Big things are a foot!

I have been picking my brain and other's brains as well for over a week now trying to come up with some kind of promotion I could run for my jewelry studio on Artfire.  Lots of ideas were given, considered and toseed around.  I think this morning I finally have something solidifying in my mind.
I am going to do a giveaway.  I did one last year with this blog that proved successful enough.  This year I want to include every facet of my promotional online exsistence.  I want to offer more chances for entry into this giveaway and include my Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Artfire studio and this blog.  I am going to only offer gift certificates as prizes for this giveaway.  And i am going to make sure and clarify things that were muddy last time.
Keep watching my blog this evening for more details for how to enter.  I can't access all these internet elements on my computer at work.  Check back for details.

A few words.

I would like to take a few moments to share a few words about things that have been on my mind as of late.
First, I have come to believe that drama for the sake of drama is a waste of valuable time and energy unless it is put onstage.  I've been reading and experiencing a lot of drama lately that seems to exsist for no other reason than to simply stir the pot.  Teenagers do this because they honestly feel they have nothing better to do.  Adults do this to feel some semblence of control and belonging.  Neither actually happen and both are a waste of time and energy.  Why bother?
Seriously, going out to pick a fight or even being passive aggressive in the hopes a fight will break out and you can jump in.... it's just stupid.  That being said, having a disagreement is bound to happen.  Passions and beliefs flare and cause lots of things to be said.  But if you can express them and then release them, it's the best step.  Sometimes the other party( or parties) involved will be reluctant or even downright refuse to let it go.  Just say "oh well" and walk away.  That is now their issue and not yours.
Of course, this can all be easier said than done.

Second, why do some people insist on bothering me about being friends with them when I am clearly not interested?  Allow me to ellaborate.
My first love, let's call him R, was my boyfriend in college.  We dated for 2 1/2 years.  We had talked about marriage.  We did things that serious couples do.  Then his mommy told him he could do better and so he dumped me over the phone on Christmas Eve.  I went batshit for the next 6 months.  Seriously, I plead insanity.  We tried to be friends.  I got jealous and cranky.  We tried being friends with benefits.  I was fine for a while, then got jealous and cranky when he decided it was OK to boink a new girlfriend and an old one at the same time.  Then we tried being just friends and I did the whole "la la la, we're just casual friends and i can act like you mean nothing to me, out of sight out of mind" thing.  Then, in the middle of that phase, I realized something.  I didn't like this person.  If we hadn't have dated, this would not have been someone I'd have made friends with.  I disliked him.  I still dislike him.  He acts holier than thou towards me because he is 9 months older and because he graduated college a whole year ahead of me.  He listens to his mother and not to himself.  I would NEVER have picked him to be a close friend. 
So, why did I feel obligated to attempt friendship with him now?  Why?  The relationship was ended and sour at that.... so friendship is not necessary.  So, I told him I didn't like who I became when I was around him.  I told him I did not want to speak to him or see him ever again.
And yet... the douchebag has repeatedly attempted to friend me on Facebook.... 7 TIMES.  I reject his request everytime.  He even wrote me an email asking why we can't act like adults and talk and catch up.  Because.... I DON'T LIKE YOU.  Not even a little.  And I tend to avoid people I don't care for so as not to cause drama for the sake of drama.
He calls this childish.  Fine.  Call it what you like... I just think it is necessary to stay the hell away from you.

That's what's been on my mind today.

Flowers in my garden

I realize I haven't really shown any pictures of the flowers in my garden this season as of late.  And there really are some lovely ones.  I have a glorious hibiscus plant in a pot on my porch.  It is a new hybrid from Burpee called Cranberry crush and it is amazing.  This is it's second round of blossoms in the first year of growth.

I also planted some Scarlet O'Hara morning glories in the back yard alongside the vegtable garden.  They are a fushcia color which mimics red in the right light.  I adore them.

And the zinnias.... oh the zinnias.  I plant zinnias every year but this year they have been particularily lovely.  I have plans to plants more colors of zinnia next season and in more places.  The butterflies we have had because of them is astounding.









Garden update

Well.... let's see if I can summarize this without being too longwinded about it.
Lee backed over the peas with my car.  They didn't look very good anyways.
We have had over 40 days this summer of over 100 degrees so the broccoli bolted and then died.  We did get two good harvests and it was delish. 

We had plenty of good spinach and lettuce in June and then that went to seed.  The excessive heat really does take out alot of vegtables.
So far this summer though, the slowest vegtable to produce has been the tomatoes.  Don't get me wrong, I've been watering them to keep them growing and alive and I have tons of tomatoe plants.  They just reserved the right to flower and produce until these past couple of weeks.

In stark contrast, the pumpkins this year grew and fruited FAST.  I have 4 pie pumpkins already harvested and cured.  And there are a few more starting.  It's insane.  I wasn't expecting them for a couple more weeks.
Everything else seems to be sort of on time and if not then only delayed by a few weeks.  And that is only because I ran the sprinkler a LOT this summer.

Back after a hiatus again.

I just can not seem to motiate myself during the summer to blog about anything.  And so much has traspired over this particular summer that I am almost uncertain about how to compose this "I'm back" blog post.  Perhaps a list with select details will be best.

1.) The garden looks phenominal though as usual some things grew better than others.  I have lots of pictures about that to post at a later date.  We had some hellish weather this summer which made my watering of the garden more of an obsession than a passing chore.  Because of that, the plants grew big but haven't really officially started producing vegtables until these past few weeks. It's bizarre.  We had pumpkins ready to pick and cook before we had ripe tomatoes.  Positively strange.

2.) My friends have some serious drama going on.  One married couple split up the same day as another married couple... each of the dumpers leaving their respective spouses for the other. So.... it's been an odd social season for us.  We can no longer just call couple #1 and couple #2 for dinner or drinks because... well.... they are now single #1 and single #2 and couple #3.  It's a big, fat mess and we are all forced to deal with it. *sigh*  Doesn't make a god case for marriage does it?

3.) I have been busy doing Farmer's Market things once again this summer.  Since we've had 40 traight days of 100+ degree weather, produce has been slim and thus we have almost all resorted to making some kind of baked goods and crafts to sell in the mean time.  I discovered that Dodge City is comprised of a number of dog lovers.  So, I began making and selling homemae dog biscuts.  People and dogs love them. I've also been making homemade english muffins and scones which are becoming a big hit as well.  I've done quite well this summer.

4.) Lee, my boyfriend, moved into my home in January of 2011. Things have been going well for us.  So well, he got a promotion at work.  He is no longer an assistant manager of customer service at the car dealership but has been transfered to a different section and made a proper manager of customer service.  In other words, when your car breaks down or has the oil changed or is making that weird noise, he's the guy you talk to to schedule an apointment with the technicians.  And he's damn good at his job too.

5.) On the jewelry front, not much has been happening in the way of sales.  However, a lot has been happening in the way of PR for my jewelry studio on Artfire as well as my designs in general.  I've had pieces featured in Bead Trends magazine in the past and have pieces that were selected to be featured in the November and December issues for 2011 as well.  This July I received an email from the editor asking if they could use me as the Designer Highlight for the February 2012 edition.  It's a full 10 page spread along with a head shot of myself and bio page.  I am SUPER excited about this opportunity and will therefore be getting pieces put together and shipped off in the next 2 weeks.  How cool is that?

That's a good update thus far.  More to come later.... including pictures.

Another garden update

Things are continuing to pop up out of the ground in our garden.  We finally did get the pumpkin garden planted with pumpkins, watermelon and cantalope as well as flowers to fil in the space.  Things are popping up in that garden though I haven't photographed it yet.

Our other gardens are just zooming along.  We have brocolli heads beginning to form.  The onions are growing taller.  There are cucumber and yellow melon sprouts and last night the zuccinni came up as well. The carrots are sprouting and the peas are growing larger everyday.  I've had to this the radishes and beets as well as the lettuce and spinach. 

See how my garden is growing!

Things are growing in my gardens and how!  Check it out.

The onions are coming up like gang busters.  We have planted yellow and red onions. 

The peas I planted in the tire are doing well.  There are 4 shoots so far and I put some more pea seeds in there not long ago.  Can't wait to have fresh peas.

And look how big the potatoes have gotten!  WOW! 

This evening we are planning to tackle the pumpkin garden and maybe pull some weeds in the herb garden.