Good morning! It’s no foolin when we realize April is upon us. Showers and flowers and all that comes with it….
And camping is right around the corner. How far are you willing to travel to go camping? Do you camp or glamp? I’m guessing my trailer would be considered glamping. 
My home away from home. We live in Michigan, so we never have to travel far. We’re surrounded by many wonderful campgrounds. And with the price of gas this year … we’ll stay pretty close to home. And - yes! - I do take my spinning wheel on camping trips!
I’ve been getting lots of showers and we have snow predicted for today. :(. It has been so cold this past week that I had to bring all the plants inside that had been sunning on my glassed in porch, They wintered in my basement under lights. I don’t have any flowers outside but I have blooming Cyclamen, Geraniums and a Mandevilla vine. My plants aren’t quite as nice looking now because Carly went foraging. I don’t think they tasted good because I found leaves scattered on the floor. I’m just glad she didn’t gnaw on my Martha Washington Geranium… My son gave it to me for Mother’s Day last year and I’m really hoping to get it to rebloom. They aren’t easy maintenance like normal Geraniums.
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Your plants are lovely. I hope your Martha Washington Geranium blooms this year. If not…don’t give up. Perhaps next year it will.
I didn’t like geraniums much until I moved to my current location. I noticed my neighbors had lovely ones that thrived while all my plants suffered and died. So, I asked for clippings when they were trimming things back. I now have at least 4 types of geraniums on my property. Although not sold as insect repellents, I have noticed that if I water my strongest smelling plants and herbs at dusk I have less mosquitos. (This evening watering is just enough over the tops of the leaves to release their scents. Not enough to keep the plant alive.)
What type of Geraniums do you have? I had one last year that was supposed to repel mosquitoes. It had a really strong scent but it didn’t bloom much. I also have perennial Geranium groundcover. The geraniums, blooming on the right in my picture, are annuals here but I bring them in for the winter. I love them because they bloom non-stop all summer.
April is always fun for us because during the second week of April (8th and 13th) my only son turns 38, my second youngest daughter turns 28 and my grandson who is the biggest grandma’s boy of them all turns 18. There is an 8 year old but he missed April by a month. Lol
@lovestostitch please excuse the messy yard. We should have things tidied up this month. The plants are about to have their growing season, they are just coming out of the ‘woo hoo. I survived another weird California winter’ stage.
The only geranium i know the name of is the Citronella Geranium. (the only one I bought from the plant nursery) To me it smells like lemons. It has crinkled up leaves and a smaller lovely flower. I have been able to propagate several of those from the larger one in the white pot to the right in the picture. Mine like to grow leggy here in my yard. However, when you purchase them they are much more compact.
Along the back fence line are two larger bushes. Those are not bushes, those are two different kinds of geraniums. Each from my neighbors. The bush on the left is the same as the blooming geranium on the patio. The flowers are a lovely coral kind of color. The other bush geranium has a similar flower cluster and shape, but is a deep red. My goal is to cover my side of the fence with my plants. I have a red, climbing rose, white jasmine, and the two huge geraniums. I figure privacy makes better neighbors. I am hoping my mint will thrive under all of these. I don’t need to see them swim naked and they don’t need to see my mess of a garden…lol.
Soon, I will have morning glories growing on my trellis, herbs and veggies growing in the garden boxes. I also have permission to have a piece of California White Sage from my neighbor who just trimmed his. Since those are rare in my state, I think I will get it and plant it in a pot. To me the leaves have a sticky resin feel and smells more like a pine tree than sage. https://calscape.org/Salvia-apiana-(White-Sage)?srchcr=sc5da4c33096f66
Happy April everyone…I hope you have a wonderful month. Full of whatever crafting time you can fit in.
There are several knit and crochet a-longs going on out there…any body participating in one?
MarlyBird?
Interweave?
I live in the woods, literally, so your garden looks wonderful to me. I do wish I could grow flowers and decorative plants but every attempt in my 60 years on earth has been a fail. I’ve only ever been able to successfully grow veggies.
I couldn’t zoom in without it getting blurry so I couldn’t get a good look but I sure am curious to know what kind of geraniums you have if they are a large bush. I have perennial groundcover geraniums, perennial clumping geraniums and annual geraniums that make clumps about 18". The perennials bloom big once with little flowering later but the annuals keep blooming all summer.
@lovestostitch Hope this helps. I have included a couple of pictures using a standard shovel we bought at the local hardware store to help show size.
I think the taller geranium will have the same or similar blooms to the one in my patio. I have them planted against a South facing wood fence. The smaller one is shaded by an ancient fuji persimmon tree, so it’s growth isn’t as impressive as the other one.
Btw… I saw Martha Washingtons geraniums at a couple of stores yesterday. Loved the variety of flower colors. I didn’t purchase one…they were a price I didn’t want to pay.
I tried searching for your “Paw Wax” recipe and could not locate it. Would you mind re-posting it. Thank you.
When I bought this silk yarn on sale I was having a rough day and thought, I know… I will get yarn in a color that I don’t normally use and that will bring some color into my wardrobe and life. I do love this yarn. I wasn’t as creative as I thought.
I realized today my winter yarn splurge is the greens in my spring garden. (Modeling for us today is the lovely and talented hunter of all pests that fly…Ms. Molly. )
I think I want to make a rectangular shawl. Any suggestions??
@KnitsWithHorses I would welcome suggestions for either crocheted or knit. also…I am not settled on a rectangle. That’s because I just saw a triangle shawl called Painted Hills by Raya Budrevich. That shawl has all the colors of the high desert landscape mixed together and it looks so lovely.
I just realized that my 2022 temperature blanket is finished thru the first quarter. How is a quarter of this year already past?!
I was thinking this one would look beautiful in those colors with it’s leaf trellis pattern.
https://www.garnstudio.com/pattern.php?id=9664&cid=17
I know, I still find myself writing down dates in my craft journal as 2021.
I did my April gnome, dressed up for the showers; his name is Henrik.
Love it!!
This should link to the comment with the Paw Wax recipe. If it doesn’t pull it up directly, it is post #115.5 so just scroll down to post #115 and then open the comments until you can see reply #5
https://fiberkind.com/forum/community-wide-events/monthly-community-chatter-aa/124495-march-2022-national-craft-month?p=125867#post125867
And for the lazy among us (myself included!) here is the copy/paste of the recipe:
"Paw Wax is so easy to make. I melt everything in a mason jar in a double boiler. Pour into tins or wait until it is like pudding and scoop it into a plastic container. I use small, food safe containers.
Paw Wax:
3 ounces beeswax
3 tablespoons coconut oil
3 tablespoons Calendula oil
3 tablespoons avocado oil"
AT LAST! I finally sewed the lining into my knitted jacket today. Wool is Border Leicester, overdyed natural gray. Zipper is sewn into the lining. Lining was hand-stitched to knitting. I’m so happy with it!
It’s beautiful!