Visiting a local greenhouse helps shake the couch potato blues
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"Springtime at the Gardens", a colorful day of art, antiques, flowers
and garden accents is planned for Saturday, April 26, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
at Colonial Gardens Flowershop and Greenhouse .
Twelve unique artists/vendors will be on hand to provide a festive shopping experience in a fun and friendly atmosphere.
This is your opportunity to accent your garden, home and self with original creations not usually found in retail stores.
You'll find handmade garden accents, stick furniture and wreaths,
shabby chic creations and antiques, hand thrown pottery, turned wood
bowls and fused, blown and stained glass, nature themed original
paintings and prints, wine bottle lights, hand knit scarves and
whimsical jewelry.
The five-acre greenhouse is in full bloom and is filled with the
season's choice annuals and hanging baskets, and there will be a
special sale on select annual flowers and in-stock garden and gift
merchandise.
Adults can register to plant a 6" French Garden Pot at 10 a.m., noon
and 2 p.m. Huron Girl Scout Troop 868 will be serving snacks and
sandwiches throughout the day.
Colonial Gardens is located at 3506 Hull Road in Huron, just two
miles east of Route 250 and the Sandusky Mall. Call 419-625-5318 for
more information.
I'm guilty.
It's true, I was a couch potato last weekend.
I know, I'm always after you to get up, get out and get busy and there I was, a genuine, bona fide, not-movin'-and-you can't make-me sofa spud.
But I was sick. So there.
It's not like I CHOSE to watch hour after hour of documentaries on serial killers. Please - I woke up at 2 a.m. convinced the silhouette of my cat's tail was a man standing in the doorway.
Yeah, I know. But it was dark and apparently cold meds and this all-day, all-creepy programming had my judgment just slightly scrambled.
In any event, it was entirely too much work to reach for the remote and then make an informed decision about what to watch that Saturday afternoon on the couch.
So there I was - camped out, covered up, sniffling and sneezing, too lazy to change the channel - the ultimate antithesis of my get up, get out and get busy campaign.
And on the weekend, no less! I couldn't even claim a sick day at work, I had to go and get sick on my own time.
But enough with the whining - what I meant to tell you about was what made me feel better once I kicked the cooties.
I went shopping!
Err... I mean, not technically. I mean I sort of did, but given that I was on the clock at work and "doing research," I probably shouldn't say that. Plus I only spent around $3. That's not shopping, right?
Here's the deal. You know I do a little bit here and there for our Dwellings series, right? Well, part of that includes "research," where I go and scout out new products and things to make your home more comfortable, your housekeeping lighter, your garden greener and so forth. I suppose it could be called shopping. But when I turn in my hours at the end of the week, it's research.
Potayto, potahto, as they say.
So anyway, on this particular day I researched a local greenhouse.
Does it matter which one? Probably not.
All I can say is that if you're looking for any kind of pick-me-up therapy, I highly recommend visiting a greenhouse.
You can wander around and pretend it's not still 35 degrees at night, you can admire all the colorful planters and daydream about the lush gardens you'll grow once the weather breaks.
You can take a deep breath of basil or rosemary or mint and take home a colorful garden flag to lift your spirits. I actually had to buy the basil myself.
(Hey, I'll take anything I can get right now, to remind me summer's not something I once dreamed in a NyQuil haze.)
You can check out the new colors of Crocs for this year or get a jump on planning which "guests" you'll invite to your garden. Gnomes? Pink flamingos? Tiki torches? Hummingbirds and chickadees? The possibilities are endless!
It's kind of like visiting a candy store for grown-ups - the plants are all lined up and tidy and the seed packets just go on and on and on and the bird baths are clean and shiny and the garden gloves are pristine...
And I'm not even much of a gardener! It just feels good to see signs of spring instead of snow shovels, ice scrapers and salt.
So there you go - this weekend get out among the green and growing things in one (or more) of our local greenhouses! And don't be surprised if you see me there.
I am so done with being a couch potato and I think I might want to go back for some rosemary.
I mean, to do more research...
