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Gift idea- Telescope for outdoor type people

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I keep coming up with more gift ideas for the gardener or avid outdoors person. Have you thought of giving your loved one or a good friend a telescope for Christmas, their birthday or even just “because”?

Opticsplanet.net has a great selection of telescopes. One brand in particular stands out for it’s quality – Celestron telescopes. Celestron telescopes are known for their high-quality mechanical components, user-friendly ergonomic designs, light weight materials, plus they each undergo rigorous internal testing.

Perhaps your child is a junior astronomer – always gazing at the stars or asking for his or her room to be decorated with moon, sun, and star designs? Have you ever thought of getting your child a telescope? I know I would have enjoyed using one as a child.

Optics Planet carries a wide selection of brand name telescopes made by companies such as Meade, Celestron, Tasco, TeleVue, Vixen, Swarovski, Leica and Bushnell. The company sells everything from cheap toy telescopes to the highest quality brands, plus they offer free UPS shipping which I think is great bonus.

When I was a kid we spent a lot of time up at our cottage. If we’d had a telescope I would have used it to gaze up at the clear skies to spot the planets and stars that I was studying in school or perhaps even to look at a distant animal.

I think a telescope would make a great gift for a nature lover or someone fascinated with the skies above. Think about it.






Karl Rosenfield Peony

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Karl Rosenfield Peony

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Yes I know this is a spring flower, but even though it’s not Spring her in North America we do have some members of Green Thumb Sunday from areas that are having Spring. So let’s say this one is for the Aussies and I believe there is at least on New Zealander on the list too.Besides who doesn’t love a beautiful peony?

Most peonies have very attractive flowers and many are scented. This one however has no scent, not to my sensitive nose anyway. Another thing that I enjoy about peonies is that they often have lovely foliage, so throughout the growing season they continue to be attractive plants in the garden even though they may only bloom for a few weeks each year.

Of the four different peonies that I grow I think that this Karl Rosenfield Peony has the most gorgeous foliage. Just look at how lush and green it is. This a very attractive plant from it’s large feathery petaled blooms to it’s forest green leaves. I love it.

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

Gardening in the dark

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I think that I’ve mentioned more than a few times here that I often tend to do a good portion of my gardening work at night. Why? Because my snoopy old lady neighbor who is very lonely follows me around and makes my gardening work hell ’cause it takes me at least three times longer to get anything done when she’s outside watching me.

I love the dear girl but I’d rather sit and have a tea with her before or after I get my gardening done.

There have been times when I’ve gone outside and planted new plants in the dark. My husband holding a big halogen light so I could see.

Now I’m starting to think of less obvious ways to garden in the dark. What about a headlamp flashlight? This would be helpful too if I’m gathering earthworms for the compost or another area of soil in the garden too.

I came across a company called Opticsplanet.net and they sell streamlight flashlights, as well as a number of other brands such as Surefire and Pelican. They have everything from the headlamp flashlight I was fantasizing about earlier, to LED flashlights, pocket, gun mount lights, and flash light accessories. The company also offers discount pricing and free UPS on orders over $29.95 so I think I might just spend a bit of time over there browsing and see if I can come up with a way to light my garden as I work and defeat my nosy neighbor.

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