The Greenhouse Diaries

The Busiest January in Recent Memory

2012-01-26T11:58:00.000-08:00

I don't know what is going on lately but my life is getting busier with every week that passes, regardless of the fact that 3 of my children have gotten married in the last few years, leaving me home with only 2 of the original 5. I'm almost an empty nester and things are just getting outrageously busy.

WHAT'S HAPPENING?! I thought it was supposed to get easier as the kids moved out!

This week there is a big Agriculture Show going on in Abbotsford so our account manager at Scotia Bank asked me to make a small display for them to use in their booth. Of course, even though I just returned from a big sales trip to Ontario, I said YES!

I love getting CREATIVE!

Then I spent all last week trying to help my Little Angel with all the details I could for our Spring Catalogue which needed to be finalized for this week. She works for weeks and weeks to get a beautiful display of all the great items we offer our customers this coming season into a gorgeous glossy magazine format that is very time consuming to produce.

Gramma gets to babysit when my Little Angel is working. Gramma LOVES to babysit!

Not only am I a designer and a saleswoman, I'm also a PROFESSIONAL POTTY TRAINER.

Bet you didn't know that.

I'm also inspired to INVENT new things when the grandkids are around. Anything to help make the work a little easier on me while they are over. Check out this clever IDEA I came up with........

A dual purpose pot that can be used as a baby bath chair in Winter and a container garden in Summer!

One size fits 5 months to 2 years.

Now all I have to do is print up some good advertising materials for this new product and off it goes to market.

Then of course, I am also support staff for my ever talented brood of artists. When Anderson Cooper finished THIS school project......

I helped out by disposing of all the props in an economical and humane manner.

They gave up their lives......

to feed the hungry!

Such a generous sacrifice was appreciated by all!

As well, the big greenhouse EXPANSION continues on. They've been pouring cement floors for a full month now.

The new propogation house is already filling up and we are working over time to get all our cuttings started for Spring 2012.

So this morning, I was chatting with my sister ROSA and explaining that my blogging has been rather sporadic lately because I've been so busy and she sweetly reminded me that I had not yet announced the WINNER of the GREAT POINSETTIA DECORATING CHALLENGE!

How did I forget that?! I mean, I even HIRED (a glass of wine and a bit of cheese was all she required) a professional florist to do the judging for me and I STILL haven't announced the WINNER?!

"AND THE WINNER IS......"

Donna from Funky Junk Interiors!

I think I'm gonna hand deliver her prize. Maybe she'll take me along for dinner?! So, if you're out there Donna, there's a gift certificate just waiting for you here. Even though it's crazy busy at Darvonda these days, I promise to get it to you BEFORE the spring rush.

Now, I'm off to the Agriculture Show to check out that cool booth from Scotia Bank. They sure do have some great customers!

2011 in Review

2012-01-04T12:26:00.000-08:00

2011 was a GOOD YEAR!

I know, I'm late. It's already January 4th and this post should have been a week ago.

What can I say, I'm a procrastinator.

I mean, believe it or not, we didn't open Christmas presents until January 2nd, as per usual!

I make no excuses except that Christmas shopping AFTER December 24th is the BEST way to SAVE!

Well, you can save on everything except ALCHOHOL! But there is a good excuse for this gift.

Honestly.

You see, Cinderella was just getting psyched for her trip to an all-inclusive resort in CUBA......

and all her gifts were geared to making her journey pleasant and trouble free!

Now, it's a dutch tradition to make poems with all your gifts. In that tradition, all gifts are actually from Sinterklaas (or Santa Claus in English) and HE is the one who spends all year writing prose for the big night.

Take this following little rhyme and see if you can GUESS what the Sint brought for my newest son-in-law:

St. Nick thought, dear Evan an amiable fellow!
He's always coherent and consistently mellow!
The cumulative effect of this lads growing knowledge
Makes finding him gifts more laborious then when in college.
Upon pondering, speculating and examining with care
St. Nick thought to teach Evan about Solar Flare!
Not only will Evan be intellectually stimulated....
Entertainment and amusement are a bonus, Nick stated.

Can you guess?!

It's a......

Oooops! Sinterklaas forgot to remove the price tags.

DVD of the first season of The Big Bang Theory!

Ha ha ha ha. Ho ho ho. Oh that Sinterklaas sure has a way with poetry!

NOTE: Watching a sitcom called "the Big Bang Theory" does not mean that the author of this blog believes in the Theory of Evolution. Just wanted to clarify that for my faithful readers who know what a faux pax that would be for a conservative Reformed lady like myself. If this side note is causing you nothing but confusion, please skip over the italicized type and continue on reading, you are probably not from around these parts. It's not that important. Pretend I never said anything.

And just so you know.....my procrastination does force me to be as efficient at Christmas shopping as any one woman can be. I chose ONE store in the Mall in which to purchase ALL my gifts for this year. When you only have 2 hours to shop, wrap and write prose, you do what you gotta do.

Thus, all my gifts were somewhat themeatic this year.....

The wrapped gift is just MORE OF THE SAME

but I managed to get it all done and only be 30 minutes late for the party!

I should probably make a NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION to start my Christmas shopping earlier this year but it's highly unlikely that I will be able to fulfill it so.......I'm not even gonna bother.

Now, that brings me back to my original topic, THE YEAR IN REVIEW.

I won't bore you with all the details since all you need to do is go back and read my older posts. Suffice it to say, IT WAS A GOOD YEAR!

There is ONE thing I forgot to share with my blogger peeps that I really need to rectify. Do you recall our trip to Holland this summer? Do you also recall that we were taped for the Hour of Power program in the Netherlands? Well, I am finally remembering to post the link to the actual program which aired November 6th in Holland.

To view the whole Jansen 5 interview, click on the program highlights you want to watch. First part of the interview is in dutch with Gramma and then Junior finishes off in english!

CLICK HERE TO WATCH

ENJOY!

Warning: Skiing May Cause Exhaustion

2011-12-30T19:01:00.000-08:00

My family has told me that of ALL the holidays we have ever taken them on, winter ski holidays are the BEST. I don't quite understand how that is possible. I mean, we have traveled as a family to Holland, France, Brazil, Mexico, the Bahama's and many other points in between. Yet, they insist that their most favorite trip of all was skiing at Big White in good old British Columbia.

I can't say I agree.

But, being the great Mom and Dad that we are, we agreed to rent a condo once again this Christmas that was big enough to hold all 18 of us.....

The Condo at Big White, Christmas 2011

I asked Mini Me to get it organized since I was out in China and didn't have much computer access. I knew that finding a place that was big enough for everyone was going to be a real challenge. As a matter of fact, trying to find something with only 2 weeks before December 25 was pretty much an impossibility.....

The Living Room

And yet, they found a GREAT location that was fit for people from age 5 days to 50 years.....

The kitchen

With a wonderfully equipped kitchen.......

Master Bedroom

And all the beds and sleeping quarters we would need to pack in not just ONE family but FIVE families in total!

As you can imagine, when I saw the photos of this place, I immediately said "That's PERFECT!" and the reservation was made.

So, we all hopped into vehicles and formed a caravan at 7 am on Boxing Day. Braving the cold and icy terrain of the Coquihalla Highway, we raced up to Big White to spend 2 nights together RELAXING.....

EATING.....

PUZZLING.....

HOT TUBBING......

BABY HOT TUBBING (at much lower temperatures).....

NURSING.......

COMPARING BABIES.....

BBQing.....

GAMING.....

GAMING FOR YOUNG 'UNS.....

and in general, a LOT of time was spent in the snow!

Of course, that also means we spent a lot of time getting DRESSED to go out in the cold too.

This was Wee Two's first experience in the snow. I think he had a few trepidation's about it all.

As a matter of fact, he was not the only one with some feelings of hesitation about hitting the slopes. Nope, his Gramma felt some serious misgivings about the whole thing so......

The Big Guy generously arranged a private skiing lesson for his not so sporty wife.

Here she can be seen at the top of a very high mountain, wondering if perhaps the Big Guy was trying to get rid of her in a seemingly unfortunate ACCIDENT.

It was quite clever of him to take a few snapshots on the blackberry to make it appear that all was well and kosher.

As a matter of fact, Tamara SURVIVED her skiing ordeal, despite her fears to the contrary.

Perhaps she is SPORTIER than she gives herself credit for after all??!!

Naaaaah! It was that glass of Red Wine the Big Guy promised her was waiting at the bottom of the hill which kept her upright and fall free all the way into the Village!

In the end, I still can't quite see how a ski holiday could possibly beat a vacation in a tropical climate but.....

how could I say no to THIS face?!

Oh, and if we hadn't taken this little family jaunt, I never would have seen THIS priceless KODAK MOMENT.

The Wee One claims Gramma and Grampa's bed as her own!

Time with family, no matter where you spend it, is most definitely more precious than anything.

Junior and Cinderella

Wee Two is not quite sure about snow just yet

Until next time!

Don't forget to check out FUNKY JUNK INTERIOR's Saturday Night Linky Party to see how our blogger peeps spent their Christmas' out in blog land!

Christmas Eve at My House

2011-12-24T21:57:00.000-08:00

This is how I left the Big Guy this evening. He's sleeping in a chair in front of the TV, totally Christmas'ed out.........and it's only Christmas EVE! How is that possible??!!

Let's just go back a few days and I will show you WHY exhaustion has set in so early for the Jansen household so early.

DECEMBER 14th: We arrive in Hong Kong after a 15 hour flight.

We file for visa's to enter China and then WAIT for our applications to be processed.

A glass of wine and a juicy burger keep us nourished and relaxed in the interim.

December 15: We take a Taxi ride to the train station where we fail to catch the early train. More waiting around ensues. Not quite as comfortable as we had hoped but at least we had a bottle of water to tide us over till well arrived at our destination.

Once we arrive, we hit the ground running. Designs and ideas are flying around the office at a fast and furious pace. Ribbon, glitter, organza and paint chips litter the board room table. Tamara works the office staff to the bone, getting ideas down on paper and scanned into the computer so prototypes can be worked on.

The stress and travel begin to get the best of us and I start to feel feverish. My temperature sky rockets and I beg the Big Guy to take me back to the hotel where I can lie down and try get a bit of rest.

REST?! Are you KIDDING?! We are here to WORK! No time to rest.

So........our supplier / angelically patient hostess, seen here in the right of the photo, suggests we go for a old fashioned Chinese cold remedy..........a GINGER MASSAGE. In my delirium, I was unable to turn down the offer and eventually found myself sitting in a room with my feet soaking in a scalding hot pail of suspicious looking murky water while a strange man poked and prodded my back and neck with the precision of a NINJA, never failing to miss an opportunity to hit a nerve wherever possible.

Not quite finished with the "CURE", my legs were then wrapped in some cotton gauze doused in some sort of GINGER remedy. As I sat obediently waiting for the whole episode to be over, my legs began to BURN. And I mean.......BURN! And that burn lasted for HOURS.

Finally got to bed at MIDNIGHT.

The end result?! Total health restored within 24 hours.

Seriously.

December 16: The Big Guy's birthday. Our hostess once again takes the lead and orders up a trip to a Hot Spring Resort just an hour and a half drive out of town. So, after a morning spent working in the office (no resting while in China) we set out on our adventure.

As it turns out, the resort was stunningly gorgeous. This photo is just of the LOBBY! Now try to imagine the 52 themed hot spring pools scattered all over the property. Unfortunately the only other photo I took this day was.......

of the chandelier in the LOBBY.

If you read my blog regularly, you KNOW that Tamara is starting to cook up a plan for a DIY chandelier fashioned after THIS gorgeous sight!

No, wait. I was wrong. I took TWO photos at the resort. Here is the second one:

"Cold Cat Platter for 4 please, garcon! And make it snappy! My hubby is one hungry BIRTHDAY BOY!"

And.......another night out till past midnight.

December 17:

Whole day spent brainstorming and working with the graphic artist until all the details were perfect.

Home at Midnight.

December 18:

Up at 5 am to catch a flight out to Xiamen to visit a factory where we work on various containers which are being produced for Spring 2012. I am unhappy with the TAUPE paint finish on one of the containers and request that we take a quick trip to a shoe store. Within minutes I find a taupe pair of boots which I promptly purchase to use as a color swatch for the factory to match.

1 pair of chinese boots - a little tight for my North American feet but priceless as a color swatch.

Our job was complete and success was achieved. Back home by........

you guessed it. MIDNIGHT.

December 18:

Sunday's are always the toughest for me. I miss my kids and I miss being able to go to an English speaking church. We have found a church service which is held in English here in the past. That church is just down the road from the White Swan hotel but that hotel is closed for renovations for the next year. We stayed at the Intercontinental hotel in Fuzhou this time on the recommendation of our son, Junior who stayed there last month.

He has good taste in hotels.

So, after listening to a wonderful sermon on the internet, we decided to spend some quiet time down by the pool.

Check out those beautiful TAUPE boots I'm wearing in this photo. They might pinch a little but they sure did the trick for me this trip.

Lunch is SERVED.

The rest of the day was spent in quiet contemplation, listening to sermons and reading books.

That's what happens when Facebook and Blogger are banned in a country. People have to find other ways to spend their leisure time.

What a novel concept........READ a book!

December 19 and 20:

Shopping at the wholesale market was the name of the game. A lot of our time is actually spent waiting for samples to be approved or some other details to be refined on different projects. That can be quite tedious for people like us who are always busy with something or other.

Sooooo, we fill our time shopping for the Retail store when we have too much time on our hands.

Purses - check
Scarves - check
Glitter Pins - check

We are always thankful to our hostess for providing us with a translator when we go to the market because buying in RMB can be quite confusing. My math skills are bad at best. Figuring out exchange on 150 purses is far too challenging for my handicapped number skills!

December 21:

Hop on a plane for Korea where we are scheduled to transfer onto an Air Canada flight to Vancouver.

Plane delayed.

Missed our flight.

Transfer to alternate Korean Air Flight.

Run like CRAZY to make it to the boarding gate before THAT flight leaves us behind.

Tamara suffers a major ASTHMA attack and coughs up a lung at the ticket counter.

Someone offers me a "glass" of water out of an envelope since they have no cups.

We make it onto the flight.

Tamara is seated beside a woman who promptly takes 10 pills of different sizes and colors which cause her to pass out and hang all over her neighbor for the rest of the flight.

NOT COOL!

Land 9 hours later and arrange a meeting with our customer to show off our great samples which we have finally approved.

Arrive home and find that my daughters have TRANSFORMED my home into a beautiful CHRISTMAS FAIRYTALE......

by removing all my furniture......

and replacing it with Christmas decor.......

just in time for the Darvonda Staff Christmas Party.

The very BEST part of the decorations were.......

this little fella!

That Wee Two is just ADORABLE, isn't he?!

No wonder I miss them so much when we go on a business trip!

December 22:

A Boney M Christmas CD is playing full blast and the guests begin to arrive just before 5:30. Drinks are being served upstairs and appetizers are coming out of the pantry, hot off the Barbecue. The ladies are decked out in their finest.

Who would have known that we could fit 80 people comfortably in our house?!

It's always great to take time to chat with our wonderful team at Darvonda and tell them how much we appreciate all their amazing work.

The Big Guy might hate public speaking but when you want to tell your staff what a great job they do for you every day, you just have to shake off those stage jitters and start talkin', right Big Guy?

Most of the guests left around 9:30 or 10:00 but the after party went on till......

WELL AFTER MIDNIGHT!

December 23:

Junior has arranged the Penthouse Suite at Roger's Arena for the Canuck's VS the Calgary Flames game for the MANAGERS and their spouses to enjoy, 24 peeps in all.

We are picked up at the Greenhouse promptly at 5 pm by a Bus Limo complete with......

uuuuhhhh, are those STRIPPER POLES in the middle of the aisle??!!

Oh my. This could go awfully wrong.

"Find your seat people and squeeze right on in! It's gonna be one FUN night tonight!"

Boy, we sure have some GOOD LOOKING staff at Darvonda, don't we? Three of these lovely ladies are still single, guys.

I'm just sayin'.

These 3 ladies have worked at the greenhouse for so many years, I can't even remember anymore. They are the back bone of our work force. When we need extra help, they call their friends and relatives and beg them to help out.

You ladies ROCK!!!

I think these 2 fella's just got to come along because of their charm and good looks.

One of them even gave a lesson in how to properly hang from a stripper pole.

They looks so innocent, don't they?. Where do they LEARN this stuff??!

I refuse to reveal which of these two started the pole dancing competition but suffice it to say, he is closely related to me.

How humiliating.

Upon arrival at the suite we are greeted with all sorts of delicious food and beverages.....

which we quickly made disappear!

When I realized that the fridge was only stocked with beer and coolers I almost had a panic attack.

NO WINE!? I need a bottle of wine to make this night perfect.....

No wait. Make that TWO bottles, right Jacob?

We actually managed to sneek two extra people into the suite, believe it or not.

Wee Two and our newest addition, 10 day old Scott Jansen, slipped in unnoticed......

but definitely took in the ambiance like all the rest of us.

Here is Wee Two before he spat up all over himself.....

and here he is AFTER Grampa and Gramma ran down to the Canuck's store to buy him......

and his Second Cousin matching Jersey's.

Everyone enjoyed the great digs way up above the nose bleed section.

I consider it amazing marketing strategy when you can sell seats THIS high up....

so high up, as a matter of fact, that you an BARELY see the puck.....

and charge WAY MORE MONEY for them.

Aaaaaah! This is the LIFE!

Great FOOD....

FRIENDS.....

FAMILY.....

and MORE FAMILY.....

I just LOVE all my FAMILY!

It just doesn't get any better than this, my blogger buddies.

I am one BLESSED Gramma!

And so ends my tale of Christmas CRAZY here at DARVONDA. I'd better hurry home and check on the Big Guy since he didn't look to comfortable when I left him to do a little bit of blogging a few hours ago.

Christmas wishes from my family to yours! May the Lord's blessing be upon you all!

Now......

off to Big White for a ski holiday next week. See you on the slopes!

The Great Poinsettia Decorating Challenge #3

2011-12-17T10:46:00.000-08:00

The Red Hen Home did this fabulous suitcase bookshelf display that I just HAD to share with you all today. As soon as I get back from this most recent trip to China I plan to figure out how I can make this happen at my house!

Happy POINSETTIA DECORATING!

The Great Poinsettia Decorating Challenge #2

2011-12-14T10:41:00.000-08:00

Hey, this Great Poinsettia Decorating Challenge has really brought out some FABULOUS bloggers and I really wanted to introduce you to my newest blogger friend and future business partner, Donna from Funky Junk Interiors. I don't know what business we are gonna do in the future but with a creative genius like Donna, it's sure to be something wonderful. This lady is one amazing woman who can do magic with an old pallet like no one has ever seen before!

Make sure you check out our ULTIMATE LADIES DAY OUT in Fort Langley and the fun we had later that same day in our RETAIL STORE and our GREENHOUSE TOUR as well!

On The Road Again

2011-12-13T18:34:00.000-08:00

We are back on the road again! Hard to believe, but we are sitting in a hotel in Hong Kong today while we wait for our various travel Visa's that permit us to get in and out of the many different places we need to visit on this trip. As usual, the tickets were organized at the last second. On Friday we decided it was time to go do some quality control checks on our Spring 2012 pots being manufactured in China and by Monday we were sitting on a plane winging our way out to the Orient.

Aeroplan was giving away FREE UPGRADES for first class cabin seats for Christmas with one big catch......you could only go on STAND BY. No assurances that you would actually get the coveted "pod" seats that allow you to lay down completely.

I was SO hoping that we would get lucky and hit the jackpot on this flight......

and we WON! Yup, I was drinking sparkling wine and choosing stuffed chicken from the first class menu by noon yesterday. It just doesn't get any better than that!

Merry Christmas Tamara.

Now, we sit and wait until this afternoon to continue our trip by train. The Big Guy is getting a little restless just waiting around at the hotel. He was even considering taking a dip in the outdoor pool to keep himself occupied until he felt the water and realized that it's as cold a the Pacific Ocean in winter. No dip in the pool on this trip.

I, on the other hand, get a chance to make one last blog post before entering China where Blogger, Facebook and Twitter are all banned. That means I will have to concentrate on other things while I'm there like.....

organizing next year's Christmas designs,

and developing brand NEW ideas that are sure to sell like hot cakes!

Here's my latest invention that I'm sure will be well accepted in the market. I call it the "Recycled Father's Day Tie Baby Carrier".

I came up with this design myself one day when WEE TWO was very unhappy and wanted to be carried everywhere I went. I had so much work to do and needed both hands to do it. Since I do not own a proper baby carrier I had to invent an alternate solution.....

and 3 old neck ties later, I had a brand spanking new "hands free" baby carrier that was a hit with the grand kids!

I'm taking orders.

Until next week, happy CHRISTMAS party planning to all my blogger peeps.

The Great Poinsettia Decorating Challenge - #1

2011-12-12T10:32:00.000-08:00

I've been having fun watching all the great entries into the GREAT POINSETTIA DECORATING CHALLENGE Lately and I wanted to feature a few while I am away in China yet AGAIN! Unfortuantely we will be travelling for the next week and there is NO ACCESS to Blogger, Facebook or Twitter where I am going. Let me tell you, that is not any easy thing for a lady like myself. I hate not being able to keep in touch with all my peeps on a regular basis.

So, in the meantime, check out Lynn's submission of a great DIY candy cane pot that is just adorable. I just love her style and I'm sure you will too.

The Vintage Nest

A Warm Sunday Afternoon in DECEMBER!

2011-12-04T13:55:00.001-08:00

The sun is shining today in BC and we are taking FULL advantage of this wonderful weather by sitting out on the patio for lunch. I've been a BIG sceptic of GLOBAL WARMING up till now but to be outsides on the veranda in Vancouver enjoying a picnic with my kids in DECEMBER is just........well........

WONDERFUL!!

If this is what GLOBAL WARMING is all about......

COUNT ME IN!

Actually, if you look closely at the last photo, you can see that we do have supplementary propane heaters going and the left over glass panels from our greenhouse construction project are now surrounding my veranda and protecting us from the cold. A couple of Cotton curtains from IKEA close in the rest of the patio and hold in the heat just perfectly.

GRAMMA is very pleased with her makeshift solarium!

RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards Gala This Week!

2011-11-27T18:17:00.001-08:00

The Big Guy and I are jetting off to Ontario this week. I am so excited! I've been invited to attend the Royal Bank Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards Gala by Sloane Muldoon, the Vice President of Agricultural Banking at the Scotia Bank. I just met Sloane last week at a luncheon we attended at my favorite Winery, Domaine de Chaberton, just down the street from my house. Sloane's a great gal. What an honor to get the invite!

The Big Guy and I are jetting off together because we have meetings out east to attend and we HATE going alone. I'm his Bonnie and he's my Clyde. I'm the GAS PEDAL and he's the BRAKE. Call it a perfect balance between optimism and realism. We're BFF's my hubby and I. What a blessing!

To find out more about the amazing women nominees up for awards tomorrow evening click here. I'm sitting at table # 40 with a crowd of ladies that I'm sure will inspire and WOW me to no end. I can hardly believe it! I wish I could take all my blogger friends along but I think I got the last seat. Now that is one FABULOUS Christmas gift for lil' old me!

So, I'll be off the radar for a few days. But, if any of you pass by my place, do me a favor and check to make sure none of my teenagers are partying on the patio this time. I know I can trust my blogger peeps to keep my babies in line while I'm gone!

Wee Two Should Be in GQ

2011-11-25T08:50:00.001-08:00

Photos by Dragonflight Photography

Things are getting a little crazy around here as we get closer to Christmas which means Tamara has a tough time FINDING time to keep up with blogging. Come to think of it, right now, she's not able to get much of anything done except make sure the poinsettias are going out to the stores as fast as possible.

You KNOW things are BAD when she starts to refer to herself in the THIRD PERSON.

Snap out of it TAMARA! Shake it off and get back to blogging. You have pictures of your grandson that people are going to want to see!

So, a few months a go my Little Angel brought Wee One and Wee Two over to my house for a photo shoot.

Can you BELIEVE how adorable this little fella is?!

I bought this wonderful doll buggy at a thrift store in FORT LANGLEY, my favorite place to spend some quiet time away from work and stress.

I bought it so that Wee One could play with it when she came to visit. So far it has been a really good purchase, wouldn't you say?

Now, while Wee Two was getting his photo taken.....

I had to try keep my effervescent, never stop getting into trouble granddaughter......

busy with other activities. We had a mini-photo session of our own.....

with Gramma as the model. You may have noticed that I'm not afraid to have my picture taken. Actually, I love having my picture taken. Looking at pictures of myself together with my family and friends helps me count my blessings. I mean, look at that adorable little girl playing with her Gramma like they are the best of friends. Who WOULDN'T want to capture that in a photo?!

Some of the shots were taken in one of the upstairs bedrooms where we built a little window bench.

Some of the shots were taken on Mini Me's bed with only a sheepskin protecting the mattress from a regal soaking by an un-diapered Wee Two.

We had to put his diaper back on quick before any little "accident" caused a major catastrophe for my youngest daughter and her nocturnal sleeping space.

Now this picture says it all. Behind those deep blue peepers lies a loving, mischief making little two year old that Gramma just can't say NO to.

Could YOU?! I bet you couldn't.

Now, of course we have already booked piano lessons for Wee Two, starting soon.

Nobody in this family gets away with not taking up music lessons.

We are really hoping that the next generation will take up the keyboard at some point in time.

We have far too many string players in the family. It's time to round it out with a concert pianist.

And of course, no photo session of my Little Angel's family is complete without a shot of PEPPER.

Yup, my grand puppy is a looker, alright! He keeps the Wee One occupied......

and that makes Gramma real happy!

Farmer's Market

2011-11-19T15:00:00.001-08:00

I LOVE Farmer's Markets and by the looks of our parking lot today........

so do a lot of other people!

This is the first time Milner Gardens has hosted the Langley Farmer's Market so we weren't too sure what to expect. How many people would actually stop by? How much advertising should we do? How many staff should we have in the store? So many questions and not too many answers.

But none of us expected quite THIS kind of turn out!

Everyone was having so much fun.....

And all the different vendors had such wonderful things to sell.....

There's is nothing like home made preserves, I say!

And fancy, schmansy salts are one of my weaknesses.

People were streaming in to check out what was going on. We had to call in the cavalry to direct traffic so that no one would have a fender bender in all the chaos. Anderson Cooper was more than willing to stand out in the sunshine and help customers find a spot but he did finally relent and put some pants on after being out there for a while.

Our resident Mascot was out waving at cars as they drove past.

Who could RESIST stopping in at such a fun place?!

Now, by the time it was lunch I had been smelling the delicious aroma's wafting from the food truck for a few hours already. It's amazing how HUNGRY you get from just SMELLING great food being prepared!

I indulged in Chili Chicken Bites and Yam Fries. YUMMY to the max!

So, if you missed the Farmer's Market today at Milner Gardens, don't despair. We will be holding another one on December 10. SANTA will be here that day so you can bring the kids and have their Christmas photo taken for FREE!

Don't forget to stop by during the week for your FESTIVE DECORATIONS too.

We have oodles of colors and styles to choose from with new stuff coming in every week!

Happy DECORATING everyone!

Developing Designs From Scratch

2011-11-16T17:51:00.001-08:00

About 12 months ago, the Big Guy and I took a trip out to China to work on developing a new line of pots for Christmas 2011. That means that LAST Christmas, I was trying to GUESS what y'all were going to buy THIS Christmas.

Do you have any idea how STRESSFUL that is?! I mean, how can I possibly know what YOU will want to buy NEXT year to decorate for the holiday season?!

But it has to be done.

So, I flew out there with this little sketch I had made.....

I thought that maybe people would like to have something a little more WHIMSICAL this year. I figured we need a little cheering up after all the bad news on Wall Street and the down turn in the economy.

Nothing says "CHEER UP" like a chubby snowman. Am I right?

When we arrived in China I gave this sketch to our supplier so they could make us a prototype. They looked at me like I was crazy. They just didn't know how on earth to make a pot cover out of a snowman sketch. So, I emailed this photo back home to Mini Me and challenged her to draw me up a nice pot cover based on this idea.

Then I went shopping.

I LOVE shopping in China, even when it's unseasonably cold there. There is no heating in the market but there are so many bodies doing business that you don't need heat to keep the buildings warm.

The Big Guy always comes along when I shop at the market. He helps me make good buying decisions because my taste is a little "over the top" compared to most people. If he didn't come along, I might do something crazy like.......

BUY THIS BEDAZZLED BED for my bedroom. Isn't it just AMAZING?! I almost had him convinced that we really NEEDED this beauty......

But cooler heads prevailed and instead we bought beautiful giftware for our retail store, Milner Gardens.

It took quite a while for our snowman pot prototype to be manufactured so we got to do a lot of shopping on this trip. After a stop for coffee at a beautiful hotel....

Here I am with our guide. She does all the bargaining!

we went back to shop some more.

The Big Guy swears he hates shopping but I think it's time he came out of the closet. In actual fact he is a POWER SHOPPER. He has a really good eye.

The BAD part about spending a lot of time at the market is that eventually you will need to use the FACILITIES. I hate using the facilities in China.

I really need to practice my squats before I go on my next trip 'cause these toilets are a challenge for my little old legs to handle.

Once we finally made it back to the office, we were excited to see the FIRST PROTOTYPE ready and waiting however it needed a little bit of Tamara's special touch.

A little dab of paint here.......

and another little dab there......

and the first attempt at a snowman pot cover is finished.

Lest you think it is THAT easy, let me assure you that at least 8 more prototypes were made before perfection was achieved. We had to make it more sturdy. We had to make it more 3-D. We had to make it more flared. You name it, we did it.

Would you like to see the FINISHED product?

Ta daaaaa! Our 2011 Snowman Pot is finally in the stores. Of course, we had to make sure we had more than just ONE style because some of us NEED choice.

Now comes the REALLY BIG JOB of shipping them out to the stores......

We're working all night long to pack them up to bring them to my favorite BIG BOX STORE near you!

Don't forget to pick yours up soon. Limited quantities available!

Winter is coming!

2011-11-10T07:50:00.001-08:00

Temperatures are starting to dip here in British Columbia as Fall begins to make way for a chilly Winter season. The weather in Vancouver is normally quite rainy at this time of year which can really throw a wrench into any greenhouse construction project. Fortunately for us, the glass is on the roof of our 8 acre expansion, making it possible to start pouring the cement flood floors no matter the weather outside.

Now we are rushing to get the heating system up and running as quickly as possible. If it should suddenly start to snow, we will need to be able to turn up the temperature inside and melt the flakes off the roof or we could have a catastrophe on our hands. Snow is heavy. REALLY HEAVY.

The small blue boiler we had in place until now will no longer be sufficient to heat the addition. Our new boiler is going to be able to handle all our heating requirements for the entire facility. It's funny how I used to think our old boiler was reasonably large but now it's completely DWARFED by the new one.

Size is relative.........

I mean, take a look at this series of photos I took in the back section of the expansion. This area is going to be for Spring bedding plant production and a high wire cucumber crop during our off season.

Can you see the cement truck parked WAAAAAY in the back?

Can you see it NOW?

This place is so big that a GIGANTIC cement truck can get lost inside!

I may have to re-think my habit of wearing high heeled shoes to work. Walking around a 10 acre facility may require some flat Mary Jane's from now on.

Besides all the fun of construction around the farm, we have also started shipping poinsettias this week.

The glittery pot covers arrived JUST ON TIME from China which always makes me sweat a little. . Last week I bit my fingernails down to the nail bed while waiting for our containers to clear customs. We knew it was going to be a tight timeline because there was so much handwork to be done on this design.

When we visited our supplier in Septemeber we encouraged them to buy a few extra sewing machines just to make sure that production would go fast enough! It was great to actually have the opportunity to see them being put together because it gives you a much better understanding of what really goes into getting a project like this complete.

There are still a few missing containers out there somewhere on the Pacific Ocean. What would Poinsettia shipping season BE if everything arrived on time?! Where would be the adrenaline rush? What would be the challenge?

So, before I sign off for the day I leave you with one word of advice........

Hurry down to MY FAVORITE BIG BOX STORE soon before these babies sell out. Limited quantities available!

The Papa

2011-11-08T18:22:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while you will meet a person who is a very GIFTED travel companion on the road of life. They are the kind of person who exudes joy in whatever situation they find themselves. Someone who attracts others to come and join them. They are fun to be around. They make you want to stay past midnight whenever you visit. They make you feel special.

Our dear Uncle was just that kind of person. He would answer his phone with a contagious enthusiasm that spills over into your life the minute he responds with a warm "Hello, Pete here!". Any trip to a restaurant for dinner with him and Aunty Rita was always sure to end in peals of laughter. A night spent relaxing and chatting in their living room was filled with sage advice balanced out perfectly with comedic repertoire that always left you wishing you didn't have to leave so soon.

He had a zest for life that everyone admired! We all knew the source of his joy. He never missed an opportunity share it. "Praise God from whom all blessings flow" was clearly his motto and he let us all in on that joyful journey he was on.

A few years ago, Uncle Pete agreed to play "Papa" in a production of "The Fiddler on the Roof". He was just that kind of guy, always up for a new challenge. Of course, we all knew he could SING the part. He was the strongest tenor in every choir he ever sang in. His warm, clear voice filled in the men's section like no other .....but could he ACT?! This was something new for Uncle Peter.

True to his effervescent zeal for giving his all in whatever he did, he took on the challenge with gusto. He spent many evenings pouring over his lines, worrying that he would not be able to learn them before opening night. Aunty Rita and I would sit at the rehearsals and giggle from the sidelines as we watched him take on an even BIGGER challenge, learning to dance......

What a fun time that was. Looking back now, I am so glad we got the chance to see him play this part. I so admired his joyful way of living life to the fullest!

He was a WISE Papa....

He was a LOVING Papa........

He was a man of GOD who truly showed by example what it means to be a follower of Christ.

Last week Thursday he WON THE RACE and went on to rest in the bosom of his Saviour. As we sat in church for his memorial service today, I couldn't help but imagine him up in heaven greeting his fellow Saints with a warm hand shake and an enthusiastic bear hug. He's probably taking his spot in the tenor section of the heavenly choir, warming up for the best performance of his existence singing........

"PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW"

BC Boys Provincial Soccer Tournament This Weekend

2011-11-04T10:27:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, the Big Guy and I have decided to take off for the weekend. I know, it's hard to believe but Anderson Cooper and his highschool soccer team have made it into the BC Provincial Soccer tournament being held in Kamloops this weekend so........we decided to tag along.

Now, inorder for us to be able to attend we had to send Junior and Cinderella on an urgent trip to China to collect up all our Spring 2012 samples and tend to the many details that go along with that. Yesterday we dropped them off at the airport.....

and, through the magic of blackberry technology, we already know they have arrived safe and sound.

We also know that THEIR hotel.....

and OUR hotel.....

are not quite what ANY OF US had anticipated.

Well, now we are off to watch our youngest son WIN the Provincial championship. Check out Anderson's latest video highlights of yesterday's games. Kokiak'a are 2 and 0! Go Kodiaks!!

The Great Poinsettia Decorating Challenge

2011-11-01T07:19:00.000-07:00

It's November and that means it's time to start decorating for Christmas. Now, if you're like me, you are so busy with LIFE that kicking the Festive Season into high gear is not on your priority list.

Well, that's about to change!

The management at Darvonda has come up with a great way to motivate all our blogger peeps out there this Christmas season. We are calling it "The Great Poinsettia Decorating Challenge". During the month of November and half of December,, you can link one of your own blog posts about how YOU decorated with poinsettias right HERE for a chance to win!

Now, of course, just the knowledge that you are the WINNER of "The Great Poinsettia Decorating Challenge" is quite prestigious of course, but we figured we should sweeten the pot a litte. We know how hard you are going to work to get the BEST POINSETTIA DECORATING POST submitted. If you're like me then you will have skipped a few meals in your creative frenzy. You probably survived on gallons of black coffee and bags of salt and vinegar chips while you worked. You are going to need some healthy food, STAT! So, we have decided to offer a $50 gift certificate to the OLIVE GARDEN restaurant as well.

Mmmmmmm! Italian food.......my favorite.

NOTE: If you live in some obscure little town which does not HAVE an Olive Garden, you have my sympathies. Should you win the challenge, we will ensure that you receive an equally delicous dinner at the restaurant of your choice. $50 dollars should get you into a decent food coma, don't you think?

Then, on December 16, my panel of esteemed judges from all over North America will convene via a skype conference call and choose a winner.

So far I do not have my esteemed panel of judges assembled. Also of note, I do not actually know how to facilitate a skype conference call. Fortunately for me, I have the entire month of November to figure all those technical details out.

No problem!

Just click on the froggy below and add your link.

Make sure to link back to THIS POST so that all your readers can join in the fun. Copy and Paste "The Great Poinsettia Decorating Challenge" button/logo to use in your post if you like.

Things Are Rolling Along

2011-10-29T16:41:00.000-07:00

The other day I tried calling the Big Guy all day long. He never picked up his cell phone. I finally got fed up and went to look for him. I mean, WHAT could be more important than a phone call from his beloved WIFE?! Why on earth was he not answering??!!

Well, of course there are a few things in this world that take precedence over a phone call from me and greenhouse construction duties is most certainly one of them.

Although most of the glass is now in, there is still so much work to be done.

Things which need to be installed in the next 60 days include:

- Roof vents

- Plumbing

- Electrical

- Hanging Basket system

- Shading System

- Computerized Temperature Control System

- Cement Flood Floors

This list goes on and on. But the Big Guy always finds it a great challenge to get things like that done. He's handy that way.

While I was 20 feet up in the air on the sky-jack taking pictures......

the fellas were busy installing some bracket or other and shaking the platform like we were on a ride at Disneyland. I decided then and there that this sort of work is not for me. I prefer ribbons and glue guns to being suspended from a tiny little plank while hoping the hydraulics don't fail.

And yet, through all my fear, I managed to spy some "EXTRA" panes of glass that were not going to be needed for this project. I got to thinking about my veranda at home which is quite open to the wind in the winter. I made a quick calculation in my head.....

PANELS OF GLASS + MY OPEN VERANDA = MY VERANDA GLASSED IN AT LAST!

(Just in time for the winter chill. Perfect timing?!)

So, when the Big Guy came home for lunch today I floated the idea to him......

Grampa and Wee Two in deep discussion

To my great surprise, he was not TOTALLY against the plan. I think Wee Two thought it was a bit outrageous.......

but he know's his Grampa is a push over when it comes to Gramma, right Wee Two?!

I shall end my saturday post with an update on Anderson Cooper and his current foray into Sports Journalism. His school soccer team has qualified for PROVINCIALS. so I think he will be travelling to Kamploops next week for the tournament.

That means we have an "EMPTY NEST" for a few days! Woohoo! P-A-R-T-Y T-I-M-E, baby!

Anyways, enjoy the latest installment of the Kodiak Cage.

The Great Poinsettia Decorating Challenge

2011-10-28T18:11:00.000-07:00

I don't know if any of you have noticed but it's only 58 more days till Christmas.

Say it isn't so Gramma!!

Unfortunately, my blogger peeps, if my math is correct then it is completely TRUE. We are now a mere 7 weeks away from the FESTIVE SEASON.

There's not much time left people.

Tap, tap, tap.

Is anybody out there?

Are you HEARING what I'm SAYING?!

F-i-f-t-y E-i-g-h-t D-a-y-s! The count down has begun.

In light of this urgent situation, I am throwing down the gauntlet........

I hereby challenge all my readers to a "GREAT POINSETTIA DECORATING CHALLENGE".

Yup, you heard me right. I am going to help you get all of your Christmas decorating done on time this year by giving you a little extra motivation. For the MONTH of NOVEMBER I am going to be hosting a big decorating challenge. I will be asking you all to submit a blog post of your own making showing how you decorated with poinsettias. At the end of the month I will ask an esteemed panel of judges to help me choose the BEST poinsettia decorating post in the bunch.

I'm not sure where I will find the esteemed panel of judges but I'm sure I can call a few favors with some of my people in the industry........

I should call Steve Whysall at the Vancouver Sun and see if he wants to get in on the fun. He's a blogger. He'll love the idea, won't you Steve?!

Now, I know you are all excited about the prestige and the accolades that will come with the title of the "Great Poinsettia Decorating Challenge" winner, but I want to sweeten the pot a little.

So I have decided to give the author of the winning blog post a $50 dollar gift certificate to the OLIVE GARDEN. I love the Olive Garden. It's my favorite restaurant. If you win and you live in some far out place that does not have an Olive Garden, we'll talk. I'm sure we could find a reasonable substitute that would work, don't you think?

Now, I will fill you in with more details soon. I just have to figure out the technical aspects of the challenge like.......

How do I set a LINKY PARTY?! It can't be that difficult, right my blogger peeps? I will keep you informed on my progress. In the mean time, get your thinking caps on and start planning your GREAT POINSETTIA DECORATING POST now.

The competition is gonna be FIERCE!

Retail Renovations Just in Time For Christmas

2011-10-27T11:34:00.000-07:00

You are not going to believe this but CHRISTMAS has already come to Milner Gardens! Yup, the store is all gussied up for the festive season even though it's still only October. The girls and I have been helping Fifi out for a few days this week to make sure we were ready for a big photo shoot on Wednesday which means my house and all things related to cleaning and cooking have been neglected but.......who cares when you're having fun, right ladies?!

Anyways, I'm so excited to show y'all what a fantastic transformation has taken place. Just a few weeks ago things looked like THIS:

and now it looks like THIS:

Can you BELIEVE it?! I'm so glad we can re-use the chandelier we made for Opera Diva's wedding because it seems such a shame to just pack it away so soon.

We have also done some expansion into the old barn, opening up a whole new space for more shopping pleasure! The construction and painting were finally finished a few weeks ago so we got to decorating in earnest.

I got the fun job of working on the Whimsical Red and White section. Fifi provided me with an antique stove, a wicker shelving unit, a white enamel topped table and a pre-lit christmas tree.......

Mini Me assisting in the assembly of the "kitchen"

which to me was like getting an empty painters canvas, just waiting for the details to be filled in.

I started on the TREE and the ornament wall......

By the time this was done, Mini Me had to hit the road for school so I called in Opera Diva to help me keep going.

My sister-in-law Fifi, who runs the retail store, had a HUGE assortment of goodies for us to work with.

Seriously, work just couldn't get any more FUN than this!!!

So, now I can honestly say that I have done my Christmas decorating.....

but unfortunately it's not in MY home where I tend to be all christmassed out by the time we are done shipping our poinsettias in December.

Maybe I should start decorating my HOUSE in October too, so that everything is all festive BEFORE the shipping season....

FOOD FOR THOUGHT!

Now, while I was busy fooling around in my little section of the store, Santa's elves were busy working on all the OTHER sections that needed attention. There is the BLACK and SILVER section....

which is FULL of great trinkets.

There's the BLUE section....

The PURPLE and GOLD section....

Don't forget the WHITE section....

where Fifi called out instructions to all her little elves from the top of a step ladder!

At 8 months pregnant, I think she's a pretty cool cucumber, don't you think? I keep telling her that I don't believe she's expecting because you just can't TELL! However, the story she told us about an incident this week had us all in stitches and also convinced us that she definitely has a bun in the oven.

The story goes something like this;

Fifi dropped her car keys in the parking lot on a trip to get some supplies, bent down to pick them up, lost her balance and rolled onto her back and could not figure out how to roll herself back over. She laid there wondering how she was going to get back up without help. Eventually she made it back on her feet. We knew she would. She's smart that way!

Now back to her RETAIL VISION.

Believe it or not, she has even incorporated a BATH section.

Do you recognize that beautiful evening gown? It was the one I wore for Junior's wedding. We thought it would really add some glamor to the spa corner.

The back of the store is the NEW area where we are trying to get that mix of "old barn" meets "contemporary design" feel we first saw in Philadelphia at my favorite Garden Center Terrain at Styers

This is the display we saw in Philly......

and this is our rendition of that display which is now in Milner Gardens......

I just LOVE it when a plan comes together!

We even have patio furniture for sale since the guys spent all day last Saturday at an auction buying up tables and chairs by the dozen.

With all those tables and chairs in place, I'm just one step closer to my dream of a little BISTRO in the new section one day.

Back section BEFORE

You might think I want a BISTRO added to the retail store for the purpose of making a profit. In actual fact, I NEED a bistro at the store so that I can go there for lunch. It's close, it's easy to get to......and I don't have to make the food.

Back section AFTER

Well, it really is time for me to get back to work so I will end this post by saying that you are welcome to stop on by ANY TIME and check out all our renovations. We don't have too many poinsettias in the store yet since they are not quite COLORED UP yet. Gives us a few weeks and this place will be stacked to the rafters with colorful poinsettias FRESH from the GREENHOUSE.

Good Intentions

2011-10-21T09:54:00.000-07:00

Way back in the beginning of 2010, The Big Guy and I took a Meditteranean cruise.

We took said cruise with our travel agent........

who just happens to be my sister!

What a fantastic time we had, relaxing.....

meandering.......

shopping......

eating......

drinking......

and relaxing some more!

We stopped in Spain....

and Portugal.....

Morocco.....

and Rome!

I took pictures.....

pictures.....

and MORE PICTURES....

all with the good intention of blogging about it.

Unfortunately, I got carried away with the relaxing part of the trip........

and didn't post a thing!

How did my good intentions go so awry?! Oh woe is me! How am I supposed to remember all the great things that happen in a year if I don't BLOG about them?!

Seriously, I can barely remember what I had for breakfast this morning, let alone what I did more than a year ago. If I don't blog about it, it's like it never happened.

Time to log onto Shutterfly and make up a photo album before every shred of memory is lost. Is anyone elses out there using Shutterfly instead of Scrapbooking? It's so much less mess and the end result is so beautiful to look at, don't you agree? Leave me a comment 'cause I'd love to hear how you deal with all your "good intention" photos!

Building Greenhouses is a Dirty Business

2011-10-17T18:44:00.000-07:00

Last week I was driving Anderson Cooper to his soccer tournament and I suddenly realized that the new greenhouse is REALLY coming along. As a matter of fact, the last time I took a photo of the new building it looked like THIS.....

Since we were away on the big Jansen 5 concert tour starting way back in August, the greenhouse builders have been working hard. The roof is finally on and the walls are getting closed in very quickly.

Unfortunately the mud situation around here is completely out of control because of the construction!

So, although it's exciting to see the new facility going up, I'm getting tired of all the dirt that is getting tracked into my house every day.

I've taken to hosing the Big Guy down at the door before I let him come inside.

Now, of course a few weeks ago my WASH MACHINE kicked the bucket. Since we were so busy with the WEDDING preparations, we didn't have a chance to go and replace it with a new one. Soooooo.......

LOTS OF CONSTRUCTION MUD + NO WASH MACHINE = ..........

a few hours spent at the laundromat trying to catch up on the wash.

Then, Anderson Cooper had a big soccer tournament this past weekend which resulted in a very busy house hold for a few days in a row.

SOCCER TOURNAMENT + TEAM SLEEP-OVER =...........

One messy bedroom

I haven't even TRIED to get inside this room to clean up the mess yet. I'm just hoping that it will miraculously disappear.

I can always hope, can't I?!

But, the good news is......the boys WON their tournament! Andersonand worked hard on getting all the highlights edited into a great video for his loyal viewers. L

A Venetian Themed DIY Wedding Extravaganza

2011-10-16T16:30:00.000-07:00

The big event has come and gone. All the party decorations have been packed and put away. The kids have flown off on their honeymoon........and all I'm left with are some pretty awesome memories!

Thanks to Dragonflight Photography, our FAVORITE photographer in the whole wide world, we have some incredible images to gaze back on!

The BRIDE was absolutely STUNNING......

which is a given, of course. I mean, she is MY daughter!

The groom was looking pretty dapper as well.

It's hard to believe he's not accustomed to having his picture taken!

I'm thinking that he didn't even notice the photographer. He was too busy giving his adoring bride kisses.....

KISSES......

and MORE KISSES!

The whole day was just tons of fun and I got to tag along as babysitter to the Wee One. She absolutely loved all the airplanes at the Museum of Flight where we took the first photos.....

She IS in these photos......you just can't see her. She's sitting in the cockpit!

Who's idea was it, anyway, to get the pictures taken here? Must have been the men who wanted to have some TOYS in the photos.

Personally, I think the choice was GENIUS!

Next we headed off to Domaine de Chaberton, a winery just 10 minutes from our house.

The weather was absolutely perfect for a photo shoot......

and again the Wee One was hard to nail down for pictures. Gramma was happy to chase her around in the vineyard while everyone else posed like America's Top Model contestants.

See, I TOLD you she was there!

We lost her a few times. Toddling off amongst the vines was just too much fun for her to resist. I don't think the Bride and Groom even noticed.

Amazingly enough, we managed to make it to the church on time as well......

and then whipped off to the GREENHOUSE where we enjoyed a COCKTAIL HOUR in the Venetian themed garden my sister and our landscaper guru built in a day.

Christmas lights inside the paper lanterns lit the night just perfectly.

Everyone enjoyed a glass of champagne and did a bit of wine tasting with some fabulous selections from Domaine de Chaberton.

The home made chandelier glowed in the evening light.......

made out of simple glass Christmas ornaments and a couple of pot lights mounted on a piece of plywood. Who would have thunk it??!!

Venetian masks were laid out on the tables for the guests to take home.....

and quite a number of guests were also found willing to give the floral arrangements a good home at the end of the evening.

To make the evening feel just a little more venetian we ate Caprese Salad, Chicken Pene and Tiramisu baked by Chef Gary. The entertainment set the italian mood with Michelle and Joel, Opera singers extraordinaire as well as a roving troupe of slightly tipsy ITALIAN wanna be's......

CLICK HERE to view video

So, that's all it takes to make a Venetian Themed DIY Wedding Extravaganza. All you have left to do is cut the cake.....

and say goodnight!

Simple, right?

Did I go too fast for you? Want to see that again? Here's a video of the whole event for your viewing pleasure from our favorite Videographers, Hellow Tomorrow.

rebecca + evan || like a princess from Hello Tomorrow on Vimeo.

Free Photo Shoot With Dragonflight Photography's Ashley Ferreira

2011-10-14T17:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I received some Wedding photo teaser's from Dragonflight Photography that took my breath away. I mean, take this picture for example. The Big Guy is busy doing his best Dean Martin impersonation at our daughter's nuptials. Sure, it may have been questionable to feed him wine before performing his solo but......look at his face, would you?! Then look at each of the other individual elements in the picture that tie the whole thing together. It's like a NORMAN ROCKWELL portrait, and WE are the subject! Don't you just love Norman Rockwell?!

I think I'm going to blow this one up life size and hang it in my office.

As I looked at this picture and pondered what a genius photographer Ashley really is, it dawned on me that I want ALL my blogger peeps to get to know her and love her like I do. I feel guilty hogging all her creativity for myself.

So........I have decided to offer you, my local blogger peeps, an opportunity to win a FREE photo shoot with my favorite photographer.

Yup, you heard me right. FREE! It's my gift to you because I love how you keep stopping by to check up on me. Anyone who either lives in the Fraser Valley or plans a trip to the Fraser Valley is eligible to play. All you need to do is leave a comment on the bottom of THIS blog post and you will be entered into the draw. This GIVE-AWAY will run until I post the rest of Ashley's Wedding Teaser Photo's.

I think that may be tomorrow.

But it might be on Monday.

So, if you would like a chance to sit with Ashley and have some fabulous photos taken, just drop me a comment.

Dragonflight Photography specializes in ENGAGEMENT PHOTOGRAPHY......

WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY....

PREGNANCY PHOTOGRAPHY.....

NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHY......

FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHY......

and any other sort of PHOTOGRAPHY you might want to do.

Now, all you need to do is LEAVE A COMMENT ON THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST and you are eligible to win.

It's as easy as pie.

No strings attached.

Just one little, itty, bitty comment for Tamara to read. That's all I ask. I LIVE FOR FEEDBACK!

OCTOBER 20th GIVE AWAY UPDATE!

***** And the Winner is.......SARAH VANDERGUGTEN!****

CONGRATULATIONS and THANKS for playing everyone. It was FUN!
Now, back to that gorgeous Norman Rockwell photo........

CLICK HERE to see the VIDEO

The Anderson Cooper Connection

2011-10-13T17:20:00.000-07:00

The other day Danny Boneduce was busy on a project that I had no time to pay attention to. He was constantly having friends over, borrowing camera equipment, and spending countless hours in the office on the computer. I had no idea what he was busy with until he sent me a youtube link.........

Click HERE to see video

The thoughts which flashed through my mind as I watched were as follows:

1. "Wow! Do you ever look like ANDERSON COOPER!"

2. "Wow! You CLEARLY have a future in journalism!"

3. "Wow! Where was your MOTHER when you were flying around the yard on a golf cart, risking life and limb just to get a spectacular piece of footage?!"

4. "Wow! You are EXACTLY like Anderson Cooper!"

Really, it's no wonder you and Anderson are so similar. His MOTHER and I are so similar as well......

Gloria Vanderbilt and ME

We both LOVE RUFFLES!

From henceforth, I will refer to my youngest son as Anderson in all future blog posts. After this video, I will never be able to think of him as Danny Boneduce.

My little boy is all GROWED UP!

How To Plan a Stress Free Wedding - Version 3.0

2011-10-11T14:00:00.000-07:00

The big day has come and gone and the newlyweds are off on a cruise to Mexico. Now that the party is over I feel free to finally reveal some of the wedding planning craziness that went on over the last weeks and months. You've been wondering what we would choose for a theme, of course. You've been sitting on pins and needles to find out what sort of crazy decor we came up with this time. Come on, admit it! You just couldn't WAIT to see all the details. Well, here we go then.......

First off, Opera Diva chose purple as her color. We promptly placed our order with China for purple chair bows and table skirts. My peeps got RIGHT ON IT!

Then we decided that since Opera Diva loves Opera so much, we would make the wedding theme "One Night In Venice". My first order of business was to get a backdrop which would give the feel of being in St Mark's square at night. We found a fabulous image on Istock Photos and had it blown up into 7 - 10' by 12' panels........ordered in China, of course.

The Groom was right into all the party preparations, as you can see. He kept things orderly and clean because, as most people know, Tamara is not that clean and tidy when she is busy CREATING A MASTERPIECE!

The next order of business was to make a new CHANDELIER, which has become a Jansen family wedding tradition. I had a specific look in mind which I had seen in a hotel somewhere in the orient a few years back. I explained the style I was trying to achieve to the Big Guy and he got busy preparing the frame.

Please realize that we had just returned from a round the world trip to the Netherlands and an unplanned stop in the Orient. Time was now of the essence. All of the decorative "ingredients" had already arrived from China and it was imperative that we get moving on putting everything together. Progress was fairly slow at first. The Big Guy wasn't really that focused on my chandelier project. This picture is taken shortly after he found out I made inquiries at a local golf and country club to see if we could use their facility for the wedding instead of the greenhouse due to lack of progress on the wedding tent......

ME?! STRESSED?! No way!

So, of course, the chandelier suddenly became a top priority and took shape in just a day!

It's just amazing how a few hundred glass christmas ornaments and a bunch of pot lights can turn into something rather eye catching......

NOTE TO SELF: During set-up, always carry your GOOD camera for future blog posts. Blackberry photos are just not that great.

Now, continuing on with our Venetian theme, we decided to set up a night garden for the cocktail hour. We started by hanging purple and silver paper lanters.

Of course, the question always is "How many lanterns will we need?". I wish there was an easy answer but there isn't. Now, it's even MORE difficult to make a clear and intelligent decision like that when you are sitting in a tiny little shop in down town Guangzhou, China surrounded by 20 helpful sales people who only speak Chinese. In the end, we went with the Big Guy's gut feeling and I think he was right.

They looked absolutely stunning once they were all lit up......

The next step was to set up the GARDEN. Good thing my sister Rosa and our very own Gardening Guru were here to make magic happen!

I had rented a few things to give that Italian feel in the garden from CanAm Importiques, a Movie Prop rental place in Burnaby....

Stone table legs and a water fountain.....

which really made the whole thing come to life!

I also rented a few opera type costumes from Watt's Costume rental in Vancouver to add that FINAL TOUCH to the scene......

For some reason the men in the greenhouse were somewhat disturbed by the naked mannequin in the garden......

so we dressed her as soon as possible to avoid any further distractions.

In the evening, this little corner of the greenhouse looked completely different than during the day.

But then again.......what DOESN'T look different at night as oppossed to the day??!! Darknes is the friend of any party planner, in my opinion. I mean, can you tell there are a few stains on this table cloth.....

Honestly, even I look better at night.

Some people mistake me for my daughters in dim lighting. I LOVE dim lighting.

Another "little" project the girls did was make some venetian masks. Opera Diva chose the design and everyone pitched in to get it done.

We painted the masks in purple and silver......

photocopied music, stained it with tea and dried it on the dry rack......

and kept the Wee One far away from the hot glue gun to avoid any unhappy accidents. It took many nights of hard work and dedication but they turned out just FABULOUS!

Here's a DAY SHOT.......

and a NIGHT SHOT......

Totally different at night, right?!

Now, I have a quiz for those who were invited to the party to see if they were paying close attention. Did anyone notice the connection between the wedding invitations (besides the purple color).....

and the floral decorations?........

That's right.......the FEATHER!

Attention to detail is my goal in life. Call me crazy. Call me a control freak. Call me genius......

Just don't call me to plan a wedding for another year or so. I'm soooo tired!

So, to cap off this lesson in how to plan a wedding, I would like to end with a few of my favorite candid shots from the big day.

The Wee One in rollers

The Wee One tickling the ivories

Keeping the Wee One out of the fish pond

Domaine de Chaberton Winery, Langley BC

Mini Me dazzling the audience on her violin

Click HERE to watch the Big Guy doing his best Dean Martin impression

Michelle Koebke and Joel "Baritone" dazzling us with a little opera

The Bride and Groom with stars in their eyes

Make sure to stop by again soon for an update on the WHOLE wedding!

I leave you with a video made for the bridal couple from Fancy Feat Studios:

Opera Diva's Wedding Teaser

2011-10-06T09:48:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow's the BIG day! My middle child, Opera Diva, is going to tie the knot with her French horn playing, logistics loving, most wonderfully gentle fiance, Mr. Detail Man.

These last few weeks have been very busy with all sorts of organizing and planning. My "to do" list is outrageously long and we only have one more day.......

The bride and groom have been helping all week to get everything in order.....

You guys are the GREATEST! Although, I'm afraid I may have overwhelmed my new son-in-law with my whacky party planning. Realistically, I am a slightly "over-the-top" kinda gal. Not everyone can handle my, shall we say, eccentric style. Unfortunately though, I WAS BORN THIS WAY!

Tamara (in the sombrero) with her sisters circa 1970

So, dear son-in-law, I humbly apologize for all the outlandish party planning that you have had to put up with over the last 6 months.

I'm so glad you are so EXCITED about our venetian party theme......

My crew hard at work!

I'm so glad that you are the kind of guy who's not afraid to be a bit EDGY......

although you did draw the line at my NAKED MANNEQUIN. Don't worry, son. I promise to put some clothes on her before the guests arrive.

TRUST ME! I'm you're mother, aren't I?!

It's Time For The Jansen 5 To Head On Home

2011-09-07T07:27:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe but our time here in Holland is already over. We need to go back to our regular lives in Canada before we even got over our jet lag. How sad is that?! I mean, we had so much FUN here! We loved to check out the sights in Bergen op Zoom.....

where we sat down to eat as many croquetten as we possibly could, our favorite dutch snack! Some of us may even have to go on a diet when we get home after all the delicious food we have eaten.....

We LOVED our trip to the Effteling, a dutch version of Disneyland where we tried out all the rides until our tummies rebelled.

We LOVED going to the pool......

visiting old churches......

lunching on the Rijn River.....

picnicking below a grand old church steeple........

playing concerts to a full house......

and staying up till all hours of the night just talking and eating and laughing till we got kicked out of the restaurants!

But the fun has come to an end and it's time to go home.........except for Me and the Big Guy! We are headed to the airport together with the whole family but we are on our way to HONG KONG first for business.

We figured that we had things to take care of in China so we may as well make this a ROUND THE WORLD trip before we fly home.

Unfortunately we won't even be home in time for the FIRST of FOUR concerts in BC with Peter Wildeman, the Canadakoor and The Jansen 5. They will be performing pieces from their brand new CD and I won't be there to turn their pages, can you believe it?!

So, if you live in the Fraser Valley, British Columbia, make sure you plan to catch one of the concerts or you are really missing out. The dates and times are as follows:

September 15 in the Candian Reformed Church, Langley at 7:30
September 16 in the Living Hope Christian Reformed Church, Abbotsford at 7:30
September 17 in the Cook's Presbyterian Church, Chilliwack at 7:30
September 19 in the First Christian Reformed Church, Lynden Washington at 7:30

A Day At The Beach

2011-09-05T14:49:00.000-07:00

I think we made a mistake the other day. I'm afraid it will have a long lasting affect on the Wee One. You see, the other day when the sun finally peaked out from behind the clouds here at Port Zeelande, the Netherlands, we headed out to play in the ocean for an hour. Everyone came along.......

We started out at the beach club, having a little bite to eat and taking time to enjoy each other's company.

After a quick look in the sports store, we purchased a skim board for the low price of 20 Euros for a little bit of excitement on the water.......

and then we made the 1 mile trek out to the ocean.

Junior and Cinderella walk the Wee One to the shore

Now, being the mother of 5 stringed instrument players, I must say that I worried someone would break an arm with this particular activity but.......

fortunately for all of us, no one was injured while playing in the sea.

At first, the Wee One was enjoying herself TREMENDOUSLY, even though it was quite cold.

But someone got the great idea of showing her a LIVE CRAB........

and that was the end of our day at the beach! She REFUSED to put her feet back in the water from that moment on.

Oh well, good thing we still have the POOL where we can keep her happy!

Thank You Holland - We Love You Too!

2011-09-04T07:10:00.000-07:00

The Jansen 5 performing in Veenendaal, the Netherlands

There's just something fantastic about HOLLAND. It's hard to pick my favorite parts because it's all so wonderful. Mostly, I just love how people LOVE music here. They are willing to travel long distances just to sit for a few hours in a beautiful old church beneath the GRAND PIPES of the many old organs that are still in constant use today!

The center of every town and village here has a wonderful old brick church with a tall steeple which stands high up above the surrounding buildings. Inside those churches you are sure to find a well worn PIPE ORGAN situated high above the benches, intricate wooden sculptures facing out over the congregation.

Organ in Tholen, the Netherlands

Below many of those lovely instruments you will also likely find a band of musicians busily recording a Christmas CD......

getting some last minute instructions on what repeats to play or skip.......

making sure that all the details are just right!

Now, don't get me wrong. It's not all hard work that goes on inside these beautiful old churches ALL the time. Once in a while you might find a few of those musicians fooling around a bit while the caretaker isn't watching.

You will also probably find a member of the entourage even getting a bit of shut eye between recordings.....

while his GRAMPA checks his blackberry messages. Important business dealing continue to happen even though you are sitting inside a 400 year old church on a 300 year old gravestone.

Later in the even, say around 7 pm, you may find the the musicians are still directly below those beautiful organ pipes, rehearsing for yet another taping.

They will be all dressed up because this time there is some video taping involved. Expensive camera equipment, lighting and all sorts of technical stuff will be hooked up and and set in place to catch all the action that goes on inside those very old stone walls.

Yup, my blogger peeps, HOLLAND is one VERY SPECIAL place full of wonderful history and even more fine musicians.

So, all I'd like to say is THANK YOU Peter Wildeman, THANK YOU Joost VanBelzen and THANK YOU Holland for a whole lot of fun!

Taping of The Hour of Power with Jan Van den Bosch and The Jansen 5

2011-09-02T02:06:00.000-07:00

What an adventure we are having out here in Holland with the Jansen 5! Yesterday was no exception. As a matter of fact, I think it may actually be the highlight of our trip so far. I'm not really sure how it happened but we were invited to be in the Hour of Power, Netherlands style. Who said what to whom and what transpired to get us this invitation, I'm not sure but I can tell you all that it was quite an EXPERIENCE.

The show taping was done in the home of Mr. Jan Van den Bosch, host of the dutch version of The Hour of Power. It is situated on the edge of the Rijn river in the beautifully picturesque city of Alphen en de Rijn. That is an hour and a half drive NORTH from where we are staying. We were scheduled to arrive there at 12:45 in the afternoon. That would give us enough time to have a coffee, familiarize ourselves with what was going to happen and even get a chance to change into our Sunday best before the big event.

No problem, right?! That gives us ALL MORNING to get ready and drive out. This should be a piece of cake.

NOT!

Early morning rolls around and we suddenly realize that the MUSIC STANDS which had been purchased the previous day so we didn't have to use any more SHOE racks and assorted furniture when performing had been left with Peter Wildeman, our ORGANIST in Tholen. So, the Big Guy and Junior hopped in the van and raced out to pick them up. That took 2 hours.

In the mean time, the rest of us were showering, dressing, doing our hair, applying makeup, collecting up our instruments, and generally taking things pretty casual. NO STRESS! This was going to be a fun day.

By the time the men arrived home with the equipment, we all had to make the ONE MILE TREK from our little cabin on the North Sea to the parking lot at the other end of the park with all of our gear for the day. Unfortunately for us, this beautiful place is a CAR FREE zone and there are no exceptions, even for musicians who are now getting late for a taping of The Hour of Power. We had to lug a whole lot of gear through the lovely cobble stone streets, past the ducks swimming lazily in the pond and through the SWIMMING POOL. And of course, the Wee One was not all that pleased that we were not going to go inside for a SWIM but were merely passing by. Poor little girl had to be dragged past the water slides on our way to the car which was just not a pretty scene!

Another 30 minutes lost trying to stuff 12 people, 5 instruments, a stroller, baby bed and a myriad of personal items into 2 vehicles before we could push off.

Ok, so now we are all in the car. What could go wrong from here?! We're home FREE!

NOT!

Enter the GPS. Yup, you know how the GPS works. Type in the address and the lovely lady begins to direct you calmly to your location. Little did she KNOW, Alphen en de Rijn is not quite the same place it was when she LAST was here. Suffice it to say that we eventually WALKED to Mr. Jan Van den Bosch's beautiful home, asking random people we met on the street if they could tell us where to find him. Another 30 minutes lost.

When we finally arrived with our entire ENTOURAGE we were met by both Mr. Van den Bosch and his assistants at the front door. As he shook my hand and caught sight of the crowd behind me it dawned on me that perhaps they were only expecting 5 people plus a driver. Ever the gracious host, he ushered us into his formal living room/dining room full of beautiful furniture and antiques.......

Oh, Mr Van den Bosch, I wish I had known that your house was so beautiful and that your Rembrandt painting was just the right height for a TODDLER to experience. Had I known, I might have done things different yesterday and left "you know who" at the swimming pool!

The table was set beautifully with coffee, juice and snacks for us. As we started to bring all our gear in, including cello's, violins, car seats, diaper bags, music stands, etc. we began to over-run his entire front parlor. Mr. Van den Bosch just smiled his MEGA WATT smile and quietly began to explain the meaning behind his Rembrandt painting of the prodigal son.

I didn't hear a WORD of the story because my attention was caught by the Wee One running around the dining room table laughing and chanting "Chase me daddy. Chase me daddy!" Good thing Daddy decided that a little time out in the grass was in order or I may have had a heart attack.

Eventually the kids all got settled and ready to play for Mr Van den Bosch in his GORGEOUS solarium......

where they taped 3 separate pieces for the show.

After that followed the interviews and it was decided that one of the parents should speak a little. The Big Guy's dutch is better than mine so he took the hot seat.

Jan Van den Bosch (in dutch): "So, you are all of dutch descent?"

The Big Guy (in dutch): "Yes"

Jan Van den Bosch (in dutch): "You have quite a large musical family"

The Big Guy (in dutch): "Yes"

Jan Van den Bosch: "Ben U trots op U kinderen?" ENGLISH "Are you proud of your children?"

The Big Guy (in ENGLISH): "Trots? What does Trots mean?!

Director: "CUT! Let's try that again"

And so it went.......until Gramma Jansen saved the day with her fluent dutch. I'm pretty sure the Big Guy's footage is on the cutting room floor.

Next it was time to interview Junior, the LEADER of the Jansen 5.

Jan Van den Bosch: "So, how did you get music in your heart?"

Junior: "My Mom put it there."

Jan Van den Bosch: "Which one of your siblings are you closest to?"

Junior: "I am close to them all. " Good answer, son. Any other answer could have landed you in hot water!

Jan Van den Bosch: "What does your faith mean to you?"

Junior: STUNNED SILENCE.......

Director: "CUT! Let's try that again"

Poor Junior tried his very best to answer Mr. Van den Bosch's heartfelt questions but, being of a conservative Reformed back ground, giving a testimony off the cuff is just not something we do easily. Oh well, I just hope they got what they needed to make a nice segment.

And just so you know Mr. Van den Bosch, YES.......we are VERY proud of our children! They are a great BLESSING! Thank you for letting us share our blessings with you and your viewers.

Oh, also I would like to say that you have a MOST BEAUTIFUL GARDEN.

Really, it was just stunningly designed. Who is your landscaper? Thank you SO MUCH for allowing us to wander around your place and take in all the beauty!

If you are interested in seeing the segment, it will air on dutch television on November 6. Or you will be able to watch it on their website a few weeks after the original program airs. http://www.thehourpower.nl/

The Jansen 5 In Holland

2011-08-30T14:55:00.000-07:00

Yes, my blogger peeps, we have arrived in the Netherlands for the big tour UNSCATHED regardless of a few tense moments in the air......

a long layover in Frankfurt, Germany........

and some serious JET LAG.

8 of us travelled together arriving on Friday and 4 of us followed the next day, arriving on Saturday, just in time for the first concert. That meant that one of the members of the band had been travelling for a very, VERY long time and was required to play within 4 hours of landing at Schipol airport. No time for a nap. No time for a rehearsal. Hard to believe that your brain even FUNCTIONS after that much travel but, somehow they all managed.

It's a good thing that there were some members of the group who DID get the chance to rehearse because there are always surprises when you perform. Surprises such as the fact that no one thought about bringing MUSIC STANDS for the string players. Good thing there was a SHOE RACK for Junior to use and assorted other pieces of furniture which served to suffice under the circumstances.

And, of course, you have to be prepared for BRAND NEW MUSIC to appear at the last second!

We really enjoyed being able to be part of such a wonderful concert......

especially because we got to see Joost Vanbelzen, our amazing organist again!

In the end the church was packed FULL.....

with some amazing musical talent.

In the back room, Grampa was busy trying to keep the Wee One occupied while her mother played on stage. It's a good thing there was a sink and some cold water to play with........

or we could have had one serious melt down occur at a very inopportune moment.

At the end of the night we made our way back to Port Zeelande where we have 2 cabins rented on the sea shore. We decided to stay at Centerparks, a complex where there is fun for young and old. Situated on the edge of the North Sea, this beautiful location is sort of a cross between a Motel 6 and the waterpark at West Edmonton Mall. Perfect for a family like ours. Sailing, swimming, biking and late night entertainment all rolled into one! Who could ask for anything better?!

I know the Wee One is just LOVING it.......

and so are WE!

The Jansen 5 Get Reviewed

2011-08-22T10:30:00.000-07:00

This past Friday I received an email with our first official CD review which was written up in the Nederlands Dagblaad, a wonderful dutch newspaper that is unfortunately written.........in DUTCH. Seeing as my dutch is limited to just a few words like "Hi" and "How much does this cost?" I was completely unable to figure out what the review said.

So, I talked to a few of my dutch friends and got the low down on what the music critic was saying about our attempt at producing a CD. First of all, he mentioned that you can hear that we're not PROFESSIONALS, which stung just a wee little bit. Then I realized "Of course we're NOT professionals! We're just a bunch of farmers from Milner making a little bit of music in our spare time". I am so glad he pointed that fact out because I'd hate for people to think they were buying a Itzaak Perlman quality sound and be disappointed.

He goes on to say that the enthusiasm with which they play makes it WELL WORTH THE LISTEN!

Woohoo! He liked it! We got a 3 star rating. Not bad for our first review EVER.

So, the Jansen 5 have been busy in the past few weeks with all sorts of important things they needed to accomplish before we leave on tour. Things like......

Going to the Abbotsford Air Show!

3 of our 5 members sat in the HOT BLAZING SUN all day long and enjoyed some amazing aeronautic acrobatics from the VIP section where food and drinks were included in the ticket price. I think Junior partook in his fair share of the liquid gold......

and took in far too much sun for good.

He burnt BAAAAD! Chemical peal bad. Unrecognizable bad. Not going to look good on the European tour bad.

That will teach him to listen to his mother and use sunscreen.

My little Angel, our stellar violinist, was there too with her brood of chicks....

checking out the fancy hardware on the tarmac.

Mini Me, violin virtuoso #3, was behind the camera all day, getting the event on film for posterity. She did, however, come home with an extreme case of LENS ENVY after seeing THIS guy's equipment.

The other 2 members were back at the farm WORKING because not everyone can take the day off together or WHO will get those garden mums out to the stores?!

Then we followed up with a birthday party in the park on Thursday which was attended by 3 alternate members of the group. My Little Angel......

our violist, Opera Diva.....

and Mini Me, once again behind the camera lens.

Can you tell she got a NEW LENS?! Yup, I caved and bought her one with the caveat that she must now take photos for my blog WHENEVER I request it. I made her prick her finger and swear in blood that she will be my photographer slave forever. I think I got the better end of the deal! I mean, look at these beautiful pictures she took for me on Sunday of our newest little sweet pea at his baptism.

We had such a wonderful day yesterday, celebrating together after the service, serving lunch for our whole congregation. The little Sweat Pea was oblivious to all the festivities......

but we got it all on film. We'll remember the joy of this special occasion, shared with so many dear family and friends, for a long time. Thanks to all who stayed to share in our joy!

Fall Mums - In Stores Now!

2011-08-16T22:16:00.000-07:00

The Big Guy was reading my blog the other day and he casually stated "For a greenhouse blog, you sure haven't posted much about the plants lately!".

Can you BELIEVE it?! Suddenly I'm living with a writing critic who thinks my posts do not contain sufficient coverage of the greenhouse going's on. I'm going to have to have a talk with that boy.

However.........

after a little scrolling through my recent posts, I did have to agree that I haven't really given much coverage to the FALL MUM crop that has begun to ship to your local BIG BOX store over the last 2 weeks.

It would really be a shame if I didn't share a few pictures of our outdoor production acreage now that it's coming in to BLOOM!

They just look like acres and acres of CHIA PETS waiting to find a good home, don't you think?

OK, enough of that! Now on to my favorite subject.....

THE WEE ONE!

Ya'll knew that was coming didn't you?

This week is full of music and rehearsing since we're going to Holland soon with the whole family. Everyone is getting organized for the big JANSEN 5 CD release at the end of August.

The Wee One has become quite fascinated with the METRONOME which the kids are using to keep time. You see, it's the kind of metronome that TALKS.

"One and Two and Three and Four"

Not only does this metronome talk but it has lots of BUTTONS and LEVERS that move up, down and all around, changing tempo and volume with ease.

I just hope she doesn't figure out which one is the power button or I may have to remove the batteries.

A few nights ago I came home after photocopying more music and concert information about the tour, making sure that everyone knows what songs they need to practice and what time different events will happen. I walked into the living room to see the cutest sight I have EVER SEEN.

The Wee One was "playing along" with the rehearsal. Of course, being just 2 years old, she was quickly distracted by the Big Guy who was trying to catch the whole thing on his blackberry. The moment she realized he was directing the camera at her she happily obliged with some very big "CHEESE" smiles to ensure he got her best look on film.

Is it any wonder that with all this cuteness going on around here that I tend to neglect my greenhouse posts lately? I mean, wouldn't you?

Now, I figured that I should make sure my blogger peeps don't forget to stop on by Tootsie's place for Fertilizer Friday where they can see some more amazing gardens and a myriad of flowers. You will have tons of fun checking out what other places look like after this weird and wacky summer we've all experienced this year!

54 Days and Counting!

2011-08-14T18:44:00.000-07:00

54 days or....

1,296 hours or.......

77,720 minutes or.......

4,665,600 seconds until the BIG EVENT! That is when Opera Diva and her fiance are getting hitched. And that also means we have run out of time. Getting the invitations out to all our friends and family has now become "SITUATION CRITICAL".

So, last week we all buckled under and started to meet together to come up with an invitation design that would fulfill the bride and groom's desire to have a SIMPLE but ELEGANT invitation that wouldn't take weeks and weeks of manual labor to put together.

"Mom" she pleaded "Please don't make it too complicated. I don't want to be chained to the kitchen table forever, gluing and glittering till the cows come home! I'm BEGGING you to keep it SIMPLE."

Clearly, she takes after her Father.

"Well, OK then" I grudgingly reply. "But what does SIMPLE mean to YOU?!"

Thus began the onslaught of emails bouncing back and forth between us with many varied versions of Opera Diva SIMPLE versus Tamara SIMPLE.

But out of the cacaphony of clearly opposing concepts of what qualifies as SIMPLE, we finally came up with THIS.......

SIMPLE and ELEGANT, wouldn't you say?!

And then we got to WORK!

The troops were called in to help.

You might think that no troops were necessary because we were going "SIMPLE".

Somehow, things just don't work out that way in my world.

Maybe it was the hand painting aspect of the job.

Each of the invites were lovingly touched up with a dash of purple by our resident artist, Mini Me.

Then a few strokes of opalescent white added a bit of contrast.

Then, of course, we had to give just that little extra BLING factor with a silver pearlized accent.....

added in all the right places.

Simple, right?! Now, only 99 more to go.

I mean, how long could this really take? A few hours maximum?

Good thing I was able to call in a few extra peeps to help us get things finished or this might have begun to appear a little less than "SIMPLE".

I mean, what's an invitation without a little RIBBON?!

So, my loyal helpers stuck with me and cut......

and glued......

until, well, until the cows came home.

We're all happy with the final outcome.

Yup. It's satisfies the SIMPLE and ELEGANT lovers.......

and keeps the BLING lovers happy as well!

Now, all we need to do is get them in the mail.

My Flesh and Heart May Fail....

2011-08-08T15:36:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday morning I held my Grandmother's hands in mine and sat quietly by her bedside as she fitfully slept the hours away. Her body is beginning to gradually shut down as she approaches her 97th birthday. Her heart continues to beat a steady rhythm as she breathes softly in and out. She slowly inhales, eyes partially closed, and I can hear her struggle to take in the air that sustains her. The lines on her face are relaxed, her white hair is a stark contrast to the beige pillow on which she cradles her head.

For a moment she awakens, opens her eyes and looks straight up to heaven "Is it time yet? Should I go towards the light?" she asks quietly in perfect english, heavily laced in a thick dutch accent.

"No Oma" I reply. "It's Sunday morning. Church services will be over soon and everyone will stop by to visit you for coffee. Would you like me to get you a cup of coffee?".

"No thank you" she states firmly. "I will wait for Dicky to bring me my coffee. She knows exactly how I like it. Some people make it too HOT!" and she slowly drifts off to sleep again.

My mind starts to wander over the last 25 years to when I first met her. She was always so spunky and full of life. Never one to leave a story untold or waste a good moment for conversation by keeping silent, she loved to chat about what life was like when she was young. Immigrating to Canada after the loss of her first husband, bringing all of her 5 children along with her was the most courageous thing I could ever imagine a widow to do in the 1950's. She was a special lady, that's for sure!

I feel her hands move underneath mine as she tries to settle in a more comfortable position. She opens her eyes and says "I'm going to heaven soon to be with my Father, you know" with all the conviction of a beloved daughter. "But it's not because I was so good in my life time. No, it is only because my Saviour Jesus Christ died for my sins. You know that, right?! I taught you all about how He died for our sins, didn't I?!" and she lays back down into her pillow in a slightly less peaceful slumber.

My eyes well up with tears. I start to pray quietly to myself. "Dear Lord, please grant me the peaceful knowledge that I too, in all my weakness and despite all my faults, may live in the conviction that I am saved by Thy grace alone." I am in awe at the incredible faith she has as she stands on the threshold between this life and the next.

I sit quietly for a few more minutes, my back growing weary of leaning over to hold her hand. She stirs. Her eyes flutter open and she looks me directly in the eyes. "It's taking a long time. How long have I been waiting?"

I smile and tell her that soon people are going to stop in to see her. She just squeezes my hand and says "You have been so good to me." I am ashamed of myself when I hear her speak so generously. Why didn't I visit her more often? Why was I always so busy? I should have stopped in to chat and drink a little tea now and then but something always got in the way. Now it's too late.

But I know that she is very happy right now. She is so happy that soon she will be with her Heavenly Father, waiting for all of her own dear children to join her at the table our Saviour has set for us all. Her journey is nearly over. Ours is only half way done. What a blessing we have in our Oma and all that she has taught us to believe in.

Thank you Oma

Psalm 73:26
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

I Love My Job!

2011-08-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

Last week the Big Guy and I hopped on a plane and flew out to New York to check out garden centers on the east coast. It wasn't planned. We looked at eachother over our morning coffee on Monday and decided that we needed an injection of inspiration and we knew just how we were gonna get it. The Hamptons. Where else?!

I wonder if watching a re-run of "The Real Houswives of New York" recently had anything to do with our decision? I just love watching that show. Bethany is just so fun. She makes me want to start developing my own line of hard liquor. I'd call it "Skinny Gramma". Taste testing would be exclusively MY job!

Unfortunately, travelling that far meant we had to suffer a bit of jet lag as well as endure scorching heat that peaked at 112 degrees. We never saw even a single New York Housewife. We had to make do with standing in front of Carlo's bakery instead.

I'm a fan of the Cake Boss too. Watching Reality TV shows helps me keep my own problems in perspective. I mean, delivering our hanging baskets in the Spring seems like a cake walk..... no pun intended.... compared to delivering a 10 tiered wedding cake through busy New York city traffic.

We toured Long Island and New Jersey, searching for our Garden Center Shangri la.........

eventually landing up in far-away PHILADELPHIA at the most AMAZING garden center.....

in the UNIVERSE!!!

Terrain at Styer is a very old location that was bought out by the owners of Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters in 2008.

They plan to be a force to be reckoned with in the garden center industry.

They want to expand out across the States with 50 locations......

selling 20,000,000 dollars per location every year!

Wow! They sure know how to DREAM BIG, don't they?!

The above information was posted back in 2008 when they first opened up. That was before we all were hit by an incredible economic meltdown of giganic proportions. Too bad we can't see into the future before we all make big decisions like opening new stores or commit to expansions. Wouldn't life be so much better if we knew what the future held?

Or WOULD it?

I mean, if the owners knew that all sorts of financial mayhem and madness was about to ensue, then perhaps they wouldn't have gone through with opening their doors.

That would have been a shame because this place is so INSPIRATIONAL. Their displays are just so well put together that they make you want to go home and organize your own place in the very same way.

They focus on using ALL NATURAL materials throughout the entire store. There's lots of GLASS......

and RECLAIMED WOOD......

NATURAL ELEMENTS.......

OLD TREE STUMPS.....

All that ECO FRIENDLY stuff is put together so beautifully that it even makes a non-recycler/throw it in the bin kinda gall like myself want to jump on the RE-PURPOSE bandwagon. I can hardly believe it!

The Big Guy and I stayed here for FOUR hours, browsing and soaking in the ambience. The old greenhouse has been turned into a BISTRO where we shared a delicious brunch.

I wanted to try the cold CUCUMBER SOUP in honor of our current cucumber crop which is pumping out thousands every day back at home.

The Big Guy took one taste of it and promptly declared "It LOOKS and TASTES like POND SCUM!" and then took a long phone call while I finished it off.

NOTE TO SELF: Do not bother to make CUCUMBER SOUP at home.......EVER!

Fortunately we had also ordered pancakes with fresh blueberries and vanilla whipped cream to finish off the meal. It was DELICIOUS!

NOTE TO SELF: Keep a stash of vanilla flavored WHIPPED CREAM in the fridge......ALWAYS!

Suffice it to say, TAMARA enjoyed herself immensely. I just can't tell you how much I love my job when it allows me to meander around such a beautiful place searching for ideas and inspiration.

I think that this year I should fashion a product line-up that is INSPIRED BY NATURE! Because nature is just so......

INSPIRING!

And as a follow up, TERRAIN has recently purchased a second location and plans to open soon. I can't wait to VISIT!

Farm Expansion Continues.....

2011-07-30T10:42:00.000-07:00

Darvonda is in EXPANSION mode this summer and things are really rolling along at break neck speed. Just a few days ago we added another member to the ever growing ranks at the farm. This young fella takes after the Big Guy, if his entry into the real world is anything to go by. Rather than wait around for hours and hours of labor and delivery, our Little Peanut burst onto the scene in such a speedy fashion that we were all taken a little by surprise!

It must be all that talk about EFFICIENCY and PRODUCTIVITY he's been hearing from his Daddy over the last few weeks while we worked on tracking COSTS and LABOR for this year's fall mum crop......

It's even better that this little fella made his entry ahead of schedule because we have some big travel plans for him come the end of August. As a matter of fact, he's already in the process of applying for his passport so we can all travel together to Holland for the big JANSEN 5 concert tour!

I was VERY glad that our Little Peanut did manage to wait for his gramma and grampa to return from their buying trip to New York before making his entrance because I would have been very disappointed if I didn't get the chance meet him on his actual birthday.

Being a gramma is a demanding job but it definitely has it's perks, poopy diapers and all!

Now that the excitement is starting to die down a little, it's back to business with all of our regular work on the FARM. We received 19 containers of various and sundry greenhouses parts over the last few days. The trusses have been set down in their respective places inside the foundation.

I trudged out to the other side of the property to get this south west facing picture of the progress and realized that it's an awfully long walk!

From this same position, I pivoted to the right and took this north east facing shot......

and was struck by the fact that once this greenhouse is up and running I may as well cancel my walking club membership. The place is HUGE!

NOTE TO SELF: Buy a good pair of walking shoes asap.

Since I was already so far out onto the property, I figured I would walk on down to the mum field and check on progress out in the back 12 acres.

I was able to get a nice shot of the field by standing on the foundation of the back wall of the new greenhouse which reaches almost onto the outdoor production area. Unfortunately there is not much color on the crop yet, due to cold and dark weather for the past 2 months. Here's to hoping that they all burst into bloom with today's sunny weather!

As always, farming is a never ending battle against TIME, PESTS and WEATHER.

Well, time is a wasting here at the farm house and it seems that the Wee One has had an explosion of rather smelly proportions that may require a bath and a change of clothing before we can get any more work done around here.

Until next time, blogger peeps! Tell me how YOUR garden is coming along this summer? Are you fighting the dark weather or has extreme heat caused a blight on your raised beds? I'd love to hear from you. It makes me feel like I'm not alone in my farming fiasco's!

The Newest Member of the Jansen 5 String Ensemble

2011-07-14T12:39:00.000-07:00

Introducing........our newest recruit to the Jansen 5 string ensemble. Yes, my blogger peeps, you heard it here first. The Wee One may only be 2 years old but she is adamant that Gramma let her join in all the fun and play the "vivin" whenever the mood strikes her. Especially this week, since we are at home ALONE, just her and I.

I'm in Gramma heaven!

You see, the guys all flew out to Ohio for a big Trade Show.....

and the rest of the family went out on tour with a whole bunch of their STRING CAMP buddies.....

Leaving Gramma alone with this gorgeous little sweety poo.....

and her favorite companion, PEPPER!

Believe it or not but, after a week of hanging out with a rambunctious puppy, she is actually starting to grow on me.....

Can you BELIEVE it?! Me enjoying the company of a dog?! I can hardly believe it myself.

Now, for the next few weeks we will be awaiting ANOTHER NEW RECRUIT to our family string orchestra. That's because my Little Angel is expecting another bitty Sweet Pea very soon now.

Praying for the Lord's tender mercies for her and her growing little family unit!

Life In The Fast Lane

2011-07-08T15:25:00.000-07:00

I don't know about my blogger peeps out there but for me, summer has been just crazy! It seems like life keeps on flying by. Last week my darling daughter, the fourth child born into our family, grad-jimacated from GRADE 12.

I can hardly believe it.

Say it isn't so.

My little Mini-me is all grown up......

All sophisticated and lady like.......

She even had a little arm candy to keep her company. It's a good thing our neighbor boy is such a nice young fella, isn't it?

Hey, wait a minute, neighbor boy......aren't you supposed to be looking after our 5 acres of cucumbers?!

The Big Guy was a bit sentimental about this whole thing, seeing as Mini me is our last daughter to graduate. He sat her down to give her a bit of fatherly advice.....

"Don't forget to wave at me when they hand you your diploma! I've spent a lot of money to get you that little piece of paper, you know".

"Not a chance, pops! But I love ya anyway!"

Coincidentally, this very same day was our 24th Wedding Anniversary.

We knocked back a toast to the grad's and to ourselves with a little.......CRANAPPLE juice at the banquet that evening.......

and a GREAT time was had by all!

Mini-me provided the Grad class with a beautiful video montage of life at CREDO CHRISTIAN HIGH SCHOOL, highlighting all the fun that goes on when your parents aren't around.

We are very blessed to have our kids attend such a top notch school where the teachers are so inspirational and involved in the lives of the students. Needless to say, they have put up with a lot of stuff from our family, seeing as we are involved in a lot of extra curricular activities on the musical side of life. Thank you so much to this very dedicated bunch of mentors who really make a great difference in the lives of so many!

Now, this week is even busier around my house because of the big STRING CAMP going on here in BC. Over 75 students from across Canada are here in the Fraser Valley studying and practicing together, honing their skills and making some great friendships along the way.

Personally, I have 3 billets staying at my house for the week. They tend to make a lot of towels dirty, drink liters of coke and make enormous amounts of noise when they are here but.....it's all worth while when they sit down and serenade me around the piano!!!

Who needs a CD player when you have LIVE musicians in the house?! I just wish I could convince them to play on demand like my BOSE stereo but.....alas, they prefer to sit outside by the fire and roast marshmallows and make s'mores instead of entertain me.

Of course, our darling daughter decided to produce a short video of what life is like during a day at summer camp in the hopes of encouraging a large audience to come out and watch the show tonight and tomorrow night. She did it especially for YOU my blogger peeps! Consider yourself invited!!!!

Hope to see you all there. It's going to be a wonderful evening of beautiful music!

Oh, and just in case you smell the distinct odor of Rub A535 emanating from the cello section, that's just our Danny Boneduce who is suffering from a slight case of tendonitis due to the strain of practicing every day this week from dawn till dusk. No worries. He's an athlete. He can handle it. No pain, no gain.

On The Hunt For Next Year's Proven Winners!

2011-06-25T14:14:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again. All of us here at Darvonda are out searching for next year's PROVEN WINNER's for Spring 2012. Some of us have attended the California Pack trials while other's of us are attending the Ohio Short Course this coming July. We search high and low every year to make sure we get the best of the best varieties for our customers and this year is no exception.

We will go to great lengths to find the latest plant breeding, even going as far as searching the thick jungles of South America via MULE.....

which is the only way to access the deepest recesses of the forests......

where we hope to find undiscovered floral treasures that will thrill our customers in the coming Spring season. Giddap little donkey!

Now, our style of product development is not for the faint of heart. You see, in order to find THIS beauty......

we have to step out of your comfort zone......

to really find what we're looking!

Yup, the Big Guy and I searched HIGH......

very, VERY HIGH.....

and LOW.....

very, very......

VERY LOW!

Nothing THIS GOOD......

will ever come without a whole lot of searching!

But, the best part of this search is that we get to do it together, the Big Guy and I.

I especially LOVE it that, even though my main squeeze has begun to have his doubts that he should be strapping himself into a flimsy little harness and race across deep valley's on a thin rope....

or that he thinks there may be less heart thumping ways to find product for next year that do not involve rapelling down the side of a waterfall.......

He does it anyway, just because I asked him to!

Really, it just doesn't get better than being in a partnership like ours. Racing together to the next adventure is the most fun you can ever imagine!

POST SCRIPT MESSAGE:

To my dear sister and travel agent Lisa;

As I stood at the top of a very high platform, looking down at the enormous drop which I was about to take, stepping blindly off to my possible gruesome death........I thought of YOU! I imagined you standing right there beside me and heard you say "Are you NUTS?! There is NO WAY you are getting me to do that! Not on your LIFE!"

I smiled at the sound of your voice and then I..........

JUMPED!

How else was I going to get home to tell you how much FUN I had?!

Wish You Were All Here!

2011-06-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

It has been an enormous challenge for me to get messages out to my favorite peeps lately. After a series of unfortunate events, I have not been able to really keep everyone informed as to our comings and goings of late. For this I am greatly apologetic.

Some of you may be aware that my place of residence is no longer within the confines of North America. I am currently lazing about on the beautiful beaches of Mexico, drinking tequila and slathering on the sun screen......

Wait a minute.

I'm not actually on the beach right now. I am sitting on a chair in the hotel lobby where there is some WiFi accessibillity.

Also, I am not drinking tequila. I prefer Mudslides.

And last but not least, I try to use as little sunscreen as possible as I firmly believe my indoor lifestyle up in the Great White North keeps me from accumulating sufficient vitamin D to get me through the winter. So, no sunscreen. Please don't hate me for not using my Copper Tone! I'm just being honest here.

Another one of the obstacles which keeps me from updating my favorite peeps on my activities is the EXORBITANT amount of money I am being charged to use my blackberry here! Junior tells me that I'm on a PLAN but I just keep getting notifications that say.....

"You have just exceeded $50 dollars on your blackberry"

and then a few hours later......

"You have just exceeded $100 dollars on your blackberry"

How on earth this is all happening, I have no idea. All I did was update my Facebook status and talk to Junior for 30 minutes. How can THAT cost so much?! I have decided to turn my phone OFF! If you need to contact me, call the Big Guy. No one complains when HIS phone bill his high.

Oh, the inequality and injustice of it all. One step back for women's liberation, I say.

And the FINAL issue that is holding me back from keeping my nearest and dearest informed is the fact that SOMEONE lost the charger for my favorite LUMIX digital camera. I had to take a replacement camera with me instead. I have since found out that THIS camera does not like my laptop and REFUSES to download my photos.

MESSAGE TO MY CHILDREN: Whoever used my LUMIX camera LAST, would you PLEASE find my charger and return it to me ASAP?! Should you FAIL in finding the aforesaid piece of essential equipment, I may have to ground you for the remainder of your teeenage lives.

SERIOUSLY! You know I will.

And in summation, I hope that with my current savings which have accumulated since I turned my phone off a few days ago, I will be going out this evening to share in a lovely bottle of Pinot Noir with the Big Guy while I think about all my favorite peeps who can no longer keep in touch as we normally would.

I love you all but.......I love my Pinot Noir even more!

Darvonda is Expanding!

2011-06-08T18:20:00.000-07:00

Photo courtesy of Fifi - Head Office Construction 2008

We are off on another great ADVENTURE this summer here at Darvonda. Believe it or not, we are back into expansion mode. The plans have been in the works for 6 months or so but now we have finally begun to get to the actual job of building......

We've dug out the ASHPHALT......

We've BROKEN GROUND......

There is NO GOING BACK! Hopefully there will be 8 acres of brand new greenhouse standing ready for production by January 2012. I can hardly believe it but we DESPERATELY need the room. We have been renting a 5 acre greenhouse for over a year now and it is just too expensive to manage at a distance. So, the decision was made to stop renting..........and start building.

Now, with all that extra square footage of production, we will definitely need more help around here. It is a good thing that we have Fifi around to help us with our expanding employee labor needs.......

Although she and her hubby have already has contributed 4 extra very helpful members to our team, she has been so very generous to volunteer her services and augment our labor requirements with ANOTHER ADDITION to the Darvonda Team.

Yup, you heard me right. Fifi will be welcoming a brand new addition to the crew some time in December. Just in time for the opening of our new facility! We are all SO VERY EXCITED!

Thanks for taking one for the team, Fifi. You are a real trooper, that is for sure.

Oh, and by the way, CONGRATULATIONS to you all!

Mentoring Young Entrepreneur's

2011-06-06T20:20:00.000-07:00

Last week our largest client invited us to attend the GRAND OPENING of one of their new locations. Of course, it's important for us to attend so we can show our support and appreciation for this very momentous occasion. Not EVERY business is opening new stores these days. Most of us are feeling the pinch of these tough economic times.

So, we took this opportunity to hop on a BC Ferry and head out to Vancouver Island with the youngest member of our team.

It is our FIRM OPINION that if you want to be successful in the business, you've got to build a good team and start training them YOUNG!

Lesson Number 1: you must first begin by teaching your young entrepreneur how to balance WORK with PLEASURE. It's probably one of the toughest thing to do in life, keeping things balanced. When you are committed to offering your customer's the VERY BEST, it's easy to take every minute of your time and throw it in to your work.

I should know.

I struggle with this one.

So, make sure they understand that they need to take time to just relax once in a while.....

Of course, if you pick the biggest bed in the hotel room for yourself, you'll get a really good sleep as well ensuring a very RESTED and BALANCED life.

Lesson Number 2: Teach them to build a really strong MANAGEMENT TEAM. No one person can be everything to everybody so you need to seek out different personality types....

each member should balance out the weaknesses of the other members. Right, Wee One?!

Once you've chosen a really strong TEAM you will have more time to do your "big picture" thinking. Of course, "big picture" thinking can best be done when you are relaxed and in a place where there are NO DISTRACTIONS........

HOT BATHS and SPA DAYS come highly recommended!

Lesson Number 3: Teach your protege SCHMOOZING and the art of INTERESTING SMALL TALK. Topics for discussion when mingling at industry or client functions should always be interesting and engaging........

but if you just happen to have some very CUTE ARM CANDY, you are sure to break the ice immediately with even the grumpiest attendee!

Lesson Number 4: Remember to always be on the lookout for new ideas because......

You never know what opportunities lay around the next corner.

Lesson Number 5: An Entrepreneur should never be afraid to try new things. Encourage them to open every door, push every button they see, and investigate anything they find intriguing.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: My apologies to my darling daughter, who now must deal with a Wee One who has been encouraged to do all of the above. One day you'll see......it was well worth all the trouble she gets herself into while "investigating", I PROMISE!

Lesson Number 6: Encourage your young entrepreneur to seek advice from other entrepreneurs who have already gone through all the challenges, trials and triumphs she or he might encounter.

It's always good to have someone who understands you, a person to confide in or share the joys and sorrows with.

So there you have it. Mentoring is a life long process. Passing on what you know is a precious gift for the next generation. What are you waiting for?! Look around you and find someone YOU can MENTOR and get started right away.

Do YOU know someone who was a great MENTOR to YOU? Please leave me a comment or recommend someone's blog about MENTORING in the comment section below. I'd love to hear your stories!