Tuesday's Tips

Spring cleaning has left me with alot of baby clothing that the girls can no longer use. I don't know of any one that is having a baby girl to pass them on to. So I have come up with a couple of ideas that allow me to teach the girls about recycling and re-using things instead of throwing them out.

The first one is to use the clothing for dolls. 

Lucky for me I have 3 girls and LOTS of dolls they can dress up.

Try sewing some blanket's together to make a big blanket you don't have to worry if it gets ruined. 

These are my favourite! The twins wore them on their first birthday and it killed me to give them up. 

First I turned the shirt inside out and sewed along the bottom.

Then I sewed up the sleeves, stuffed them and sewed up the collar.

 As soon as Cesina saw them, she wanted all her t-shirts were to become pillows.

Seeing as there is no room for so many pillows, I decided a manicure would make her just as happy.

She came up with the rainbow nails and different stickers idea. The stickers can be found at dollar stores but make sure you use a clear coat because they tend to come off really easily if you don't top coat them.

The Halloween costumes also came out as the Spring closet cleaning continued and I was surprised that a size 7-8 fit the twins so well and they are a size 2T.

How perfect...a LPS bunny costume.I think I will have Cesina wear this as she hunts down the Easter baskets.

These are the tips I found online to deter snakes from your yard; 

• Remove vegetation from your home
• Kill any rodents you find outside of your home 
• Place a mothball and water mixture in coffee cans and poke holes in the top of the cans. Then set the cans out to deter the snakes.
• Seal any cracks around your home. Rattlesnakes tend to search for cooler, damper areas 
• during the summer so it is advisable to cover existing crevices around garage doors or 
• beneath basements to prevent them from entering these areas. 
• Water or swimming pool pumps should be properly covered as well. 
• Moist places in your yard, such as water fountains in your garden or any existing ponds, are ideal places for rattlesnakes
• Eliminate rattlesnake homes and nesting-sites.  Which includes such things as wood piles, rock piles, garbage piles, long grass, brush, undergrowth, piles of building materials, animal burrows, etc. 
• Think about the places that would be cozy for a snake to move into and remove them. 
• But be careful when you remove them! There may already be a rattlesnake in residence.

I thought I might add praying to the list because I can not control the rodents, or do anything about the tall grasses around the property. The moth balls might not be a good idea until the twins are older. Yep...praying...my best option!

With Easter on our doorstep, I wanted to share these amazing free printables and ideas  I found.

Just love this!!!

 Plant jellybeans that turn into lollipops by  Beauty and Bedlam

Wanessa Carolina Creations has a tutorial on how to make this beautiful Easter garland.

As well as offering a free a complete Easter party printable kit!

Flamingo Toes  has created this cute peeps printable.

Jinjerup has this ADORABLE owl basket and bookmarks free printable.

Parties for Pennies 

Happy Tuesday Tips

& 

Hoppy blogging !

Todays Creative Blog

Greenacre garden tour anyone?

Welcome to my garden....

Some of the beds were still sleeping last week, 

 

until we had a heat wave of 26'C for a couple of days straight

 

Then everything came to life! The flowers bloomed and the grass turned green.

Popsicle's stained clothing and flip-flops made their comebacks!

I even pondered cutting the grass for the first time this year.

Lucky for me we had no gas and my ambitions turned to relaxing and enjoying the view.

Summer-dreaming weather it was!

Can you believe this photo was taken the 21st of March? 

It's usually to cold to go outside still and the flowers would just be starting to grow. My garden is about a month ahead of it's regular schedule and I am wondering how much of this is global warming?.

Warmer temperatures bring bugs and other undesirables to the garden...starting with snakes!

While I was on my knees weeding, a garden snake slithered right up to me and I fell backwards screaming. This snake just looked at me as to say what?..I cussed at it...it didn't move (my husband later informs me they have no ears) I threw a rock at it...it didn't move...threw my trowel and still nothing....being the bigger person...I moved.

 This glorious event usually occurs in late July when my plants are really tall and I immediately stop cleaning the garden beds until fall or there are no signs of snakes. Never thought the fun would come so early but it prompted me to do some research and to my horror found out that Canada does have one poisonous rattlesnake.

Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake

ONTARIO DISTRIBUTION

The Eastern  Massasauga Rattlesnake , Sistrurus catenatus, is the only venomous snake still found in Ontario. Although the venom is potent, this snake's small size and retiring habits make it a minor risk to humans.

Massasaugas once had a wider range and were far more common in southern Ontario near the shores of Lake Erie and Lake Huron. Rattlesnakes were common in the Windsor area fifty years ago but their population has seriously declined with development and urbanisation of the area. They are still relatively common on the Bruce Peninsula and the eastern shoreline of Georgian Bay. Ojibway and the Wainfleet Bog near Port Colborne support small populations.

The range of the Eastern Massasauga closely coincides with the range of tall grass prairie in the United States. Less than one percent of the original prairie remains in North America and the Massasauga has declined over much of its range. These attractive grey and black reptiles were once killed indiscriminately because of a perceived danger of being bitten. In Wisconsin this rattlesnake was considered a nuisance up to 1975 and bounties were paid for dead snakes. It is now considered endangered in Wisconsin and Massasaugas are protected in eight of the ten states where it is found.

Due to the rapidly disappearing habitat and declining population, the eastern massasauga rattlesnake has been officially designated as threatened and is protected from harassment or killing under Ontario's Wildlife Conservation Act and the new Ontario Endangered Species Act . They are quite timid and pose no threat if they are left alone. For more information visit the Massasauga Recovery Team web site.

ETYMOLOGY

The name catenatus in Latin means chained or chain-like and refers to the central row of dark spots on the body. Massasauga is from the Ojibwa language and means "great river-mouth" which alludes to the marshy habitat of the snake.

IDENTIFICATION

A rattlesnake can be identified by the presence of bony, loosely segmented rattles at the tip of the tail (click here for sound), a pit between the eye and nostril and the vertical cat-like pupils. Adult length is about seventy-five centimetres (thirty inches). The head is not so triangular in shape as other rattlesnakes but it is noticeably wider than the neck.

~ Courtesy of http://www.ojibway.ca

I am praying I NEVER see one!

So much so that it has me thinking about changing out my plants to drought resistant species and  spending less time tending the garden beds.

Click on the image to check out Better Homes and Gardens free garden plans.

And for their list of the Top perennials to have in your garden.

Seems rather foolish to let a big ole' rattlesnake get the upper hand when there are so many beautiful plants to be growing and enjoying. What's would be the point living in the country if not to have big and luscious garden beds?.

Tomorrow I will research on how to deter them and always walk around with a big shovel .*wink*wink*

Greenacre Summer'lovin

''A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.'' 

~James Dent

We have been enjoying the most amazing hot and sunny weather. The days are spent poolside listening to 80's music and watching the girls discover all the things Summer can bring.

Riding on 4-wheelers,

trying new foods and getting super messy,

learning a new ways to share,

relaxing in the pool,

chillaxin,

trying new looks,

playing with the sprinkler,

finding new things to touch,

loving their big sister,

and celebrating their newest accomplishment...the ability to climb ANYTHING! 

(Spiderman has nothing on these two)

It's a good thing the butterflies and hummingbirds are airborne or they would end up in their mouths like just about everything else.

These Delphiniums are just one of the many flowers I use to attract hummingbirds to my garden. Some other flowers that butterflies love are;

Blanket flower

Butterfly weed

Garden Phlox

New england Aster

Gayfeather

Joe-pye weed

Tickseed

Black-eyed susan

Echinacea

Stonecrop

Bee Balm

Plants that attract hummingbirds are;

Bee Balm

Red Columbine

Delphinium and Hollyhock

Butterfly Bush 

Catawba Rhododendron

Rose of Sharon

Trumpet Vine and Trumpet Honeysuckle

Cardinal Vine

Lantana and Fuchsia

Silk Tree

Beard Tongue

Bleeding Heart

Bugleweed

Catnip

Coral Bells

Crocosmia

Daylily

Foxglove

Hibiscus

Hosta

Lupin

Obedient Plant

Phlox

Pincushion Flower

Pinks

Sage

Speedwell

For a complete plant list and more information about hummingbirds go to http://www.ontariohummingbirds.ca/

Click here for more information about Gardening for the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird in Canada

Even though we are right in the middle of summer...I can't help to to think of the cooler temps around the corner. In 5-6 weeks it will be Fall and I wanted to start planning my garden beds ahead of time. 

Here is a list of some of the best-fall-perennials

But it is hot! hot! hot! today and for the next week the temps are going to be 41'C with the humidex so no planting until the heat wave passes.

"Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it. "

~Russel Baker