My Word for 2013 (it's not too late to pick yours)

I follow a couple of blogs that suggest choosing a word for the year. Something to focus on and refer to throughout the year. I've been doing this for three years now. I got the idea from  Superhero Life with Andrea Scher and Kelly Rae Roberts. I believe they both got the idea from a mutual friend, Kelly Rae explains more on her page. Click on the links to see what words they've chosen.

In one of my first posts this year I included a quote from SARK about working on our inner gardens. When I first thought about my word for this year, the one that popped into my head was: Tend.  Initially, I was focusing on tending to myself, physically. Tending to my body in the same way I would care for my garden. To me, the word means to care for, and I want to use it as a way to rethink diet, exercise, or even going to the dentist.

But, over the last two weeks when I think of the word, Tend, I've been applying it to people or relationships as well. So I won't try to limit the word, and will see how it impacts my life this year.

I decided to share my word after seeing another good quote from SARK (Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy).

Nourish your eye and spirit with inspiring things. They will bloom with your tending. ~ SARK

Not Just Any Bakery

Bleu Door.  After an early submittal at the Clark County office this morning, Chris & I decided to stop at Starbucks on Main Street. They happen to be located directly across the street from the Bleu Door Bakery.  It is one of the few local bakeries that make good gluten free items as well. After we got our coffee we went to see what goodies they might have. 

Aside from breads and pastries (lots and lots) they have a menu of sandwiches so we decided to get two for lunch later. We both got the "Roasted Veggie" (from their menu: roasted garlic artichoke spread with English cucumber, red pepper, thinly sliced red onion and roasted veggies on our deli bread.) His was on sliced bread and mine was made on a Gluten Free Asiago Pesto Focaccia. I can tell you mine was delicious and I loved the garlic artichoke spread with the veggies.

I make note here of gluten free recipes that I like from time to time, so I thought I'd share this place. (I was not paid to sponsor them, good gluten free breads are worth talking about).

They are unique here in that it is an open air counter with a few covered seats with patio heat, no indoor seating. Check them out when you are in downtown Vancouver. They are not open all week and only morning to early afternoon, you can click on the link below for more info.

Bleu Door Bakery, 2413 Main St., Vancouver, WA 98660

(Laura we must go here sometime.)

Random Color

psychedelic primrose

Last summer I shared a couple of photos from the community garden that had a different look to them. In that post I included photos of flowers taken with my cell phone. I had been taking pictures in bright sun and for whatever reason my camera decided to enhance my photos. The results were what I called "technicolor flowers".

This happened again when I took a photo of a primrose I'd just planted last week. I think the result is better than my own photo and is certainly not something I could do on Photoshop.

Colors speak all languages. ~ Joseph Addison

On a Sunny Day

I just turned and looked out the window to see a very pretty sunset in purples and oranges - at 5:40 pm. During winter I notice (and appreciate) the longer days. Last month at this time it was pitch black. Of course, it was sunny here today, not always the case. I've never been more aware of the impact a sunny day has on my disposition, than I have been this year.

We've had a stretch of sunny days and cold nights. During that time I've been outside, planting flowers and cleaning up the decks. For a coffee break we drove out to Vancouver Lake looking for birds. I've written about this in an earlier post. We were ready to see eagles and only spotted 1 white egret, 2 hawks and all the geese from Canada. So, I took the opportunity to take a few photos while I was there.

This area is just south of the Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge

(why we expect to see birds here)

I love these trees (Hornbeams - I think)

because they remind me of the way architects drew trees in the 60s.

Now they use SketchUp and the trees are quite ugly, in my opinion.

Here we have moss growing on the asphalt

stuff we just don't notice much when it's raining

Now, I have a cousin who lives in Southern California and when I complained about rain in the Pacific Northwest he says he wishes for it. Is it just a matter of wanting what we don't have?
I'd love to hear about the climate where you live and what you love/hate about it. Leave me a note in the comments.

Updated Winter Planter

After a doctor appointment I always want a treat, so this morning I stopped at Yard N Garden Land nursery to see what they had. It was close to freezing and I wasn't dressed for the outdoors, so I decided I'd look until I was too cold. (Is it ever too cold to shop?)

Guard Cat on Duty

Luckily, I found the pansies and primroses immediately and made my way inside to their indoor retail area. At the cash register I discovered one smart kitty cozied up in a pile of cardboard trays.

I went in the nursery looking for something to replace the fall planting in my hanging baskets on the upper deck. They looked sad, despite the fact that we decided to leave the Christmas garland up for "a few more days".

All I did was pull out a couple of old plants and pop in the new ones. They could use some moss to keep warm. Unfortunately, I used what I had on a wreath at Thanksgiving. I'll try to get some tomorrow, it helps insulate the roots and I like the way it looks.

What a difference three plants can make. The tag on the pansies said they were the "Lilac Series".  They are a very pretty color for winter and look good against the white railing.

Better than a lollipop

Anthem Park, Vancouver, WA

Anthem Park. There's a small park just off of Main Street, Vancouver, WA that is worth visiting if you are in the area. It's between W. 24th and W. 25th Streets to the west of Main Street.

When we worked downtown we used to park a block away from Starbucks on our coffee break. That way we could walk through the park on our way to get coffee. It was a relaxing break and sometimes I miss it. So when we go downtown together we'll stop there, as we did yesterday.

The park is part of the redevelopment of an entire block into a mixed use site that includes commercial and residential uses. The park also serves as an access to a neighboring senior apartment building.  

It includes a public plaza with benches, a stream, granite and cement walkways, and a really beautiful mixed planting that has held up over the years. 

This is how it looks now in winter, most of the foliage is pruned back. There's a mix of evergreen and deciduous trees, with lots of grasses and perennials lining the stream bed.

You can see one renegade Black-Eyed Susan blooming. The plant is in the foreground above, someone must have hesitated cutting it down when they spotted the bloom. If it were in my yard it would be cut down to the ground, but I like the odd texture of the spent blooms.



I look to this landscape as a template for low-maintenance, year-round planting. Here are a couple of photos I'd taken earlier in the year. If you are in Vancouver, look for it just west of Main Street.  It's a great space no matter the season.

Grasses, Bears Breech, and Hosta along the creek bed
the Black-Eyed Susan in front

Grasses and Spirea line the walkway near the fountain

Is there a unique place or park that you love? Feel free to share it with us in the comments section.

Sword Fern in January

Photo by Chris 

January in the Pacific Northwest is not a memorable month, unless it snows. We've had one 'snow storm' here then another light dusting just a few days ago. As I'm typing it has been lightly snowing all afternoon here. 

These photos were taken by Chris while walking on a trail at the sports park just down the road. This is the area I posted about on Nov. 1, 2012. At the time it was the brilliant colored fall leaves that were the show stopper.

Now it's the subtle grace of these sword fern, they look delicate, but they are a lot stronger than they look. When it snows here you see things differently. Things that stand out take a back seat and things that were almost invisible are brought to the foreground. Details that we often miss are highlighted by a few frosty flakes.

Photo by Chris

This year I'm paying better attention to some of the lessons nature has to offer. I see the strength of these fern and am reminded of the women in my family who have that same resilience. Seeing the landscape in a new way mirrors the way I'm looking at life a little differently right now. What small inspirations do you get at this time of year? Let me know in the comments.

 

Let's Slow Down and Enjoy Winter

Yesterday was my birthday, I turned 45. Maybe it's the new year or my reaching 'mid-life', but lately I've found myself reviewing and evaluating things around me and in my life (including this blog). I've already mentioned that as far as All-Purpose Flower is concerned I want blogging to be enjoyable and yes, a little more fun. 

Another showcase shed and lots of bigger outdoor pieces
 found in the Salvage Garden
(click on photos to enlarge)

As a part of my birthday we went to Monticello Antique Marketplace to see the changes in the Salvage Garden that I mentioned on Monday. They are in the process of setting up for their spring show, it's a whole new world after being there before Christmas. We also had lunch at Monti's and I got Chris to play a hand of rummy with me while waiting for our order.

I couldn't help snap this photo in the ladies restroom.

One thing I am picking up on right now is the desperate urge to go from Christmas straight into Spring. Or for stores to immediately advertise Valentine's Day. For gardeners this is a time to look back, regroup, plan ahead and just take a break. I feel the urge to order the seeds and plan the garden - when in fact no planting will be done here for months.

I have been a fan of SARK (Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy) for some time. I was thumbing through my copy of Living Juicy, Daily Morsels for Your Creative Soul. It's basically a daily guide,  with a focus each week. She published it in 1994 back when she hand wrote and illustrated all of her books.

 I found a quote I had marked in the intro:

"In order to do this work we need tending, planting, weeding, nourishing. This is the work we must do in our interior gardens." - SARK

That's what I'm intent on doing right now is tending to my 'interior garden' while winter takes it's time to cycle through to spring.

This includes spending time reading 3 new books I've received as gifts. 

Chris knows I  like Timber Press a publishing house in Portland, OR. 

For Christmas I got:

The Beginner's Guide to Growing Heirloom Vegetables, by Marie Iannotti

and

Small Space Container Gardens, by Fern Richardson

and

For my birthday I will receive (as soon as it's printed):

The Timber Press Guide to Vegetable Gardening in the Pacific Northwest, by Lorene Edwards Forkner

Blogs and Frogs

Frozen bird bath in my parent's yard

While tidying up my page I stopped to look at my favorite blogs listed at the bottom. Seem's Monticello Antique Marketplace has revamped the Salvage Garden area. They have some enticing photos on their blog post. Check it out, if that shed came heated I would move right in.

Luckily for me, I got a Monticello gift certificate for Christmas and am ready to shop. They also list their upcoming events for the year. Among those are the Home and Garden Show in April, their anniversary sale in late May, and another store wide sale in July. 

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Just to clarify, I have 2 Facebook buttons located on the upper right:

One button will take you to my Valerie Hogan Facebook page - you can subscribe or friend me. 

The other will take you to the All-Purpose Flower page - like it and you will see all blog updates in your news feed.

This bird bath was given to my mom by a friend
 who moved south for the winters (don't worry the frog is not real)

New Icons Thanks to Generous Bloggers

Today I found a post called "Best Blog Tips of 2012" from  the Blog Guidebook. I decided to take a look and found the first items were links about social media icons. You see them everywhere, small circles or images on just about every page you look at. They are the links that take you to Facebook, e-mail, or RSS feeds, etc.

I have wanted those small buttons for some time. I did actually figure out how to make my own buttons, but could not find a series of icons that included all my pages. Plus, I could not get them lined up in row and had grouped them in a large space at the top of my page.

Thanks to Lyndsay at the Blog Guidebook I now have the icons I wanted (see the upper right sidebar). And I may even add a few later. She designed the buttons and included the code for each. She also provided links to other icons if you want another design. I really like the way most bloggers will share how-to info with others. This is something I'd not been able to figure out yet, and they made it easy.

I am still looking through their best tips of last year, if you want to check it out, here's a link:
Best Blog Tips of 2012.

Find Me on Flickr

I've had some of my photos on Flickr for a few years, only using it as a way to sort them. With most computer applications, when I become confused or frustrated by how it all works I will go off and do something else.

One of the the first things that went wrong when I set up my blog was a gadget that linked my Flickr photos to the blog page. I set it up, it worked for a day or two, then something went whacky, it left a blank spot on the page and I could not figure out how to fix it.

A few months ago I added some buttons to the right sidebar, one was for Flickr, pressing that  takes you straight to my page and my photos, but just wasn't the same.

So, today I went back to Flickr and I noticed that someone had viewed a couple of my photos and left comments - nice ones. After going through the tutorial (again), I went back to the home page and found that she'd made me a contact (even Flickr said "Hooray!").

After looking at all her photos, I replied to her (2 months later) and left a comment of my own. What a nice surprise to finally connect with someone on Flickr.

I also found a way to set up a Flickr badge with thumbnails of my photos on the right sidebar. In the exact spot you may be used to seeing the ads that I removed yesterday. So, I invite you to click on the button, go to my photostream and leave a comment there or here on the blog. If you have a Flickr page and would like to be my contact then let me know.

My "Resolution" is Simple

A winter scene out my back door

January 1st, 2013 - Happy New Year everybody. Yesterday it snowed here in Vancouver, WA. Today we had a cold, bright sunny day and even a sunset. 

I took a week off, since it was Christmas and we had family visiting and lots going on. Of course, today I read online that consistency is key with a blog, if you skip a week some will think you stopped writing.

I have been doing some thinking about this blog and finally found the direction I want to take. Each year, my sister gives me the 'I Can Do It' (think positive) daily calendar. I just opened up the new 2013 calendar and part of today's quote was, "I choose thoughts that make me feel good." Pretty simple, but there it is.

My resolution is for my blog to make me feel good. Creating this blog has been fun and I'd like to keep it that way. Doing things because they should be done a certain way just isn't fun. If taking a week off gives people the impression I'm inconsistent, that's too bad. 

One thing I enjoy is sharing new finds: websites, books, vintage items, you name it. This morning I went to Shawna Coronado's website for the first time. I've been following her on Facebook for awhile and her post for the new year had me checking out her site. It is about green living and sustainable lifestyles. For example, she offers $10 meal ideas for those of us trying save money. It's pretty interesting so I encourage you to check it out and I will add it to my favorite sites at the bottom of the page.

I also like blogs with lots of photos. As I've said before, I quit copying photos from the internet or Pinterest (copyright infringement is a looming legal issue). But, when I did that I felt limited by the photos I take. My own photos are ok, but they don't represent the scope of my interests. So I've been looking into Creative Commons and would like to use Flickr more for blog photos. Since this requires more homework on my part, it will happen gradually.

Our back deck New Year's Eve.

One thing that I'm excited about sharing is an upcoming class in February for rain garden design. It's offered locally to landscape professionals and I'm interested in seeing some examples and plant lists that we can use here in the Portland Metro area. I look forward to posting more about alternative garden ideas.
P.S.
I just removed Ad Sense from my side bar. I added it thinking I could earn some money (nope) and just now saw a scrolling ad for a drug. I've actually specified in the past that I wanted ads that compliment my blog, i.e. home and garden. I'll stick to advertising businesses and groups I like.