a "thing"

I am beginning to have a thing for hanging plants.  This is not a good thing seeing as how I don't have a single plant hanger hung from our ceiling anywhere in our home.  Our house being only five years old I don't see Shaun jumping to poke holes in the ceiling even if I do feel it beautifies our world.  Well... maybe if I put it that way to him he'll do it.  I have recently brought out an old macrame hanger that I bought at a yard sale many years ago and hung it at the day care.  It puts a little hippy in the room and I love it.  It reminds me of the Sunshine Family dollhouse we had growing up in the seventies that had a hanging plant pictured on the plastic.  Here's a look at how lovely they can be from around the web.  Oh if only I could sit still long enough to learn how to make them.  Maybe this winter.  All pictures were found on pinterest.  Click the pic to be linked.  How lovely!

Here's the Sunshine family pic... someone listed it for sale on ebay.  See the hanging plants?  Man.. you can find anything online.

How fantastic!  Is it still in your attic Mom?  Who am I kidding... I know it is!!!

Baby Tears

I am a plant girl with a pretty green thumb.  I like having plants indoors and out of doors.  I like bringing outdoor plants indoors for the winter and to see how happy they are when placed back outside.  Recently I found a plant that I had never seen while looking through a home decorating book and the more I saw it used throughout the book the more I wanted it.  I looked and looked online and at local nurseries and finally bought a plant from a dealer on Amazon. 

 

I have also, this Spring, been scouring yard sales in search of the perfect pot to house my new friend.  I first thought that I could place it in something that would fit in a crystal cake stand with lid that I have but have decided, after reading reviews, that it needs oxygen.  I wound up with four different vessels for my plant and couldn't decide which one to use.  This past Saturday it occurred to me that maybe I could divide the plant.  So I looked up videos on youtube and found one that made it look very simple.  Simple enough for me to roust up the courage to do it. 

 

I gathered my four dishes on a tray along with my plant, dirt, rocks, gloves and water bottle and headed out to the picnic table to give it a whirl.  After all, if it didn't work I might cry a little but all I could do was order another one.  I gave it my best shot and it actually was pretty easy.  I placed rocks for drainage in the bottom of my pots then potting soil on top of that.  I then pulled my Baby Tears plant apart with utmost ease and care and placed each piece in it's new home.  They are all doing great so far.  I am keeping them semi-moist and out of full window sun until they settle in good. 

 

I absolutely cannot wait to see the little plants with tiny leaves spilling over the sides and up the glass of my chosen homes. 

 

 The first four pics shown are the images from the decor book that inspired my new found desire for this precious little plant.

And this is my repotting station.  At this point my stomach was in knots.  I get a tinch nervous when repotting plants I've never dealt with before.  But it gives me a good feeling when I've done it.

My old style sprinkler and bottle.

Hard to believe it was all in that one pot! 
 

 

I bought my plant HERE.

 

 

The helpful video I found is here.
 

 

The fabulous home decor book I found this plant displayed in is HERE.

four fanciful things: world market style

I am a World Market fan... big time!  It is the only place that I will buy olive oil and i know if I can't find a good price on spices, I can there.  I love what they have to offer in home decor as well.  Matter of fact I just happened on their website this morning and chose four fanciful things to share with you in a heartbeat of a hummingbird. 

 

 

 

Shoe Rack

Metal Picnic Basket

Cloche

Plant Ladder



Repotting My Orchid

I received an orchid from a working friend when I left a job about seven years ago.  Wow has it been that long?  I guess so.  Anyway, this was and is still my first orchid.  When I first got it, of course, it was in full bloom.  For the first year of it's life with me it lived in the house and seemed... just ok. 

The summer after I got it I decided to put it in a shady spot on my patio outside and to my surprise it bloomed!  That Fall I brought it back inside for the winter and each summer have set it outside to enjoy the fresh air.  It has bloomed for me four times now but has chosen not to for the last two summers.  Which makes me sad because it is a sure sign that something is wrong. 

Since it was placed in the same spot on the porch where it had once bloomed and receives water from the plant hanging above it, I knew it had to be that the poor thing needed more room.  I will be honest... I have been scared to death to repot this thing.  Orchids are just different.  There's no dirt.  Their natural habitat is a crevasse in a rock amidst a misty waterfall.  (Ahhh what a lovely thought) 

Yesterday, I bit the bullet and bought some orchid bark and simply tried to follow the directions on the package.  I picked a larger pot for it's new home but when I tried to pry it out of it's tiny home it wouldn't budge.  Roots where everywhere, old and new.  I trimmed and pried and wound up getting out a hammer and breaking the pot it was in. I trimmed more brown roots off and dug as much as I could of the old bark from it's base.  I placed some rocks in the bottom of the new pot and filled it the rest of the way with the new bark.  I placed the orchid inside and it sort of just fell over.  So I got out some wooden skewers and staked it.  It will receive a daily misting and will hopefully root into it's new home for a couple more years.  Hopefully!  It sure does look better and much healthier.  I think it is smiling now.   Maybe next summer it will bloom once again.

 The good, healthy roots are white with green tips.

Yeah.. not too many here huh. :(

 And to my surprise an even smaller pot inside.  This made me feel even better about what I was doing.  Even though my stomach was in knots the whole time.

 I also trimmed off some of the shoots.  Don't know it I was supposed to or not once they were still green inside.  But it cleaned it up more.

 It said to leave it out of the sunlight until it takes hold again.

I imagine it's spreading around as I type.

So much better!

 

This is what her blooms look like.  This pic was in 2008.

 And this was the last time she bloomed in 2010.



Working up the garden

When I hear my wonderful husband say, "I'm going to work up the garden!"  it means he is fixing to till between the rows in order to loosen that hard as a rock dirt so the roots of the plants can breathe better.  This is a wonderful thing and very necessary and if I'm out there while this is going on everything is usually alright.  It is when I am not out there that things go awry. 

The night before last I planted dill seeds (for the second time) and lavender seeds it two little nice and neat rows in the front right part of the garden which belongs solely to me and contains mostly herbs.  Needless to say if I had the following little project completed at the time of working up the garden this morning I would still have the two lavender rows that I planted.  Bless his heart, he felt so bad.  No big deal.. I have seeds soaking to replant them tomorrow and in the mean time I made some markers to my herbs so next time he'll know what I've done.

This is a simple, quick craft that requires only a few household items that most people I know already have. 

Items needed: used canning lids, wire coat hangers, pliers, a hammer, one nail and a permanent marker.

First cut pieces of the coat hanger using the pliers or wire cutters.  They can be any length you choose.  I got three out of each hanger.  Next hammer a hole in to the canning jar lid with the nail.  I stuck mine between pieces of wood on our porch.  It worked great and I didn't poke a hole in anything other than the lid... the second time.

Next take the wire pliers and bend one end of the wire cutting over to make a loop.  Thread the canning lid onto the wire and loop it on over so the lid doesn't come off.  Label the jar lid and you are ready to stick it in the ground or pot where you need to label what you've planted.  So as to savor your efforts.

Pretty Pots to Plant In

I just cannot be normal.  I refuse to purchase normal pots from WalMart to put my summer beauties in.  Well, unless they are on serious clearance and big enough to repot an inside plant in.  Instead I am like a scavenger when thrifting and at yard sales trying to find items large enough to put plants in. 

At my Thrift Store, I call it mine because it's the one I frequent, two weeks ago I looked up to the top of a long clothing rack where they display kitchen glassware at one and and pots and pans at the other, and spotted a big pot.  I darted, and I mean darted, towards it, picked it up and immediately admired it's size, age, nice wooden handle and it's price wasn't bad either at six dollars.  Six dollars is a tad high but it is a good sized pot that a lovely summer geranium would soon call home.

This spring and summer I ask you to venture out.  To break out and find something unusual to plant something wonderful in.  Take the kitchen outside, take the laundry room outside, take the bathroom outside (ok not like that!)  I am going to show you how to take an old stock pot and turn it in to a planter and also give you more ideas of things you can look for to plant in from the last couple of years. 

First select the pot to plant in. 

If it has no possible way to drain water you're going to have to make this happen.

If the pot is thin enough, or has rust holes already, simply use a hammer and nail to make the hole.  Sometimes you have to use a drill and drill bit. 

Line the bottom of your pot with gravel or rocks then top it with potting soil.

It helps to insert the pot your plant comes in into the dirt to get the correct size hole.  Then easily remove the plant, dirt and all, from the pot and insert it into the hole that you made. 

Fill all around the plant with potting soil and top with mini chunk mulch to help keep the soil moist. 

Give your new plant in it's new pot a good drink of water and a smooch of good luck!

Here are some other items I have found are fun to plant in.

Old chip can.  Used the lid on a bird feeder.

Large, enamel bowl.  It already had thin rusty spots so it was easy to knock holes in.  The chair... came with no seat.  I did spray it pink.  When you're single you can paint anything island pink.  Shaun doesn't go for pink so much :)

Yes, it's a hospital pee pot.  And I did clean it first :) (enamel pot planted in in the background)

This lovely Pyrex nesting bowl I bought at a yard sale and luckily it already had a hole in the bottom.  Who the heck would get rid of this?

This, I thought, was a good idea.  I did have a bit of trouble cutting the matting  to line it with but it finally worked and did great all summer.  Not bad for a twenty five cent old kitchen basket at a garage sale!

Good luck and send me picks of things that you find to plant in!  I'd love to see the great ideas!