it’s the middle of february and i am completely and utterly sick of the snow and cold weather. i love planting things. watching things grow. so the winter especially sucks. i enjoy following this blog where this woman lives in california. her life is so colorful. almost magical. anyway, the other day she posted a picture of herself surrounded by green. i was jealous. california, here i come.
after sometime on her sweet blog i was wondered aimlessly on etsy, I discovered these ah-mazing terrarium balls. and i was inspired.
picture found at LBrandt
i’m not a huge fan of air plants (they look like the may come alive an attack me in my sleep or something – they just seem unnatural). i also hate spending money on something i can do myself. (no offensive etsy seller) so i did some research and found the little glass orbs for a steal here. great, right? i had dirt (who doesn’t) so that was free. i mixed some stones into the dirt (free again) to create some sort of drainage. necessary? i’m not sure.
i had a couple succulents in a planter that i brought inside for the winter (which is super cool too. i’ll have to show you it another time. after it gets back outside. its looking a little sad. i think it’s ready for the winter to be over too.) anyway, so I just cut the succulents and put them in the dirt. supposedly they should root this way. ‘they’ say not to water the succulent clipping when you first plant them as the plant stores water in it leaves. then as time passes you can start to water.
i also found this string of pearls succulent here. (looks like there are none available at this time.) This flower ^ came after I planted the clippings, so it must be doing ok. oh, and this etsy seller is amazing. quick shipping, affordable price and they included directions for how to plant! awesome.
so, here’s what i came up with.
I must admit one of the succulents did have an untimely death (even before photos were taken). I think it was too drafty near this particular window. just about that time, my mom got me the cutest fern, so i decided to try planting that in the orb instead. this is test. so far, so good. i’ll keep you posted.
they are suspended by fishing line on a hook i screwed into the trip. (it’s hard to see in the pics) of course the older, yet more practical generation that sees these creations ask, ‘how are you going to water that?’ well, it actually super easy. just take them down (there are little holes in the top) and slowly pour the water in…slowly is key. then wipe off the glass. it’s really simple. and succulents seem to be pretty low maintenance, so that’s even better.
this is all still a big experiment. but i like that. and if it works out in the end, even better. i’ll keep you posted.
oh, and I made these for breakfast today. (thanks for the recipe idea room!) i, of course, jazzed mine up with some lemon zest and vanilla. not the best muffins i’ve ever had, but pretty darn good.
2. In a glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites until foamy with electric mixer. Sprinkle in sugar a little at a time while continuing to whip at medium speed.
3. Add vanilla and food coloring.
4. When mixture forms stiff peaks and becomes shiny, stop mixing and transfer to a large pastry bag. (I didn’t have one, so I just used a ziploc bag with a small hole cut in the corner.) Then have fun piping. Round shapes or stars (formed with a star tip on your pastry bag) are most common.
spell out a word, a date, a name…
5. Place the meringues in the oven. Put a wooden spoon handle in the door to keep the oven from completely closing. Bake for 2-3 hours (depending on size), until the meringues are dry (all the way through – I just taste tested one!). Meringues should easily remove from sheet.
It made me realize that the power of kindness is amazing. I decided to search through my 21 page word document saved on my computer to find a couple quotes about kindness that I like…here’s what I came up with…
Oh, and here’s my dining room…. or at least the start of it. Currently there is nothing on the walls…I would like to get a new area rug…and add a sofa table under the window (even though I did order one and they somehow forgot to include the screws)…and recover the chair cushion. In time. These things take time.
The sun is shining, there are no clouds in the sky and it’s supposed to be in the 40s for at least the next 10 days!! Finally. I hope this means the end of winter.
I also did some research to find out which geraniums make the best topiary. I was told by several sources it was the Lemon Crispum Geranium. It’s leaves have a wonderful lemon scent, supposedly it can be use for cooking and it has pink flowers. I purchased three of these in the fall, bad idea. Having to keep them alive all winter was tough, but I think I succeed. Just last week I trimmed them down to one main stem…there used to be many sprouts and branches.
The two small boxes on either side of the window are little built-in behind the main wall. They will hold my wine cooler and a mini-fridge. It’s tough to see, but we all began the process of running electricity. See the wires?
My onion is also ready for warmer weather as evident by its fresh green sprouts.
I really had no idea what I was doing, I just picked out things that looked nice. I did learn a lot from the process and won’t be growing certain flowers again. The geraniums did the best! They were HUGE. Much nicer than geraniums you can purchase.
Once I get things going at the end of the month I will post some pictures of my little seedlings and perhaps what they will look like. Some of the things I planting this year are geraniums (love them), petunias, an assortment of mint (chocolate, pineapple, apple, orange, hazelnut – these are great for desserts and breakfast parfaits – YUM!), decorative grasses, Lantana … and lots more … I can’t think of them all right now.)
