Patchouli Plants

Whole fOOds has their Patchouli plants in!

Every year I wait, and wait...

and then,

they come in.

And then,
I buy a bunch!

I  heart Patchouli.

Spring makes offerings to the Garden...

My new plants for the Spring~

I'm verra excited about the Peach tree
Already daydreaming of glass jars filled with Jams and Spices ....

Pretty fired up about this Eastern Redbud too~
planted with the Future's future in plan and in sight.

The hope is when the day finally gets here and
we get to do put up the Window Walls for the back of the Humble Abode,
the Redbud will be in the view from the Master Bedroom and the Living Room.

I got my usual assortment of Morning Glories and MoOnVine....

a Southern staple if there ever was one.

We also replanted The Chook Man's Navel Orange tree.
The Fig and Lemon are progressing along nicely.
The Ginger is nice and big and established.
The Leeks are struggling through their replanting, but they're not dead so there's hope.

Of course, you can't forget the Inside~ my house LoVeS House Plants!

Our biggest job is going to be trimming up the trees this year.
Yeah, it's time, ugh.

signs of Autumn

You can relax now.

Birthday Treats

Monty Python Birth Sketch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arCITMfxvEc

yes, on this great day back in the great year of 1967, 

Little KeLLy Ann came into this world, 

a bit after Midnight and eager to start the Adventure. 

And what an Adventure. 

Here we are 43 years later, and I see how I've grown 

passing things on to My Children...Tradition.

My oh so CooL Family gave me these two really beautiful plants.

Our local grocer had them, and I fell for those colors.

Loropetalum {pink}

and

Kerria Japonica {yellow}

 

I've planted them by the front door in front of my studio window.

The Turkish Mother totally surprised Me 

by gifting me a new juicer { for all those Lemon Meringue Pies}

I cleaned up and donated my old juicer to Goodwill.

and much to my LoVeLy Delight: my very own pressure cooker.

I'm forever stealing hers to make applesauce, and then forgetting to bring it back. oops....problem solved. 

 

come on autumn!

Those big ass eclairs I asked for, and I was gracious enough to share. 

They are from my favorite bakery.  

It was a great day....again! "}

CLaSSrOOm Spring Project ~ MiNi*TeRRaRiuMs

Today, was Classroom Project Day!!

PROJECT DAY!!!

You may have heard My rant before about not making time to volunteer at Your Child's school

I still feel that way.

Make An EfforT!

I digress.

The class just finished diorama's on Eco~systems. 

and its Spring.

I had found this project in a Yulemas book, looking for Holiday to~do's.

The project used clear glass Ornaments, 

but seeing as I'm dealing with 23 3rd graders,

delicate glass that needs to have dirt and plants

shoved into it.....not goOd.

Racking my noGGin, I trawled the aisles at Hobo Lobo.

What I really wanted was Small, Glass w/ Lid, Inexpensive.

I wanted to go with something natural as opposed to plastic,

but in the end, I did choose the plastic for the above reasons.

I LucKed up when I strolled onto the Jewelry aisle.

Right there before me hung these glorious tubes, Bead BoTTLes, 
with wide mouths and PoP off tops INCLUDING! 
a small loop perfect for a length of RiBBoN to hang it!

And! 

there were 4 tubes in one bag for a little over $2.

 

A potted Fern

A Bead BoTTLe

A bag of assorted decorative Beads

A bag of small SheLLs

A roLL of Wire, any color

A bag of Organic soil 

{that's what I chose, otherwise I would get fussed at by The Blu Man, 

my 9 year old who's going to save the World by grEEning it! 

and class attendee of said project}

A roLL of RiBBon 

{give at least 12" of ribbon for each bottle}

Wire cutters,
chop sticks or other wooden sticks

First: Separate the Fern into Individual pieces.

It helps if you do it soaking in water, or with running water from a hose.

It washes the dirt and exposes the roots.

I stored them in a lidded bowl.

 Take the bead and wrap it at the top of the wire,

leaving plenty of wire for the support.

{you can trim the wire when putting it in the terrarium}

 Fill the bottle a little less than half full with the soil.

 

Using the flat end of a wooden stick, I made a hole in the soil, and then used the stick to gently push the Fern root into the hole in the soil. Pack some of the surrounding soil on top of root.

 

Insert wire decoration into the soil, place sheLL in bottle, sprinkle a few drops of water, then replace lid.

Add riBBon 

Find a Sunny spot and hang.

This is the one for the Teacher.

I hung mine in my car!