Nature Photography

Now that the weather has been considerably warmer, I've noticed nature's treasures around my yard. Beautiful plants and flowers that I, myself, have planted within the ten years we have lived here. Bleeding hearts are beautiful, but be fore-warned if you weren't aware of this before...all parts of a bleeding heart plant are poisonous. So don't plant where children and pets can get into them.

This last picture is one of my irises, and I thought it was neat to see the spider on the flower. I think I'll call this one "Beauty and the Beast". By the way, I am not a huge fan of spiders. I always joke to family and friends that I am arachnidphobic. But it's not really a joke.
I'm seriously considering opening up a second etsy shop and offer my photography prints for sale. I absolutely love photography, and would enjoy showing more of my work. What do you think?

A Toddler's Garden

As a lover of nature, picking flowers, and running around outside, I knew my daughter did not "need" more toys. So, for her 3rd birthday, my husband and I decided to give her a garden all of her own. We selected a spot in the yard, I removed the sod, and my husband built a wooden border around it. We selected fun plants for her, like purple coneflower, coriopsis, sunflowers, and marigolds. The annuals are added to give summer-long color, and she can get excited to replant them each year. Our daughter loves tomatoes, so we also added her very own cherry tomatoe plant! There's also a couple strawberry plants, but we did not have them covered, and unfortunately, an intruder ate them before our daughter could enjoy the fruit. Overall, we believe this is one of the best creative, learning gifts we could've ever given our daughter.