Camellia Time

Early spring is the time of year we get to marvel in the beauty of our camellias in the deep South. This is a beautiful flower. Stately with just a hint of pink. It was tagged incorrectly; it looks a lot like Moonlight Bay further down the page.

Melissa Anne has  a large white flower with ruffled petals.

I have been anxious for these delicate rose-like blooms to open before we have more bad weather. Here it is today:  Moonlight Bay! Extraordinary!

These are Betty Sheffied Supreme.

First bloom in our garden (a little weathered) is Silver Triumph.

Kick-Off!!

Stunning red and white:  Magic City!

Love this subtle pink beauty - Margaret Davis!

You can learn more about these beautiful plants at http://www.camellias-acs.com/. This is also the time to propagate by grafting.

In a few months we'll get to see if this one "takes".

If you have an opportunity, visit a camellia garden and enjoy the beauty. This would be a great time to see Magnolia Gardens  near Charleston, S. C. It won't be long before spring will be showing off its best blooms!
Kudos to Philip for all his work on the camellias!! What a great hobby!!

Spring has Sprung

I am enjoying a little time outside today, despite the pollen and gnats! These bourgainvilleas made it through the winter and are already in full  bloom. That is hard to believe, but I am really liking it as they are one of my favorite plants!

I am working on smocked outfits for Annette and Lee. They are "ready-to-smock" products, so I am able to save the time of  sewing the garment . . . and enjoy the fun of smocking. I should mention that Susie's Ready to Smock does a GREAT job if anyone is interested in this idea. Here is the website.

The plate I am using on Lee's outfit is "Gone Fishin'" by Ellen McCarn.

I am going to coordinate it with "Row of Fishes" by Nancy Elliott Miller for Annette's bubble outfit. They will be in coordinating colors - but not matching. I can't locate a copy of that smocking plate on the internet. I will post a picture as soon as that is finished.

Last but not least . . . I had a great weekend in Atlanta at Stitches South and Pediatrics Conference (Children's Healthcare of Atlanta). Sister Cathy was wonderful to put up with my crazy yarn shopping and knitting classes AND downtime while I was a pediatrics seminar. I think she  also found a few items in her shopping bag by the end of the weekend.

One of my purchases at Stitches was this fun Noro Sock Yarn. It feels sort of coarse and I can't imagine having socks made from it. However, we saw a scarf/stole made from it and thought it was pretty unique and colorful. It will be much more uniform after blocking and lose the puffiness you see here. As always, it is so much fun to watch the rainbow of colors unfold.

The pattern is One Skein - A Stole! (English Version) by Katja Jordan . It is available as a free download on Ravelry. I believe it can be accessed through this link. Enjoy!

Blackberry Jam

Philip and I took a short road trip today. We've been wanting to visit the Bamboo Farm near Savannah, Ga. It is owned by the University of Georgia and is comprised of several garden displays (including bamboo), as well as pick-your-own strawberry and blackberry fields. We saw lots of bamboo . . .

beautiful lotus plants (they grow in the water) . . .

and a field of blackberries. . .

We picked about 2 gallons of big, beautiful berries and brought them home to make some jam.Until last year, we have always mashed the berries by hand, with a strainer to remove the pulp and seeds. Last year we decided to try this electric juicer. It really helps make this project much less time consuming. (And none of us have any time to waste!)

I forgot to take a picture of the jam boiling on the cook-top! That's when the juice, sugar, and SURE-JELL (pectin) begin to boil and after exactly one minute we hurriedly have to ladle the hot liquid into the prepared jars and tighten the lids . . . anticipating the "pop" when the lids seal. Check out the Sure-Jell link above for the recipe.

Voila . . .

This has become somewhat of a family tradition. Every June we anticipate the blackberries ripening so we can fill up the jars again for the next year. Now the blackberry jam will come out of the cabinet to slather on biscuits, toast, or perhaps an English muffin. I really recommend a trip to the Bamboo Farm for all the plant lovers around. They anticipate having blackberries to pick until mid-July. Check out their web-site and give them a call to be sure the fields are open.