what I will have in little pots out there. ;)

(Especially if you followed the blog before this, A Sorta Fairytale, when we had a little patio decked out in pansies for the summer!)

Ah, those colors. ♥

Only a few more months to go... ;)

♥ Home again ♥

 MERRY BELATED CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

We are finally home again and boy, does it feel it good!! 

I loved our three weeks in Florida and we got to do and see and eat a lot of good stuff in addition to much wanted family time... but home is home. Ain't no getting around it. :)

So basically I've slept almost the entire day... not really jet lag per say, just happy to be in my own bed and enjoying cuddling with my big Koda bear and sleeping off three weeks of being on the go. 

I guess now that I've come clean to all my friends and family, I can post it here as well... 

This family is growing by one little girl as of June!! :)

.........so not sure if that explains why I was a HORRIBLE blogger last fall... talk about all day every day  "morning" sickness!!! Luckily that went away just in time for our trip and I was able to enjoy the time there to the fullest! :)

We had such an eventful trip (mainly shopping, lol!) but here are some highlights. 

Honestly, I didn't take many pictures. What can I say, I've seen it all a million times before so not much there seems special to me. Therefore, I passed on plenty of touristy shots. :D 

We celebrated Christmas Eve in South Florida Finnish style at my sister's with her family and my brother and his family. :)

Before the evening's festivities, hubby and I got up early and went to the beach to watch the sunrise. 

 

We celebrated Christmas morning in Northern Florida with my in-law's. It was our Baby Nephew's first Christmas and everyone outdid themselves with the presents! I think we all got pretty spoiled! :D 

After Christmas hubby headed for a mini trip to Maine to see relatives and I met my sister in Upstate New York to see my godmother. Here are a couple snapshots from where we stayed as well as the granny square blanket completed!!!

This picture doesn't do the colors and justice, but as you can see, it was a gray day. She loved the blanket as well and I think as a sometime crocheter, she understood what I meant when I said I crocheted it with her in mind and love and well wishes put into every stitch. 

 

After our respective trips, we continued spending time with my in-laws in Orlando.

I took lots of pictures of my nephews, including the furry one, Harley. :)

And I was amazed by this crazy huge flock of birds at my mother-in-law's house. They were some kind of little bird and there were soooo many of them swooping around in a cloud! Here they just look like little black specks, go figure. :D

And that's it. All the photos I took that weren't people pictures. I guess it was just one of those vacations. Like I said, it's hard to take pictures of things that are so ordinary to you. Especially when Florida is not a naturally beautiful state (besides the beach of course!). 

Ah, so back to daily life. 

I've graduated. Should probably get a job. Ick! ;)

I'm pregnant. Should probably start crocheting some girly stuff! (YAYYY!)

And I'm home... which means things are as they should be. :)

Hope your new year is off to a great start and only good things are to come!!

I think 2013 has a lot of good in store for me!! :)