The Happy Accident Hospital and Rescuing Babies



One of my neglected Spider Plants.



No worries..... I am not in the hospital and I haven't been rescuing actual human babies!  No....It's just that time again! Needing to head outside to spruce things up. About every 3 months, my gardening duties are in project mood. Additionally,  I haven't been taking care of my plants like I usually do and it's time to pay the piper.  Some of them have gotten super mad at me.  Some of them are going to have to head to the hospital.  Some, well.....let's not tell them where they are going.....  

I have just let these plants linger, bunch all up together
and in need of tender loving care. 
Well.....water would help!
Shhh......don't tell that plant in the
center front that he is going to the hospital!



This bowl of succulents has great potential. 
I will clean it up and move it somewhere else.

Stressed out.

But has potential....

Most people would throw some of these plants away.  This little plant above, was NOT happy in my house and I just let it go too far. But I will rescue this guy.  I have rescued worse. I have picked up so many plants that my neighbors threw to the curb, you would even believe it.

I have pots that I cram all my sad, but still somewhat healthy, plants into and allow them to regain their strength together.  It's become quite an extraordinary collection of plants.  This particular pot (right) is quite a show piece.....and all these plants were almost dead at some point. (except for the little Purslane that I just stuck in the middle.) I added the  little stressed out plant above to this pot.  If you look closely you can see it peeking out from the back.



My Plant Hospital.



I have an area that I store extra pots.  I also store plants that are just too ugly to have sitting out on display, but could possibly see another day of beauty.  I call it the hospital.  I didn't always call it a hospital.  It happened by happy accident like so many things do when gardening.  It use to be an area to throw pots and plants that were just, well.....plain and simply stated, dead.  Funny thing was.....many of them came back!  It's a super shady area with just a dappling of light and a sprinkler close by.  Very peaceful spot where my ailing plants go to recuperate from the hot Florida sun. I recommend always having a plant hospital.  Money saving, big time.  I cannot tell you how many dead plants have returned in all their glory!

  

This wonderful Angel Wing Begonia
will live to see itself in a new pot soon.
Great recovery!

The project today is to tackle my four ginormous spider plants.  All four have a ton of 'babies' on them. 

Laden with babies

I need to clear out the dead ones and clean off the good ones.  I have so many offspring, that I decide to harvest some of them to put into small starter pots.  I start to break them apart gently and remove all the dead debris from around their roots.

Okay....so hear comes the weirdo in me.  As I am doing this....a very zen task I may add.... I start to see characteristics in these little babies that are kinda human.  Like this one......



Huge Momma!

I actually feel bad that I haven't harvested this one earlier.  It's huge and should have it's own home.  I actually think to myself, "Wow, this kid graduated from college and was never aloud to leave home!"

Most of them are tiny, but large enough to use as saplings (don't know if I am allowed to call a spider baby that, but oh well, I am.)  Then I find this one.....



Out of Wedlock Teenage Pregnancy

This one has sprouted another baby all on it's own.  I call it a Pregnant Teenager.  (I know, I am weird.)



Twin Sisters

I don't separate the two babies above, I just can't do it.  They seem destined to be together.

I clean clump by clump while making these ridiculous observations.  Makes me think of all the interconnectedness of nature and people.  I love working with plants.  It somehow connects me with the earth and gives me a sense of stewardship to nature.....

Finishing up the preparation process, I get a casserole dish from my pantry and fill it about half way with water.  I have decided to start new plants with these babies and possibly give them away to friends.  Putting them in water will keep them happy for days until I can attack that project. 

I make sure to use this amazing product, Mosquito Bits.  If you live in an area of the country that has mosquitoes, it is a must! It keeps mosquitoes from laying eggs in standing water.  I actually will spread this stuff around after a rain day or two to help cut down on mosquitoes. I sprinkle the bits into the casserole and add the babies.

I will enjoy these little ones until it is time to re-plant them.  Here they are hanging out on a table on my back patio.  They look happy, like little school children. 

I worked on other gardening, back patio stuff today as well and will reveal the results tomorrow.  It's spring time wherever you live!  Get out there and spruce things up! The only way I learned how to save these babies was by doing.  Heck, set yourself up a little sweet location for your very own plant hospital!  You will have a place other than the trash to send your plants too with the hopes that they too will have a glorious recovery! 

OH! and.....Don't forget to drink plenty of water!  (My friend, Ted is better at remembering that than I am!)

-The End-

Apples Falling and an Orange Room

"Apples don't fall far from trees."  Ugg.  I hate that saying! I cannot tell you how many times I had to hear my father say those words.  I always thought it sounded like some negative edict.  Put simply, it indicated that no matter how much we grow or experience,  that we were bound by some familial obligation to behave in a certain manner or to be enslaved by learned beliefs.  I think that at the root of this 'apple tree' mantra, there is some truth.  After all.... we learn so much from our parents.....important stuff.  But, many years have proven to me that we can grow beyond the ideologies instilled inside a family unit.....and thank goodness for that!  It makes for a little tension at family events, but hey, I am so glad that I have grown beyond so much of the archaic thinking of my parents. 

You ask, "Why am I talking about this phrase?"  Well, yesterday my daughter had a project of her own.  We have just completed a color change in her bedroom.  Gone is the lavender walls, girlie bedding, curtains and accessories. She wanted something a little more teenager-ish.  She went for a bold color combination.  Very gutsy.  Speaking of apples and trees......wonder where she gets that?!

The dresser in the images has been three colors, white, purple and now black.  We didn't have the budget to once again change her flooring, so she is living with it.  We painted her bathroom the same color blue and she continued the black and white print as well. I had a hard time getting a decent image, but you get the idea.

She wanted to change the seat cover on her desk chair.  So I took her to Joann's Fabrics and she picked out a black shaggy fabric.  I promised her that I would change it for her this weekend.  In fact, Saturday at the end of my blog post about my completed Console Table Makeover,  I mentioned the broken staple gun and the great bargain I found at the yard sale.  Well....this is the immediate reason why I needed a new staple gun.  

"Pop!.....Snap!" I hear noises across the house and wonder, "What the heck was that!?"  A few minutes go by and I hear it again, "Pop, Pop, click, Pop!"  It sounded like the staple gun, so I went to investigate.....and this is what I found.

Yep.....she was doing it herself!!  (Don't ya love the finger nails?!)  I said, "Oh, I was going to do that for you."  Which she replies, "Oh, no problem.  I can do this myself!"  --I'm thinking about those trees and apples again.--  She gets the chair pad covered and puts it in place.  Miss Independence!

At this point she asks me why I am taking pictures.  I tell her that I am thinking about blogging about her project.  She says, "Oh yea?  Then take a picture of me sitting on it!"  (What a ham!)  So I guess I gotta show that image......

Here is one corner where the blue meets the orange.  She loves her papasan chair and big white paper lanterns.  We are still looking for something to decorate that big blue wall.

So, I guess that apples not falling far from trees can be a super positive thing too!  I wonder what paths she will take in life.  I am sure that I haven't been the perfect mother, but I do know that I have done the best job possible, even if it is just helping her become more independent and self assured.  She certainly has my passions for design.  I encourage her everyday to "Go for it!"  I hope that she doesn't delay her career for something safe.  I hope she surrounds herself with anything that is super duper colorful and creative as she and her apples roll far from the tree.

-The End-

33 Days, Countless Projects and A Few Steps Down the Road of Life

Today marks my 33rd Blog Post.  I chose to highlight this because for as many years that I can remember, my sister deemed this number her most unlucky number.  At some point in the last decade, she has dropped this mantra.  Perhaps the wisdom of years has amended her viewpoint on the number 33.  Perhaps we will have a conversation today about this......

In the last 33 days, I have logged more words, posted more images and disclosed more details about my life, than I ever thought possible.  The value of this endeavor has far surpassed my initial expectations.  Committing to write publicly everyday is quite the undertaking.  There have been days when I have spent more time proof reading my post than grocery shopping!  Yet, typos, misspellings and incorrect apostrophe usage have slipped through.  At some point, I just throw up my hands, click the "publish" button and move on.  So if I have offended any of you grammar gurus, I appologize.

The biggest surprise has been how much procedure is required within "blog-land."   If you want to grow your blog, and I certainly would like to, you must promote yourself.  One principle way of doing this is to post projects on other blogs that host a "Linky Party."  Finding the appropriate blog is enough work, but once you find one who has readership who might be interested in viewing your work, you have to jump through hoops to post the information.  Then, you are required to add each Linky Party 'button' with a permalink at the bottom of the project post.  The concept here is that if someone clicks on the image of your project and is taken to your blog, that they can return to the Linky Party by clicking on the button that you have placed at the bottom of your post.  Did I just make any sense?  I wonder if this whole thing does make any sense.  Posting on Linky Parties is a super time consuming venture.  I am starting to wonder whether it is worth all the time investment.  I have even streamlined the way I do this, and it is still super time consuming.  Perhaps, after 33 days, I am starting the amend my ideas of what my goals are regarding my blog. 

Latest Project
for Miss Mustard Seed

 


Knack Studios

I have 'met' some pretty cool gals online, who share a lot of my interests.  They live all over the country, some in other countries.  They have inspired me in many ways.  Miss Mustard Seed inspired me to start blogging and was the initial source of inspiration toward the idea of setting up a retail space.  Barb at Knack has this super cool studio/retail space in her hometown in South Carolina.  I would like to have something like her place.  Maybe split the interior, making the front part more retail and the back half a working studio.  It might take me a while to get to the point of doing these things. But at least I am putting one foot in front of the other in that direction.

The past 33 days have been an adventure.  This blog has followed me, kept me accountable and pushed me to work everyday.  In my first blog post on March 1st, What Am I Getting Myself Into, I said, " I am not quite sure where this is going to take me, but I am hoping that it will be the catalyst that I have been looking for to push me on down the road toward that "life" that I know I need to develop."  I can say, unequivocally, that I have been catapulted down that road.  

In the last month I have re-finished 4 pieces of furniture...

 

Cherished Chest of Drawers



Secretary's Desk



Console Table



In process...

...shared with you a few heartfelt stories, some zany realizations 

and showed you some behind the scenes project images...



Giving People Something to Laugh about and....

...embarked on a redo of my master bedroom and bath...

"Before"

 

...documented my Saturday Yard Sale excursions...



Dodging Raindrops and Finding Bargains

...taken you on field trips...

...shown countless little projects...

...started looking for studio space outside my home. 

Phew!  I think I will catch my breath today and rest.  Well.....I probably won't do that either.....after all...I have a 34th blog post to write tomorrow and I gotta get going.........

-The End-