About Mominthegarden

I'm an American enjoying life in Ireland. I live in the country with my family. It is so beautiful here! I've been creating our garden from "scratch" and having fun doing it! I blog about my gardening adventures, and a bit about Ireland, too.

In a Vase on Monday: Daffodil beauties

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Mominthegarden

Narcissi Blazing Starlet

In all of Ireland, it feels like the flowers in our yard are the very last to bloom! I still have plenty of daffodils that haven’t even thought about blooming yet. But for today’s post of “In a Vase on Monday” I do have enough daffodils for a lovely bouquet of several different varieties (small prayer answered!).

Not quite opened … A rather triangle of a shape, don’t you think?

We’ve lived in our house for almost five years, and it has taken me all of that time to plant enough daffodils to be able to have a substantial bouquet! I was a bit finicky about where to plant them, what kind to plant, and how many to plant. I should have just gone with “everywhere, all kinds, and lots of ’em”!

Side views of Ice King and Blazing Starlet

I’m happy with the few different varieties that I have now. The Ice King is by far my favourite.

the Ice King variety looks like a carnation

a very simple yellow and white variety up close

bouquet of yellows and creams

I caught the very tail end of the sun on the day that I cut the flowers. I hadn’t paid close enough attention to the weather (read: I was deep cleaning the house because Easter is nearly here and God forbid anyone saw the state of what our house usually looks like!). So I desperately tried to find rays of sunshine through the window the following day. Unfortunately not only was the sun in short supply, the wind was too strong to photograph flowers in.

a hue more on the white side

But alas, eventually I found an opportunity to give it a lash. I kept the flowers low to the ground in a protected spot. The last thing I wanted was to have my vase fall over and break!

a hue more on the yellow side

The sun sure does make a difference!

Daffodil bouquet in the garden

prop!

See that poor little ugly duckling candle? That is my only Easter decoration out so far! I came across him while I was cleaning … which prompted me to ask my son to bring the boxes of our actual decorations out of the attic for me.

could win an award for ugliest candle…

He was kind enough to oblige me. Now I just need to get my act together and get those lovely spring items out (and quick!).

on the kitchen table

But for now we just have our cheerful daffodils (and the ugly duckling candle).

on the kitchen counter

Have you grown any different varieties of daffodils that you especially like? Please do share!

I hope you’ve enjoyed my “In a Vase on Monday” post. You will find other lovely arrangements linked to Cathy’s Rambling in the Garden blog https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2015/03/30/in-a-vase-on-monday-bluenwhite/ as she hosts this fun meme to see what everyone has in their gardens all throughout the year. Maybe you’d like to join in? Please do!

Happy Spring!
Dana

In a Vase on Monday: In like a Lion and out like a Lamb

Posted on March 23, 2015 by Mominthegarden

A Lion & a Lamb & a Spring Bouquet

Are you smiling? I hope so! I had a little fun with this “In a Vase on Monday” post. I came across these cute puppets last week when I was deep cleaning our playroom (read: went through all of the toys to get rid of what wasn’t played with anymore). I’m hopeless though, and only a few things were actually taken away. Items like these cute puppets were just squished into higher-up cabinets to have on hand for little visitors. (Did ya like that pun?) Somehow, thankfully, the room did end up tidied and I found some props for my post!

full view

I really can’t believe it is nearing the end of March. The weather was true to the expression: it was crazy at the beginning of the month and it has thankfully calmed down (enough to garden at least!).

Daffodil season in full swing (Ice King & Tresamble). These large daffodils have since turned a creamy white. the Ice King variety resembles a carnation.

We have collected quite a few different varieties of daffodils over the past few years and I am really liking all of them!

The small daffodils (Velocity) I bought from Mr. Middleton’s Garden Shop in Dublin. The catalogue describes them perfectly: early dwarf daffodil with deep yellow strongly reflexed petals and an orange red corona. So true!

pink anemone: Anemone coronaria ‘Sylphide’

I have only one pink anemone, but I thought it was stunning so I had to add it. It is my favourite colour of pink! Just one little bloom for the vase. This little guy is planted in a container. He did really well last year, and I’m delighted to see flowers again this year. I’ve read that the anemone will do better after several years. Lovely news!

Paperwhites were forced inside (and the family don't enjoy their scent!)

Paperwhites (Narcissus papyraceus) were forced inside (and my family do not enjoy their scent!)

stacking the flowers on top of each other

We have been so lucky to have good weather on the weekends. I have so enjoyed working in the garden! The sunny days help to inspire creating an arrangement.

Anemones blooming all winter long

I was rather surprised to have enough for an arrangement. If you looked at the yard you’d wonder where the flowers came from, they are spread all around, not really making an impact just yet (except for the purple anemones as they have been making an impact all winter.)

Anemone clump

Anemone beauty on a frosty morning

The Mr Fokker Anemone fade to a light purple as they age. They start a lovely deep, dark purple.

Belleek vase seemed fitting for March (think St. Patrick’s Day)

I missed quite a few ‘In a Vase on Monday’ postings this winter. I have to say it is nice to be back at it again. I hope you will also join us! Cathy at Rambling in the Garden https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com/2015/03/23/in-a-vase-on-monday-between-sweet-williams-two-lips/ hosts this fun (read: addictive) meme. You will see some lovely arrangements when you stop by!

Happy Spring!
Dana

my favourite picture of the group

Fun, Funky, and Fast to make! A Crocheted Poncho

Posted on March 18, 2015 by Mominthegarden

color burst!

The cold weather is hanging on. Someone needs to send Mother Nature a memo that we are quite finished with this cold spell. Spring has sprung! I’d like to spend more time in the garden without freezing my fingers off! The only benefit of this cold weather is that I can still wear my ‘made this season’ poncho.

the start of the cowl neck

When I saw this yarn in the This is Knit shop in Dublin (https://www.thisisknit.ie/index.php)((I really like this shop as the yarn I’ve bought there has been that little bit different.)) I didn’t even think twice, I straight away bought it … without having any idea what I was going to do with it. Can you say “impulsive”???

cowl neck growing

The colours are just so fun! The yarn wasn’t cheap, so I was stingy in the amount that I bought. I would, of course, regret that later.

the poncho is growing

Right, so after buying the yarn I spent hours on Pinterest, as you do, looking for ideas of what to make. I don’t even think it is possible to go onto Pinterest for just a moment, actually. It completely sucks-me-in to looking at millions of different pages! I love it!!!

bobbles

Yes, yes, I do have a Pinterest Board ’cause where else am I going to put all of those fabulous ideas??? https://www.pinterest.com/danasheridan/

So the idea for the poncho was born, but I didn’t actually find a pattern that I loved completely. I bought the pattern for one, but I only used the cowl neck portion of that pattern. Then I roughly followed the ‘much too difficult for me’ pattern of another, improvising along the way out of necessity.

poncho body improvised

The cowl neck took way more yarn than I would have liked. I probably should have used a smaller hook. I’m sure you’ve guessed by now that not only did I run out of yarn too soon, the shop had sold out of it. But not to worry! The distributors of this brand of Katia art wool at the Trim Wool Shop ( http://www.trimwoolshop.ie ) had this same colour in stock and would mail it to me. They were super nice on the phone, and I was delighted… Only the dye-lot was different; it was quite muted compared to the vibrant colouring of the neck. I think the good news was that it toned down the poncho!

funky colours

It was fun to make and figure out what I liked, and what I didn’t like.

Finished!

The finished product is rather funky and fun and I can wear just about any colour with it! I have to say that I really like it. It is definitely a “one of a kind”! 🙂

Even though I love still getting a chance to wear my new poncho this season, I’d really like for the warm spring weather to arrive!

Peace,

Dana

a belated Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

In a Vase on Monday: Yellow and Blues from the Garden

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Mominthegarden

a few Tete-a-tetes transplanted from my friend’s garden (accidentally came with other gifted flowers!)

It has been quite a while since I’ve joined the meme “In a Vase on Monday” with Cathy at Rambling in the Garden https://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com . This weekend just allowed me the time/energy/ability to gather together a small vase of sweet flowers, so I thought I’d humbly join back into the group. Feel free to join in, or just go and have a look at what others have in their vases. There is always something nice to see!

the vase in among my allium greens

We live in what we describe as a “wind belt”. It is always windy. Really windy. So I feared my wee little vase wouldn’t stand a chance and would be knocked over before I could even take a picture. My solution was to partially push it into the soil of the garden. I think that provided rather nice surroundings, too. 🙂

lovely colours together

My friend Susan also gave me a Pulmonaria plant and suggested they look well with daffodils. I couldn’t agree more. I have them planted in among my daffodils, but my daffodils come up so late! So I’ve cut some of the Pulmonaria and thrown them in a vase with my early blooming tete-a-tetes to enjoy that lovely colour combination.

a bit of sunshine

The sun came out for a total of five minutes (after I had taken loads of pictures, of course). I’m used to how this works, so I grabbed the vase and ran outside and took a load more photos!

full size & tiny size

You can really see the size difference in this photo. I should have put the full size daffodils in a separate vase, but I only had two to work with.

Tete-a-tetes with Pulmonaria in a Vase

so tiny!

enjoying them inside

I hope you enjoyed my arrangement. Thanks for stopping by!
Dana

My First Weekend in the garden and boy was it lovely!

Posted on March 8, 2015 by Mominthegarden

Pulmonaria

What a wonderful weekend I had in the garden! The weather was perfectly spring like. There was so much weeding and cleaning up to do it was a bit overwhelming at first. Ever feel that way? All I could do was start with one little job at a time.

Primrose

There are lovely signs of spring.

Anemone Mr. Fokker

I also had some new plants to plant, and others to move around the yard. My husband is very good and does the planting for me, even the movings around of plants (sometimes more than once).

Anemone

I had forgotten that I had some very pink anemone growing in a container. What a lovely surprise to see them this week!

Anemone

Our strawberry plants are in a mess. You should really clean up the plants around September. Some how our schedules got in the way of our gardening last fall. So we are now in the process of cleaning them up and what a job it is!

Strawberry beds in need of attention

I cut back all of the green leaves of my Hellebores. Some of their leaves were turning black and it wasn’t pretty. They have been flowering all winter, so if you are looking for a winter blooming plant, this is definitely one to get (and so many colours to choose from).

Hellebores

Our winter garlic is finally up, growing and doing well. And look at that, another strawberry bed in need of attention! (arg!)

Garlic bed

Garlic

This is the first daffodil in my yard. It is kind of lonely all on its own. Hopefully the others will be up soon!

Daffodil

I’m so happy to have had time in the garden this weekend! I hope spring has sprung for you, too (or will soon)!

Happy spring!
Dana

Winter is for Crocheting … A Baby Blanket

Posted on February 5, 2015 by Mominthegarden

In the beginning…

I have a new ~~hobby~~ obsession. Actually, it isn’t new to me, but I’ve recently started doing it again: Crocheting. I have completed more projects in the past 12 months than I have in the past 10 years!

I’ve discovered some cultural differences with my hobby. While I say yarn, the rest of Ireland and the U.K call it “wool”. Even our stitches are slightly different; A double crochet for me is a treble for Ireland/U.K. But in the end, we ~~all~~ I figure it out one way or another.

Baby blanket almost finished

As for patterns, it is quite easy to find free patterns online, or even purchase them online. I liked this very soft (free) ripple pattern by attic24: http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/neat-ripple-pattern.html You only have to count to 4! Great stuff! Definitely a pattern for those of us who are easily distracted, because you know quite quickly if something isn’t right.

Cathedral edging

I bought the yarn in the States on my last visit there. I know, who brings home yarn??? Well, I did… because it was incredibly soft and I loved the colours and I couldn’t *not* buy it! 🙂 It is called Simply Soft by Caron, and it truly is so soft! I thought it would be perfect for a baby blanket.

Cathedral edging

I looked through what seemed like 100 different edging ideas. But I decided to go with ‘Cathedral edging’. I found the (free) pattern here: http://www.halfknits.com/blanket-edge-patterns/

a look at the first rows of edging

The only part of crocheting that I don’t enjoy is hiding the tie-ins when you change colour. Can you see all of the different changes in colours?! It is crazy! So I thought I’d try and widen the colours a bit so I wouldn’t have to change so quickly, but I really didn’t like the thicker stripes. To cover that up, I decided to alternate between 1, 2, and 3 rows of thickness for all of the colours. I think for my next blanket, though, I will stick with two rows for each colour. I also arranged the colours randomly, and not in a pattern. I’m not sure if I liked that 100%. I would probably go for an exact pattern next time. Good to live and learn!

Completed blanket

The best part of making something so lovely and soft is to give it away to a sweet little girl. I’m going to share with you that the night before I gave it away, I wrapped the blanket up in a few of my lavender sachets. I just thought the lavender would be a nice relaxing scent to have for the baby. My lavender is, apparently, quite strong in scent! But I’m hoping the little one will be all nice and calm and relaxed when she uses her new blanket.

Did you happen to notice the little chair in my pictures? It is an antique potty chair! It comes from my father’s side of the family and I just love it and the history of it. Here is a close-up of the top. Can you imagine using something so lovely as a potty chair?

Antique potty chair

Antique Potty Chair

O.K., now I hardly want to finish my post with a picture of a potty chair, antique or no antique! So I leave you with a picture I took 2 days ago. Mr. Fokker Anemone. They bloom for me all winter long and I just love the little bit of colour they bring to the garden. I hope you are enjoying your winter, where ever that may be!

Peace,
Dana

Mr Fokker Anemone

Wordless Wednesday (sort of): Cup of Roses with a slice of Cake

Posted on January 14, 2015 by Mominthegarden

Wordless Wednesday: oh how I love posting pictures just for fun!

Dried roses from the garden

I took these pictures in December on a cold but beautifully sunny day. The sun sits so low this time of year that shadows are unavoidable.

birthday cake

I made this cake for my niece’s 10th birthday. She picked the colour icing and the “white” cake (she didn’t want chocolate!). I tried something a little different with my favourite white cake recipe by adding peppermint extract. It was a love it or hate it reaction! I really liked it. 🙂

Seriously moist cake

For those of you who are always looking for a good cake recipe, here is the link to my favourite: http://iambaker.net/the-perfect-white-cake/ Seriously, it is super moist and always comes out lovely!

Cake & Roses

Roses & Cake

I love this textured pottery cup and saucer. It is from Japan.

Cup of Roses

There. Finished. and I didn’t use too many words. sorta.

Happy Wednesday! It is blustery cold here. I hope wherever you are in the world that you are nice and warm!

Peace,
Dana

In a Vase on Monday: Mr. Fokker Anemone & Primrose in January

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Mominthegarden

Mr. Fokker Anemone & primroses

It is cold, wet and windy outside! So goes our January. The wind would knock your socks off! Nevertheless, the sun has made several appearances so really I shall not complain.

Waterford crystal candle holder with anemone and primrose

I took a little break from my blog over the Christmas holiday. I wasn’t really taking a break from blogging but rather making more time for the family. I like blogging and was looking forward to getting back to it! So when the sun was shinning bright on Saturday I decided to run outside and see what I could find for the meme In a Vase on Monday, hosted by Cathy at Rambling in the garden (http://ramblinginthegarden.wordpress.com). It was COLD outside!

Mr Fokker Anemone in the garden

I have loads of Mr Fokker Anemone in the garden. Unfortunately, where they are in the garden doesn’t see the sun until the very end of the day (if at all). So they are closed up most of the time. It was lovely to watch them open after being placed in warm water in the candle holder (their vase).

The flowers opened up in the warm water

The colours are lovely. I kind of squished the primrose into the vase. That bright pink is fabulous in the yard. I have to say they look rather lonely though, as everything around them is pretty much in sleep/winter mode.

The candle holder usually sits in a room which we rarely use. So the only job it has is to collect dust. I’m glad to put it to better use.

floating flowers

It is always fun to try and be a little creative with what is in the garden and what vase to use. I hope you’ve enjoyed my In a Vase on Monday post!

bright pink

I have to say that it is nice to have flowers in the garden in January.

primrose in the garden

I hope you have a good week and that you are nice and warm, wherever you may be!

Peace,
Dana

Wordless Wednesday Dried Flowers

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Mominthegarden

The wine jug we purchased in the Alsace region of France 18 years ago

Hello there! Just a quick “Wordless Wednesday” post showing you the dried flowers I have in my kitchen. I do think they look lovely (shall I write “still” since I’ve had them since late summer???).

Dried flowers from the garden

Very long stemmed lavender from my garden and Globe Artichokes (some of which seem to be blooming apart!)

These Globe Artichokes have still kept their colour!

My favourite arrangement because I love the purple painted eucalyptus and the purple hydrangea.

I hope your New Year has started off well! We had a lovely time over Christmas and now we are all back to our routines. We have so much to be thankful for.

Thank you for stopping by!

Peace,
Dana

Beauty in the Frost

Posted on December 31, 2014 by Mominthegarden

Beauty is everywhere. All you have to do is see…

Calendula Orange Flower

We had a hard frost the other night, the coldest it has been this year. I found the resulting crystals on everything to be quite beautiful. The morning started out rather foggy, but as the day wore on the sun came out and everything became that much more beautiful!

Calendula in the sunlight

Everything was so white it looked as if it has snowed. But much to my children’s disappointment, it was just frost which by the end of the day had melted away (mostly anyway).

Playhouse and fruit garden view

Everything was white, even the sky!

Fruit garden view

My crochet-bombing of the sewer pipe is still brightening up the garden.

frosty crocheted sunflower

and then with the sun…

Fruit garden in the sun

What a difference the sun makes! I was busy tidying up inside our house because family were coming to visit us later in the day, but I kept being pulled outside to the garden to take pictures!

A frozen spider’s web

Here are some before/after sun pictures:

Beech hedges

beech hedges

I have had very little time in the garden recently, so it was fun being outside even if just for taking pictures.

A frosted hydrangea flower.

hydrangea

American Pink flowering dogwood: Cornus Florida ‘cherokee chief’

This lovely little tree I planted a year ago. You can see that it still has a few leaves on it. I bought it because it reminds me of ‘home’ back in New York. My parents had one in their yard when I was growing up.

Cornus Florida ‘cherokee chief’ (American Pink flowering Dogwood)

I can see this little tree when I am washing dishes in the kitchen. I envision seeing lots of lovely birds in it when it grows bigger, well, eventually.

A frosty Cornus Florida ‘cherokee chief’ (American Pink flowering Dogwood)

Dogwood up close

another pic of the Dogwood

On the other side of our hedge there are a row of weeds lining the fence (you can see them in the picture above). They usually annoy me, but I thought they looked quite pretty covered in frost!

Winter Weeds

The birds hadn’t finished eating all of the hawthorn berries (there were tons!).

That’s a lot of berries from earlier this winter.

Now there are fewer berries and they have quite a frosty look.

Frosty Hawthorn berries

We placed a bird nesting container in the trees not too long ago. Unfortunately, it gets a bit too windy around here so now the nesting materials are everywhere!

Bird nest gone wild

I love seeing the different looks of the fields around us, even when it is rather grey.

View from the back of the side yard.

Frosted Calendula Flower

earlier in the week

As 2014 comes to an end, I’d like to thank you for reading my blog, commenting, and “liking” it! I blog because I love to share my love of gardening/photography/baking/crocheting! I hope that I inspire you, even if just a little bit, to try something different.

I wish you a very Happy New Year and only best wishes in 2015!

In peace,

Dana

Mom in the Garden

Enjoying life. In Ireland. With my family.

Author Archives: Mominthegarden

About Mominthegarden

In a Vase on Monday: Daffodil beauties

In a Vase on Monday: In like a Lion and out like a Lamb

Fun, Funky, and Fast to make! A Crocheted Poncho

In a Vase on Monday: Yellow and Blues from the Garden

My First Weekend in the garden and boy was it lovely!

Winter is for Crocheting … A Baby Blanket

Wordless Wednesday (sort of): Cup of Roses with a slice of Cake

In a Vase on Monday: Mr. Fokker Anemone & Primrose in January

Wordless Wednesday Dried Flowers

Beauty in the Frost