Spring has Sprung

Click to enlarge.

The first day of spring was not one to disappoint: plenty of sunshine and lots of time spent outdoors at the beach and in the garden.

Some of you know that I've been an avid surfer since my teens and spend as much time as possible down on the beach and on the water. The center photo is of me at my favorite "secret" beach this past Saturday enjoying the sunshine and surf.

The other eight pieces of the mosaic, well, what can I say? The bulbs -- freesias, Dutch irises, daffodils --are all blooming happily and the nasturtiums and lavender are showing their colors as well.

Be sure to visit Mary over at Little Red House for more pretty mosaics!

The Incredible Bulb & New Etsy Shop Additions

This assortment of blues includes the prettiest blue and white Delft iris.

Planting bulbs in autumn has been a yearly tradition my mom and I have kept for as long as I can remember -- something excitedly discussed and planned for weeks in advance and looked forward to with near-uncontrollable anticipation. This time of year means frequent trips to Home Depot and local garden centers as we hunt for new varieties of daffodils, narcissus and Dutch irises. I think our record is planting something close to like 1,000 bulbs. This year we've come across new (to us) colors of Dutch iris to add to our gardens and have added a few to our etsy shop, too, for fellow bulb fans. Also new to our etsy shop this week are some velvet ribbon trims and delicate miniature pom pom trims in a TON of colors.

Plush velvet ribbon in Royal Blue.

We love this pretty Monet-esque mix of yellows and purples.

This beauty is called "Carmen."

Bright violet velvet ribbon trim does it's best iris impersonation.

"Rosario" boasts a beautiful lilac-hued blossom.

Miniature pom pom trim in Buttercream.