plants – Copper Acorn

by Alexis - January 29, 2012

DIY: Succulent Greenhouse

As a child, I thought that as an adult, I would naturally have a winter flower allowance. Because, obviously, one still needs flowers in the winter time. Sadly I did grow up, and realized what nice flowers cost in the winter time. $$$ More money than I can spend.

So I made some winter succulent gardens in some vases which I will enjoy for months. 🙂 These are not roses or lilies (my favorite) but they have a rustic beauty that is so attractive.

These are also not the best pictures, but honestly I haven’t been motivated recently to take nice pictures so this is what’s here. Enjoy! lol

Here are the ingredients (Why yes, I think in food terms)

I didn’t end up using the moss ($1 store find) because the rocks (also $1 store find) were enough.

Beauties. Thank you Brianne for raiding your back yard and giving me these!

There is a small possibility that we will be in Pheonix in May and I would LOVE to bring back some from the dessert. Not sure how I would bring them here…carry on?

Just put the soil in, situate these hardy little cuties and water to make sure they transplant well.

Try it! Just keep in mind:

1. Have pet friendly plants.

2. Clean glass well before transplanting- and after

3. This is a great learning tool (homeschooling mamas) about growing things even in the winter months!

4. If you do do this with kids, make sure it’s a touch friendly plant/cactus. (*shudder, I had a bad childhood experience with a small ‘cute’ cactus…evil little plant)

Emma is learning a lot through this buy helping me plant them, watering them, seeing their little shoots (we call them ‘the mama plants children’) and seeing the roots through the glass. I have one more huge tall vase that will have a bulb planted in it. Gotta get ready for the Spring!

(Yes I’m aware it’s still January but I’m in winter denial)

by Alexis - October 5, 2011

Day 5: from a high angle

I have decided to join some other bloggers to do a 30 day challenge. We are following a fun list of things to take a picture of every day for a month. It would be awesome to have you join in on the fun! Just let me know so I can follow ya. 🙂

Day 5: from a high angle

LOVE this curly plant. So whimsical.

by Alexis - September 22, 2011January 11, 2012

Home tour: Our Balcony

***Disclaimer: Pictures may be misleading- took them on one of our few sunny/warm days. It is not normally this sunny)***

Our balcony, I know it’s not a room or anything but I’m trying to act like it’s an extension of our house….until it starts raining.

Here is our balcony:

It stretches the entire length of our place. Two doors lead out onto it. We pretty much love it. A lot. 🙂 Th palm above will take refuge in our bedroom when it gets cold/rainy.

When we toured this place I immediately imagined the herb garden I could have and a perfect outdoor sitting area…but lets be realistic. I live in the Pacific Northwest. It would be ridiculous to invest in outdoor furniture in the beginning of September in Portland. Really dumb.

However, I did invest in a little herb garden which we’re enjoying!

I have beautiful, tasty plans for my Ms. Rosemary. They involve a pizza crust.

For my birthday I got those pretty flowers below. I LOVE them but the weather was scorching them so I’ve had to shade them since taking this picture.

I got the glass grape vine from a friend when they moved. I will always have them…or give them back to her when I visit her. Either way they will be cherished by their owner.

The candle above is a favorite which reminds me, I have candles all around the balcony in mason jars for the evening…feels like a vacation spot when they’re all lit.

Above: Russian Sage. We can’t have lavender (*tear*) because Travis is allergic to bees….and lavender always attracts bees. This beautiful purple plant is a good compromise though.

Emma’s area at the end. Can you tell? lol No plants just tons of sidewalk chalk and bubbles. She also has some fake food and a shopping cart.

Our rain boots and one of my favorite plants. It loves the rain (hallelujah) and has straight and curly strands. Love the quirky-ness of it.

If you can’t buy furniture for outside- improvise!

Well, that sums up our balcony. I think I’m going to go out there and enjoy a snack while there’s a breeze.

by Alexis - May 16, 2011May 16, 2011

natural beauty

Remember what my ‘herb garden’ looked like back in April? Just in case you don’t:

seedlings growing

Well…..my ‘herb garden’ is finally producing! SO SUPER EXCITED! We have Basil, chives and Dill. Yay, the ones I use the most. 🙂 Thank you Dollar store.

It’s pretty cool cause Emma is learning all about growth plus she’s getting really excited to start cutting and eating. 🙂 Me too!

Speaking of Emma…

Just felt like showing some of the beauty I’m around. Beautiful growing sweet smelling plants, my Emma and this beautiful sunset I saw tonight. 🙂 (no editing done)

~What beautiful things are around you?

by Alexis - April 18, 2011April 18, 2011

Keeping the delicates inside

I have had enough experience with water logged plants. And with the recent amounts of rain, I decided to bring in my delicate flowers/herbs inside. I have a great window that gets morning and afternoon light so, now they have a new temporary home.

Emma is learning how plants grow from seeds and is getting a chance to see them grow first hand. I love seeing her slowly understand and show daddy what she’s learned each day.

The first time I visited Poland, I saw how most Poles have plants in their window sills. Totally fell in love with that. One thing Trav and I look forward to is having or making a green/sun room. In a perfect world it would be where we eat breakfast. But if all we get is a window sill, we will happily place lots of plants/herbs on the sill to enjoy.

This is my strawberry plant, which I am slowly killing. If you can see the edges of the leaves they are dry and krinkled. I am limiting the sun now but I’m mostly praying it sticks through. Any tips? More water? Less/more sun?

This last picture is of Travis helping Emma learn her shapes.

Reasons I love this picture:

1. Emma’s polka dot shirt rocks. Impossible to see her and not melt.

2. Love seeing them work on a project together.

3. Discovery toys are the best. Hands down.

4. Um, SHADOWS! That means there is a sun behind me! Blessed sun! Thank you God for bringing the brightness.

~ What do you think of the new blog layout?

by Alexis - March 25, 2011March 25, 2011

Growing Plants

Emma has been so excited every morning to come down and look at our yellow daffodils that we bought a few days ago. They were only small buds when we brought them home and now she is getting the chance to see them bloom. Pretty cool. My sister is in town visiting and Emma yelled about how the flowers are getting bigger. 🙂

So I am capitalizing on this discovery by growing some plants ourselves. In teeny tiny pots. From the dollar section of Target. 🙂

I bought one for the each of us. Travis doesn’t count. (actually he just said he didn’t mind) I bought pink flowers for the princess and green peppers for myself. Pretty exciting huh…yeah, not. But I seem to use them a lot in most of my dishes and here we are.

I don’t know how you learn. I am first a kinesthetic learner. Learn by seeing and doing. Secondly, someone needs to tell me in detail. Like at an elementary level. So, I am going to explain to you now, how I am using this tool for learning in our pre-pre-school. And if this helps and gives you ideas cool.

Going to let her fluff the dirt pellet things, water and place in the window.

Then we’re going to talk about how plants grow and how they need sunshine…um which we don’t really have now and rain (which we have tons of). And then we’ll talk about how everything grows. People, animal and plants.

If she’s tracking really well and it’s easy for her I will then show her the beautifully made scrapbooks I spend way too long making and show her how she’s grown. From baby to now.

We will eat carrots and dip and talk about them growing in the ground. How we take them out, clean them and then gobble them up. 🙂 And of course how they are good or our bodies.

In what ways do you teach your child about things that grow?

by Alexis - September 11, 2010October 26, 2010

Brain stop!

I am suppose to be in REM sleep. Not listening to the light rail pass my home at 12:40am. Darn you brain! Love you imagination and creativity but could you work when the sun is in the sky?! Pleeeease?! This is not working when I have a daughter who wakes up too early for my body that desires 10 hrs each night.

(but never gets that, don’t worry and be all jealous- there’s no need)

*******

I bought an aloe plant today and I’m super excited. I feel like a secret nurse. You know, the naturalistic ones that can go out into a field and cure cancer with roots, leaves and sap. Oh yeah, feeling smug. Thank you Ikea. I bet you never knew the power you had over moms who are extremely fatigued, sit during the wee hours of the morning typing on their blog and have have too much imagination on their hands. It must be our, er I mean their daily inundated “Imagination” programing with horrible programs like Barney and Teletubbies. Again, not me, it’s rumors I hear through the church halls.

*******

On a serious note, I’m off to bed again praying my mind will slow down and rest. I’ve prayed about and over anything I can think of. I’ve gone over today’s and tomorrow’s events. I have also decided to do another give away- it’s been like forever. Almost 1am… what is it about the we hours that make me want to watch either Sleepless in Seattle (cruelly ironic) or Bridget Jones Diaries. As it is, I’m going to ignore the stupid crossing bells announcing to nobody (cause everyone’s asleep) that a train is coming and snuggle myself into bed. Maybe 1 am is the special time my body has been waiting for.