One and Done for Spring 2021

 

It had been difficult to construct the blog for the week.  So exciting and scary to have had my Johnson & Johnson vaccine last Monday.  Yes I am One and Done.  As a woman and small business owner, felt it was a necessary step for me and my family.  We have all lost so much during this past year of the pandemic.  I need to be focused on my family and moving forward.  Life does not stop: for this pandemic or anything else.  Time is a constant though it may not seem that way in the recent past.

 

#oneanddone #fauciouchie #scienceisreal #believeinscience #sundayvibes #artistwhocare #garden #homegrown 

 

 

Yes more greens are in the veggie garden.  this is Red kale and it will be delicious.  I harvested most of the Mustard planted late winter in the greenhouse because it wanted to  bloom instead of grow leaves.  Thank to the Climate Emergency we live in now which showed itself as the extremely warm spring so far. Proud and happy gardener because I grow my plants from seed.  My grandma would be proud.  

 Having some much needed rain here in this Rochester, NY garden.  Happy for the moisture and the rest form the hard work outside this past few weeks. My you enjoy yur labors as I have recently.

 

Black Lives Matter

 Free the People ROC is the group in my area.

 FB page  Free the People ROC

I invite everyone to stand up, listen to others, be kind and speak up. 

#bekind

#blacklivesmatter 

#stopasianhate

#standup

#speakup

#listen  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buy Local from the Maker

My shop:  Panda Wear Website
Facebook:  PandaWire Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems  
Instagram: Instagram

 

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!

 

Spring in Rochester

 This week is the end of March 2021.  the year has started off well for Panda Wear.  There will be a big announcement soon.  Follow on social media  links below. Huge project has taken most of this month to complete.  Happy to be finished with it.  

Where do I live you might ask?  In Western NY, specifically Rochester NY.  With the Climate
emergency it is very different than when I was a child.  I have daffodils with the crocus blooming in March because of fluctuations from the high of 72 last week to the low of 20 in a few days.  On the plus side, planted mustard in the garden that are ecstatic to be in the dirt. Never was able to plant this early before.  Partly because of a slight drought for this month and the unseasonable warmth which allows my garden to be dry enough to plant.

 RBG   Ruth Bader Ginsberg

To honor Women's History Month, one of my Sheros is RBG.  Who inspires you?  What women are your Sheroes?  RBG quote :

Women belong in all the places where decisions are being made.  It shouldn't be that women are the exception.   

The group Art Force 5 has a fantastic project this month honoring Sheroes.  Art Force 5

Launched on 3.8.21, this year's Women's Empowerment Draft honors 32 Sheroes of college students in the USA.  Read more here 

Womens Empowerment Draft

 Black Lives Matter

Free the People ROC is the group in my area. We must end Asian Hate and the empowerment of  white supremacy groups.  The murders in Atlanta this month as well as the Attempted Coup 1.6.21 must be stopped!  We as a nation are better that this.  the past four years have ruled the fire of this racist segment of the population.  Plain and simple White Supremacy = Domestic Terrorism 

 FB page  Free the People ROC

I invite everyone to stand up, listen to others, be kind and speak up.  

#stopasianhate

#bekind

#blacklivesmatter 

#standup

#speakup

#listen 

My shop: Panda Wear Store

Facebook:  PandaWire Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems  
Instagram: Instagram

 

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! 

garden dirt soon

 Happy for the arrival of spring this past weekend. The official start of SPRING!  Spring Equinox began 3.20.21 at 5:37am on Saturday.  

Within two weeks I will have greens in the veggie garden.  So excited for digging in the dirt and beginning the season.  This is a prior year to show the beauty of the lettuce & snow peas in my backyard garden.  There is no better feeling for me than digging the soil and planting my homegrown seedling into the earth.  Mother Nature provides such a great bounty of sunshine and cooler temperatures.  My greens thrive in the wet and cool temps.  Should have a salad harvest by the middle of April.  Yes I transplanted some mustard today.  

Beautiful butterflies to remind us how fantastic the warm season is.  Hello first full week of Spring 2021. Looking forward to the return of the toads, dragonflies, butterflies, frogs, & migratory birds to my backyard garden.  

My shop:  Panda Wear Website
Facebook:  PandaWire Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems  
Instagram: Instagram

 

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

Free the People ROC is the group in my area.

 FB page  Free the People ROC

I invite everyone to stand up, listen to others, be kind and speak up. 

#bekind

#blacklivesmatter 

#stopasianhate

#standup

#speakup

#listen 

 

 

Welcome Spring 2021

Happy dance here SPRING arrives this week.  As a gardener, it is the best time of your wheneverything wakes up.  Five more days and it is SPRING 2021! This is will be fantastic.  It is off to a wonderful beginning.  

We took a walk last week before all the snow melted on a nice 50 degree day and enjoyed the robins at Genesee Valley park.  One perk of being an entrepreneur is I set my schedule. When I need a walk in the afternoon, I take a break and walk.  I love being a woman small business owner.  

Afternoon garden

My garden layout was finished a few weeks back and the seeding are looking great.  Tomatoes, peppers, kale, collard, mustard are all sprouted.  I planted some annual flowers that should sprout by next week.  Harris seed was perfect for the few seeds I need to resupply this year.  My favorite thing is they are in my area and their seeds do well in my backyard garden.  I shop local whenever I can.  

This is a pic from last year in my garden.  these bulbs are a regular beautiful blend every spring.  when my crocus finish, I see these.  there are a few crocus peaking out now that all the February snow has finally melted.  

We have learned the value of small business during this pandemic.  It has been a full year.  We have learned so much.  The list of what is important has changed for many people.  I believe we are closer as families because of what we have been though. 

This is "where is my head" snowman from Genesee Valley park last week.  so nice to be outside enjoying the fresh air an a nice dry day.   

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. 
BE KIND

 

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.  

Buy Local from the Maker

 
My shop:  Panda Wear Website
Facebook:  PandaWire Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems  
Instagram: Instagram

 

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!Free the People ROC is the group in my area.

 FB page  Free the People ROC

I took this great pic one week ago downtown in ROC. I love my city, Rochester, NY.

Spring Ahead Today

 Daily Routine

Yes, today we Spring ahead one hour.   As a gardener, so excited I can smell SPRING!!! Six more days until the official start of SPRING!  Spring Ezuinox starts 3.20.21 at 5:37am.  

Those who know me well know this sentiment applies but it is Tea in my case. 

• What is part of your daily routine to help keep you day on track?  
• How do you start each day to be sure it is off the a fantastic beginning?  

 

 

 

Buy Local from the Maker

 
My shop:  Panda Wear Website
Facebook:  PandaWire Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems  
Instagram: Instagram

 

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.
BE KIND

 

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.  

Free the People ROC is the group in my area.

 FB page  Free the People ROC

 

 

 

 Spend Womens history month learning about inspirational Women.   

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?   

Buy Local from the Maker

 
My shop:  Panda Wear Website
Facebook:  PandaWire Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems  
Instagram: Instagram

 

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.

 

 

 

Winter 2021 and My Garden Inspirations

 

 Michelle Obama

What an inspirational lady she is and so happy to have seen the great things she did while in the white house.  Starting for me with the way she changed the gardens there and brought back vegetables.  She is an incredible lady and doing many things including her inspiring Girls Opportunity Alliance.  

Becoming (to buy)

 The Girls Opportunity Alliance, a program of the Obama Foundation, seeks to empower adolescent girls around the world through education, allowing them to achieve their full potential and transform their families, communities, and countries. We engage people around the world to take action to help adolescent girls and the grassroots leaders working to educate them.

 Girls Opportunity Alliance

Quotes

The below quotes from Michelle are inspirational to me.  It is amazing to start this century with two African American administrations.  To now have Kamala Harris as our vice president shows that the places we can go as women are unlimited. yes we have work to do as women and as a country but the opportunities are unlimited. 

 We need to do a better job of putting ourselves higher on our own 'to do' list.

Success isn’t about how much money you make, it’s about the difference you make in people’s lives.

Don’t ever make decisions based on fear. Make decisions based on hope and possibility. Make decisions based on what should happen, not what shouldn’t.

 

 Black Lives Matter

 

We are in this together. Wear a Mask, Stay home, Stay safe, Flatten the curve, Facts Matter.

We need to listen and be ready to stand with them. We have a local Black Lives Matter group in our city.  Free the People ROC.

 FB page  Free the People ROC

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.

 

 

Buy Local from the Maker              

 
My shop:  Panda Wear Website
Facebook:  PandaWire Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems  
Instagram: Instagram

 

Why shop small?  For every $100 you spend at a local business,  $68 stay in the community.

 

Everyone is inspired by different things.  These ladies of 2021 inspire me.  Whom are you inspired by?  feedback welcome here. 

 

Happy Birthday

 February is the Birthday month for two very important people in my life my Father & his Mother, my grandmother.  I think of my family and the fantastic gardens at Grandma & Grandpa's house when I was a child.. The cottage, their summer place my Grandfather built is where the fishing happened.  A good day is shown on the table below where many fishes were prepared for family meals over the years. The sound of the water takes me back to the cottage in the 1000 islands and long summer weekends with my father when I was a child.

This is a great photo I have of my grandmother, Clara from when my father was a child.  I always remember her with white hair.  Seeing younger grandma is inspiring to me.  I appreciate her enthusiasm for gardening even more with these younger pics of her.  Seeing the joy she has with her children show below,. 

Happy Birthday Dad. We miss you and know you are with us in spirit. You taught us by your example every day.
 He spent many hours with me showing and teaching me how to change the oil in the car or replace the brake pads.  I cherish those memories and getting dirty for hours with him.  As the kids from my neighborhood can tell you my father was the first to lend a hand when one of the bicycles needed to be repaired. He had a big heart and was always the one to step up and offer assistance.  It is one of the core values I have that he taught me. 

Older pic of my Dad,  his senior year I believe. #happybirthday #father #grandma #lovewins
#memories #young #bicycle #neighborhood

The results from a good day on the boat at the cottage.  This table has been part of preparation of many family meals for many children whom have enjoy their time at the cottage in the 1000 Islands. 

Grandma with two of her sons, My uncle Russell and my father.  The same day as seen in the above pic with the happy fishermen in the pic.  I am certain my grandfather caught a few of these also. as a rule all fishing people were taught how to bait their own hook.  We had help if needed in reeling in our catch.  

 Black Lives Matter

We are in this together. Wear a Mask, Stay home, Stay safe, Flatten the curve, Facts Matter.

We need to listen and be ready to stand with them.We have a local Black Lives Matter group in our city.  Free the People ROC.

 FB page  Free the People ROC

 

 

I invite everyone to stand up, listen to others, be kind and speak up. 

#blacklivesmatter

#standup

#speakup

#listen 

      Buy Local from the Maker 

My shop:  Panda Wear Website
Facebook:  PandaWire Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems  
Instagram: Instagram

Why should we all shop small?  For every $100 you spend at a local business,  $68 stay in the community.  

 My Mother's Day brooch from a few years ago in copper to show the beauty of this material.

 

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. 

 Buy Local from the Maker 

My shop:  Panda Wear Website

Facebook:  PandaWire Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems  
Instagram: Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

Black History Month 2021

We need to listen and be ready to stand with them.We have a local Black Lives Matter group in our city.  Free the People ROC is the group.  the FB page of the group Free the People ROC

Black Lives Matter in ROC

The Group in my city is Free The People ROC

 I invite everyone to stand up, listen to others, be kind and speak up. 

#blacklivesmatter

#standup

#speakup

#listen  

We are in this together. Wear a Mask, Stay home, Stay safe, Flatten the curve, Facts Matter.

 

Alice Malsenior Tallulah-Kate Walker is an American novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist. In 1982, she published the novel The Color Purple, for which she won the National Book Award for hardcover fiction, and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Black History Resource

As Covid contines I know many are having trouble.  there is help outstare.  remember if you know someone who sounds different reach out have another friend reach out.  Send a letter, snail mail is very uplifting.  

NSP link

Help NSP

Buy Local from the Maker               

My shop:  Panda Wear Website
Facebook:  PandaWire Facebook
Twitter:  Panda Wear Gems  
Instagram: Instagram

Why should we all shop small?  For every $100 you spend at a local business,  $68 stay in the community.

this is Biggs jasper I hand cut into this beautiful gemstone.  I am happy to help with Valentine's month gifts.