You've Got Mail Monday

Not a lot of great stuff ending up in my mailbox lately. I've been concentrating on the garden and not paying too much attention to the catalogs. The usuals show up: Land's End, FrontGate, Oriental Trading, but I'm not even browsing much.

The latest Gardener's Supply Company catalog is on my table. I haven't gone through it yet, but I know I want to order some type of irrigation system for the vegetable garden. It's too hard to keep hauling out the hose and water each night.

The only book I've received is Nobody's Secret by Michaela MacColl. I am hosting her book tour at The Children's and Teens' Book Connection. This books sounds fascinating. It features a young Emily Dickinson solving the murder of a handsome stranger. We're not too far from where Emily Dickinson lived, so I like to read books about her.

That's it for now. Hope you have a great week.

You've Got Mail Mondays

It wasn't a great week for quantity, but it was a great week for what arrived. As I mentioned yesterday, the plants in the gardens are growing like crazy thanks to all that rain followed by sunshine here and there. Lost some of my herbs to the thunderstorms we had recently, but everything else has survived.

A couple of weeks ago I purchased these Flexible Garden Grids. The postman dropped them off early last week. I hope this set of 4 is enough, but I might have to buy more. I have bamboo stakes and ties already, but the tomatoes need something heartier to hold them up. I also think they will work well for the sugar snap peas the Lil Diva (10) is growing. Those plants are probably about a foot high now.

The garden clogs I ordered came in via UPS. I used Amazon to order some nautical blue Sloggers Garden Outfitters™ Garden Clogs. For years I've wanted them, but I made due with my sneakers. Well, now that I am outside more often taking care of the vegetables, I really need something I can slip into and slip off before coming inside. I don't have to worry about them getting wet, and now I won't track mud and grass into the house.

That's it for this week's You've Got Mail Monday. Enjoy your week.

Add Color and Style to Your Home Quickly with Window Box Planters

One of my favorite places in the garden is the window box planters on our shed. I've always loved how window box planters allow you to easily and quickly add a touch of color and style to your home, giving it great curb appeal.

When I found we could add window box planters to our shed I was so excited. Because I plant annuals there, I can change the flowers in the spring and fall to provide a different look without spending a ton of money. This year, I opted for purple and yellow pansies on one side of the shed door, and an herb garden on the other. These types of planters allow you grow multiple varieties of plants in contrasting colors and sizes. I'm still learning how to do this correctly, but I adore hanging plants like Lobelia matched with the spiky tall leaves of Dracaena marginata.

WindowboxPlanters.com offers a wide selection of window box planters from the most trusted manufacturers. Since 2004, they have been committed to bringing you high-quality merchandise at a great price. Some products are exclusive to WindowboxPlanters.com and their affiliates.

Not only do they offer window box planters made from a variety of materials--vinyl, wood, metal and fiberglass--they offer accessories too. From corbels and brackets to deck rails and replacement liners, everything you need to create and maintain a unique look for your home is available at WindowboxPlanters.com.

They offer Low Price Protection before and after a purchase, along with a 30 Day No Hassle return policy. You can order online anytime and their Customer Service Department is available seven days a week. You can also chat live with a customer service representative.

Enjoy adding color and style to your home with these beautiful window box planters.


This post sponsored by WindowboxPlanters.com

You've Got Mail Mondays

What a crazy week it was. I had things dropped off by the postman, UPS, and Fed-Ex. It seemed like every time I turned around the doorbell was ringing.

Several books arrived last week. Mr. Postman brought: Falling for the Fireman by Allie Porter and two books in Ally Carter's Heist Society series: Heist Society and Uncommon Criminals. These are books I won from blog giveaways. Our UPS driver dropped off another book I won: Four Sisters, All Queens by Sherry Jones. I'm really excited about this one. For review, he also brought Happy Easter! from one of my favorite children's authors/illustrators Liesbet Slegers.

Two neat catalogs arrived. The first was Lowe's Creative Ideas for Home and Garden. I love looking through these catalogs for great ideas on how to improve and decorate our home. This one hosted 27 easy projects under $50. That fits the bill for a thrifty person like me.

The other catalog was from Womanswork. They are a woman-owned company that sells gardening supplies. I have to admit, until I really got into gardening, I would buy the cheap equipment. I've found, however, you just can't compromise quality when it comes to working with the earth. The back cover featured a glove with arm saver. The elbow-length cuff has a pull cord to keep the glove secure. I'm seriously thinking of buying these because of the ticks and mosquitoes around here. I also thought their sun hats were attractive.
Our Fed-Ex driver delivered the Rubbermaid® Hidden Recycler this past week. It's installed and already in use.

That's it for this edition of You've Got Mail Mondays. Make sure you check in with us tomorrow, as it's the kick-off of the Spring Cleaning Book Giveaway Hop. I'll be giving away 15 children's picture books from a variety of talented authors.

You've Got Mail Mondays!

Monday is here again. That means it's time for another edition of You've Got Mail Mondays.

I received a mini-catalog for kids clothes from Land's End. They are offering free shipping through February 14th in this one. A reason I order children's clothes from them most often is their age-appropriate styles. Their clothes are fashionable, but modest.

The Home Gardening Product Pack came last week. This includes a slew of mail-in postcards for a variety of products. This time I signed up to receive a few catalogs I didn't already get. There was one I was interested in, but since there was no website--only the card to mail in or a phone number--so I skipped it.

I received two coupons for Meow Mix® I had requested. We don't currently use Meow Mix, but discounted offers are great ways to try something new. The first coupon is for $1.00 off any size bag of NEW Meow Mix Tender Centers. The other is for a FREE cup of NEW Meow Mix Paté Toppers™.

On the book front, I received three books from one of my favorite children's publishers--Clavis Publishing. They began sending me unsolicited shipments. I liked their books so much that I requested they continue to send new releases along. Usually I donate unsolicited copies or use them for giveaways, but luckily I read one book from the initial shipment first. Their authors really understand children. Guido van Genechten has become one of my favorite children's authors. In this shipment I received:

• Little Snowman Stan by van Genechten,
• My Little Troublemaker by Thierry Robbertecht and illustrated by Philippe Goossens,
• and I Have Two Homes by Marian De Smet and illustrated by Nynke Talsma.

All except van Genechten are new to me, so we'll see how I like them.

Even though the mailman didn't deliver this one item, it's worth talking about. I entered a giveaway at Hollywood Daze for a chance to win a copy of Love Begins, the prequel to Love Comes Softly. Everyone has raved about this series, so I figured I should start at the beginning. The DVD arrived mid-week.

That's it from my neck of the woods. Hope you received some great presents from your mail carrier last week.

Stepping Toward Self-Sufficiency

Some days, I'm fed up. I look at my grocery bill and think--there must be a better way. For years now, I've wanted to put in a vegetable garden and grow fruit trees to make our family less dependent upon others. One day, I picked up green beans from the store and they looked unnaturally green. Not only that, I've gotten spoiled with fresh eggs and honey from our pastor's farm. The turkey he sold us for Thanksgiving was 27 pounds!

While, I doubt I'll ever be raising chickens and turkeys like our pastor does, I want 2012 to be the year our family begins stepping toward self-sufficiency. Not only will it be good for us, it will be good for our environment too.

I hope those of you who have already been where I am are willing to share some advice. Where did you start? What project did you tackle first? Are there products to help us move toward going green and being more self-sufficient that won't cost an arm and a leg? I'll be writing up occasional posts to track our progress.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Latest Product to Review for Amazon Vine

I know I don't talk about it much, but I love gardening. I don't get a chance to get outside as much as I would like, but when I noticed this Garden Genius PF11-1T Durable Pot Filler Disc was available for review, I knew it's what I was looking for, so I grabbed it from my Amazon Vine Monthly Newsletter. I have two containers that I need to fill, but when you load them down with rocks for drainage, those guys become heavy and hard to move around. I figured I would give this a try to see if I could lighten up the pot.

It came in this week, and now I have a dilemma. It says that this is durable and can be reused. So, do I wait and post my product review at Amazon after the season is over so I can see if that's true, or do I post it after I've used the product and liked what it does for me right now?  Hmmmm... the life of a reviewer is never simple.  :)