Celebrate Womens History Month

 How are you celebrating the beginning Womens' History Month?  

Pink Boots Society

So inspirational to hear the founder of this organization, Teri Fahrendorf,  at the Pink Boots Collaboration BrewDay At Prison City Brewery. this is an annual event in Auburn NY and the entire weekend is a celebration. you can step up and support them on their site below.  They allow donations and sell merchandise.  

Pink Boots

 

Looking for other inspirational events which give back to the community for the month.  Feel free to send any events you were inspired by to me.  

These boots make me want to dig in the dirt.

Black Lives Matter

Free the People ROC is the group in Rochester, NY.  

 Free the People ROC

We need to support our brothers and sisters

#bekind

#blacklivesmatter
#blm 
#standup
#listen

#nojusticenopeace

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photographer: Tim Fusse

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Vegetable Garden for 2023

What is my favorite day of the gardening season?  My favorite day is the 1st day digging into the garden for the the initial seeds of the season. It is about four weeks away. As we prepare for the 2023 Veggie garden, I was working on the design a few weeks ago.  As we stared some seeds, our excitement builds.  

The most important element to keeping our garden happy is the homemade compost we add to the soil every year.  happy to have soaker hoses in the gardens so the water goes only where we need it.  

Shown are a few of the early sprouts of our vegetables and Morrisonite in gold statement pendant.

Black Lives Matter

Free the People ROC is the group in Rochester, NY.  

 Free the People ROC

 

We need to support our brothers and sisters.

#bekind
#blacklivesmatter 
#blm 
#standup
#listen
#lovewins

Buy Local from the Maker 

 

 My Store:  My Shop

Facebook:  PandaWire Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems  
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Why shop small?  For every $100 you spend at a local business,  $68 stay in the community

Women's History March 2021

Women's History Month

2021 is very different than I have imagined it to be. How many of you back in 1999-2000 had a picture of what you thought the 21st century would be like?   I know I had a vivid one. Certainly happy to have a women in an elected position in The White House. I wish we had a female President. Happy for the progress of more women elected in 2020 to congress & senate. Proud to be part of history in the USA.

Proud to be a woman business owner and to have accomplished all I  have in the past three years with these firsts  

•  Feature in a holiday shopping guide in my city
•  Dance festival as a vendor in Dance Flurry Saratoga Springs, NY
  
•  Host & founder of online group with video chat weekly (zoom)
•  full Year without live art events in 20 years
•  National interview in an article as a feminist
•  My work in a store in Seneca Falls,  NY
• Sell my gemstones & work at monthly festival for over a year 

My questions for you, after following my progress for the past several years:

How will Women's history month change how you do business?

Whom are your role models?  

How do you inspire other?   

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Why shop Local (small)?  

For every $100 you spend at a local business,  $68 stay in the community!  Yes Over 2/3 stays in your local community!

 

 

Black Lives Matter

 

For Education  please Search 
 I Can't Breathe
Black Lives Matter 

and read from fact checked news sources.  As a supporter I am speaking up.  Please join me.

 

It is time we listen. Let our Sisters  take the  lead & show us what we need do to help them.. I know we can fix this and become one nation again.   It will be a process and it will take time.  Be patient and show your love of others now more then ever.

 

 

 

Garden Design Week 2021

My favorite day is the 1st day digging into the dirt in my garden for the the initial pea seeds of the season. It is about 2 months away.  I am preparing for the 2021 Veggie garden, and will work on design through this weekend. Enjoying the pile of seed catalogs from my mailbox & the many choices.  

 

My garden has some outdoor residents.  this is one of them.  She eats my weeds in the lawn in the warm weather.  Her favorites are clover and dandelion leaves.  This was taken last week in the early morning. She & I seem to enjoy breakfast together.
As an avid gardener, we have dealt with visitors for over 15 years.  We have a 7 foot seasonal fence around the vegetable garden to keep our veggies for the people not the outdoor guests.  as winter has set in here she is frequently uncovering some of my plants and enjoying the dead parts of them for her meals. Most are perennials which regrow from the roots every year so no permanent damage. We have a compost pile which is great for garden fertilizer every spring.  She also seems to like my root vegetable peels and tops from the edge of the pile. 

My inspirations from nature helped me to design & create this.  This is a piece of Rhodochrosite from Sweet Home mine I transformed into a beautiful cabochon.  I believed it need other spring colors to compliment the patterns in the gemstone.  I have not made many pieces in seed bead work so I am learning.  Another one I have in process is a stunning dragonfly.  As soon as my tendonitis calms down, I can work on it again. Rest for it is the best medicine combined with topical anti inflammatory treatments.  My favorite insect is dragonfly and we have several whom visit our garden pond every year.  

 

 

 

Here is another simple cabochon in Rhodochrosite set in gold filled wire. This is not my favorite shape to cut  thought it looks fabulous in gold. Both of these pieces show the real beauty of the gemstone.  Photos do not do either of these justice. 

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For Education  Search 
 I Can't Breathe
Black Lives Matter 

and read from fact checked news sources.  As a supporter I am speaking up.  Please join me.

 

Almost April as a Women Business Owner

For all the new readers & followers of this blog,  I am an avid gardener and lapidary.  Most of my inspiration comes from nature as can be seen in my work.  Whether it is the arch of a branch, the stem of a bush or the pattern of moss.  As a lapidary, when I am cutting a stone my design became the feature I find in the natural stone.  Moss on a Lava rock in my backyard garden.  


Expanding the gemstone/rock side of my business.  I sell rocks! Do you know a jewelry designer or small local Jewelry store?  Being a lapidary, I custom cut my own stones into one of a kind cabochons. Retail & wholesale options for you to buy the gems.  Please feel free to contact me if you have a friend with a shop who uses one of a kind gemstones.

Today March 31 is National Equal Pay Day.  
We had a local rally scheduled to bring more visibility to the fact that Minorities & Women are drastically paid less than men.

learn more here:  Pay Equality Coalition
  
Another way to support women is the ERA now ratified by the 38th state.  I a a proud bard member of Rochester NOW 
NOW Rocheter NY




What does it mean to be a Lapidary?  Definition: The art of cutting, polishing & engraving precious stones.  

To the left is a slice of the Unakite I found as a rough rock in St. Lawrence county NY.  It has been sliced into this slab of rough gemstone.  Below is the finished polished cabochon showing the beauty in this stone.  
details of the process here:  
Lapidary process




As a small business owner I know how difficult it is at this time in NY state and around the US.  As a women owner business it is more difficult to generate the income necessary to keep the business going.  We are counting on the local community to remember to support all local business.  For every $100 you spend at a local business $68 stay in the community.  We are in this together.

I will end with a quote from my favorite president, Barak Obama. 

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek".   


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Happy growing and enjoy your week.  

International Womens Day

Yesterday was International Women's Day, how did you celebrate?  I reflected on some fantasict women I admire such as Susan B Anthony, Elizabeth Warren, & Kamala Harris.

As we move thru this month, I am beyond excited. It is almost SPRING,  10 MORE DAYS!!! This lettuce from 2017 says it best.



Elizabeth Warren quote,"Choose to fight only righteous fights, because then when things get tough - and they will - you will know that there is only option ahead of you: nevertheless, you must persist "  Her passion is resonating through out these United States of America in the hearts & minds of all of us women. She had the courage to do something some only dream of  run for President of the USA.




As this Mustard in my greenhouse shows, it wants to grow despite the fact it is winter.  The seed was planted last fall and is growing now that it is warm.  I watered it so it can become a full plant &  be large enough for a salad soon.   Followers of this blog know by heart my favorite Susan B quote, " Failure is Impossible "  I feel that here in this green. I did not expect it to have survived the winter but it persisted.

My indoor greens are only sprigs right now.  Three to six weeks  until they can be planted into the veggie garden.  Hopefully the peas can be planted by the end of March like last year.

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Reminder order early for special occasions

Garden Design Day 2020 SEASON

My favorite day is the 1st day digging into the garden for the the initial seeds of the season. It is about 2 months away. to prepare for the 2020 Veggie garden, I was working on the design last week. Today, we ordered some seeds of a few varieties we ran out of from last year.

Harvest 2017

Bell pepper seeds will be planted today. Our garden is planted for success.  We use a three year crop rotation to rest the soil and increase production for the Vegetable.  Hoping Mother Natures helps this years by giving a good freeze for the 6 weeks necessary to kill the pests from last year. The yo yo temperatures and wet spring increased disease last year and made it difficult for local farmers to plant crops.


PBS article about the difficulties last spring.  "For farmers, record flooding and a wet spring mean many fields can’t be planted" 2019 Wet Spring PBS Newshour

Looking forward to the seeds sprouting and the growing to begin in my plants. Several inches of snow on the ground now & below freezing temperatures outside.  Yes it is winter in Rochester, NY.

1/19/20 NOW members

Last Month I was able to attend the Womens March in Seneca Falls.  There were three fantastic days of sisterhood in this historic area. This is part of our NOW, National Organization for Women,  group on the 3rd day of the event at the First Presbyterian Church of Seneca Falls.  Yes that is me in the feminist t shirt left of center.

Relatively new style in copper per customer requests for more copper please.  Also have copper bracelets, anklets, necklaces & tiaras.
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Uncover Nature's Treasures

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.” —Albert Einstein


We use our eyes as one does while on vacation.  We see the flowers and sprigs of nature in  a new way.  As we survey the yard & gardens, we uncover the treasures nature has to show us.

Join us on this adventure:   the next walk you take in a park or garden you like to visit. pretend you have not been there before and look at the space as a visitor would.   I believe you will enjoy the trip and want to bring a friend the next time. Let me know how this changes your day.  

First harvest from the herb garden was part of dinner,  fresh chives.  One fragrant pic to share today.  Headed back to be inspired by the beauty and the scents of the gardens.  Now it is your turn to Uncover Natures Treasures.



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Vegetable garden pics will be here very soon.  

Spring Equinox - Garden Reborn

Good day and Happy Spring Equinox. 

Today marks the beginning of spring rebirth in the garden. Several sure signs of spring in my backyard - Robins are back and the rabbit is munching on my plants and lawn.   Yes there is snow melting here in the sunshine. 

Enjoy this small window of my garden a few years ago.  Today daffodil stems are sprouting thru the snow.  We know in no time the yard will be full of the scent of this season.

One of my grandmother favorite flowers is the zinnia.  This is from my garden several
years back.  as any who follow this blog know, we are avid backyard gardeners here in Rochester, NY.  Vegetables and flowers are plentiful in our gardens.

Yes the seeds have been panted for the vegetable garden.  Tomatoes and peppers are sprouted and growing in the warmth of the indoors.  counting the days until we can plants the peas and green outside.  

Memories of a fabulous day on our Vacation last month at the Tucson Gem Shows.
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'Science is not only a disciple of reason but, also one of romance and passion,"  Stephen Hawking.