Pollinator Sky Rise

 St. Paul,  Minnesota has a Pollinator Sky Rise in the park areas in hopes to help Urban Pollinators.

Como Park Offers Home for the Pollinators 

The above link is an article about the idea of the Sky Rise for Pollinators.

 

“This is a great big beautiful sculpture that can draw people in and get them to pay attention in ways they might not have otherwise before,” Lovelee said.

I loved what Amanda Lovelee said in the interview. Getting people to be aware of our loss of pollinators is the first step. What a fun idea with this beautiful sculpture. It will get people to stop and think about things for a moment. They may decide to do more research and see how they can help. 

Good Luck Urban Pollinators.. hope you find this Sky Rise, Home Sweet Home.

 

And the winner is..

Kris from Junk Chic Cottage 

Click here to visit Junk Chic Cottage

Kris won The Stroll in the Garden card collection from The Little Garden That Could.

The Little Garden That Could 

Happy May Day and a Giveaway

Happy May Day

May is here! Spring has sprung!

Here in Northwest Wisconsin flowers will soon be blooming and we will be busy in our gardens.

Enter to win the above photo cards.

All you have to do is leave a comment and in that comment share with me your favorite flower and why it is your favorite. 

If you would like to find out the meaning of your favorite flower, click the below website 

The New Language of Flowers

 and share the meaning with us.

 I am getting all excited to open The Flower Shack!

 I will have some new items available in The Flower Sack

 and at my website The Little Garden That Could

 Photo Cards are available at my website and at The Flower Shack.

 Succulent Log Planters are available at my website and at The Flower Shack.

Garden Tours and The Art of Flower Bouquets

I have tours and make & take bouquet workshops available this summer. 

All of that information is located on the Tour Page of the website.

Daybreak .. an adult day care program for folks with dementia came for a tour last summer. 

The power of flowers and memory. 

 And of course.. seasonal bouquets are available.

The winner of the giveaway will be announced on Wednesday, May 8th. 

Happy May Day

  

♥ Autumn Color Giveaway ♥

♥ It is that time here in Wisconsin. It is time to pack a picnic and head off for an Autumn color drive. ♥

 

"Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall."
- F. Scott Fitzgerald

To celebrate I am hosting an Autumn Color Giveaway ..
napkins for your picnic
fun autumn cookie cutters
stickers 
and a 31 tote to pack your camera and goodies in for your day out capturing natures beauty.

To enter please share your favorite about Autumn .. for those who are not able to comment below, please leave an email to be entered in the giveaway.
I will pick the winner the old fashioned way by pulling a name from a hat. I will announce the winner on Friday's post, September 21st.

"Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree."
- Emily Brontë

 

Small Business Saturday and The Winner Is ....

Happy Small Business Saturday

Do you have a favorite small business?

Do you have a favorite local shop you like to do business?

 First observed in the United States on November 27, 2010, it is a counterpart to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which feature big box retail and e-commerce stores respectively. By contrast, Small Business Saturday encourages holiday shoppers to patronize brick and mortar businesses that are small and local. Small Business Saturday is a registered trademark of American Express.

My small business started in 2013. It is just a wee little business, for one person to handle. I do not make enough money to support our family, just enough to continue to have fun spreading joy and flowers. My goal for 2018 is to continue to deliver flowers and smiles.

 The winner of the Small Business Saturday giveaway is Jessica of Barefoot by the Sea

Thank you to all who entered the Small Business Giveaway.

  

Small Business Saturday Giveaway

Back in 2013 I started The Little Garden That Could. Each year I added another piece to my business. I started out with selling flowers at my Farm Stand in front of my house. The summer of 2016 I also sold at the Bruce Farmers Market.

2017 I wanted  to try to have more control over how many flowers I would need to harvest. I created my Flower Subscription Service.

 

This week I added two more features to my website Flower Shop.

Living Gifts

sweet succulents that I can deliver to your friend or loved one

to bring a wee bit of green to the office or home

Stationery

photo cards using photos we took from our garden

 

 

Pollinators in the Garden

 Small Business Saturday Giveaway

 Small Business Saturday is November 25th.

To celebrate I am giving away four cards from our Autumn collection, featured below.

  To enter all you have to do is leave me a comment or e mail. I know I have some readers who have trouble leaving comments on the blog. I appreciate all of my readers and customers.

The winner of the giveaway will be announced on Small Business Saturday, November 25th.

Thank You for all the support and love!

Carla

 

Ups and Downs .... Life goes on .... Joy List Monday

 Joy List Monday

a weekly ritual

a reminder to stop and pay attention to the little beauties

 and graces that make life magical 

and to set aside time for gratitude each day

It has been a week of Ups and Downs for our family this past week.

Friday was a sad day for me, I was in a funk all day. I really was struggling to shake it.

We lost our two year old cat, Catsby. He struggled with seizures his entire short life.

We loved him and he loved us. He did share his love in a big way.

We all miss him.

Our dear friend, Deb lost her dad this week. We attended the visitation and prayer service on Thursday evening. Sunday we had dinner with Deb and another friend. We enjoyed sharing stories about Deb's childhood and her memories with her dad.

Taking time to remember the little beauties of life.

The robins are back. Tweet, tweet they sing in the morning. 

It is a lovely sound to hear the birds of Spring.

 Taking time to read a good book, with a warm cup of tea.

Trying a new recipe and having all the family like it.

And ....

 

 

Ha Ha!

A great article a friend shared with me

a good read 

And to celebrate the robins coming back to Northern Wisconsin, let us have a Spring Giveaway!

 5 post cards ... perfect to send a Thinking of You Spring greeting to a friend

Dark Chocolate Mints and tea ... perfect to share with a friend

Fun green napkins ... to make your table pretty while you enjoy your tea and chocolate

To enter all you have to do is leave a comment.

If you are not able to leave a comment on my blog, please e mail me, you will be entered in the giveaway. The winner will be chosen on Thursday evening and announced on Friday, March 31st On the Road Friday post.

Happy Monday, my friends!

 

February Giveaway

Hello Friends

It is time for a giveaway.

Greeting Cards to Color.

A craft and a gift as well as a greeting card.

  

 The winner will receive 9 fun cards to color.

Leave a comment below to be entered into the giveaway.

I know that some of my readers are not able to leave a comment. Leave me an e mail and you will be entered. I will pick the winner out of a hat on Sunday, February, 26th.  

I will announce the winner on my Joy List Monday post, February, 27th.

Good Luck

and 

Thank You for all the love and support.

  

Higlander Grogg Filled Cupcakes

Highlander Grogg Filled Cupcake

 My favorite flavored coffee is Highlander Grogg. A Wisconsin coffee company Berres Brothers Coffee Roasters shared the following recipe in a newsletter I receive. 

This was the first time for me to make a filled cupcake. 

We will celebrate the winners of the Think Snow giveaway with a cupcake!

Yippee to Kris of Big Rigs 'n Lil' Cookies 

and

Sheri of Red Rose Alley

 

Coffee Buttercream Frosting

Caramel sauce and chopped hazelnuts on top.

 The batter has 1 cup of cooled coffee!

 Coffee Filling

1 16oz. container coffee flavored  mascarpone cheese

Highlander Grogg Filled Cupcake

Batter:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 cup of cooled brewed Highlander Grogg Coffee

3 eggs

1/2 chopped hazelnuts  

( I did not put hazelnuts in my batter, I have a son who dislikes nuts in side baked goods.)

2 cup of sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1 8oz. container sour cream

3/4 cup Hershey unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with paper liners.

In large mixing bowl, mix together dry ingredients. 

Add oil, coffee, and eggs. 

Mix thoroughly.

Fold in the sour cream, extract and nuts.

Spoon the batter into muffin cups.

Bake for 16-18 minutes until tester comes out clean.

Cool.

Coffee Filling:

1 16 oz. container coffee flavored mascarpone cheese

12 oz. jar of caramel sauce - reserving 2 tbsp.

Mix ingredients thoroughly in medium mixing bowl.

Fill pastry bag and fill each cupcake with filling.

Coffee Buttercream:

1 stick softened butter

3 cups of powdered sugar

1/4 cup cooled brewed Highlander Grogg Coffee

1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts

In a medium bowl, beat 1 stick softened butter with 3 cups of powdered sugar.

Add 1/2 cup cooled Highlander Grogg Coffee.

Fill pastry bag with buttercream and frost cupcakes.

Drizzle caramel sauce and sprinkle with hazelnuts.

Refrigerate cupcakes.

 

  

  

 

  

 

Think Snow .... It is a Snowman Giveaway

Think Snow

We need a warm up in Wisconsin so it will snow. We have cold temperatures. So cold that it will not snow. We can not cross country ski with out snow. It is time we all think snow.

It is a Snowman Giveaway! 

My mom made up this fun giveaway for my blog readers.

I am drawing two winners.

Each winner will receive a towel and three snowmen.

To enter all you need to do is leave a comment. I have heard from a few of my readers that they are not able to comment. If you send an e mail to me saying you would like to be entered, your name will be tossed in the hat.  My son Atticus will pull two names from the hat Thursday evening. The winners will be announced Friday.

Think Snow!

♥ 

Carla

 

 

On The Road Friday ~ Black Hills, South Dakota and The Winner Is ....

 Welcome to On The Road Friday

 In September our family took a road trip to South Dakota.

We love to hike. This was a hiking adventure. 

The Black Hills were a favorite for both my boys and my husband.

 I tried to capture the twinkle of the trail. This entire path was scattered with mica.

With the sun shining down on the trail, it looked like you were walking on gold.

 My son Atticus found this face in the ground while we hiked.

Can you see a rock man?

I found this note tied to a tree ... Show me the Way ... the note was stitched on a heavy material type paper. Any ideas?

Our son Sam  found a treasure chest full of gold painted rocks when he went up to explore a cave.

Sam opened the chest and the note attached to the chest said, " Go ahead take a few gold rocks, but do not take the chest."

The Winner of Sage Leary's new album, Already There, is ...

 Beth at PlantPostings

Congratulation Beth! 

 Happy Weekend my Friends

 ♥

 Carla

Dreams and a Giveaway

This summer at the Bruce Farmer Market, I met Sage Leary and his family.

Sage is a talented young man working on a dream.

He performed during the farmer market for tips and to share his music.

To share with you about Sage, read below or click on the link.

More about Sage Leary 

 Guitarist/singer-songwriter Sage Leary has emerged as a powerful creative force on the music scene.  A shining, young talent with a fresh new sound, he recorded his instrumental debut album Feel the Sound at the age of 14.  Two years later, Sage recorded his second album, Already There, featuring his talent at vocals, guitar and songwriting. The result is a work of art that fuses together elements of rock, blues, country, Latin and reggae in a style that is uniquely Sage, and leaves the listener cheering for more.  When not writing new material, Sage stays busy playing local gigs, private parties, and of course, attending high school. Friend/follow Sage Leary on Facebook and YouTube.

I enjoyed visiting with Sage and his parents.

I just loved the family bond that Sage, his parents and brother had. Each Friday, his parents helped him set up and his brother was along too.

 Encouraging him to reach for his dreams.

Source

 Sage came out with a new album in October.

You all know I love all sorts of music. Sage has become a favorite of mine.

To listen to his music, head on over to his website in the link above.

  

Going Home is my VERY favorite of Sage's songs on the album Already There.

Hangin' By The Lake makes me think of my boys.

Thank You Readers ... many of you know I sold fresh cut flowers for the first time at the Bruce Farmers Market this market season. I blogged about the journey, the ups and downs and YOU all sent me encouraging comments.

 

As a Thank You, I am giving away Already There to one of my readers. 

All you need to do to enter the giveaway is leave a comment.

My son Atticus will draw a name from a hat on Thursday evening.

The winner will be announced on Friday. 

 

 

 

On the Road Friday ~ Ashland, Wisconsin

Do you see the Dock in the background?

The above photo was taken in 2012 at our Book Across The Bay ski race.

 

That is/was the Ashland Oredock in the background.

On my sisters weekend, the Oredock was gone.

My last visit to Ashland was in 2013, and some of the Oredock was still in place.

It was a big change for me to not see the dock out in the bay  as I was driving into Ashland.

 

The former Wisconsin Central (Soo Line) Ore Dock was the iconic feature of Ashland in regards to its representation of the economic impact on one of the City’s founding industries, its visual impact to the cityscape, and its geographic impact to the community’s waterfront.

Despite the community’s efforts, the deteriorating, unmaintained superstructure on the dock was removed with dismantling commencing in 2011 and being completed in late 2013.

 Click here to learn more about the Ashland Oredock

In October while I was waiting for my sister to arrive in Ashland, I took a little walk on the new Ashland Dock.

 

The City of Ashland has done a great job of improving the water front.

I enjoyed my walk on the dock.

I am sharing a few of the photos I captured from the dock.

 Looking at Ashland, Wisconsin 

From the Dock

 Welcome Back On The Dock

  

Chequamegon Bay

South Shores of Lake Superior

 Living on the Water

 

Thank you to all who entered my Thanksgiving Giveaway.

Diane of Welcome to Lavender Dreams

was the winner!

Have a great weekend!