Weekend Reading

via Pinterest

Happy Friday! I can't believe June is almost here. I'm off this afternoon to the vet for the pup's annual checkup. We found a small lump on his chest earlier this week, so fingers crossed it is just one of those fatty non-cancerous lumps that dogs can get. He's our baby, and I'm really hoping it isn't something major. I'll let you know how he makes out. Other than that, we'll be planting trees and hopefully catching some rays. I hope you all have a fun & relaxing weekend! Talk to you next week.


Here is what caught my eye this week:


Father's Day is June 15th. If your dad likes to grill, this plank grilling set would make a great gift!

Speaking of plank grilling, I have this cookbook & love it! Lots of yummy recipes.

Tiny house perfection.

How to create a Self-Sustaining Edible Windowsill Garden {no yard required!}.

DIY to try: Concrete Modular Geometric Wall Planters.

Have you heard about Wild Apple, a new gluten free magazine? You can read more about them on their Kickstarter page.

A delicious gluten free dish to bring to a BBQ: Quinoa with Tomato, Mozzarella & Basil.

I really want this gold feather ring bowl.


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Gardening Tip: How to Store Bare Root Trees

Hi, friends! I hope you all had a great Memorial Day weekend. Would you believe we had rain, hail, sleet and SNOW at our house?! Not ideal weather for planting trees & the garden. We did manage to install a gate on the east side of our property, so at least one project got checked off of our to-do list!

Speaking of trees, I want to give you a quick update on our project. Things are going well & we are learning a lot! So far, we've 'officially' planted 25 chokecherry bare root trees on the west side of our property {pictured below}. That means we still have 175+ trees to plant...yikes! We have heeled in the bare root trees though, which gives us 3 months to plant them in their permanent locations. {The potted trees are able to be stored in their pots for a month or so.} All of the trees look great; some are just starting to bud & others already have small green leaves! Very exciting!

I'm going to quickly fill you in on how to store bare root trees, based on my experience. Because we had a big snow storm right before our trees arrived, we had to store them in a cool room in our basement that was just under 50 degrees {note: you don't want to store trees in temps below freezing!}. If your weather is above freezing overnight, the trees can be stored outdoors. I left our bare root trees in their original packaging with sawdust {pictured above} to protect the roots & maintain moisture. I placed the entire tree package in one of my husband's large homebrewing pots, and lightly watered them occasionally to make sure the roots didn't dry out. But make sure you do not store bare root trees directly in a bucket of water - it will cause the roots to rot and the trees will die.

Bare root trees should only be stored for up to 48 hours upon delivery {according to our local Extension Office}. If bare root trees aren't going to be planted for more than two days in their permanent location, they should be heeled in. Honestly, we ended up storing ours for 10-12 days because of the snow, and finished heeling them in this weekend. The tree roots looked fine, and they started getting green buds & leaves. I'll write another post for you on how to heel in bare root trees.

Chokecherry Trees Planted {FYI: That is the neighbor's ugly fence on the right, not ours!}

If you have a question or tip to add, please leave a comment below! 


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Weekend Reading

via Arnhem

Happy Friday! What are your weekend plans? I'm going to be busy planting trees tomorrow & Sunday {assuming all of the snow will be gone after this rain}. Isn't it hard to believe Memorial Day weekend is only one week away?!


Here is what caught my eye this week:


I would love to live in a little surf shack at the beach.

Cute beach bags!

Have a shady yard? Check out how to Grow a Shade Garden.

Chelsea's Flower Arranging 101 class looks like so much fun!

DIY to try: How to Make Concrete Candles.

I seriously want one in every color. Such a great cause to support, too.

This Beet Crust Pizza looks divine!

And I could eat this Cold Soba Noodle & Coriander Bowl every day. {With gluten free noodles, of course!}


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Create Happiness

via Sweet Peony Press

I think creating happiness is such a great goal to have in life and business. There is nothing better than seeing your loved ones, friends & customers happy because of something you did {or made!} for them. It's just as important to do things that create happiness for ourselves as well. What can you do today to create happiness?


You might also like:

Do More Of What Makes You Happy

Travel As Much As You Can

Radiate Positive Vibes

Gardening: The Trees Arrived Today!

30 Englemann Spruce Tree Seedlings.

Englemann Spruce need shade & thrive at elevations of 8000 ft. & higher.

16 Potted Rocky Mountain Juniper Trees.

Rocky Mountain Junipers need full sun & the berries can be used to make medicinal teas.

175 Chokecherry, Wax Currant & Rocky Mountain Juniper Bare Root Trees.

I haven't transplanted bare root trees before. I'll let you know what I learn!

The trees arrived today, and I can't wait to plant them! The snow will hopefully melt in the next few days so I can get these in the ground. The spruce tree seedlings & potted junipers should be easy to transplant. I'm hoping transplanting the bare root trees goes well. Have you tried planting bare root trees before? Any advice? I'm going to a gardening class tonight that will hopefully cover how to do this. I also need to know how to store all of these trees until the snow melts. We have a shed that stays cool, so I'm thinking that might work. I will keep you posted on this project! And please keep your fingers crossed all of this snow melts soon!


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Scenes from a Snow Day in May

Oops! Time to help pull a neighbor out of the ditch.

Remember when I talked about our spring storms back in this post? Well, we finally got our big storm of the season... in May. 26 inches of heavy, wet snow and counting! I'm really surprised we haven't lost power yet. We're warm & cozy inside, by the wood stove, enjoying hot cocoa and watching the big fluffy flakes fall. Our trees we ordered arrive tomorrow; it appears we aren't going to be transplanting them anytime soon. Hopefully I can manage to keep them going until the snow melts. Fingers crossed it will melt by this weekend!

Must Read Book: Show Your Work!

via Amazon

If you are looking for ways to get yourself and/or business noticed {who isn't?!}, Show Your Work! is a MUST read. You don't have to be an artist or creative entrepreneur to read this book; the principles apply to every person/business out there. Austin Kleon really gets it. We all want to get discovered without feeling like sleazy salespeople. And sometimes self-promotion seems really hard to do, or is the last thing you feel like doing.

He breaks self-promotion down into these 10 easy, practical ways to share your work:

1) You don't have to be a genius.
2) Think process, not product.
3) Share something small every day.
4) Open up your cabinet of curiosities.
5) Tell good stories.
6) Teach what you know.
7) Don't turn into human spam.
8) Learn to take a punch.
9) Sell out.
10) Stick around.

There are so many good, inspiring ideas in this book to share your own work with the world. Just the process we go through to create new products & services is worth sharing. Lessons we've learned, skills we can teach others... these are all things we should share.

I was able to read this book in an evening. Have a highlighter ready or a journal handy to take notes. You will actually be excited to start sharing when you've finished the book! And that my friends, is why I'm sharing this book recommendation with you.

If you decide to read Show Your Work!, let me know what you're excited to start sharing with the world.

You might also like:
Scrapbook of Creativity Behind the Scenes
Austin's Blog
Follow Austin Kleon on Twitter

Weekend Reading: Mother's Day Edition

via

Happy Friday! What are your plans for Mother's Day weekend? My mom lives 20 hours away, unfortunately, so we won't get to spend the day together. Whether you get to spend the day with your mom or not, take a minute to tell her how much she means to you. I hope you enjoy this Mother's Day edition of our Weekend Reading series.


Just launched: Mother.

25 DIY Flower Bouquets for Mom.

The Best Style Lessons 12 top designers learned from Mom.

These Gluten Free Pancakes would be a delicious breakfast on Mother's Day. Or any day!

The perfect Mother's Day cocktail.

Mother's Day DIY: How to Make an Indoor Garden.

Looking for a last minute gift idea for Mom? Lots of ideas here.


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Weekend Reading

via

Happy Friday! It is going to be a gorgeous weekend at our house - the weather is FINALLY going to be in the 60s. Looking forward to soaking up a little Vitamin D, and checking out a new flea market Saturday morning. What do you have planned?


Here is what caught my eye this week:


Could you live in a grain bin home? Or tiny houses in general?

Love these boho leather coasters!

How to build the ultimate chicken coop.

Speaking of chickens, these felted spring chicks are adorable.

Cook like a local.

See who made the list of the 50 Best Restaurants in the World this year.

I've got a thing for kimchi. Here is a Gluten Free Kimchi Recipe you might like.

Food that regrows itself.

5 raised beds to build. {I have raised beds in my garden, and I love them!}


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