Memorial Day 2020

Happy Memorial Day 2020.  Harvested kale from my backyard garden for breakfast today.  Kale & farm fresh eggs were fantastic.  Today is a somber holiday as we reflect on our freedoms in the USA.  I have family whom served my Father, Uncles, & cousins, as many of you reading this have.  We do not need a huge gathering to remember and honor those whom have served this country.  Take a few hours today and teach your family what this holiday represents.  If you do not have children read history and remember why we have this holiday.

As an avid gardener, I did not know very much when I started my own gardens. 20 years ago.  We learned from my Grandmother as well my other half's parents.  To Further our knowledge we used tv and books.   Below are two of our favorites.

My favorite book is by Barbara Damrosch Garden Primer.Garden Primer  It is where I found the idea for a three year crop rotation which I use and helps keep my plants thriving.  Even in years of extreme drought, I have an edible harvest.  We also use companion plants and soaker hoses to water.  it is a great way to reduce the water wasted by sprinklers in a garden.  Many this year and starting plants because they have extra time & are home to see them blossom & grow.  Good luck with your new garden & remember to water daily for new plants and not in the hottest part of the day.

Our favorite show was The Victory Garden with Roger Swain, hom spoke about the origin of the term Victory Garden  Wiki defines. He described his memories and why he loves gardening and digging in the dirt.Trial & error as well as our lessons learned from others mistakes helped teach us to be better gardeners.  Failure is Impossible on one of my favorite quotes from Susan B Anthony.  I believe when we work toward a goal in is a journey; whether long or short enjoy your journey. 

Roger Swain Quote I love.



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We are all dealing with this time in our own way  Remember to be kind., flatten the curve, stay home and stay safe.
Honor this Memorial Day and always.

 In NY OMH Emotional Support Helpline: 1-844-863-9314

  help:https://omh.ny.gov/omhweb/covid-19-resources.html

Happy for Snowpeas

Snow peas 2015

I will begin with a quote from Susan B Anthony. 
"Organize, agitate, educate must be our war cry. "

The new variety of snow peas we planted is finally sprouted.  Happy dance here because in 6 weeks we should have fresh snowpeas to enjoy.  Note to others,  read the seed packets instructions carefully.  These require warmer ground than I thought.   Also added to the garden this past week are Dinosaur Kale, Brussel sprouts, Tatsoi Mustard, Rainbow Kale.  The greens will be ready for harvest in about 2 weeks.

The season here feels later than it actually is.  Staying home to stay safe makes time feel different.  Adding some things to the website so my customers can buy even though I do not have any live shows at the moment.  Fro the latest new listings, follow on FB & IG - links below.

The Sterling & gold filled bangle bracelets are a popular choice with my customers.  Working on two orders currently. this lapidary is also cutting some new gemstones.  Will post pics soon.

Spirals on Website

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do you have some future post topics?  please share them.  

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.  

Spring Arrives Yipee

Happy  for the arrival of spring this week.  3/19 is the first day of spring.  Late last week the snipes were planted.  the wait for their sprouts has begun.  The veggie garden for 2020 has been started.  Happy dance over here.

The beautiful sweet "fruit" to the right is what we will harvest from the garden later in spring.  Nothing is tastier than fresh picked snipes.  The first ones never even make it inside the house - they are subject to finger blight by me.  

We are practicing safety here in the workshop, garden and life.  Use common sense always.  Injury is never easy to avoid.  Safety glasses are always used when I create my work.Finger Blight : the condition used to describe the picking of fruits or vegetables before they are done.  also used to describe the theft of same fruits or vegetables.





One copper bangle and the copper earrings which are so popular right now.  Feel free to PM or reach out if you need one for your very own.  Custom color matching is always available.  Lapidary here so freeform cabochons are always ready to be set into the metal of your choice.





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Reminder order early for special occasions like Passover, Easter, Mother's Day.

February Family Memories

I welcome the end of this month because spring is in March.  As many of you know, I am an avid gardener.  Another annual event is remembering my Father & his Mother both of whom have birthdays the end of the month.  They both showed me strong family, love & tolerance for all. This year the month adds another family memory, the passing of my father's middle brother, Russell.  My Uncle Russell passed away & his service was Saturday, 2/22.

My Grandmother loved gardening and her flowers were a show of her dedication to nature.  This was obvious at her home in the NE area is the city of Rochester & the summer home her husband build in the 1000 Islands in St Lawrence county. One of my favorite flowers in her garden was the Peonies.  She had both the pink & the white flowering plants.This is the pink flowering type in my backyard garden.  When they first bloomed here my only thought when I inhaled the intoxicating aroma was of Grandma.



As I enjoy the sprouts of my tomatoes & bell peppers, I think of my family and the fantastic gardens at Grandma & Grandpa's house when I was a child. The Blackberries & Red Raspberries were always harvested by my sister & I.  Amazing that any of the fruits made it into the house by the color of our hands from the harvest of the super juicy berries.This is the view from the dock at the summer place several years ago.  The water lilies are wild there and helped me to have my own backyard pond.  the sound of the water takes me back to the cottage in the 1000 islands and many summer weekends with my father when I was a child.

Habitat for Humanity Women Build 2013

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April Showers in Spring Garden

We always welcome  April showers in our garden.  It is the time when we see the garden come back to life from the ground. Almost overnight there is so much bright green everywhere. The crocus on the right were sprigs of green right before the flowers appeared.  

Well before these crocus thought of springing out of the ground, the planning began for the Vegetable Garden.  We use crop rotation to keep the group from becoming overwork.  When the snow was still falling,  back in early February, the layout began.  

The first seeds went int the garden in Much.  Thank you peas for being able to withstand the fluctuating temperatures of late March & early April.   

Shortly after the peas were planted the Mustard & Mesclun went into the garden.  These seeds were started in early March. Happy to say the first harvest will be this week for fresh greens from the garden.  Welcome to home grown in April.  The best thing when making a meal is to have fresh from your own backyard garden. 

Why would you want a garden you may ask?  

• Flavor
• Convenience
• Pride / satisfaction of success
• Control of the process
• Non-GMO crops 
• Fragrance
• Beneficial guests in the garden

We welcome input from our readers.  The best way to know exactly what people are looking for is to have them request it. We do our best to accommodate customer requests.  Copper teardrops are one answer to  -  more copper pieces please.  These are a new earring design that is proving to be popular.  Shown in all natural copper, teardrops catch the light as they move & are very lightweight.  They are available in both large and small sizes.  

Happy dance for this design and a few others recently in copper.  More on the new copper pieces in a future blog post.  

Custom cut gemstone cabochons are one of our passions. This plume agate showcases the beauty Mother Nature puts into her work.  We take pride in discovering the beauty inside each stone and showing it to you.  These gemstones are available to be set into a special piece for your gift giving pleasure.  

Another way we share the gems is to sell wholesale to other jewelry designers in the area and worldwide.  

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Note:  Website prices are retail.  Please send PM for wholesale inquiry along with your business credentials.  

Happy Inspirational Monday

Hello and Happy Monday.  As we  nearing the end of Spring, we are grateful & enjoying the bounty of the spring greens.  The vegetables & flowers are doing well this year.  Happy this spring has not been super wet &  bit more ran would be welcome.   

Always grateful for topic suggestions by my followers. 

Some of the beauty found in the garden this week.  Our hope is to have red ripe tomatoes by the end of the 1st week of July.  May you find the joy we do in a hobby of your own.  Gardening is the one pleasure we have daily.  My recent travel has taught me it is universal pleasure to enjoy nature.  As I stopped to take photos in the Phoenix Botanical Gardens earlier this year,  the beauty of the musical voices of many cultures fell upon my ears.  We were all enjoying the same landscape and language was not necessary to understand the pleasure everyone was sharing. 


 As I gardener I was inspired by this quote by Tina Martin of Huffington Post  "No matter what situation is changing, don’t get discouraged! It’s uncomfortable, but great things never come from comfort zones. Embrace and welcome change. Consider it a blessing you needed but couldn’t make happen on your own. "

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Step outside your comfort zone and see what wonderful things develop. 

Summer Fun in the Sun

Fun in the summer sunshine. 

Schweinfurth Art Center Auburn, NY

Summer is moving by quickly  - Hello end of July..  The garden is growing well & we celebrate the bounty we have..  Harvested many veggies:  lettuce, snow peas, swiss chard, kale, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, chives, thyme, oregano, sage, tomatilloes, beans, celery, mustard.  Waiting to enjoy radishes, beefsteak tomatoes, zucchini, Parsnips, leeks, cucumbers & fennel.

Susan B Anthony Square Rochester NY

It has been the spring & summer of celebrations.  In several cites:  Seneca Falls, Auburn, St Michaels, MD as well as home in Rochester this summer.  Women are a focus this year with the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage in New York State.  My favorite part of the travel has been sharing stories and finding "sisters"  who have the same goals I do.  Family is more than blood ...as many have experienced in their lives.

My feet have not stopped since the Right to Run 19k 5k in Seneca Falls NY on 5/13/17. Happy to share my travel  & stories later this summer. A few of my trips  at the end of this post.

Genny from Charlotte in Sterling Silver

My shops:  Panda Wear Website
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Enjoy your journey creating memories with your family through this beautiful season.

• Right to Run 19k 5k Seneca Falls NY fundraiser for the National Women's' Hall of Fame by  renovation ot the Seneca Knitting Mill.
• Hand delivered a huge wedding order to St. Michaels MD and joined the celebration.  
• 4th of July weekend spent with my man and hiking in Letchworth Sate park
• Convention Days Seneca Falls NY 
• Votilla - Seneca Falls to Rochester via the canals and Suffragist City Parade

Dog Days of Summer in Rochester, NY

 

Wrote this back in early August.  I went out to water the plants and it was not posted.  Ab it late but the beauty of the plants are shown. 

This was a visitor to my garden toward the end of August. I believe it is a red tailed hawk.  Hope he is eating the mice and squirrels that seem to be enjoying my root crops.

The summer season ended with a drought and federal disaster area for my county and the surrounding area.

Dog days of summer here in my gardens photos.  New York was in early drought stages, is early August  Seems like we just planted the garden.  We have a happy and prolific garden due to water wise gardening practices.  My most prolific plants have been the early spring crops: cilantro, greens, lettuce, peas, radishes.  As the heat arrived:  lettuce, mustard greens, collards, kale, cucumbers, & yellow beans.

My bush beans are quite happy with the heat wave which lasted the entire summer.  My several days a week watering with recycled rubber soaker hoses keep them happy. We have about 10lbs of beans in the freezer for later, the most ever saved.  They are still producing which is unusual,  normally we take the plants down in mid September.

Another of the prolific vegetables are the bell peppers and the broccoli. A different variety, Jalapeno show below.  Especially with the cooler fall temps now and the much needed rain this past week.  The broccoli has taken off and we are eating it a few nights a week.

Apparently the heat is not done here, yet.  High of 79 forecast for the end of this week.  Grilled dinner outside on the deck is what we will be doing.   Mine as well enjoy the unseasonable warm while it is here.  The leaves are certainly falling and it will back to true fall weather.

The Holiday season is here.  Panda Wear is accepting holiday orders thru 11/1/16 for delivery in December.  Please order early.  

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Planting the Vegetables

Greetings Everyone,

 This post I wanted to tell you all about the enjoyment of growing my own vegetables and planting them outside in the garden......... 

As is typical Rochester, NY weather for late March – outside warms to feel like spring and then cools to freezing-  changing daily.  It is definitely  more extreme with Global Warming. There will be some snow this weekend to welcome in April.  That is normal here so we must be patient with the weather roller coaster as the season begins.

I have just sneaked a peek at my seedlings and I’m surprised at how big they are.  They are coming along very nicely and are big enough to be recognizable - at least to those who know vegetable plants - with some being easier to identify than others.  The pots these are in are 4 inches to give you scale. Online there seem to be so many photos of newly sprouted seedlings but they seem somewhat redundant (just little green sprouts).

One of my inspirational flowers from my garden to show us Winter is done.  It is always wonderful when the snow melts and the flowers emerge into the landscape with their pop of fragrance and color.    

The seedling shown today are a beautiful array of shades of green.  I will thin them again and  eat the thinned leaves.  Home grown is always the BEST!  Any guess what these are?  

My work is organic and uses gemstones I cut and  precious metal wire for the OOAK settings I design. Show your love with a OOAK custom creation form Panda Wear for Grandma, Sister, Aunt, Wife, or Mother.  Panda Wear is taking your orders for Mother's Day.  Make the best gift, buy local and support the artists in your city or town.   

One of my necklace pendants showing off a stunning seashell set in 14 ktgf.

Natural Shell set in 14 ktgf.

Below you may find my work and follow me  

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Not quite planting outside, yet.  The countdown to outside planting continues.  Very soon......  the beginning of April. 

May your garden be happy and your weed be few.  

Leaping toward SPRING

Hi Everyone and best wishes for February 29, aka Leap Day. We all got to enjoy an extra day this year! Hello March 1st.  I feel the winter coming to an end and spring is in the air.  Here are a few photos from last years garden. 

The seed catalogs arrived about a month ago so throughout February I’ve been reading and planning my vegetable garden design for 2016.  Decisions had to be made on which vegetables to plant, how much space they needed and which ones to put aside for another time….the BIG question every year.  Some years it’s an easy decision however this year there were several new things which would be great to grow, but space is always a big consideration.  

Only 20 days until the FIRST day of SPRING.  The seeds have now been planted and the waiting begins.  I’m counting down the days until the seedlings are big enough to go outside. We started the lettuce and cooking greens so they can be enjoyed earlier this year on the table.    
 It’s so exciting to look forward to a fantastic 2016 growing season, I just wish the garden was larger.  Happy to report the first seeds are sprouted today, March 1st.

One of my custom cut free form stones set in Sterling silver.  The wire and design accent the best parts of the stone and compliment the new owner of this piece. To find my work:

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 For all the new readers 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 a flower... I picture designs I make with wire and gemstones.  As a lapidary, when I am cutting a stone my design can take shape based on what I see in the natural stone. Roses and snapdragons from the garden.   

Happy growing and enjoy your day.