Spring IS....Coming

I woke up early this morning to run and get coffee before my husband left for work and it was 55 degrees out! The winter hat seemed a bit much. It is supposed to snow on Friday of course but that is Colorado spring for you.
I started back to my gardening job this week and am so excited to get my hands in the soil! Yesterday was spent raking away evidence of last fall (6 garbage cans and 2 bags later at one house and that wasn't even all of it) and cutting back to reveal the new green growth. Tulips, Crocus and Daffodils are blooming everywhere and their vibrant color makes my heart flutter... Can you tell why I am a gardener?
I am hoping to continue some needle-felted flower bowls in honor of my love of all things growing and this is one of the first. I love the yarn this tray/bowl is knit from; it is a light and cheery heathered green with fleck of golden yellow in it. I can't just put any old thing on it. When I started looking through my gardening reference for inspiration I came upon a picture of Thunbergia or Black-Eyed Susan Vine and knew that was the one. I love this plants vibrant green heart shaped leaves but even more so, I love it's golden blossoms! This plant is a prolific grower and looks wonderful on a trellis or in a hanging basket.

This bowl measures 10" across and 1 1/2" deep . The needle-felted vine makes a loose heart shape and is graced by 2 blooms and a bud.


















If you get a chance, please click on the picture to take you to my Etsy shop listing. Etsy has some major glitches right now that are adversely affecting it's sellers. We rely heavily on views and hearts of our items, and in the last couple of weeks they have taken a sharp dive with no explanation from Etsy Admin. In fact if you have a minute show your support of your favorite Etsy shops by stopping by to check out what it new. You can even post items you like to Facebook (and Twitter I think).

Thanks for supporting those who make handmade goodness and have a fabulous Spring day!

No Longer Custom Order

This fabulous true red felted bowl,tray with a big white heart in the center was created as a custom order in my Etsy Shop. I will not go into the details of why the sale did not go through other than to say that I live my life as honestly as possible and it makes me sad when others do not do the same. So here for your viewing pleasure is a fabulous felted bowl that measures 10 1/2" wide and has deeper sides than usual for my trays at 2" (it was designed to hold glass globes and we didn't want them rolling out). It would make a fantastic nature bowl!

Keeping Those Feet Moving!

I have set some fitness goals this year and wanted to take today to share some of my victories with you! First of all, my husband and I have set a goal of logging at least 300 trail miles this year. As of this weekend we have gone 80.02!! I feel pretty confident that we will reach 300~ You can check out our progress on our blog: Ode to Ormes. Not only are we keeping track of our distance and total ascent, but my husband does nice write-ups on each hike and we try and show pictures of the areas we explore. If you live in the Colorado Springs area I believe it gives a great idea of some hikes that you may have not heard of before.

My next bit of news is that I ran the Colorado Springs St. Patrick's Day 5K with my good friend Tam on Saturday and am happy to report that we did fabulously! I am not so apprehensive now of running races and dare I say I am actually excited for the next one? Tam was a great motivator (whether she realizes it or not) and I am so glad that we took this challenge on together!

Last but not least, I have set a personal goal for myself that I will be tracking indefinitely of walking/running/hiking at least 20 miles/week. This week I did about 23 miles! I am tracking this through the invaluable website Sparkpeople.com This is the website I have been utilizing since back in 06 when I decided I needed to loose the baby weight. It has helped me not only to once more become the athletic (and I would like to think more outgoing) person I am today, but has shown me that it isn't just about weight loss; it is about lifestyle and striving to be healthy inside and out! If you are looking for the tools to do the same, I would highly recommend checking it out. It is free!

So to anyone who might read this lil' old blog of mine! Cheers to your health! and Cheers to a beautiful new week full of potential!

St. Patrick's Day and Spring on It's Way!

I am working at stocking my Etsy store with fun spring themed items right now: Bright cheerful colors, nests and blooming flowers all over to herald in a hopefully fabulous 2010 gardening season. Here are a few I have gotten up in the last couple of days~











As always, Thanks so much for looking~ I hope you are enjoying the birds singing and the crocus blooming as much as I am!