Rainy Day Lessons

The grass in my waterlogged yard can’t even be cut because the mower gets stuck in the mud.  My pool is about to overflow again.  The sump pump in the crawl space has been working overtime.  I’m sure we all agree - enough is enough!

However, I have discovered that there are some things that seem to like all this rain.

The 7 ducks that were floating around my front yard after one of the storms seemed to be enjoying their newly found “pond”.  Had there only been 2, I would have been concerned that they were on their way to the ark, but figured I was safe with 7.
 
Some weird fungus was sprouting up in my garden that looked like an orange finger dipped in chocolate.  When enough of them had popped out of the ground, my garden resembled a candy store (in a “Little Shop of Horrors” sort of way).

But the thing that seems to have really thrived with all the rain we’ve had is the weeds.  The grand opening of Harmony Sports and Gifts last month left little time to take care of the yard over the last couple months and I got a very vivid picture of what happens if you ignore weeds for too long.  There was this one particular piece of “greenery” that I will definitely remember next year.

It all started in the Spring when it first sprouted and I thought maybe it was a perennial I had forgotten about because it looked a little more hardy than the onion grass and clover that I have come to hate.  So I left it alone just waiting for the pretty flowers to appear.  It turned out that I was right about the “hardy” part, but dead wrong about the “pretty perennial”.  After ignoring this thing for several months, it grew to about 7 feet tall and as wide as my giant butterfly bushes.  Hurricane Irene matted down parts of the butterfly bushes, but this giant weed stood strong and tall laughing in the face of high winds and heavy downpours.
 
Finally, I decided it was time to get it out and headed out to the garden with my claw and garden shovel.  After taking a look at the tree-trunk sized stems coming out of the ground, I realized that these tools were like toys in the Land of the Giants.  I sloshed my way back through the mud to retrieve the big long handled shovel usually reserved for much bigger jobs than a mere weed.  After a bit of grunting and groaning that I hoped my neighbors didn’t hear, I finally got the thing out of the ground.  It left a hole the size of a moon crater visible from earth.  Now I was faced with the challenge of getting it out of the fenced in area without dragging it all the way across my patio to the gate and leaving a trail of mud and leaves. Feeling way stronger than was warranted, I decided to hoist it over the fence.  When I had it half-way over, I realized the dragging option probably would have been the better choice.  I found myself buried underneath the thing struggling to keep it from crushing me, and now hoping my neighbors were not watching this amusing scene.  In addition, the thing had actually started to sprout flowers which were now depositing seeds all over my head as I pushed it off of me.  If I look like a Chia Pet in the spring, there IS a logical explanation. 
 
The good news is that under this monstrosity, there were no other weeds.  I guess this thing had sucked all the nutrients out of the surrounding soil leaving nothing for the others.  Perhaps I should plant a bunch of these around the yard next year to control weeds.  Not!  If I see this one sprouting next spring, I will remove it immediately!
 
And my final lesson for the day:  Never do a full house cleaning BEFORE pulling weeds in the mud.  Let’s hope for a calmer winter!

                 Newsletter and Article archive

The last couple months have been extremely busy for us as we opened our new store, Harmony Sports and Gifts on September 1st.  We are very excited about the store and in the one month that we have been open, we've had the opportunity to meet many new wonderful people.  It's amazing how many sports fans are out there! 

The store features Phillies, Eagles and Flyers merchandise and of course, some of our sports baskets are on display.  

Please stop by to visit us.  We also have a SEPARATE email list for the store.  If you're a Philly sports fan, you'll want to sign up so we can keep you posted on new products and special deals.

Note that you can now pick up gift baskets that you've ordered at the store.

This quarter, we'd like to share a recommendation we received from one of our regular customers.  Thanks Brian!

"I have had numerous occasions to use what I consider the premier company in the Tri-State area for amenity and gift baskets. I have used them for all kinds of events including new babies, hospitalizations, and just fun events. Their attention to your specific needs and their desire to make the amenities different from the usual are the first several of many distinguishing aspects of Harmony Gift Baskets. I would also emphasize that they live up to their commitments. They deliver when you need it and reliably so. I have used no one else once this business started and I have received rave reviews from the recipients. "

If you would like to provide feedback on your experiences with us, please drop us a note at maureen@harmonybaskets.com. 

If you are a store owner and are interested in displaying our baskets, please contact us at maureen@harmonybaskets.com.

• October 10^th: Columbus Day
• October 16^th: National Boss Day
• October 31^st: Halloween
• November 24^th: Thanksgiving
• December 25^th: Christmas
• January 1^st: New Year's Day
• January 16^th: Martin Luther King Day

Holiday Season for Businesses

It's hard to believe that the holiday season will soon be upon us again, but it's true.  It will be here before you know it. This is the perfect time for managers and business owners to think about their customers and those who have supported them throughout the year.  As usual, Harmony Gift Baskets will have a selection of baskets perfect for holiday giving.

If you are ordering multiple gifts, we recommend placing your order 2 weeks in advance of delivery to ensure that we will have everything on hand that is required to meet your needs. And as always, feel free to ask for custom baskets.

This quarter's theme for the song of the quarter was "party songs".  There are so many great songs to choose from but the winner is...drum roll please... "Celebration", by Kool and the Gang.  This song was released in 1980 and has certainly stood the test of time.  More than 30 years after its release, it's still one of those songs that you'll hear at just about any wedding. It's also a popular victory song at sporting events.

"Celebration" reached number 1 on the Dance, R&B, and Billboard Hot 100 charts.   Check out the video on You Tube, complete with horns and coordinated footwork. Guaranteed to get your feet tapping. 
 
Our next newsletter is due out in January and will cover the 3 months from January through March.  With Valentine's Day falling smack in the middle, how could we not be thinking about love songs?  Let us know your favorite love songs on our Facebook page, or drop us an email at Maureen@harmonybaskets.com.  We’ll pick a song from the suggestions we receive and will feature it in our January newsletter.   

Justin's Phillies Business Person's Special

 
Looking back at last year's October newsletter, we found that the featured basket was a Phillies basket to honor their 4th consecutive National League East Division Championship.  Well guess what... It's deja vu all over again and this year we are lucky enough to honor the 5th consecutive division championship. 

Our featured basket this quarter is Justin's Phillies Business Person's Special - a basket that contains Phillies merchandise any business person can use including a mousepad, lanyard, boxed pen, memo pads, and of course a coffee mug.

Everyone in the office will know the recipient of this gift is a big fan.




  
 

Contact info:
Website: www.harmonybaskets.com
Mailing address:Harmony Gift Baskets, P.O. Box 1081, Mullica Hill, NJ 08062
Phone: 856-535-7129
Email:maureen@harmonybaskets.com
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