Winter Interest

January and February are often a time of planning for gardeners as there’s not much else you can do in the garden at this point. If your sitting down with graph paper and pencil try to remember winter. I know it’s hard, your ready for spring with it’s Tulips and Violets. But when the snows back you won’t regret it. Native plants, such as the Red Twigged Dogwood above are often perfect choices. They were made for this weather. Even something as simple as the seed head from a long gone coneflower can add an element of interest. There are several good non-native choices as well, hydrangeas and ornamental grasses for instance. Need further encouragement? Click here.

Include specimens for birds to sit on or pick seeds off of for additional entertainment. Also, try to resist cutting down perennials in the fall to add to the landscape. Unless they are vigorous seed spreaders it won’t hurt to leave them until spring when your dying to get into the garden anyway.

Used Books

Minneapolis Public Library - central location

I think libraries are the most wonderful invention ever! They open up doors of information and imagination regardless of income or other restrictions. I’m currently on the hunt for several used books for varying altered book projects. After a recent outing with friends to a portion of the altered book exhibit at the Library I thought of The Friends of the Minneapolis Library bookstore. It’s small, but includes some gems and benefits the Library. What could be better? I was lucky enough to find a 1941 edition of The Indoor Gardener by Daisy Abbott. It has a few cute drawings, plenty of quaint phrases and even a copy of a couple handwritten journal pages. An entry regarding how maidenhair ferns hate long parties filled with tobacco smoke particularly caught my eye. For a measly buck this book has made it to my short list for a group altered book project in the near future.

 

Now if I can only find a few used Little Golden Books. Particularly Little Red Riding Hood and the one about the girl with the curl. Does anyone know the name? I only remember a line similar to “When she was good she was very, very good but when she was bad she was horrid!”.

 

Knitting

I tried to learn to knit from my mom several times. It took a while before it stuck. Finally I had to get serious or give up. Thanks for sticking with me ma!

I was being cheap and had been practicing on some nasty purple acrylic stuff. It wasn’t working for me. I went to my local yarn store (LYS) and blew a chunk of cash. Oh what a difference it made! I liked this stuff, it liked me. I actually wanted to make something out of it. The result is poorly pictured above. A nice squishy, knit every row, scarf. I’ve now made over 6 different scarves and it’s still my favorite.

Learning to knit isn’t anywhere near as complicated as it may seem. It simply takes practice on a regular basis. By regular I mean at least a couple times a week, EVERY week. It’s not something you can learn to do in one hour every couple weeks. Not only would a project take forever, but you would have to re-learn what you were doing each time. This was part of my original problem. Knitting can be very relaxing, even meditative. So pick up some sticks and start clicking!

I won’t pretend to teach you to knit with a tutorial here. Too many people have already done a much better job. Depending on your learning style, try one of the following:

• A book
• A friend or relative
• A class or knitting night at your LYS
• Online knitting videos

Minnesota History Center

Museums are a great place to visit when it’s cold. If you have a group of people of varying ages and interest the Minnesota History Center is the place to go. My sister and I took my 2 children there last weekend and a great time was had by all.

My 3 year old’s favorites:

• Going in the rocket ship
• Climbing through the grain elevator
• Building a model log cabin

My favorites:

• Getting some time with my son while my sis carried my daughter around
• Reading/learning about life in Minnesota 50, 100, 200 years ago
• Taking the MN 150 quiz

Tips:

• You can get 2 free passes from the library
• There IS a children’s menu at the café, you just have to ask
• Block off the whole day, there’s plenty to explore

Pop-up!

I have several pop-up books by David A. Carter that my family enjoys and was very excited to run across his website. In fact, the name of this website was inspired by his “Twelve Bugs of Christmas“. Not only does his site have a good listing of his books but it also has a Make It section of how-to movies and pdf dies to create your own pop-ups. These would be perfect for making your own birthday cards or even a little book. I plan on trying some soon.

Hello world!

What am I doing?