Saturday, February 5, 2011

Croc Dundee at Bloomers Ice Capades

The Happy Croc Dundee

I really couldn't imagine any other variety of Croc enjoying himself basking on a bed of ice like this one at Martha's Bloomers this weekend. He truly looked happy with that big smile. I didn't hardly feel frightened at all. What a fabulous day filled with splendid rays of sunshine and special friends. And Yes! We were looking for adventure! The three of us like tourist out exploring new territory in the snow and ice at our local nursery.


Donna and Pammy like kids in a candy store!

We headed out this morning with high expectations of attending a seminar on raising honeybees. Unfortunately it had been canceled due to the snow and ice we had experienced over the last couple of days. But that didn't stop the shear delight of a day out. After all, being shut in for a few days will give a Texas garden girl severe cabin fever. I have to say, this is the first time I've visited a nursery with ice sculptures. There was snow and ice at every turn. Actually, I'm wondering if perhaps all the fun may have been a symptom of having spring fever.


Frozen Fountain at the inner courtyard

My favorite fountain at Bloomers

This nursery has many wonderful water features. I wish I could put some of them in my garden at home. Everywhere you turned there were little creeks running through the landscaping and skipping over gorgeous rocks. There is nothing like the peaceful sounds of water trickling while walking through the garden paths. We continued exploring all the fun little nooks and crannies in the gift shop until hunger took hold. We then discovered that the tearoom was also closed due to frozen water pipes. We needed an alternate plan quickly! So say goodbye to Martha's Bloomers!! Surely there is a place that isn't completely frozen and serves warm tea.

Oh but wait!! I spotted these guys on our way out. I think I must have one for the herb garden. After all the honeybees will need a cool place to sip a little fresh water this summer. These little vintage bunnies looked quite willing to do the job. I will have to make mention of them for a Mother's Day Gift perhaps.

To complete the trio, my garden friends Ruth and Donna

Ruth suggested that we might head over to the tearoom at Bluebonnet Herb Farms. It was just a hop, skip and a jump away. She always has the most wonderful ideas!! After all, she began this exploration by inviting us to join her for the bee seminar. And a excellent idea it was. We were greeted by the most charming staff upon our arrival to the tearoom. It was warm and cozy and they had the most wonderful hot Hibiscus Tea complete with fresh raw local honey and lemon. We enjoyed the most delectable crab cakes and mixed green salads. It was most certainly the perfect end to our icy garden day!!

Warm Wishes and Happy Gardening!!
Pammy







8 comments:

  1. Girlfriends are the best! This weather is just crazy. Even here in SWFL my local bee-guy is out of honey. He said the bees don't produce when it gets too cold. Glad you got out of the cabin & had some fun.

    Take good care,

    Karen

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  2. I never imagined this sort of weather in Texas!!! Looks like you had a lovely day.
    Lesley x

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  3. Hi Karen and Lesley!! Oh we had a marvelous day!! These two friends of mine are sooooo fun!! They're suppose to be rescheduling the bee class or we will have to wait till August. I'm pretty excited, but nervous too about raising my own bees. A new adventure for me..but ohhhh the honey, honey ;D

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  4. Looks like you girls had a blast! Sorry you missed the bee keeping seminar, but the nursery sure looks like a wonderful place to 'play'!
    Email me if you girls need bee info- we just got rid of our honey bee hives last year so we're back to keeping Orchard Mason bees :)

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  5. Hi Rhonda, Yes we surely had a whole lot of fun. They rescheduled the class and had it this weekend. I really learned quite a bit of stuff. I will declining on raising bees and sticking with the garden natives to feed them. We have so many problems with African Bees here and I don't want any problems with my Grandbabies playing outside. Are the mason bees easier to keep? xxooxx

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  6. Mason bees are a breeze, and you only need to provide the houses for them- they do the rest!
    I loved our honeybees, but they can get aggressive when feeding on certain plants- buckwheat being one. We have a neighbor that raises a lot of buckwheat and I kept getting stung when I was out mowing or trimming- to the point of needing an epi-pen. So now I just work with all my bee keeping friends indoors and swap for my honey and wax!

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  7. That sounds like a marvelous idea. I wish I had neighbors closer to me that were raising bees to swap with. We don't have enough trees out here on the prairie to sustain mason bees I don't believe. I'm surely working on it though. I had little wild bees coming in the kitchen today. I feel so bad because with the hard freezing that we've had I have nothing blooming in which to feed them with. I may have lost more wild flowers that were just germinating in the garden too.

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  8. I remember that wonderful day!!! Ice sculptures in the garden... In texas! I don't remember seeing anybody else there. Were we the only goofy ones there? Love the memory.

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