My mom used to grow the most gorgeous fragrant roses. I could bring anyone one of her cut roses as a gift and they would gush about it for weeks. I wish I could produce those kinds of roses, but my current bushes are a scraggly, moldy, spider mite infested mess! So, I headed off to a fantastic rose pruning workshop by the number one rose retailer in my region. http://www.gazebogardens1922.com/News.html

                The most important thing that I learned: is that when you attempt to prune your roses for the winter, you really can’t do much harm. Whew, it took the fear out of the task to for me to hear that from an expert! In fact there was an experiment run by the English Rose Society to see which method would work the best, traditional hand pruning, large hedge clippers, or a chainsaw. Guess which plants produced the most roses in the spring? The ones that were hacked with a chainsaw (even though the quality of the roses & the bush was reduced)! So, as you begin pruning your bushes remember not to obsess over perfection, roses are hard to hurt!

                First a little rose “vocabulary”: Typical Hybrid roses are grafted at the base to a rose called Dr. Huey, because of its strong root structure. The graft point is usually a little bulbous like this. Canes are the stems that come out of the plant. The bud is the bloom point that will grow the new leaves, the bloom point near the top of the stem is the one that will grow.

                Step 1: Even it up! Trim your rose bush all around, to an even length, cutting off any remaining leaves or blooms. It has been a very mild winter here, so my roses are still blooming, but I learned it is still very important to prune them now because they need time to rest and hibernate before the spring.

                Step 2:Cut out the obvious! Take a good look at your plant. Cut off any dead wood, or canes that have a black spot on them. Canes will only grow out of new wood. If you have a lot of dead wood at the graft point, and it looks overgrown, you can even clean some of it up with a saw blade.

                Step 3: Design your plant! This step is all about choosing which shape you would like your plant to grow in. Cut out the canes that are growing in or towards the middle of the plant, to allow more sunshine to penetrate the bush once all the leaves grow in. Plan on having canes branch out in 4 different directions so that the bush will have a nice fullness once it grows in. Cut canes about a ¼ above the bud point.

                Equipment- it is important to have a nice pair of hand shears, gloves, and long sleeves before starting pruning roses. We recommend the “The Digger” gloves from Woman’s Work , and Rosies full length Coveralls, to help get the job done! Both are on sale right now- so it is perfect timing!!

https://rosiesworkwear.com/shop/product-info.php?pid9.html 

  https://rosiesworkwear.com/shop/product-info.php?pid75.html

                Fertilizer- If you have trouble with spider mites or mildew (that may cause white fuzz or yellow/black spots all over your leaves) right after you prune is the time to recondition the soil with an insecticide and/or mildew & rust treatment. Use regular fertilizer on your plants right before they start to bloom in the spring, when the weather is around a steady 55 degrees. If you want to move the rose bush to another location, right after you prune it is the best time (because the rose bush is dormant). I plan on doing this for two of mine. Apparently it is an easy process I will let you know how the transplant goes! This is a great resource if you would like any more photos to help you with your project http://www.rainforest2548.org/sjvrsjan.html

                Have fun and please send any photos of your successful rose pruning attempts! We would love to see it!

We are so proud to have had Elizabeth Layton as part of our team this past year!

Liz graduated in December from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a Communications major in Business Ag. She is currently back home in Santa Rosa looking for new opportunities to spread her talents. We loved having her as part of team Rosie and wish her
the best in all her future adventures!
We know that for us she will always take her Rosies spirit with her.  Thanks for all that you did Liz, you will be missed! 

Liz  is being replaced by Katie Crawford. Katie has been a part of Rosies for 10 years, she has been a Rosies model, helped create product ideas, worked at road shows selling and now we get to have her use her unique talent for writing by taking over the blog , newsletter and face book posting. Rosies has a lot planned for 2012 and we welcome Katie’s voice to keep the Rosies community connected.
 
-Sharon Moore (Rosie’s founder)

New Year brings a new contest for Rosies! Get ready to pose for the camera and bring out those maps, to win lots of Rosies gear in 2012! 

Here is how you play:

1. Have someone take a picture of you in your favorite Rosies gear in front of a fun location (ex. a popular landmark)

HINT: we are looking for backgrounds that provide good clues without giving the location away! So, don’t stand in front of a sign telling what the location is! Also, the location should be something other Rosies can figure out, so a picture in front of your personal farm would not be as good of a choice as a picture in front of a hometown landmark.

2. Email the photo to us at info@rosiesworkwear.com Each month we will select one picture to post on our webpage. If your photo is selected you will WIN A PRIZE!!

3. Go to our webpage to try and guess the location of the selected photo. The first one to correctly respond will WIN A PRIZE!!

The Holiday Season is officially here!  This is a great time to unleash your creative side and go crazy decorating!  Don’t be like the “ditto” house! We had so much fun finding all of these do-it-yourself projects and hope you enjoy them just as much!

1. Button Cookies

How cute is this?  Shortbread cookies are delicious and turning them in to little buttons adds that extra something that is perfect for the holiday season! All you need is a shortbread butter cookie recipe, two biscuit cutters (one a little smaller than the other), and a drinking straw (to make the holes).  After they’re done, just add the ribbon through the cookie holes and these will make the perfect gift for a neighbor, friend, or family member!

2. Lace Ornaments

We love how simple it is to spice up a plain ornament!  Simply cover your ornament with lace and then spray paint over it (we like silver) and then remove the lace, let the ornament dry, and add it to your tree!

3. Melting Snowman Graham Crackers

These are adorable for the kiddos in your life! The eyes, carrot nose, buttons, and twig hands, and melted part of the snowman are all made with melted white chocolate and a little food dye.  The scarf is a fruit roll up (use a pizza cutter) and then set it all on a graham cracker and Hershey’s bar!

4. Peppermint Centerpiece

A sleek, simple white tray with candles and peppermint puffs makes the perfect centerpiece for your home!

5. Holiday Place-cards

Simply stick your place-cards in a tiny pinecone!  We think this is so simple – and so cute!

6. Candy Cane Photo Holder

Just tie three candy canes together with some green ribbon and place your holiday photo on top!

7. Candy Cane Vase

For this you will need:

• Two sided tape
• A circular vase or empty can
• Rubber band
• Candy canes
• Wide ribbon (must be wider than rubber band)
• Roses (or any flower you choose to use)

How to do it:

- Wrap the two sided tape around the vase once approximately halfway down the vase. (The two sided tape will help keep the candy canes from sliding out from under the rubber band).

- Slide rubber band around the vase.

- Begin inserting the candy canes behind the rubber band.

- Tie the ribbon around the vase taking care to cover the rubber band with the ribbon.

- Fill with water and arrange flowers

8. Snowman Door Decoration

We loved this different take on holiday wreaths!

This past weekend Rosies Workwear headed down to the Rosebowl flea market in Pasadena to be a part of the 2,500 vendors featured every month.  Celebrating over 40 years of business, this was like no other flea market we had ever been to.

After checking in around 6am (flea markets open early!) we set up our booth and patiently waited for the gates to open to buyers at 9am.  We had the opportunity to talk to many different people and promote the Rosies overalls and coveralls – we had such a great time (and even did a little shopping ourselves!)

It was wonderful to hear how many women appreciate workwear designed to specifically fit them.  We were also able to inform women how convenient overalls and coveralls can be for many activities some normally wouldn’t think of.  Workwear doesn’t just have to be “at work”.  Gardening, home repairs, and do-it-yourself projects are all great times to wear your Rosies.

If you find yourself in the Pasadena area on the second Sunday of each month, this is definitely a flea market you should check out.  For more information on the Rosebowl flea market, visit their website at http://rgcshows.com/RoseBowl.aspx.

by Elizabeth Layton

Fall is out in full force and winter is on its’ way!  For those of us with horses, this means “clipping season”.  Clipping your horse is a common occurrence in the winter for equine lovers because, when riding your horse, they get sweaty.  During the warm summer months this doesn’t create any problem; simply take your horse to the wash racks and hose them off (hose yourself off, too, depending on how hot out it is).  However, in the colder fall and winter this isn’t possible, because it gets too cold out to hose your horse off and they can very likely become sick.

For myself, that “clipping day” came last week.  I could see it in my horses eyes every time I hopped off after a ride.  He was saying “Mom, it’s starting to get cold when are you going to bring out that warm and fuzzy blanket you bought me last year that I love to bite and roll around in the mud in?”  I could see it every time I brushed him and clumps of hair came out because he was shedding so uncontrollably.  Fact: I personally do not enjoy clipping.  Of course I do it – I don’t want my adored horse to be cold – but I do not enjoy those tiny, fine hairs that find their way in to every crevice of my clothes, my eyes, my hair, (you get the picture).  BUT WAIT.  As I sat at Rosies Workwear last week I realized I have been looking at my attire for clipping the entirely wrong way.  Why have I been wearing jeans and sweatshirts when I can wear coveralls?

Last week when I clipped my horse it was a magical experience.  I threw my coveralls on over my clothes and buttoned those babies all the way to the top.  After I was done clipping I brushed my horse, gave him a carrot for being such a good boy and shed myself of my hairy coveralls to find that my clothes underneath were still clean.  I also wore a pair of our Rosies safety glasses, which kept my eyes from becoming red and agitated.  All in all, this years clipping experience was a success.  I will absolutely never clip my horse again without my coveralls.

P.S. I think this would be great for clipping any animal; my personal experience just happens to be with horses!

Halloween is fast approaching and we have some great ideas for easy decorations at your home!  Have you been wondering what to do with your old overalls and coveralls?  You know the ones we’re talking about, those paint stained, dirt covered, lovingly worn overalls that you have since traded in for your new, clean (temporarily) ones.  We have taken our old overalls and converted them in to Scarecrows!  Using an old pillowcase, we painted our scarecrows face on to it and then used the old overalls as his clothes, stuffing them with straw.  You can use any old boots for his shoes and then set him up wherever he will serve you best!  We like placing ours on the porch where he can greet our visitors.

Here are some other “how to” ideas for fall decorations from http://www.hgtv.com/topics/halloween/index.html

1. How to make a Halloween pillow

2. How to make a table runner

3. How to make spooky lanterns

4. How to make a life-sized Halloween ghost

5. Creepy carnival tents for an outdoor Halloween theme

According to the Encyclopedia of American Economic History, “Rosie the Riveter” inspired a social movement that increased the number of working American women by 57% between 1940 and 1944, and was one of the most widely recognized icons of the 1940’s.  She embodied everything a woman could want to be: attitude, beauty, and strength.

The iconic “Rosie the Riveter” poster may have been one woman, but it was millions of women who, combined, gave Rosie the meaning it has today.  Women actually comprised 1/3 of the work force during WWII (that’s 18 million women working!)  This is the reason we call ourselves Rosies Workwear…not Rosie’s Workwear.  It’s not that our grammar is bad, we are simply paying tribute to all of the women of the past, present, and future who give “Rosie” the reverence deserved.

It’s up to all of us to continue the tradition of strong, self-reliant women.  What will you accomplish in your Rosies?

Fun Fact: Marilyn Monroe considered herself a Rosie!

Working with your hands is no glamorous job, as all of you Rosies are well aware of.  With dirt under our fingernails, sweat on our faces, and hair piled up in a bun so that it’s neatly out of our way, no one mistakes us for fashionable during working hours…or do they?

That’s right ladies – the overall is back in style!  Style blogs are commenting that overalls are “vintage cool and totally chic” (I’ll take that!).  Just because we are doing tough work doesn’t mean we can’t look good at the same time, right?  This is one of the biggest reasons we love to offer our Rosies overalls in a variety of colors (our sea green, raspberry, pink, and tan – also coming soon are navy overalls and a USA made denim!).  Giving our uniforms a little splash of color is fun and a great way to stand out.

A pair of new, fashionable Citizens of Humanity overalls are selling for up to – wait for it – $298.00!  High fashion comes at a high price.  Luckily for us, we can sell our Rosies overalls at only $52.00.  Plus, our “we can do it” attitude has given us the pleasure of meeting thousands of inspiring and fascinating women.

You all are the reason that we love making these overalls, and the reason we have such a strong and supportive community of women!  Not only is the Rosies community strong, independent, and inspirational, but we are fashionable, too!  Look out, world!

We have been getting great stories from all you Rosies out there!  We love seeing the passion everyone has for hard work and getting dirty.  That’s what makes us Rosies gals because we can do it and we do it in style.  Our Labor of Love Contest is still going on until August 31, so be sure to keep sending in those stories for your chance to win some new denim coveralls.  Check out some of these great entries we have had…

“Working on clearing my land! I love cutting wood, piling it up, having a bonfire and cleaning the trash up from prior owners to make our land beautiful.” – Karen Rowden

“All kinds of gardening, so much so, that I actually started a business doing just that. I also love to ride and tend horses, which is also a very dirty love.” – Wendy Patrick

“I’m a Wildlife Damage Control Agent, and I love it! I crawl under houses to check for signs of animals like raccoons and opossums, the occasional snake, or to retrieve dead animals (ew!). I crawl through insulation in tight attics looking for squirrel nests and bats. I do a lot of crawling! I also inspect roofs and chimneys, soffeting, and I like looking for wildlife damage and repairing it. Because humans keep expanding into wildlife territory, the two continue to clash. That’s where I come in! It’s about getting animals out and keeping them from coming back in the most humane ways possible. That way everyone wins. The animals get back in their natural habitats and people don’t have to live with critters in their houses anymore! It doesn’t pay great, but this work really is a labor of love for me.” – Kristen Strickland

“My husband is a farmer and his father has been his best friend his entire life. He (my husband) never had a male friend except for his father until I came along. Jerry worked on the farm with his father since he was six years old. His ‘pa’ died January 3rd of this year after being ill for several years and not being able to help on the farm any longer. My poor husband has been like a lost puppy dog without his ‘pa’ and the crops have been late.  It is just very hard to get used to farming alone, which has been a tandem effort for a lifetime. I am from the city (Jerry has always called me his city slicker) and decided last year to try to help him run the combine and the tractor so we don’t loose what he loves to do. So now I am a farmer, not by choice, but for sure by ‘labor of love’. I love my husband and would do anything to help him.” –  Melodie Koukilk

“After moving around for the military for the first 4.5 years of our marriage, we were finally able to settle down on 4.12 acres in beautiful Missouri. Shortly after arriving came the chickens! Next came the garden… and lastly the cow. We have given our little patch of heaven the name ‘Charity Farm’ and our goal, once we get more established and learn more (we are both newbies at the farming thing), is to be able to provide fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs and some milk free of charge to a family in need in the area. We will use the farm to teach our girls (who we plan on homeschooling) about being self sustainable.” – Jacki McGinnity

“My labor of love is my almost three acre lot where I reside in a formerly rural area, which has now developed subdivisions. (Sigh) I keep on, keeping on by tending to my gardens and yard the old fashioned ways—by using organic methods with a homesteading philosophy to keep me going. It is a life sustaining act for me, and a great counter-balance to my 8-5, 40 hour a week job. Nothing reaffirms life and nature so much as harvesting your own vegetables or fruit, and my favorite apparel to wear to do so are bib overalls. I would love the opportunity to try out Rosie’s bibs. And denim would be perfect for my gardening and homesteading life of choice! Thank you!”  -Clare M.

“I just bought my first home last year and the yard had nothing in it. I have been busy designing and digging flower beds out, planting, laying mulch and also working in the garage, which up to just last week has had electrical power restored. This is my labor of love, making a home for my family.” -Adrianne Calhoun

“My home. My husband and I did every bit of the labor we could. Wiring, drywall and painting. It’s an always evolving process so we are always working on it.” -Melinda Grubb

“I have an organic herb garden in the backyard and an organic vegetable garden in the front yard. The herbs are not only used to season my food, but for medicinal purposes as well (I’m a shamanic healer). Right now the basil, chamomile and holy basil are in full bloom. The privilege of smelling that delicious clove-like scent from the basils and seeing the tiny chamomile flowers and all the bees happily collecting nectar is utter bliss for me – proving that all those hours of hard labor, broken fingernails, dirt scattered on me and tracked into the house, shooing away my dogs from eating the herbs as young shoots, constant weed patrol, and pulling the weeds by hand, is paying off big time and is truly a labor of love!”  - Kerry Murphy

“I garden in my Rosies! I love gardening and have turned what was a desolate oasis (my honey’s yard) into a yard this summer and my Rosies have been wonderful for doing all the work….in addition to gardening, we have three horses and I wear my Rosies while tending to our big babies and often for riding as well. Lots of room and comfort on horseback in my Rosies! So happy to have found, ordered and be working in my overalls!” – Joy York

“My husband and I bought ten acres of old cattle grazing/feed cornfield farmland with the dream of starting an organic farm. Truly an enormous labor of love, as we are starting from nothing (basically, a cleared field) and building from the ground up. Whether it’s kneeling in the mud & yanking out weeds, peering into leaves and hand squashing bugs, digging holes for new trees, starting seeds, beautifying the grounds with flowers, or chasing after our flock of guinea fowl as they wander the neighboring acres, there’s always something to do around here. Combine that with two kids, a puppy and two cats, and I could probably live in Rosies 24/7.” – Sara Bozzelli

Don’t forget to enter your Labor of Love by going to the Labor of Love tab on our Facebook page.  Be sure to enter before August 31 for your chance to win a pair of our classic denim coveralls.  Keep on working hard!