Friday, October 22, 2021

How To Start A Friendship Garden For Pollinators

 

This backyard friendship garden has been placed right next to the patio for easy access all year long.

Fall has arrived here in Central Florida nearly a month ago and brought with it the much-needed drop in daily temperatures.  Instead of the sauna temps of the '90s and high humidity, we are now enjoying lower humid days and temps in the '80s.

While the last year and a half have not been easy for any of us it has brought up the reality that we need each other more than we ever imagined.  It was easy to overlook our friends when things were going well for us and we could go about our day without the thought or a care about any harm coming our way.

It was also easy to overlook the space around us that we call home.  Whether we own or rent we all have a place we call ours.  When you are leaving your job at the end of the day you tell everyone I'm going "home" now.  When you go on a vacation you know you will return home feeling like you need another vacation to recover from the one you just took.


A friendship garden is a place to preserve memories of the ones that have a special meaning and place 
in your life through a variety of plants and items.

A friendship garden is easy to start.  Here are a few simple steps to help you get started off on the right foot.

Location

You can choose an indoor or outdoor location.  It really is up to you and what you can afford or have time to devote to your garden.  You want it to be easy to access and cultivate.  If you make it too far away from where you normally would walk you'll soon lose interest and the garden will never get off the ground.

Invite Your Friends

So the obvious thing you will need to make this friendship garden work is friends!
Get out your list of names and addresses and send them a text or card in the mail inviting them to be a part of your friendship garden.  You can send them something too and encourage them to join in the fun.



Start a garden journal and keep a good record of who you invited and who sent you something for your garden. When and where you placed it in the garden and if it is a plant write down the progress of growth.  When did it first bloom? How long did the flowers last? What kind of care did each plant need and so on.  Take photos and put them in your journal or if you know how to draw well enough to know what something is then by all means document your garden with your own personal touch.

I'd love to be a part of your friendship garden.  So please think about joining my 52 Week Snail Mail Challenge and Poem Challenge.


If you would like to take part, just sign-up for my newsletter, here.  Then you can send me an email letting me know you would like to take part in this fun project.
Together we can encourage one another by cultivating our friendship and our garden at the same time!



Sending You Sunshine!

Marsha
Markets of Sunshine





Friday, October 15, 2021

What Makes A Good Friend? - Actions Speak Louder Than Words!

 


Talk Is Cheap

Did you ever see the movie My Fair Lady starring Audrey Hepburn?  Do you remember the song she sang to professor Higgins, "words, words all I hear are words"...
What was she wanting?  She wanted him to take action and show her how he felt about her and she hoped he felt the same way about her that she felt about him.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

In other words, she wanted action!  When she didn't get it what did she do?  Packed up her bags and left!  Did she find what she was looking for out there in the cold world?  Nope!  In the end, she came back to the place that she called "home" and to be by his side just as before.  We were left to fill in the blanks about what happened next.  But, I imagined that they became good friends and that she eventually found a younger man to marry and lived happily ever after.  The end!

What Makes A Good Friend?

So that leads me into my story for today.  What makes a good friend?  That's what we are going to talk about in this week's podcast here at Markets of Sunshine.  Hi, I'm your host Marsha.  Welcome Back!

I've discovered something interesting in my #52weeksnailmailchallenge and #52weekpoemchallenge that I started a few weeks ago.  You want to know what I discovered.  That people want to take action and nurture the friendships that they have but they don't know how to do it.  And, even if they are given the steps and reasons why they should they still won't take the action and put forth the effort it takes to be a good friend to keep a good friend.  

So, I did some research and found an excellent article that I think all of you will benefit from.  All of the information is taken from an ancient book of wisdom.  If you apply the advice you are guaranteed that you will become a good friend so that you can then keep a good friend.  That is a gift worth working to gain.  Wouldn't you agree?

Here are 7 key elements about building a meaningful friendship that I think you will find helpful both to yourself and for the friends you currently have and will gain in the future by applying this advice.





Friday, October 8, 2021

52-Week Poem Challenge! Markets of Sunshine Podcast Episode 10

 Hello Writing Friends!

 Welcome to the 52-Week Poem Challenge hosted by Markets of Sunshine and featured in episode 10 of our weekly podcast.  I hope you are all doing well this week.  It's been so exciting to see all of you listening to the podcast here each week.  Thank You so much!  

Calling All Writers and Want To Be Poets

Today we are kicking off part two in our 52-Week Snail Mail Challenge.  It is called the 52-Week Poem Challenge.  So it goes hand and hand with the other challenge.  It will be so easy to do and for you to take part in as well.  



Are you ready?  Let's go!  If you would like to take part in the challenge all you need to do is sign-up for my email newsletter.  Or, if you are already a subscriber then be on the lookout for your invitation to take part in this challenge via email soon.

I'll have all the details for you coming in an email on Monday, October 11, 2021.

That gives me the weekend to finalize all the details and to contact those who are already on my email list and respond back to me.  I am looking for 51 or more friends to join in the challenge.  I hope you will be one of them.

Be sure to check out the YouTube video coming in the next blog post that explains how to participate in further details.  Stay tuned!

Next, I have launched a brand new 10-piece product line in my Etsy shop, Markets of Sunshine.

I hope you will come on over to take a look at this collection that I made just for you.  It's called the Cozy Season Collection.  It has everything you need to keep in touch with friends and family through good old-fashioned snail mail.  


So that's it. Short and sweet.  I would love to hear from you that you want to join in the challenge.  Just leave me a comment below and I'll be sure to get you all the details.


Keep Creating In the Sunshine,


Marsha


Friday, October 1, 2021

52 Week Challenge - Invite To Win Snail Mail Challenge!

 52 Week Challenge - Invite to win snail mail challenge!


Welcome to the Markets of Sunshine podcast.  I'm your host, Marsha.  In today's episode, we are going to be talking about where we've been and where we're going next.  Stick around to find out how you can take part in this new 52-week challenge.

So we have finished up our list of the "7 Essential Creative Habits to Unlock Your Creativity"!
That was a fun journey for me and I hope so for you too.  Today, we are kicking off our 52-week challenge.  Invite to Win Giveaway!  It has two parts.  The first part of the challenge is for you to send out 52 letters and cards in the mail.  Where ever you live in the world you can join in the fun.

The second part of the challenge is an invitation from me to you.  I'm inviting you to join my private Facebook group, Markets of Sunshine <<<click here <<<< and to follow me on Instagram <<<click
Here's where the real fun begins...I'm going to be giving away 52, $5 coupon codes during this challenge.  One per person.  

When I receive your card or letter in the mail I will send you the $5 coupon code via email.  So be sure to write your email address on the card for me so that I can send it to you.  It will have a 30-day expiration date.  So don't delay use it right away.  Otherwise, you will lose it.

To find out my mailing address all you have to do is one of these two things.  Become a customer of mine in my Etsy shop, Markets of Sunshine <<<click to shop now <<< or Join my mailing list and you'll find my mailing address at the bottom of the Newsletter.

The second way to win a prize from me, which will be one of my handmade gifts is to join my private Facebook group, Markets of Sunshine, or follow me on Instagram and invite your friends and followers to join too.  I will hold a weekly drawing and everyone who has invited someone and they have joined or followed me will be put in a drawing and one person will win the gift that week.

So in other words you have 52 opportunities to win a prize from me over the next 52 weeks.  So keep inviting each week for your chance to win a gift from me.  Are you excited about this 52-week challenge?  I know I am!

So, let's talk about the incoming happy mail I have been receiving already.  Thank you to Kayla, Annette, and Fran for sending me a beautiful letter and card in the mail.  I've already sent them their $5 coupon code.  You made my day brighter and filled my heart with gratitude and joy!

Well folks that's all the news for this week!  I want to Thank You for tuning in and making this podcast a success.

Keep Creating In the Sunshine!  Unlock Your Creativity!

Sending You Sunshine,

Marsha