What a difference ten days makes! The difference between ten days ago and today is huge! Bulbs are up, and so are the Primula vulgaris!
Two weeks ago there was snow on the ground. The snow drops were out, and the early crocuses had emerged through the thatch of the lower meadow. Now the Dutch hybrids are up, as well as the other early spring bulbs.
The air is still very cold. On Friday, ten days ago, it was sleeting and snowing. As I came up the drive way from doing errands I caught a glimpse of pale yellow. Walking back down the drive there they were… sheltered between two large tree roots, the first of the Primula vulgaris was up!
PRIMULA VULGARIS
Today the P.vulgaris is a large lovely group of flowers!
For more about Primulas vulgaris I just updated and added new pictures to:
Primula Vulgaris, ssp Sibthorpii-
a Story of Plant Lust in
Maine Musings.
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MONDAY- April 22, 2013
NEWS FROM BRICK HOUSE FABRICS
There has been a lot happening around here! First, we have my new assistant, Christine, who is helping me get things done! She is a welcome addition, indeed!
The other new thing is we are now on Face Book. I have avoided Face Book for a long time, but decided it might be an easy way for some people to keep up with what is happening here.
You can find us at
https://www.facebook.com/BrickHouseFabrics
The wrapping my mind around doing the regular weekly blog, the fabric blog, and also Face Book, has been truthfully, mind boggling, and I am struggling to get the timing of it all down!
For those of you who do use FB, please like our page as we try to grown our audience there.
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I did not get a chance to write last week. We had a huge order come in, the largest we have ever received. And getting the pictures taken and edited, has been a challenge. There is a group of new fabrics that I am calling the Lagoon Fabrics. One has turtles and the other is of shells that is a companion. For some reason the shells on white was very difficult to get correct! The close-up picture came out fine right away, but the over-all was very difficult. The green in the shells in the over-all kept moving to a weird drab blah tone… Editing it to get anything remotely like the fabric took over a hundred shots in a huge variety of light!
All of this does take time, and so I am doubly glad for Christine!
For those that are tired of the ocean fabrics- you will be glad to know you will be getting a break from them. For the next few days we will be concentrating on other types of patterns!
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TUESDAY- March 23, 2013
Yesterday was exciting… New mid-sized and large plastic bags arrived with new stickers, new shipping labels, and fabric and fabric samples from France! As none of these were ordered together or on the same day, it was as if some great plan had come into play! The shipping supplies were stored, the fabric opened, and then the samples were perused. It is always exciting to look at the samples, to plan ahead for the next shipment.
Last week I talked to quite a few companies about a variety of things. And some of the conversations were really interesting. Three of them stood out.
Read about them in
Sewing Notions,
Fabric Facts
About Home Decorating Fabric
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The very last of the snow drops are almost finished.
The foliage has elongated,
and the seed heads are forming.
I went down the drive to see a group of the early crocus,
which had formed a wonderful clump of delicate violet.
But, over the last twenty four hours they had gone by.
Only one or two remained.
Chionodoxa begins blooming about half way through the crocus season. They seed themselves in crevices, making pools of soft color.
CHIONODOXA LUCILIAE
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As promised, there are two of the new fabrics listed.
And they are NOT ocean related!
There is a retro Scandinavian animal fabric
and a
bright parrot fabric!
See the fabric blog!
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WEDNESDAY- April 24, 2013
A rainy day on the coast of Maine.
THURSDAY- April 25, 2013
Today started out cloudy, but has burst into a true spring day. The sun is shining, and it is 62 degrees F. Driving the fabric envelopes and packages to be shipped, I saw star magnolias, royal magnolias, quince, and forsythia in bloom! It is as if all of the shrubs have been waiting on the sun!
Up on our hill we are further behind.
Where the pussy willow catkins have turned yellow with pollen elsewhere,
ours have not even turned fuzzy.
The Chionodoxa,
which have seeded themselves everywhere,
are in full bloom.
One hears the clear call of the white throated sparrow,
and the sound of woodpeckers.
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We have shipped a lot out to Australia this week.
Someone recently asked how we packed things for shipping.
So, I thought it would be good to show how we do it.
See how it is done! Go to
Sewing Notions,
Fabric Facts,
About Home Decorating Fabric,
Fabric Shipping.
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SATURDAY- April 27. 2013
The fabrics that moved this week were not the expected colors at all! Deep rich tones of grey, red, and gold were the color winners. See the patterns in the fabric blog!