Library Book - A Review

Oh My Goodness

Handmade for the Garden: 75 Ingenious Ways to Enhance Your Outdoor Space with DIY Tools, Pots, Supports, Embellishments, and More, by Susan Guagliumi, published in 2014 by Stewart, Tabori & Chang.

The day I checked out 12 ebooks from the library, this book wasn’t immediately available so I placed it on hold. It was only a few days later I received notification it was loaned out to me! Honestly, at first glance I thought it was going to be all about “Yard Art” - I love creating yard art - but it’s so much more!

It is a fun informative book with nice photos and illustrations! I’m a visual learner, making this aspect a great feature. She shares what has worked for her, and what didn’t (and the why),  when it comes to making functional garden tools, supplies, and treatments for and in the garden.

I never thought about making my own seed tape!
I never thought about creating a “mini” hothouse!
I never thought about simply anchoring milk jugs when using them as a cloches!
I never thought about how easy a Hoop House could be to make!
I never thought about making a dibble!

And all the above (and more) is in just the first chapter!

She’s just started!

Although potted (container) plants take more watering, I loved the fabric pot concept, and the wall pockets, and will have to make some! I’m thrilled I saved all the burlap...

Seriously, who would have thought about making a plant container/pot out of a soaker hose? BRILLIANT!

Right now, I will just make a note her Chapter 3 is about Mosaics. Although beautiful, I just don’t have the time this year. This book will be my go-to if/when time permits.

Now, Chapter 4 is on Cement & Hypertufa! I’d never heard of hypertufa until this book... gardening has a whole other language I’m slowly learning! I’ve never bought any pots other than terra cotta. I know, I’ve lived a sheltered life. No, not really, just never have gotten this “deep” into gardening before!

I’m excited about working with cement and creating it and hypertufa projects! She even recommends doing a web search for “... ideas, recipes, and inspiration.” But then her explanation how to cast leaves is perfect for the upcoming Fairie Garden, not to mention her Fairy house itself!!!

So, mental note to self... this is the go-to chapter for tips, supplies, techniques!

I know with our high winds I’m going to need various supports in the garden. I like the natural look and Chapter 5, Standing Tall, has clever ways/materials for single supports, tripods, and tuteurs.

I’m excited about the same type of suggestions and instructions she gives in Chapter 6, Rustic Trellises, Fences, Arbors & Box Supports. We may not have white cedar or willow she talks about, but our neighbor has a lot of the invasive bamboo I’m certain he’ll be happy to part with!

Off-Season, Chapter 7's Project & Planning is a good reminder to keep good records of what went where.

I’m most grateful Momma kept a journal of sorts about her rose garden! The actual plant markers were lost on some, but I remembered seeing the garden diagram in one of her favorite garden book. When I went to dig up her roses in Dallas when we sold the house, to bring them here, to The Sprott Country Gardens, I was forever grateful to find that special book! I was able to identify which ones were which!  

I need to do the same.

She talks about time-saving tools. I’m already looking around (here and off property) of what I can repurpose to use in the garden. I am training my eye to see things outside the box.

Oh, but then in this final chapter, it was the clincher, the last straw that made me go over to Amazon and purchase this book: creating markers. It’s an Oh My Goodness how clever this is and that is ...

The money I will save utilizing materials I never considered using as plant markers (and I HAVE on hand) just paid for this (used) book! 

Yes. Basically all the different suggestions shown in the book are probably on Pinterest. If I even thought of them to look up, but I get much too distracted by other things and cannot keep focused! I’d rather have a reference book in hand.

I was also impressed by the thorough list of websites “Sources for Supplies” she provided at the end of the book. It too is divided into convenient sections -

cement/hypertufa and mosaic
fabric, cord, and paper goods
metal and wire
natural materials
paint, stencils, and stamps
miscellaneous tools and supplies

She also offers a nice list of Recommended Reading!

Thank You!

Yes. This is a keeper.


NOTE TO SELF: Find the roll of 1" wide heavyweight copper originally purchased for making custom cookie cutters and repurpose its purpose to engrave for plant markers! It’s somewhere around here, I know it is!

Library Book - A Review (YUCK YUCK YUCK)

Goodness gracious... if only I could slam shut my kindle!

I CANNOT / DO NOT recommend this book! Ecological Gardening, Your Safe Path to a Healthy, Beautiful Garden by Marjorie Harris, Random House Canada, 2009

From the beginning, its introduction, then the first few pages of Chapter 1 is just too negative for me. I don’t want to be lectured. If it were a “real” book rather than on my kindle I would have slammed it shut. I won’t even waste my time or bandwidth to fetch a picture of the book’s cover to share.

I know I want natural, organic, pure as possible methods of gardening... the author may have some interesting points further on, but I can’t get past the sour taste in my mouth she’s already left.

Too many other authors to explore.

Moving on to the next library book for a positive experience from page one. That is, after I go listen to the soothing-to-my-soul rain to shake off the negativity!

Library Book - A Review

Oh. My. Goodness. The book, Understanding Garden Design, The Complete Handbook for Aspiring Designers by Vanessa Gardner Nagel, APLD, Timber Press, Portland-London, 2010, is a KEEPER!!!

I have added it to my Amazon’s wish list. It will be added to my physical bookshelf someday soon! When I say it’s a KEEPER, she provides so much information worth utilizing long after the design and planning is over... to incorporate in all aspects of living.

When I started reading it, I quickly decided to take notes, as if I were preparing for an exam. After the first few days of note taking, I woke up the next morning and couldn’t use my right thumb for two days! I can’t do that anymore.

It is by-far a study book on deciding “Who’s on first?” how to assess and record, measuring and documenting, making the hard decisions between need/desire, the microclimates, working with Mother Nature, providing double (triple) duty, and drawing different diagrams.

The basic design elements (really of everything/anything)...

Color (hue, value, and intensity) in using the color wheel/harmonies taught me so much I’ve never considered before.

Line, Shape, Form, and Space... goodness gracious... it all makes sense how she explains things.

Have you ever thought about -

proportion and scale, mass, focal point or emphasis, repetition and rhythm, movement, sequence or transition, texture, variety, contrast, balance, unity, and time.  

She explains them all very nicely!

And then she points out even more aspects that affect garden design...

Function    *    Fragrance     *     Serendipity

I found the “Plants: A Structural Perspective” chapter particularly informative. I need to move on past - plant one type of thing and move on to another area to plant one singular other plant - mode of thinking and plant more group style, mass planting. Although she writes about the concept “thrillers, spillers, and fillers” not being a new concept, I’ve never heard of it until reading her book! Basically they are...
  
   Thrillers - bold plants that are focal points
   Spillers - plants that creeps, falls, and overflows
   Fillers - less defined plants that are frothy and airy

But of course, she describes them in much more detail - with PICTURES! Good deal! Exactly what I need!

Another. Oh. My. Goodness.

Who would have thought... using plants as punctuation! See, this is a prime example why I want this book in my hands (off the bookshelf) for future reference! She talks about them all (and gives examples)!

Periods - Commas - Exclamation Points - Question Marks - Semicolons - Colons - Parentheses
It makes perfectly totally sense!

I appreciate her chapter on plant and leaf shapes. I know I need to learn what would go with and complement one another. It’s in her section on “The Planting Plan” she continues her hypothetical garden design plan and incorporates the punctuation concept. That might not have made any sense, but I’ll know exactly where to go once I have the actual book in my hands!

Then there is a lot of valuable information about lights in the garden. Maybe someday we’ll have garden lighting but I feel certain it will be by the way of solar (or wind) energy rather than electricity. Although I tried, I just couldn’t skim through this chapter covering all the different aspects to consider - the reasons, various types and styles, and the effect lighting placement will bring. Oh, and when I saw the gabion wall, that led me to doing further research how to construct such a wall! We have the rock, that’s for sure!

Because I AM the contractor - not to mention the laborer doing the actual work - I did skip most of the chapter “Working with Contractors” but it may be just what another reader needs to know. It did give me a bit of 'what comes first' organizing.

And, a great way to end this lovely book, this gold mine of information, her last chapter gives great ideas for having people out and about in the garden... either via an open garden or a garden party!

For me, it will be a grand day in the garden - when I can share it with others...

Practice Practice Practice

I’m not a professional speaker, but a group representative asked me to speak before an audience of mostly business women! Over two hundred are expected to attend this annual event. Oops! Have I mentioned I’m not a professional speaker?

At least, I am passionate about the subject matter:  my first book, Where Forever Begins, A Simple Love Story. They’ve asked me to give a book review. The author doesn’t usually give their own book review! Oh my!

Every writer knows coming up with a synopsis for agents, or for the back of the book, is much more difficult to compose than the entire book was to write! Even more difficult is writing/giving the balance ~ the enough ~ to pique the interest of a potential reader/buyer without giving away too much!

My time allowed: 20 – 25 minutes.

I finally have something down on paper, now to practice practice practice so I don’t end up “reading” from my notes! But, I’m not going to fret about it if I do end up simply reading it. This book means too much to me to mess up the presentation I want to share. The information I’d like to convey outweighs the need to “perform” – does that make sense?

The way I structured the presentation:

Greetings

What’s ahead

Envisioning the 1800’s

Small glimpse into the life of Jane and Thomas
  that includes two quotes from the book

Three points of inspiration to write the book

A couple of reviews received

A few comments others have shared

Writing Tips

Conclusion

Well, that’s it. We’ll see how it goes!

On my own

When asked to be a speaker before plus or minus 200 women, and a handful of men, I know it’s an honor. I know this. It’s still frightening as all get out! When asked to give a book review on my own book, Where Forever Begins, A Simple Love Story, how or where do I begin?

I’m not a public speaker. In fact, the last time I did something before a much smaller group, I had a panic attack during the presentation! Or, maybe it was a gigantic hot flash? Rather doubt that excuse. No, I realized later I forgot to breathe! Seriously folks!

Last week, I asked my niece for help. Dr. Leslie gives presentations around the world – literally – and I couldn’t think of a better person to ask. My thoughts were all over the place, I needed help getting organized. I needed any tips she could offer me. A specific one she gave: don’t forget to breathe!

I’m practicing.

She also recommended I simply tell my story… not necessarily the story found within the pages of the book, but how/why I even started page one.

All those wonderful, sometimes eerie, memories are starting to come back.

This week I’ve done a little googling. Yes. Googling. I know MSWord it isn’t a word, but it should be. I basically wanted to know what’s included in a “book review” in order to give the organizers what they asked for, first and foremost.

According to Owl Purdue Online Writing Lab:

(I cannot recommend this site enough. I’ve used it over and over again for many years. It’s an amazing resource for any writing. Period.)

A book review gives readers

1.   a sneak peek at what a book is like,

2.     whether or not the reviewer enjoyed it,

3.     and details on purchasing the book.

Well, number 2 is quite obvious. Why else would I have spent four years writing it?

Number 3 is easy.

It’s the number 1 – how much do I share?

The way to good writing is keeping the reader wanting to turn the page, not put the book down at all …. Forget sleeping, eating…

Because the review is on my own book, I need to give just enough sneak peek to peak folk's interest to buy the book, to turn those pages! That’s the fine line I’m walking….

Everything happens for a reason, in its own time.

This time last year or the year before, or before it, had I received this invitation, I would not have accepted. This invitation is timely and fits within my Twenty13 goals to get out from behind my sewing machines & laptop, and become more involved in the community and meet challenges!

Yes! I can do this!

I'm practicing!