Sunday, April 6, 2014

Blog-Hop Into My Garden: Thanks for Coming

WELCOME TO MY GARDEN                    


Thanks for hopping in. Unlike many of you, I have not yet had a children’s book published. My blog is about the process of moving stories from my mind to a manuscript. I am a writer and illustrator, and I invite you to my garden of growth: growing my skills, growing my experience, growing my audience. 

 As you will see, if you check out my website (Pi-SunyerNaturally.com), my work is informed by nature. So on this blog hop I’m happy to share some gardening tips. They will be highlighted in red.

My yard is a registered Backyard Wildlife Habitat, through The National Wildlife Federation and is also certified as an official butterfly garden with the North American Butterfly Association. Both of these programs encourage me to provide for all the needs of wildlife: food, water shelter and nesting and breeding space. The yard is the setting for my first children’s book, which is currently being reviewed by a publisher.   Keep your fingers crossed for me, please. I'd love it if you would read some of my other posts and comment there.  My first rejection letter was awesome. You can read about it in one of my earlier posts. Those of you who are published, might have a fun flashback to that moment in YOUR career. 

If I were to win Publisher’s Clearing House Sweepstakes, the first thing I would do is hire a gardener. I would love to get the yard back to where it was when I was a child, growing up in it. In those days, my grandmother had a gardener several days each week. She had my parents, my siblings and me to help keep our acre trimmed, weeded and filled with flowers, fruit and vegetables, as well as specimens of many trees and flowering shrubs. During World War II our place was home to a blue ribbon Victory Garden. 'Wishing I could get it under control again. Three hours in the garden today, made a miniscule dent in what could be a full time job. 

 One of the best things I have done in the yard is to build stone walls. It is a fun, but strenuous activity, but very worthwhile. My stonewalls not only outline gardens and provide the country feeling in our suburban setting, but if you build stone walls - at least here in New Jersey - chipmunks will come. They are a delight to watch and their cheery chittering is a happy addition to the bird songs which abound here.

I have also created one area of the yard which is a specific butterfly garden, though the entire property provides good habitat for these colorful charmers. In the butterfly garden I  plant many perennials, such as butterfly bush, lilies, echinacea, and milkweed. These are inter-planted with colorful annuals which also attract hummingbirds. I also put in a shallow pan filled with pebbles and sand, that I keep watered, so there is always a shallow source of water for the butterflies. 

 All of these aspects of the garden are elements that are part of my book. The plants and animals are also part of another project of mine: Copy-cology©. You can find out more about my Copy-cology© products on my website, Pi-SunyerNaturally.com.   My favorite item is the


memory card game. This is my GIVE AWAY. I will be happy to send a set of the Memory Card game of your choice to five people who leave comments on my blog. I'll put all your names in a garden pot, and pull out five names. SO please be sure to leave your name and email address on your comment so I can contact winners for their mailing addresses and their choice of sets. 

 SO head on to the next blog on the hop. It's been nice having you for a visit.  Please come visit again and see how my journey toward a published book is going. I can use your encouragement!! Please "Like" me on FaceBook (Nancy Arny Pi-Sunyer) and think about following my Lenten Journey (LentenJourney2014.com).
                    
                        Now it's time to hop on to another website. Have fun.
 
1. Dianne Venetta ~ Cozy Mystery/Romance (US)  37. Stacey Joy Netzel  
2. Rose Anderson  38. Deb Sanders  
3. Alexa Grace  39. Janette Harjo  
4. Katharina Gerlach, YA Fantasy author  40. Lorraine Paton (INTL)  
5. Jennifer Lowery  41. Amy Saunders, Chick-Lit Mysteries (US)  
6. Catheirne Chant (US)  42. Jencey Gortney  
7. J.D. Faver ~ Bad Girls Need Love Too...(Intl)  43. Sandra Cox  
8. Tara Manderino (Intl)  44. Alisia Compton  
9. Judy Baker, Cowboys and Indian Romances  45. Cate Dean  
10. Sharon Kleve  46. Lisa Lickel  
11. Sara Walter Ellwood (US)  47. Iyana Jenna  
12. Anna Patterson  48. Jesse Kimmel-Freeman (INT)  
13. Karl Fields (Intl)  49. Sheila Seabrook  
14. LENA HART  50. Grace Peterson  
15. Janice Seagraves, author  51. Nancy Pi-Sunyer  
16. Gemma Juliana  52. Elena Williams  
17. Victoria Adams  53. Scandalous Stories  
18. Daryl Devore  54. L.A. Sartor  
19. Jeana E. Mann, New Adult Romance  55. BloominThyme  
20. Not Neccesarily In That Order  56. Margarita Matos (UF & Romance)  
21. Brenda Maxfield's Smart and Sassy Teen Reads (INT)  57. Lisa Chalmers  
22. Elizabeth McKenna  58. Diane Burton  
23. H. A. Somerled  59. Rebecca J. Clark  
24. Susana Ellis  60. Victoria Pinder  
25. Aileen Fish  61. Zelda Benjamin  
26. Cheryl Bolen  62. Liz Allen (US)  
27. Elizabeth Rose  63. Stacy Juba's Characters at a Crossroads  
28. L. Alison Heller  64. Jennifer Conner Romance Author  
29. Eleanor Moran  65. I Am A Reader  
30. K C Maguire  66. Darcy Flynn (US)  
31. Mindy Hardwick, Author  67. Cassandra L Shaw  
32. Karen McCullough  68. Janette Harjo  
33. Michelle Abbott  69. Louisa Mack  
34. Mary Laudien  70. Melanie Macek  
35. Aubrey Wynne  71. Tiffany Schlarman  
36. Kimberly K. Comeau  



 




27 comments:

  1. I'm still working on getting the link to other sites on the hop. Suggestions welcome.

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  2. Thanks for the chance to win!
    Froggy
    froggarita@gmail.com

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  3. Thank you. I love memory and so do my kids. esseboo@yahoo.com

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    1. Thanks for hopping in. I have sets on lots of different ecosystems, so if you are a winner, you'll get to pick. Otherwise, I'll be happy to sell you a set for $10. Happy hopping.

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  4. It is fun! I've got a lot to learn about blogging and setting things up. What is a TBR?

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  5. Very creative memory card game.
    greeniejoey at gmail dot com

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  6. Greeniejoey, They are very labor intensive, but they really are a joy to create and fun to play. Happy hopping. Good luck.

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  7. That is so cool that your backyard is registered. We might have to try that when we move. Thanks! lisalickel@yahoo.com

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    1. It really is a great program. WE have chipmunks, a woodchuck, squirrels, raccoons, an occasional possum and skunk as well as dozens of birds and butterflies that feed and nest here. Worth doing!!

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  8. Good luck your book <3 And I think that is awesome you yard is registered :)
    savannahm1987@gmail.com

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  9. Thanks for the great tips! And that is so cool that your garden is a certified habitat. I've always wanted to do that with ours, but we're missing a constant water source, and with the huge EEE and mosquito problem in this area, it can be tricky to do one that doesn't cause problems, but maybe one day we'll come up with something.
    cchant86 @ yahoo.com

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  10. You can now get floating, solar powered fountains to put in ponds or tubs or birdbaths. They keep the water moving so you don't get mosquitoes. I use on in my wildflower garden.

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  11. Thank you for sharing your post!!

    And thank you for the giveaway! I hope you have a great day! =)

    Brandi
    BLeigh1130 at yahoo dot com

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  12. I am not a gardener and never hope to be, but I do admire the people who take part in the wild life habitat gardening project and/or plant butterfly gardens. Kudos to you for doing your part to protect habitats for critters!

    kareninnc at gmail dot com

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  13. Thanks Karen. Are you any where near Asheville. What a lovely spot. I have a cousin there. Happy spring.

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  14. Think it is awesome that you make your garden animal and butterfly friendly... Thanks for being part of the hop.

    j.m.platt83@gmail.com

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    1. Jeanette, I spent an hour or so in the butterfly garden yesterday doing some clean up after the winter. Cut back dead stalks, and could see new growth peeking up. I've had three butterflies in the yard so far and hope for many more soon. Thanks for hopping in!

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  15. Thanks for the amazing giveaway!
    elizabeth @ bookattict . com

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    1. Thanks for hopping in. Glad you like my give-away. Good luck!

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  16. Thanks for being a part of the blog hop!

    Alisha Sienkiel
    sienkiel1821@yahoo.com

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  17. Hi! Great post! Thank you for sharing! :)
    ​And ​thank you for being apart of this awesome hop!
    shadowluvs2read(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. Hi Shadow. Glad you made it before the end of the hop. I'll be picking my winners tomorrow.
      Good luck. Nancy

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