Thursday, January 8, 2009

Hello everyone. This is my first attempt at blogging, so, please be patient. I am sure it will get better as time goes on. I seem to have so much to say to people in person, but find it difficult to place my feelings and interests in writing. First of all, I would like to introduce myself. I am Rosemary from Garden Gate Designs. I maintain an internet shop on Etsy.com. www.gardengatedesigns.etsy.com and a new one on ArtFire www.gardengatedesigns.artfire.com. Anything beady really interests me, as does cooking and gardening. I am also an avid reader of murder mysteries. My personal preference in jewelry design is Vintage with Vintage like interpretation. I have been designing jewelry for almost nine years now.

The name of my internet shops came about quite by accident. Several years ago we had a landscaper come and design two shade gardens around our new home. They had to be built up as we live on a wooded ravine with a stream running through it. All the sandstone that was used in the gardens came from the ravine. Our whole street is built on sandstone. I had wanted a sandstone pathway to enter and come through my larger garden and I had purchased a large arbor made from very strong acrylic. It is rounded on top. I love honeysuckle and clematis and this gave me a chance to grow some on the arbor. Henceforth, the name Garden Gate Designs came about. The arbor is the entryway into my gardens. This was seven years ago and the vines are very prolific and heavy. I cut them down every late fall. It is amazing to see them come back up just as strong as ever every Spring. They bloom profusely. Guess I must have a "green thumb". My Mother was a gardener and I must have taken after her.

As for the cooking part, I guess I must be a pretty good cook. Most of my receipts come from my head. I really do not have written receipts. As time goes on, I plan on sharing my receipts for potato dumplings, stuffed cabbage, the secret to my great roast beefs, etc. The dumplings took me 20 years to perfect. My Mother-in-Law taught me how to make them. My whole family just loves them, especially the Grandchildren.

I also plan on sharing some of the books I have read and love. My adventures with reading started when I was about seven years old and it has continued over the years.

Please come back tommorrow, as I will have more to share with you.